Closing Time

How do the words go again to that 90’s song I used to sing on my way to school with my sister…oh yeah…“Closing time – Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.”In my first post, I talked about the little 797 sq. ft condo my husband and I purchased a month after we got engaged. We sold that condo in March of 2017. We were in limbo at the time. I was contemplating a move from Atlanta to New York City with my job, and we were ready to venture out of Buckhead and try something new. I call this our “unsettled stage.”Here we are, a year and a half later…We are back in Buckhead and not only did we buy a condo in this area, but we ended up buying our old neighbor’s unit in the exact same building. Literally, 609 is our new unit number and we used to own 610 (crazy, I know!).My husband is a big Beatles’s fan. He always reminds me that life is what happens when you are busy making other plans. We spent the past year in Midtown, Atlanta (the hip, cool, chic, fun) part of Atlanta that we always desired to live in. We were a block from Piedmont Park. Although it was great, we never felt settled. It was home (because I made sure my Ballard Design light fixtures went up in our rental unit), but not OUR home.I also interviewed for my “dream job” in New York City during this time. It was the perfect fit for a nonprofit focused on empowering girls. The week after I got home from the most perfect interview, and in the midst of looking for apartments in NYC, my current employer offered me a position that just felt right – my other dream job at my same employer. Amazing how things align, right. Two weeks later, I was in a new job at my current employer and turning down the job offer in New York.At this point, we started looking for real estate to purchase in Atlanta. We saved every penny from our first home sale – it was like we never made the money. We were also lucky and able to save $1,500 every month that we put in our savings and never touched.In the process, I found ourselves venturing back north to Buckhead. I would look at places in Midtown (the location I always wanted to live), and find something wrong with the property. We would put offers in on places, and someone would outbid us. There were always signs that maybe the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.One of the things we loved most about our former condo were our neighbors. They were the best. Like knock on their door and borrow an egg best (yes, I did this one night while making late night brownies). That is rare in a city. In Midtown, we never met a single neighbor. We lived in a place for a year, and never met anyone. It was rare for someone like me that never meets a stranger.One morning, we got a text from our former neighbor saying our other neighbor was listing their unit for sale. The rest is history. We saw the place that day, and the offer was in by the next day.Here we are a year and a half later, and only a yard away from our first home. We had to travel far away to realize that maybe what we wanted was right in front of us the entire time. In our case, right next door.To see photos of our new condo, go to CLICK HERE.