Hello! Gosh it's been SOOO long friends. Boy has it been a hectic few months. Life has changed drastically but we're super excited about it. We have moved to western Pennsylvania (my hometown), Pittsburgh, city of champions baby! If you have been following me on Snapchat (simplylulustyle), or Instagram (simplylulustyle), you know that we officially moved out here in June. We sold our house in 2 days, I packed up in a month and we were gone. Summer was hectic and great. July was our awesome annual vacation to Martha's Vineyard, visiting family and pool time. I also spent hours and hours house hunting. I did not imagine it would take so long and be so difficult to find something. It was grueling and not a fun process. BUT God is good, and we found our wonderful home. It's definitely a fixer upper, but it has great bones and character. I'm excited to take on the project and since I'll soon be able to start my business, I figure our house will be good practice! I'm taking on my first flip in January after Christmas with my new company Laurel Lane Homes :).
On to our house! It's a beautiful cape cod in the best neighborhood I could ask for. We have met so many wonderful neighbors and everyone is so friendly. Just a few houses up are the greatest kids that have quickly become my nuggets good friends. They all play so nicely at each other's houses and ride bikes in our cul de sac. I'm am continually amazed at God's blessing our life. It has not been without struggles, stress and heartache. Life is continually about learning to trust the Lord, His ways and timing.
One of the biggest struggles was finding our house. When I started looking a dear friend said to choose a house that fits your family. Well, easier said than done! So many did not fit us. Pittsburgh is a hilly area. Many houses have “integral garages”. What is an integral garage you ask? Well it’s a garage under your house, basement level. Which means half of your basement is garage, the other half mostly finished. For most this is ok, but not us. That leaves no room for a wood shop for my husband which is super important. It’s his hobby, stress releaser and frankly it helps me too (hello honey do list! :)
This house fit the bill! Yes, it still has an integral garage (3 cars no less), a BIG finished basement, but a crazy huge room off the back of the house. Would you believe the original owners had it as an indoor pool??? Seriously. The last owner however took it out and now it’s a big unfinished space. Perfect for my Mr.’s wood shop. It’s more than big enough! We have projects galore, and my to-do list is never ending. Our realtor said at our closing “I can’t wait to see what you guys do with the place”. My response, “come back in 15 years!” While I was joking, I was somewhat serious. We have a lot to tackle and the first projects are not so fun (aka new roof, new windows, plumbing etc.). The home was not maintained for a long time, so we’re starting fresh and doing things the right way. However, if you know me I HAVE to do some things to make it pretty :)
I’ll be back blogging and showing before and afters, giving renovating ideas and advice. But never fear I will have outfit posts too for all you fashion lovers :) Today I’ll be doing some fun snaps, so follow along and check out all the fun! (simplylulustyle)
I’ve missed you all and I’m looking forward so much to getting back to normal. Thank you so much for checking in. Many of you have emailed me to see how things are going and I really appreciate it.
Thank you for stopping by. Have a wonderful day!
xo Lulu
fall looks so pretty in your town
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This is so exciting Lulu, congratulations!!
ReplyDeletehi there, and welcome back ;) hope all of you enjoy yr new house and life in the city of champions :)
ReplyDeletelove from istanbul , Turkey xoxo
It was such a pleasant surprise to see "Simply Lulu Style" in my email inbox again : ) I missed your posts. CONGRATS!!! Can't wait to following along with your exciting journey in the new beautiful home!
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