Nate's Take on Everything

Ah, yes, that guy mysteriously referred to as "N" in the previous posts. Sara (I should probably refer to her as "S" since that seems to be the "blog" thing to do) was a bit reluctant to let me blog anything on here, fearing that I may talk too much about Sarah Jessica Parker having a horse face or the annoying fact that I have been unable for some time now to find Marshmallow Alpha-Bits cereal in stores. I'll attempt to keep the blog somewhat house-related, although S's soliloquy on Indiana Jones was quite a bit off topic.

We just got done making our final decisions on our house at the design center. I'll try to recap that as best I can below, although I can pretty much sum it up as, "Yes, S (although in this case I actually would have referred to her by name since that would have garnered strange looks from the saleswoman), you're right..." (repeat numerous times)

S picked me up from work, and then we headed over to the design center. Initially, she was a bit of a:



Well, maybe she was more like:



OK, maybe she wasn't really either of those, but I had to at least try the picture function on this thing. She does get crabby sometimes, though, for sure.

Anyway, we got to the design center, and we were already pretty prepared. We've spent several weekends driving around, looking at homes interiors and exteriors to figure out what we want. The toughest decision for us was the exterior of the home. We were trying to decide between Arcadia and Oldham Tudor. Initially, we thought we were going to go with Arcadia, because it's a pretty sharp, light looking brick. However, the two types of siding that go best with Arcadia were unavailable because the neighbors on either side of us have them. So, the big question was, "Do we risk it and go with Arcadia and lighter colored siding, not really knowing how it will turn out, or do we take the safe bet and go with Oldham Tudor with Champagne siding, which looked really sweet (see the previous photos) on a finished house that we saw earlier?" Hmmm, the last time I took a risk and avoided the safe bet, I ended up working for a lousy start-up company in Boston. That turned out really well. Gee, that brick decision wasn't so hard after all...Oldham Tudor with Champagne siding it was!

Everything else wasn't too tough to work out. Amazingly, we agreed on just about everything. One thing S has failed to mention, however, is the canned lighting, which is a type of recessed lighting. It really adds a different type of feel to the rooms, and I think they are more awesome than a movie starring Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Jackie Chan. We will have them in the kitchen, master bedroom, family room, and loft (also known as Nate's Party Palace). I'd like to have them in every room, but getting lots of them can get kind of expensive, and they rejected my trade proposal involving an exchange of Lola for a few more. Below is a picture for reference.



We also headed out to the site last weekend and took a few pictures of our lot. Below is a picture facing our lot from the culdesac.



It's a fixer-upper!

OK, not really. Below is the actual picture, just wanted to make sure you guys were still awake.



And a picture from the back of the lot:



And, finally, one from the side:



(Please ignore the bulging biceps of the guy in the above picture)

We're pretty excited. The lot is a decent size (~10,000 sq. ft.), so we should have a good backyard. Plus, we'll finally be able to grill out, which should be nice. We didn't get a chance to meet our neighbors yet, but I think I saw them both mowing their lawns when we left. If I wasn't mistaken, they were:













Sports prediction for the night: Detroit over Boston, 85-74

Keep it real, readers!