Personal News 🙂
If you have been following closely, you probably have guessed my “big news…” I bought a house! I have typed this sentence out so many times now (and signed so many papers) but it still doesn’t feel real. This has been a goal (probably my biggest goal) for so long.
This is a long, rambly post so buckle up? I have a lot to talk about. I won’t be posting much more about this for a few months as I don’t move in until the end of October. But more on that below!
Thank you.
I don’t even know where to start so I think I will start with a thank you. This probably sounds dramatic or maybe even disingenuous (I hope not, I mean this with all of my heart) but I really mean it when I say that this blog has completely changed my life. This community, plus a combination of luck, privilege, and hard work. Before running my site and social media full time, I spent 12 years working in more traditional jobs. I always worked hard and earned a good living. But when I started my blog back in 2010, it was just a fun hobby, a creative escape. I never thought I would make money doing this, I never thought I’d quit my day job. I’m a “plan for the worst” sort of person and never thought any of this would be possible for me.
Back then, it was just me and my laptop, sharing the things I loved with a few readers, which eventually grew into a lot of readers. It has mostly been pretty wonderful but there have been a lot of ups and downs. It’s made me the subject of ridicule and the butt of jokes by people who were once close friends. I have been taken advantage of at times, treated like an idiot at others, and needless to say I am a lot less trusting than I was ten years ago. You just become weary of who you get close to. Time has taught me that anyone who would mock anyone else’s creative endeavor isn’t a great friend to begin with, but the hurtful stuff still stings. In hindsight, it’s a good lesson: I’d much rather have a smaller circle of friends who relentlessly support each other’s pursuits and ambitions.
I am telling you this context because looking back, I truly don’t know why I kept doing this!
I didn’t make a penny from it for the first two years. And it was pretty time-consuming, especially after a long day in the office. I kept doing it because I loved it and it felt fun to me, but there was definitely that darker side!
Twelve years later this hobby that oftentimes felt foolish, this hobby that was mocked so frequently… is not only a viable business, but a lucrative one. I wake up every day (okay most days, we are all human!) feeling extraordinarily lucky and grateful. My life has changed so much because of you! I have said this before but now there is this physical thing: I literally would not own this house if it were not for you and your support. A blog (or an influencer, you know I don’t love that word) is nothing without its community. Every time you come here to read, every time you click a link or support one of my sponsors… you are in turn, supporting me. I am so grateful for that.
With all of that being said, I wanted to share a little bit about the house-hunting process, the house, buying the house, and more.
The hunt!
Quiet and privacy are both a big thing for me. I knew that I wanted to be downtown (I’m going to learn to drive but I truly love walking!). Still, I didn’t want to be on a main street or anywhere loud. Another thing that made my search hard was size! Everything was too big or too small. I knew that I wanted something around 2,000 square feet (but not much smaller than that). My apartment right now is just over 1,200 square feet – around 2,000 felt perfect. I knew that I did not want several guest rooms or a giant space to take care of (and keep cool during the summer), but after 19 years of apartment living, I wanted a proper house or townhouse. Space to entertain was another big thing, and a real outdoor space… either a small yard, courtyard, patio, deck…
I was flexible on the “what” but it needed to be sizable. (Note: my definition of sizable is probably different than most people’s… right now, I have a 6×10 foot patio… I just wanted to have something that would fit more than two people at a time!). The outdoor space of my new home is really beautiful. I cannot wait to build a garden with my mom, to sit and read out on the covered porch, to host dinner parties, to relax by the fire with my boyfriend after a long day. It took me a while, but I found it. With the help of LeGrand (the best realtor!). My quiet, cozy little house with room to party and a great outdoor space.
I started looking back in January and learned a lot – both about the real estate market and myself in general.
The process makes you get really get clear on what is an absolute must, what would be nice to have, and what you can live without. A really big thing for me was that outdoor space. Closets were also a must. My current apartment has great closets and I’ve gotten pretty spoiled there. I saw quite a few places (especially in the historic district) that either didn’t have closets or had these tiny, cupboard style closets. Cute for a doll, impractical for a person! (This part of the process was actually pretty fun, I really loved getting to peek into so many houses!).
I am a homebody and introvert, but I love having people over. I can’t wait to host dinner parties. (The kitchen and formal dining room are especially beautiful, I cannot wait to show you them!). I could tell that the previous owners spent a lot of care and work on the home. No detail was overlooked and they had great taste. We have since gotten together for drinks and I am hopeful that we will become friends. I even ended up buying some furniture and rugs from them. I plan on making a few changes to make it my own, but nothing dramatic.
My Timeline.
The real estate market is crazy right now. You probably know this! House hunting right now moves very slowly… until it doesn’t. As I mentioned before, I started the process at the end of January. But when I found the home I wanted to buy, I was under contract within two days. It was a little bit wild.
On a Saturday morning, LeGrand texted me a listing that had just gone live that morning. I went to see it at 4. I just… fell in love with it. So I called my friend to see if he could meet me and he agreed that it was perfect. I was shaking a little bit but said to him, “let’s make an offer!!!!”
One thing that wound up helping us is that this house had short term leases in place through early October. This was actually appealing to me: my current lease goes through the end of October. It sort of just felt meant to be: I could enjoy the rest of my time in my apartment building, not stress about finding someone to sublet, and plan for my move (purging, looking for new furniture, etc.). A nice, leisurely move-in period.
The other thing that helped: two days after I saw the property (also the day it went on the market), a tenant moved in… making it much harder for them to have new showings. It also helped that the seller had just found HIS dream property and wanted to close as quickly as possible. My realtor and lender were fine with that so we just got to work. We’d initially planned to close in 45 days but ended up doing it in 23.
Back to the timeline:
I made an offer at 9pm on Saturday after seeing it a 4 that day. Sunday morning was agony. I was with my family for brunch and was on pins and needles and was jittery all morning looking at my phone, making sure I didn’t miss a text or a phone call. I knew that the home was being shown that morning and was fully prepared for someone to come in with a cash offer. And I did not want to get into a bidding war and was prepared to walk away if I needed to. (Again: this market is wild!) But then around 3pm (literally in under 24 hours of having first seen the house) I found out that my offer had been accepted.
The next day (Monday), we spent the day going back and forth on the contract. By Monday night I was under contract. The inspection was the following Friday and the appraisal was on Monday. After the inspection and appraisals, it was just a lot of paperwork.
It was a big learning process!
Making sure that I got my lender everything they needed became my second job.
This is the big part. You need to be able to reply quickly, answer questions in real time, and get them everything they need. There were so many questions and addendums to sign. I am really organized so there weren’t any crises, but it was still stressful. Just things you wouldn’t expect, one thing for me was that I had just written a few big checks for taxes so they were like “wtf are these big purchases.” I was like “lolz no, those aren’t purchases,” got them screen shots of the checks, and we were fine. But every day it was something! It was all manageable, and it makes sense: the bank needs to be incredibly thorough, they are doing their job, they want to see everything. And every document seems to require something special, letterhead, the URL at the top, etc.
It was a lot of deep breaths, focusing, and just getting them what they needed.
On top of that, there was my own personal anxiety. Every day until closing, I worried that something would bad happen. I definitely have imposter syndrome around money and kept just thinking, “how would they give me this mortgage, how am I buying this house, I don’t deserve it, this is going to fall apart.” It’s weird, I am 40 years old, have saved up a lot of money, but in my heart I still feel like a broke twenty-something.
I told myself that everything would be okay as long as I stayed calm and got the lender everything he needed (while googling or asking friends if I didn’t understand something). My lender told me that if blogging doesn’t work out, he’ll hire me… that made me laugh, I guess I came across as organized despite feeling like a mess on the inside!
It was a lot of learning.
Also, homeowners insurance and flood insurance. As someone who has rented for the past twenty years, this was a new thing to learn and understand. My boyfriend was really helpful here. He is an architect and had a client and a friend lose their homes during the Woolsey fires in Malibu. A nightmare but then a second nightmare… with inflation, their policies weren’t big enough to cover the expenses to rebuild. I thought that was such a good point and took out additional insurance.
All in all, the process was definitely a lot of work (and a lot of googling + calls to loved ones and my realtor being like “WTF does this mean”), but it really was not bad. I tell friends (especially friends who are women, thinking of buying on their own) who feel intimidated about buying a house, “If I could do this, so can you.” And I wound up enjoying the learning process and was very hands on. I went to the inspection (I definitely recommend doing this!). The biggest thing that helped me stay sane is that while I did this alone, I never felt alone.
My boyfriend, friends, and parents were all really eager to help me and my realtor was incredibly detail-oriented but also patient with all of my questions. My friends and my dad (only one at a time, I didn’t want to bring an entourage) would come along to look at houses with me, my boyfriend asked the tough logistical questions that I’d never think of, my brother-in-law gave me a giant list of questions to ask the inspector… I could go on. So while yes, I technically did this alone, I didn’t feel alone… I felt really supported by my people. Also: google. Thank goodness for google!!
Closing Day…
Closing day was wild. I felt sick wiring the down payment. After saving for this for so long, it was weird to have such a big portion of my savings account just… gone! I think I checked and rechecked the routing instructions at least ten times. I was so nervous that I’d accidentally type one number wrong and all that money would go into some sort of black hole. (If this is you, my lawyer later told me that they have checks in place to ensure this doesn’t happen!). At the actual closing, I signed so many documents that my hand was sore afterward. I met my parents and one of my best friends for a martini afterward to celebrate. It just didn’t feel real. It still doesn’t feel real!
I won’t have much more to share about this for a while (like I mentioned above, there is a tenant in there right now and I want to respect their privacy – I posted (or if it’s early – will post) a little teaser on Instagram from when it was staged but that’s probably all I will share til October. A long time to wait but I wanted to share this news with you. The tenants leave in early October. I will be making a few updates (painting some trim, building a bigger closet, adding some built-ins to the room that will become my “library”), and then I move at the end of October. Lots more to come, but we ALL have to wait a little while for that. 🙂
Thank you for sharing in my joy.
And as I said earlier, thank you for your support – I wouldn’t be here without my readership. Some of you have been here since the Stripes & Sequins days and I am especially grateful for you. This has been a huge dream of mine for years and years, I cannot believe it’s really real. I am so, so, happy, excited, grateful… there are not enough words.
ALSO: I loved my realtor and my lender so much. And I cannot say enough good things about either person, if you are in the market to buy in Charleston. I worked with LeGrand Elebash as my realtor (he was the most patient but also the most thorough; he was my sister and her husband’s realtor too!) and Sterling Chambless on my mortgage. I can’t recommend either of them enough!
Congratulations! You’re inspiring me to take the homeowner leap. So excited for you.
GRACE!!!! Congratulations!!! I can’t wait to see it. So happy for you !!
Congrats on your new home! Wonderful news and you will love owning your own space! Cheers!
Congratulations Grace, so excited for you & Tyrion!
Congratulations on this lovely news, Grace!
Congratulations! Moving into a house is so exciting and fun! I can’t wait to see it!
Huge congratulations Grace! So happy for you. ♥️
Congratulations! That is so exciting!
Congratulations, Grace!! Thanks for sharing—looking forward to following along. ✨
Congrats!! This market is no joke, esp in Atlanta. We decided to sell our pre-pandemic house and buy a larger one LAST WEEK and are are already under contract (on the one we’re buying, fingers crossed on selling ours). Your new place sounds cute and perfect for you – hope it serves you for years to come!
Congratulations on your new home! I can’t wait to see it especially how you will set up your library. Looking forward to all your content about it.
So happy for you, Congrats. Very empowering to set and reach our goals.
Congratulations! How exciting! Wishing you all the best.
Congratulations! I am so happy for you! I cannot wait for the house content at the end of the year too, I’m sure it’s going to look amazing!
Congratulations, Grace!! Buying a house is such a big deal. And, you’re right, you learn SO much going through the process. I can’t wait to see pictures. xoxo
Congrats!! What an exciting time! My husband is a realtor in Charleston and the market is unbelievable the last few months. So glad you were able to find something.
Congratulations! Can’t wait to see it! Home buying is such a process, but it’s so wonderful to settle in once it’s all done. I also loved seeing so many different homes throughout the journey!
Congratulations, Grace! Thrilled for you!
Congratulations! The first home purchase is a special one. Enjoy!
You did it! Congratulations! Thanks for sharing your path to owning your home. I am sorry that friends & others gave you a rough time about your blog & your choices in life. I am glad you shared the upheaval of friendships. It happens & it’s hard to lose friends as we grow into who we are meant to be. Blessings & hugs!
I am just so happy for you!! Having just gone through this process myself solo – it’s such a big undertaking and such a big deal!! The place looks amazing and I can’t wait to see what you do with it!!
Ahhhhh congratulations!!! This is so exciting and I can’t wait to see how it looks when you’re done with it. And a LIBRARY!! Amazing.
So happy for you! And can’t wait to see how you decorate your new place!
Congrats Grace!! So happy for you!
congratulations!! i can’t wait to see what you do with a whole house!
CONGRATS GRACE!! This is such an accomplished and I cannot wait to see your designs!!
Congratulations Grace!! So excited for you!
Congratulations! I loved reading your home story and wish you the best with it!!
Congrats Grace!
So happy for you, on this huge big move.
C
Congrats! We bought a house (also my first and in my late 30s) last May and I know that nervous feeling well. I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown the entire 40 days to close (we also offered within hours of seeing it- will they take our offer, will it appraise, how will inspection go, etc) but it’s soooo worth it. Excited to see how you decorate, your art collection, your yard…
Congratulations, Grace!! I’m soo excited for you to have a library room! The dream!
HUGE CONGRATULATIONS!!! I just did this same process by myself November 2020 – there’s no better feeling. When I moved in, my first morning I woke up there, I went out on my deck, looked at my yard and my fireplace and all the things I loved – and was like THIS IS MINE?!?!? It’s still wild two years later. Wishing you so much happiness in your new home!!! Enjoy the entire process – now is the fun part 🙂
Congratulations, Grace!!!! 🙂 I know this has long been a goal of yours, and it’s so inspiring to see you accomplish it. Can’t wait to see all the new home content!
Woohoo! So so exciting – congratulations! Can’t wait to see all of the pictures and decor!
Congratulations Grace!! Cheers to your new exciting chapter!!
I’m thrilled for you – congratulations!!!
congrats grace!! can’t wait to see more!
Ahhh congratulations!!!! I’m so excited for you, can’t wait to see it in the fall!
Congratulations! So thrilled for you, and the sneak peek looks stunning!
Congratulations!! So excited for you and thank you for continuing to share this journey with us!!
Congratulations Grace!! I’m so very happy and excited for you. October seems like the perfect time to move, as it won’t be as hot.
Congratulations, such exciting news!!!
Congratulations, Grace!! You are incredible, and you have cultivated a community that is really special. So happy for you! <3
Congratulations!! I’m so happy for you! And totally understand that sick feeling after a big purchase even though you planned and it’s what you want! (What is that?) can’t wait to see more!! 🙂
Congrats Grace! This is such a huge accomplishment!!
Congratulations! I just bought a house last year and your post felt very relatable! I also double checked the wiring many times!
oh my gosh yes.
In Seattle, they won’t even accept wires! You have to drop off your check!
Congratulations!
Congratulations!!
Grace! I am rooting for you, and I’m so proud of you! Super weird sometimes to feel proud and happy for someone you don’t know IRL, but this is so amazing. Celebrate, enjoy, and can’t wait to see it all come together. A library?? It’s going to be so good!
Congratulations Grace! So much of what you describe about your process reminded me of mine a couple years ago. Having an experienced realtor you like working with is such a big deal; mine recommended so many of the great people who played different rolls in the process. I’m so excited for you and for us to get to go on this journey with you! Thank you for having us 🙂
p.s.- Something I had to reckon with when I bought my house was the reality that I just can’t do all the things all at once. I used to see on-hold projects in my parents house and think “why don’t they just do that/get that done?” A couple months into owning my home, I got it. Money, time, energy are all finite. It’s also not the end of the world for something to be not “perfect” for a while. Giving myself the grace to be flexible my expectations was hard, and the best gift I could give myself. Wishing the same for anyone who might also find themselves in that position!
I love this advice. Already thinking about it a lot. Thank you for sharing!!!
How wonderful for you! A house in Charleston, just lovely!! You deserve this.
Congratulations, Grace! So happy for you. You’re inspiring me to make choices that make me happy, on my own timeline— thanks for sharing the process!!
Congratulations! I’m so happy and excited for you. Also, you’ve got me giddy about the library!
GRACE! I am SO happy for you! Absolutely thrilled. After following you for many years (back when you still were working for BaubleBar), it’s been such a pleasure to watch you grow. You’ve earned it! I cannot wait for all the new house updates – but particularly your home design thoughts
So many congratulations to you!!! This is amazing and you must feel so happy and proud! Inspiring to see a single gal like myself buying a home!
Congratulations, Grace! I’m a longtime reader and I don’t think I’ve ever commented, but I had to today! I found you through Twitter when the blog was “A Perfectionist In Rehab” so needless to say, I’ve been following you for years. All this to say, I’m proud of you! (Is that weird?) Biggest congratulations to you. I can see how hard you worked for this.
OH MY GOSH (I remember your name from twitter actually) that was such a short period!!!! The old, old blog!!!! Thank you so much.
Congratulations! Such exciting news!
Congratulations, Grace! As a follow single woman home owner, I know the joy and sense of accomplishment owning a home you love. I can’t wait for you to give us some peeks into your home in the fall! Congrats!!!
Congratulations! Thank you for sharing this huge milestone. Very happy for you!
Congratulations! What a wonderful accomplishment. Excited to see your continued Charleston adventures.
This is amazing news! I am so excited for you. I purchased my first home two years ago on my own! Google and a supportive network are all you need. Yes, things are different from the stripes and sequins days, haha! No more bauble necklaces just buying a house and keeping us in the know on skincare. In all seriousness, thank you for using your platform to let women know they can do so many things, and also women should have rights!
oh my god the bauble necklaces. Those days were like, how many statement necklaces can I wear in one outfit!
Congrats, Grace! Sounds amazing and I, for one, can’t wait to see how you decorate and bring it all together. Big cheers to you 🙂
Congratulations!
Thrilled for you! Congratulations!
Huge congrats Grace! So excited for your next step 🙂
Congratulations! I loved this post and your emotions about becoming a home owner, extremely well written and inspiring.
Congratulations! You’ve worked so hard for this, you deserve it all.
So, so, so beyond thrilled for you. I find you such an inspiration in so many ways and your honesty about the journey to this point just adds to that! Congratulations, and looking forward to whatever you choose to share about your beautiful new home in the future! <3
Grace, congratulations!!!! ❤️
Congratulations Grace—how wonderful that it all came together so beautifully! Enjoy the rest of this process!
Congratulations! Wishing you many happy memories in your new home
Congratulations!!! I am so happy for you!
Congrats Grace! Your new home is beautiful & I can’t wait to see how you make it your own! ❤️
Congrats!! I also bought a house this year (closed in February). I am exactly like you – I felt SO SICK wiring that much money to close!! It is a truly panic-inducing feeling lol But once you realize it went to the correct place and was received, so much better! Haha
So excited for you! Thanks for bringing us along on this fabulous journey. Can’t wait to see it all in October.
CONGRATULATIONS! This didn’t happen TO you, you earned it and worked incredibly hard to make this dream a reality. You have so much to be proud of! Cant wait to share in all the joy to come 🙂
Congrats!! I would’ve written the part about how wildly fast it all goes and the imposter syndrome around how ‘someone like me’ could get this mortgage/house word for word from my first (also solo) buying experience last fall! It’s still such an adjustment to know this is MINE and that I can do whatever I want to it without approval
Enjoy!
Congratulations, Grace!! Such a huge accomplishment. Reading through this post, you reminded me of all the things I went through just last fall to buy the condo I’m now living in. I really reckoned with the buying a property by myself at the time and woof… it was so hard to constantly be waiting for that next email from the bank/realtor. It’s been so fun to get a peek into your life over the years (I’m a follower since your BaubleBar days) and I hope you can enjoy the fruits of your labor. Can’t wait to see what you do with the new space! Congratulations again <3
Congratulations!! This is so exciting. I’m about to start the house hunting process on my own and the details you shared about your experience were great insight. Can’t wait to see more of the house in the fall!
Reading the beginning (and just all you’ve been through) brought tears to my eyes, and your gratitude is so, so obvious. You didn’t have to say “thank you” to us but it speaks volumes about the care and intention with which you operate – and it’s why I have stuck around and read your blog for years!! Cheers to you on this big adventure! So happy for you!
Congratulations, Grace! I am so excited for you to host parties next to that amazing backsplash! I am so glad your “little hobby” has turned into such a fulfilling and fun career for you because reading your blog is fulfilling and fun for so many of your readers! xo
This is wonderful news! Congratulations!
I was SO excited for you as I started reading but then I got to the part about your LIBRARY and may have shrieked a little. Congratulations, Grace!
Congratulations Grace! I enjoyed reading your journey to homeownership, and thank you for all the insight into the process and behind the scenes!
Congratulations! When we were buying our house we were paying taxes as well so the flagging and extra explaining about “moving large sums of money” resonates 🙂 it’s their job but in the moment it amp’d up my stress so much!
Aw good for you. Long time reader, this makes me so happy to see
Congratulations, Grace!! So exciting!
Congrats!! This is beyond exciting and I am so obsessed with the photos you’ve shared so far. I also want to thank you for being one of the few influencers who has gone out of your way to thank your audience for being a big part of this. You have built such a dedicated community here and it shows. And to thank them is just the best. A true reflection of who you are.
xx
xo Jessica
an indigo day
I will be here for alll the home content! Congratulations to you!
Congrats! I’m relatively new to your blog and love it- my daughter recommended it as she’s followed you for years.
Congratulations! Wonderful news, I love hearing this. Been reading you for years, back before the little studio apartment with your loft bed, the apartment before that! So happy to see you grow and blossom and bloom into YOU. Thank you for sharing along the way, you give us hope. Best wishes, can’t wait to see what you are up to next. P.S. wore the Amazon cut-out dress yesterday, felt great! Thanks again!
Congratulations, Grace!
Congratulations on your new home! I can tell you even re-financing a home is stressful too but well worth it in the long run! One thing I can say about moving it’s a great time to purge and throw away things you want or need any longer!
Congrats!!!! I bought my first home (also downtown Charleston) in December and the process was so stressful but so exciting! Enjoy!!!
Ahhhh amazing, congratss!
Congratulations, Grace!!! So so happy for you! I couldn’t help but chuckle at the couple of times you said “we” in your post… I bought a house on my own two years ago and found myself doing the same thing during the process! It was really hard for me to think of it as something I was doing on my own. But I felt the same as you said at the end that you really had your people all around you helping you, that is why you didn’t feel alone! Congrats, again!
Hahahaha I kept saying this, and it really felt like a WE, even though it was technically just me!!!!
Congratulations! Buying a home is a big step and one that will hopefully be a great savings and wealth builder for you over the years. I too bought my first house alone as a single woman and was clueless and frightened and learned so much. I actually bought a copy of Home Buying for Dummies to get me through it, back before the internet was so informative. I hope you have a wonderful time planning and decorating and moving into your new space. A new home always feels like a dream come true! You have earned this!!
Congratulations!!!!!
Congratulations!!! Your house looks amazing! Best feeling in the world buying your first home. I’m so happy for you!
Grace
Wonderful news! New house, “new” site! And you are right near family in a super
city. My daughter attends COFC…what a great place to live! Lots of good wishes for you!
Yayyyy! So so incredibly happy for you, friend!
Congratulations- can’t wait to see you style it
Congratulations!
I’m so happy for you Grace!! Congratulations!! Very excited to see how your library and outdoor space turn out.
Congratulations! that is wonderful. I can’t wait to see pictures of this home on your blog 🙂
Congratulations! Owning a home feels so good even while watching money fly out the window. I cannot wait to see it!!
Wonderful!!! I’m so happy for you!!!!
Congratulations!!!!! I’m so happy for you and for us who get to savor all the new content
Congratulations Grace!!! This is so cool and inspiring, I’m so happy for you and can’t wait to see how you decorate your new home! I know it will be gorgeous, charming and cozy all at the same time.
Congrats. Enjoy every minute and can’t wait to see the finished home!!
Congratulations! I’m so happy for you. While I don’t know you IRL I follow you for a reason, I’m positive we would be friends if we ever met. The pictures you have shown of YOUR home are beautiful. I wish you nothing but happiness. You deserve this!
Congrats!! Such exciting news 🙂
Congratulations, you deserve it!
Congrats! As a house hunter right now myself, I can empathize with the stress, doubt, and roller coaster of emotions. You should feel proud for navigating one of the toughest housing markets in history. Can’t wait to see pictures!
Congratulations!!!
So incredibly happy for you, Grace! I cannot wait to see your library and how you make this lovely house a home
xo, Azanique
Congrats!!! Omg I feel you on the wiring thing. I did it alone while my husband was at work and was SO SCARED I had sent the money to a drug cartel or just into the abyss hahaha
Congratulations!!! You deserve it, make lots of beautiful memories in the new house
The underlying excitement and joy in every word throughout this blog post made me super excited for you. You deserve it, congrats!
Congratulations Grace. I’m so happy for you and can’t wait to see how you bring your style to your new home.
Congrats. So exciting. Can’t wait to see it.
Congratulations, Grace! OG reader here, and it has been so fun to “grow up” with you. It’s great to see you so happy in Charleston! I’m excited to see your new home whenever you are ready to share. Enjoy the fun times ahead as you prepare to move in!
Congrats Grace! I am so happy for you! What an amazing accomplishment. I loved every bit of this blog post. I bought my place by myself too and felt the exact same way. Alone but not fully alone. This is some great insight to a person, especially a female, who is looking to buy their fist home on what to expect. Can’t wait to see the house in October 🙂
CONGRATULATIONS!!! So excited for you. Can’t wait to follow along October onwards to see how you make it yours! xo
This is so exciting!! Congratulations!! You deserve it!!!
Grace I am THRILLED for you! Long time reader here – cannot wait to see your move/projects come to life! I am actually house hunting right now myself. Thanks for encouraging me to stick with the process no matter how daunting/exhausting it may seem 🙂
Congratulations! These are such great news. I hope you’ll be very happy in your new home.
CONGRATULATIONS!
Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!! What an incredible accomplishment! I hope you feel so proud of yourself. There are so many factors that go into success, like you said (luck, privilege, etc.), but don’t downplay all your hard work. I hope you bask in this moment!!!
CONGRATS! This is so exciting. Can’t wait to see the new space and how you decorate it.
Congrats! As a long time reader and follower, I am just thrilled for you. Also, this market is bonkers. We just moved to Charlotte from Chicago, and started our search in January, too. Ended up renting because there was legit no inventory and everything we liked ended up going for like 50K over asking and bidding wars! So stressful. I’m really glad it worked out for you, and the best homes are worth the wait! Cheers to you.
Grace I am so so happy for you! What an amazing milestone, and the few snippets you’ve shared of the house look absolutely incredible. I can’t wait to see how you make this space your own! Congratulations
Congratulations, I am so happy for you.
CONGRATS GRACE!!!! This is so exciting!! I look forward to the journey of furniture selection and designing of your new place!!
Congratulations, friend!! I’m so so thrilled for you! Cannot wait to see how it all comes together because you have THE BEST taste in decor. Cheers!
Huge congrats!!! This has been one of my favorite blogs for such a long time. I’m so thrilled for you. Thank you for sharing the experience with us.
Congratulations! I was grinning the whole way through that post, but my jaw dropped when I hit the word ‘library’ – living the dream! So happy for you x
Wow!! Huge congratulations! The sneak peaks are gorgeous and look like you’re style will easily slide right in.
The scalamandre wallpaper in the sneak peak just seems so you!! Congrats!!
So happy for you Grace!! Congratulations on this huge milestone!
Thank you!
Congratulations Grace!! So happy for you!
Congratulations, Grace! This is so exciting to realize a major goal. The sneak peek you posted on IG looks stunning. Different style from your previous apartments but still so you! It’s obvious that the house is great quality and well-cared for.
Can’t wait to learn and see more. I recently moved into a new house as well, and due to the circumstances moved in about 10 weeks after closing. The wait and anticipation will be all worth it!!
I realize I’m very late to the party on this but congratulations! You must to be so happy and proud. Wishing you all the best in your new home!