Monday, April 6, 2009

Property Virgins No More?

Hello there Bloggy Friends!

How's everyone doing out there? I have the day off today, so I'm taking advantage of my time to work on homework. I'm down to the final stretch as far as school is concerned. There are only four weeks left in the semester. That excites me to no end! It's been a fulfilling semester for a number of reasons, but I'm ready to let it go!

We had a really nice weekend. I hope you did too. Friday night we didn't do much. I worked until 8:30, then came home to have wine and watch a movie with Alan. We watched "Pineapple Express," starring Seth Rogen and James Franco. It was okay. I give it three out of five stars - and that's being generous!

Saturday we were on the ball! We started our day early, hitting the streets of Center City to shop and soak up the sunshine. First, we took Doris to her first vet appointment in Philadelphia. She received her second set of shots, and walked away with a clean bill of health. She has gained a whole pound since we brought her home!

When that was all over, we brought her back home and set out on the town again. We spent some time at a coffee shop near Rittenhouse Square, then shopped around for summer clothes and other necessities. I was excited to see the stores so full of people. The lines to the registers and dressing rooms were so long, but it's nice to know people are out shopping again. I have a feeling the economy may be getting a boost now that the warm weather is creeping back in. Go Dow Jones!

Later, we had a small snack at home and napped before heading to Elephant and Castle for our friend, Michelle's, birthday party. Elephant and Castle is a local bar that has karaoke on Saturday nights. We met Michelle, her partner Chris, and our friend Tim there, only to find they were postponing the singing until some basketball game finished. We only had a chance to sing a few songs by the time the bar closed, but by that point we were too loaded up on drinks to care!

When we left, Michelle invited us over to her lovely apartment in the Art Museum district. We didn't end up getting back home until after 3 am. That's the latest we've stayed out in a long time. We're such party animals!

Sunday was a wonderful day, despite the fact I was a little dead-headed from the previous night's festivities. We got out fairly early again, took care of our grocery shopping, then hit up a few open houses in the area. Lately, we've been casually tossing around the idea of buying our first home together. Our original plan was to wait until I graduated from school, but the promise of an $8000 tax incentive for first-time home buyers may persuade us to take the steps a little sooner. We have a sense of our budget, and are now getting a feel for what that will afford us in different areas of the city. We wouldn't want to move until November, the time our lease in this apartment is over. We're both already very excited at the possibilities. It will be so nice to apply the money we're paying in rent towards something that could be a great investment for us in the future. We've all heard it's a prime time to buy property, so we'll see how it works out for us. I'll keep you updated on the progress!

I hope you all have a fantastic week. I've posted photos below of our weekend.

Love, Josh

Doris and Mary Todd chilling in the office.


The crew at Michelle's B-Day party. Can you guess which one is Michelle?


Good times!

4 comments:

Mnowac said...

Oh how exciting about the house. It would be a wonderful time to be a first time homeowner. I see so many great houses for dirt cheap around here, but unfortunately our home would never sell, so we can't partake in a home upgrade! Booo.

Bill Fogle said...

By "outsider perspective" I meant "different perspective." I don't feel outside your life at all!

Casey said...

Wow, you were a party animal to stay out that late!

Good luck on the house hunt! I'm a little jealous about the tax incentive. The one from 2008 is just a loan, but it sounds like the 2009 one isnt?

Love those darn animals!

Rick Watson said...

my gawd, those green glasses are sooo BIG!

your own home??? wow!!! what a leap!

ohhh, and little doris is such a little doll!