Eight years ago I moved to Federal Hill with some college friends and couldn’t wait to begin discovering and living ‘city life’.
Over those eight years, I moved from the outskirts (if you know Baltimore, and knew it in 2010, anything past Fort Ave was outskirts) of Federal Hill to ‘in the mix’ Federal Hill and then to Fells Point and I’ve never loved anything more.
The convenience of walking to grab a cup of coffee, walking to dinner and my short commute to work are just some of the little things I have enjoyed over these past years – but that’s all about to change because…THIS HAPPENED!
WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!
(…well some grass, but we are building a house!)
To most of you, this move comes as no surprise – it’s something I’ve talked about with many of you either over coffee or casual drinks at the bar. But to some of you who don’t know me as personally – you’re probably asking yourself why would you leave a fun, up and coming city like Baltimore to move to a *gasp* s u b u r b?
Well, the past two-ish years Matt and I have been on and off again looking at homes to move to where I grew up – a lot of our friends have migrated back to this place we all used to call home and while eight years ago I would have said that’s the last place I’d ever live, the more time has gone on the more I’ve come to realize there’s no other place I’d rather live and start Matt and I’s family.
I think back on the friends I made growing up and how we all still keep in contact in one way or another. How, no matter how long it’s been or where I am – if I run into someone I knew or someone’s parents I knew from middle school or high school, there’s a special connection that I feel with people. How the tight-knit community I grew up in somehow still holds true to this day and while ‘knowing everyone’ may have seemed annoying when I was younger – it’s a sense of comfort and a sense of belonging that has kept me yearning to get back these past few years.
After looking at fixer upper type homes in the Anne Arundel County area we took a chance, thanks to our realtor Jenn Bonk of The Bonk Team , and went to look at some new construction and ultimately a community that Jenn had recommended. We realized that what we wanted in a home, we could build and get new at what it was costing to get a fixer upper type home. And let me tell you, most of the homes we were looking at needed A LOT of work – one of which gave me the hebee jeebies so bad we didn’t even go upstairs. While the decision to build sounds easy – it wasn’t. I spent lots of sleepless nights and hours during the day just running through it all in my mind – would this be the right decision? Should we go this route? We’re getting married this year, is it the right time? Will it ever be the right time?
But at the end of the day – with the costs and benefits laid on our table – it was the way to go for us and we signed on that dotted line in late January.
With the excitement of signing, what felt like a million papers and making lots of choices (literally everything from a ceiling fixture to a grout color?!) I’ve tried to take some time to reflect – reflect on how excited I am but also how bittersweet it’ll be to leave a city I’ve called home for almost a decade.
There are plenty of things I’m going to miss about living in this city and while I won’t be far, part of me gets a little sad to know that this chapter in my life is closing – the chapter where I could walk the dog and see everything from an outdoor yoga class happening to a homeless man pooping outside his house-tent (#truestory). But the excitement of what’s to come and the life Matt and I are going to build in our new home, the friends we’re going to make in our new community and the ability to be closer to all our friends – (not to mention be able to have them all over – we’ve been living in a 950 square foot house…) has me bursting at the seams.
So Baltimore, while I’ve made this decision and soon I won’t be a resident anymore, this city, the adventures and the memories I’ve had and made here will always have a piece of my heart.
XXOO,
M
PS – I’m ALL EARS for moving tips, tricks and any new homeowner tidbits you all want to share with me! I’ll be sure to pass them all along as I go!