News on the Home Front

Ahhh!!! I'm about to enter a crazy, stressful month. April is the time of finals for all those college students out there including myself. By this time of April I will be done with finals and this semester! I'm taking the summer off from school, but that in no way means that I won't be busy. I wanted to wait until further along in the process before announcing (I didn't want to jinx anything!). I'm in the process of buying a house. We have the closing date set for June 2 and I'm so excited!!! I have received a conditional approval on the loan and now they want everything. The inspection and appraisal have been completed and now they have a lonnnng list of things they need from me. It's actually nice, because until this point it was a guessing game for me. When is this going to get done and oh what about this?

I feel like I have a little bit more control in the process, because I know what they need from me. The quicker I get it to the underwriter the quicker the process will take. Once I get everything over to them it will be a waiting game again. It's very stressful buying a house. I'm excited to actual be in the house and own it, but the journey getting there is a stressful one. Everyone I have spoken with says how stressful it was purchasing a home and they always wanted the process to be over with. Sometimes I feel that the stress is taking some of the enjoyment away. None of my friends have been through it yet, we are still relatively young, that I'm the first one jumping through the hoop. I find that I have to constantly explain the process. One of my friends asked me a couple weeks after putting an offer down on a home if I owned it yet. I had to explain that purchasing a home is completely different than buying a car and driving off the lot with it (it was the closest thing she could relate to). I explained how long it takes, and she didn't understand why it takes so long and why the bank needs so much information. One day she will understand. So for all those homeowners out there . . . what was the process like for you? Easy, hard, stressful??

Duvet Change

I  decided back in December that I needed a new duvet cover. The one I owned at the time was gray and white with horizontal stripes. I had owned it for 3 years and it was starting to show some wear. I wanted something a tad bit more feminine, and I wanted it to brighten the room up a bit. So began my search. I started at West Elm, where my last one was bought. However, I couldn't find anything I really had my heart set on. I turned to Pottery Barn Teen next, and I was surprised by how many option they had. There were some that were geared more toward teenage girls, but I saw several options that I liked. I wanted something that was a blend of feminine and elegance.

      

This was the first one I found

 



This was the second one I found, and I fell in love with it!

 

The first two are part of the Emily and Merrit line that is semi new to Pottery Barn Teen. There are several things from this collection that I like. I have a hard time finding a good duvet cover that isn't mostly white. I have a German shepherd, so I need a duvet cover that isn't mostly white, or else his hair is all over it!! Yikes!! My second choice was out because of this. Unfortunately, that was my favorite one. The second choice I just wasn't set on. It reminded me of a beach theme room and I just didn't go with my plans. I continued looking through the website and finally came upon this one:

 

 

 

I still had to think about this one for awhile. I just wasn't sure about those white sheets mixing with German Shepherd hair. It didn't seem like a good idea, if you know what I mean. I found matching lavender sheets and I decided to buy this duvet cover. To help offset the cost Pottery Barn Teen was offering 20% off bedding and free shipping. Even with the 20% off it was still expensive for a queen size duvet cover. I plan on having it around for awhile though. I had to wait a month before buying the matching sheet set, because of the price for a queen size bed. I have had the sheets for about two weeks now, and I love the entire set!!! I wake up every morning and feel happy. I just love the way it looks!

 

 

 





The best part? I used my Delta Skymiles credit card and went through the Pottery Barn Teen link on the American express skymiles shopping website. This allowed me to earn 2 miles for every dollar spent! I love getting miles for my shopping!