we're homeowners!

in early march, we got an email from our landlord letting us know that she was selling our unit. i promptly forwarded that email to dylan wherein i exclaimed, "WORST NEWS EVER!" 

see, very shortly after we moved in here, we knew we loved this place - the unit, the location, the building itself, etc. we even said "imagine we could buy this place from her?!" but figured that would never come up.

i say "worst news ever" because based on a few units in our building that had recently sold/were currently for sale, i figured it would be way above our price range. and did i mention that buying a home was never our current priority? therefore, we had no down payment saved. on a sunday, our landlord's realtor came over to talk to us about showings and how they would go. i figured i might as well ask what it would be listed for and was shocked when she told us. was it possibly within our budget??! of course we also had to take into account the monthly maintenance fees. she said it would be listed the coming wednesday and that was that.

we talked to my parents afterwards and they knew how much we loved this place and were heartbroken to have to leave. they asked the price and we talked a bit more. an hour or two later, my parents facetimed us back. they held up a piece of paper with a dollar amount on it and asked if that would help us get this place. we couldn't believe it and were super thankful.

that night we crunched some numbers and made sure everything was doable and decided that we were going to put an offer in on wednesday when it went on the market. we called our tax guy (who is also a broker) first thing on monday morning asking how long it would take to be pre-approved for a mortgage, explained our situation, and asked if it could be done in like, 3 days! we got employment letters, pay stubs together, tax forms, bank statements and everything gathered as quickly as we could.

i then emailed our landlord and told her were actually interested in making an offer, that we were in the middle of getting our financing together, and asked if she could hold off on putting it on the market for one week to give us some more time. 

to not turn this into a novel, the place did not go on the market that wednesday, but not because we had asked. the landlord had fallen off the earth and we were getting no replies to our emails. even her agent couldn't get ahold of her. weeks passed and nothing. we figured maybe we should start looking at other places. we knew if it went on the open market, that we would definitely lose in a bidding war. we looked at about 10 other units for sale and nothing really drew us in. we felt that ours had the best layout of everything we saw, the location was better, and it was actually bigger than everything we looked at! we actually did put an offer on one place, got into a bidding war, and were outbid.

we then realized that we were just out of budget of what we really liked and wanted so we made the decision to start looking at rentals instead of jumping into buying because we felt like we had to. another year of renting wouldn't be a big deal and we figured we could save more money. I looked at plenty of listings on my lunch time over a week or two and even the rental market is terrible! there's nothing out there. finally, dylan sent me to 3 in one day (2 in one building and another in a building I've loved forever). i didn't want to like the last unit because it was way more than we wanted to pay on rent but what do you know? it was the only unit i liked in the dozen or so i looked at. i didn't want to make a decision without dylan, so we booked an appointment again later that night so he could see it after work. we were walking home from our appointment thinking we were going to fill out the paperwork and take this place and we got a call from our realtor that our place was definitely going on the market tomorrow morning. after almost two months of nobody being able to get in touch with our landlord (including her realtor), she was finally ready to list it! now that it was back in the realm of possibility, we walked home in silence thinking about what we wanted to do. we talked about it in bed and knew that we had to try to get this place but that we would likely be outbid. the next morning it went on the market and we were getting showing request after showing request, which was making us nervous that there was so much interest in the place within the first few hours. luckily, because tenants receive 24 hours before a showing, we had a leg up on people to get our offer in. we met with our realtor that night, put in an offer, she countered, and we accepted! unfortunately, we still had to accept all showings until we waived both the financial condition and condo status condition (which took about 10 days). we had people going through our place for almost two weeks which was a little awkward because we knew it was already ours. 

once we waived both of the conditions, we just had to sit and wait until closing day. that day has now come and passed (one week today!) and we're officially homeowners in a place we love. we really  lucked out and even our realtor said that she lost out on about $30-$50k by taking our offer just below asking because she could have gotten a lot more judging by the market and all of the interest. 

now that this baby is all ours, we cannot wait to renovate from the bottom up. in about a year or two, we'll be tearing this place up and making it all sparkly and new. until then, we can live with it as is and save some money do our dream renos. 

 but in the meantime, we're homeowners in toronto! 

we moved!

about 3 months ago (maybe a little less?) we had some leaking in our apartment. at first, it was just a few drips, but then one day when dylan got home in the afternoon, water was all over our den and everything in the hall closet soaked. we had workers coming in and our of our place for weeks unable to find the problem. was it rain? was it coming from the unit above? was it coming from the mechanical room? it was a mystery. we had to move most of our stuff from the den (luckily nothing was ruined) into the living area and we were living in a mess. then water started coming up through the floors! it smelled and our place was disgusting. after about 4 weeks, they finally discovered it (but wouldn't pass on any information to us) and then had workers in and out fixing things up. but between then, they had completely ripped out our closet, torn down drywall in the den, and made everything a general mess. it was awful.

all of this was basically the icing on the cake to move. now that we're not there anymore, i feel i can say where we lived - we were on the 48th floor of the one of the newer towers in cityplace. i'm just putting it out there if you're from toronto or thinking of moving there -- DO NOT DO IT. the building was so poorly run and the people that started moving in recently are not people we want to live with. and then there are the elevator situations. there are 49 floors in the condo we were in and 3 elevators. 3!! and i would say for about the last 6 months, there was always one down, meaning 2 elevators were now servicing 49 floors. rush hours were miserable and 20-30 minute waits were not unusual. forget weekends when another would be on service for people moving in or out, you might as well not even try to leave your place unless you want to take the stairs (which we did a few times).

this is all to say, we finally said enough is enough, we have to get out of here!  dylan wanted to be around the st lawrence market and i agreed that it's a great neighborhood. i looked online at a bunch of places and finally found a listing i liked. i booked a viewing without dylan because he was sleeping from work and i actually really liked it. i showed him the video i took and he was sold. 6 days after we got home from italy, we packed everything up and got the hell out of our old place.

our new place is fantastic. the building is a little older, much smaller, and a much higher percentage of owner occupancy vs renters, which means that the people here actually care about where they live. we moved from the 48th floor to the 2nd, and elevators aren't even part of our life anymore! we decided to forego the shiny new stainless steel appliances in favour of location and a unit that was a little bigger. we moved from about 600 square feet to almost 800 and let me tell you, it feels so much bigger. and bonus: the new place has a locker! oh and the laundry in our unit? in a massive storage room where we can hang coats, keep towels, tools, our vacuum etc. so even though we have slightly less cabinet space overall, we definitely have more storage.

let's go!

that's enough for the first day!

we were able to put the middle piece of our sectional back in after 2 years in storage. if you can believe it, with the built in cabinetry in the old place, the width of the couch didn't even fit.

a real dining area. finally.

we found this fantastic bar sign at the st lawrence antique market.

1 day after moving in, we had my parents over for dinner. definitely motivation to get everything in place.

the den is still very much a work in progress. dylan is looking for the right futon, he's still got a new tv stand to put together, and he's ordered a bunch of star wars posters to be hung. it's basically going to be his video game, board game, nerdy man den.

and that's the tour! we're so much happier here and really love the neighborhood. one of the upside of renting is being able to try different areas and move along when you please.

sights and sounds of christmas...

over the weekend we made our way to the distillery district for the christmas market once again. my parents and aunt and uncle came up and we were all able to enjoy the hustle and bustle, grab a bite to eat, and take in all the sights and the sounds of the season.

"wow! this is good!" is what he just finished saying. 

mrs. claus!

that would be a turkey leg.

which he thoroughly enjoyed.

yep.

it's a little crazy to think that one week from today, we'll be sitting around a tree, opening presents, hanging with family, and then it will all be over. it's coming up way too fast.

nuit blanche...

i found nuit blanche to be such a let down this year. while i think it's great that art is getting more and more people out to enjoy the city for a night, it's becoming too much. i felt there was much less art this year, and the number of people is just getting to be unbearable. anything i really wanted to see had a lineup, which is unfortunate, because we definitely didn't feel like waiting. overall, we lasted maybe 2 hours and then called it quits and went for ice cream and then a pitcher of sangria.

'i dont get it' - you heard that a lot through the night from the people in the crowds at the various installations. 

 thousands of beach balls made to be globes. each globe represented 1 million people and together represented the first and third worlds.

 getting "infected".

these people in hazmat-like suits 'indected' you with a pen that shows up in black light. they then gave you a small pen to go and 'infect' others. at midnight, everyone was to meet at a specific location to be cured. obviously, we didn't make it there, but it's a good thing because we were the idiots drawing inappropriate things on each other and they would have showed up for all to see when we were standing under giant black lights.

 the screaming booth. where one goes to release their frustrations in a crowded city.

 note: it was most definitely not sound proof like advertised!

 forest in the city. or something like that.

last stop - ice cream.

we tried, but in the end, ice cream wins over art. even if it was only 6 degrees that night.

suits filming...

you've probably noticed by now that i mention the show suits quite a bit, and i'm just a wee bit obsessed with it. i'd always hoped that i would see them filming it, and yesterday my wish came true! i was walking to work and was only a block away when i see a hot dog stand set up, a usa today newspaper stand, cameras, and crew. i immediately took to twitter to see if anyone had any info, all the while crossing my fingers it would be suits. i saw a tweet mentioning it was indeed suits, and i spent the rest of the morning counting down to my lunch so i could make my way back over.

where i initially saw them setting up was now being packed up, but i could see just one block south that there was some action going on. i walked on down and lo and behold, i see harvey specter and mike ross filming a scene at the hot dog stand. as i was taking a few pictures (where i thought i was off to the side), i had a guy come up to me and tell me, "ma'am, we can't have you on camera taking pictures." woops! and then another lady with some type of headset came over and asked if i was one of the extras. i told her no, but i could jump right in! she laughed and said i probably could and no one would notice. i should have tried ;)

hi harvey (gabriel macht) and mike (patrick j. adams)!

just harvey eating a hot dog. 

after they filmed the last part, all the women swarmed over to mike ross for selfies. he was super nice and taking them with a bunch of people. i was literally right beside him but didn't have the guts to stick a camera in his face. maybe i'll try again today.

resting bitch face + live tv...

yesterday afternoon, my mom, my best friend, and her mom all came down to toronto and we went to a taping of the social. the doors open right at 12 with the show starting live at 1pm. after waiting in a small room for about 45 minutes getting the rundown and what to do (have fun! laugh! smack your knee! look to your left and right when laughing! use your phone and be 'social' on social media to interact with what they're talking about!) and what not to do (stare right in to camera, creep in your friend's screen time if you see them). the show started with guest co-host kevin o'leary, mega canadian businessman and also on the shows shark tank and dragon's den. then there were segments on products to make your life easier, shark week, and finally, it ended with the team that was eliminated on amazing race canada the night before.

now let's talk about being on live tv for a sec. holy nerve-wracking. my anxiety went through the roof and i had a hard time enjoying myself, to be honest. i was super tense and felt like i couldn't sit still. about half way through, i checked my phone during the commercial and dylan had started sending me pictures of us that he was taking while watching us at home. i'm telling you, we all looked awful!!! so uninterested, miserable, really tired (those bags under my eyes are wild), and just all around not good. and hilarious. you laugh and smile when they say something funny, but it's quite a challenge apparently to look engaged when you're just listening to a normal conversation. i shared the pictures with our little group and we all had a good laugh. thankfully, that loosened me up slightly for the rest of the show.

the much music/ctv building.

 on set!

our blue ensembles were not planned!

 commercial break.

 amazing race contestants.

and this, my friends, is how excited i looked on tv. there were a few shots of me laughing and smiling, but more of me looking like this. awesome.

we all needed a drink after being so tense so we went to a nearby mexican joint.

the audience received kevin's new book.

if i ever do go back to sit in an audience again, i've got some major practicing to do.