Hello friends,
I hope you’re doing ok.
Me, I could not be better! If you know me, you know I feel guilty about that.
I wrote a terrible “poem” to let you know what I have been up to:
Tapetenwechsel
We talked about cacti and mountains and sunsets on fire
but always imagined it when we retire.
Andy said “Tapetenwechsel”, we need a change of wallpaper.
California is lovely but we want to escape her.
2020 helped us to see with fresh eyes
things hills of gold can’t disguise.
My love was blind, but now I see
so we’re packing up the truck and moving to Carefree.
Arizona that is, rattlesnakes, javelina…
That’s right, folks, the Covid “pivot” has worked its magic on us. It’s scary and exciting, it feels so right! We found the perfect house to start our new lives. I documented it on Facebook, because how annoying is it when your friend makes a big announcement with no details or heads up? If you’re interested in the full story, here you go
Part 1
Hi Friends, in the next few days I’ll be documenting our story. I’ve always been drawn to Arizona, for the landscape and the weather. Andy also loves it, thankfully. He says it feels like the ‘America’ he dreamed of before he moved here. We talked about retiring there, but this year made us realize it could happen sooner. As a native Californian, I’d certainly miss my hills of gold and wine country. We’d miss our friends and family terribly. Nevertheless, we’re taking a road trip to look at some homes in Carefree and North Scottsdale. We don’t know what’s going to happen, but we’re letting you in on our journey. Much love!
Part 2
We’re eighty miles from our resort. Long day driving. Coming into AZ as the sun set and driving through the desert a twilight was just incredible. I can’t get over how different the light is and how big the sky is here. We’re looking for a house with a casita to rent out and plenty of guest rooms for friends, if we find the right one we’d love guests!
Part 3
From what we’ve seen so far, we’re not “Scottsdale” people. Some of these houses require designer bags and crap I don’t care about. I’m kinda in love with a house in Carefree, the second one we looked at, but it’s smaller than we wanted. It made me cry in a good way, after the first house made me cry in a bad way. We had a really nice chat with the realtor and his wife that staged the house. We went back again and spent a lot of time talking about the history of the house, and possibilities for building a garage and casita. They live up the street and I think we’d totally be friends.
Part 4
OMG. This would be SUCH a huge move, you guys! We stayed up much too late, decided to make an offer, anxiety set in and we decided we should stay in San Jose. Then we woke up to such a beautiful peaceful view from our balcony, bunnies and quail running around (this pic taken by staff at the Boulders, I could not capture it). The new home is right across the street from this resort. This week has been a huge rollercoaster!
Part 5
This place sucks, can you tell? Not! 70 degrees, watching roadrunners scatter around. And yes, we are aware that it gets hotter than balls in the summer. Duh. This is the face of a beautiful man who just put himself through hell deciding if this was the right choice or not. I was not going to try to convince him, he had to trust his gut. After submitting an offer, we drove the straight shot 11 minutes south (rush hour, no traffic) to the Lamborghini dealership and made connections. Then we drove back to Carefree, checked out the downtown and through Cave Creek, which I knew he would love. It’s so quant and wild west and old school! We ate at this incredible restaurant which will be our go to if we get this house. Now back at the resort relaxing and crossing our fingers. I can’t wait to show this amazing place to you! Wish us luck!
Part 6
There’s a shift happening. Andy talks about moving in a calm way. He’s ready to make changes, the lifestyle is different there. He just whistled along with a Don Williams tune. This morning he stopped walking to take pictures of nature. I just love that he loves the landscape as much as I do! If the house is meant to be, this will be just one of the many saguaro on our property. I’m watching videos about jumping cholla and everything else in the desert that wants to kill you.
Part 7
Well. There were three offers, they accepted ours. We have ten days to back out. I’m flying back on Friday for the inspection, to measure, take more pics, get every bit of info I can from the realtor. Here’s a sneak peek of the main courtyard. I see strings of lights, a mariachi band playing, food coming through the side door of the kitchen, and hopefully, all of our friends, old and new, celebrating with us one sweet day.
Part 8
If all goes well this will be the walkway from our front door. It’s been a back and forth all week. Are we doing the right thing? Will we miss our family and friends too much? Will we make new friends? Will I find clients? Will I be freaked out when I see coyotes at the giant picture windows in the living room? Will I be pissed when the javelina trample and eat my prickly pear? Now that we’ve been there, we can go over the realtors pictures and really study every detail. This is the house I cried happy tears in. I felt it right away, it’s so very special. I was chatting with one of my clients about it, and it hit me that this house feels a lot like her house. She put so much love and thought into building her home, no detail overlooked, no expense spared. Every time I walk in I feel an enormous sense of peace. It feels very solid and very special. It’s not ostentatious or fancy, it’s perfection. I get the same feeling with our new home. I learned the builder put healing crystals in the stone walls. When I start to freak out about moving I put myself back to how I felt when I was there. Did I mention how dang friendly and genuinely happy people are down there? It’s awesome! One more month and we are in! We’ll take a little extra time to pack up, get our house ready for sale so we’re not rushed, but I’ll definitely be down there to enjoy the winter / springtime sooner than later!
Part 9
It’s all happening so fast, but we check in with each other every day and make sure we are still doing this. When I flew back for the inspection, I also made a GoPro video that did not end up taping, so our awesome realtor made one for us! I really helped Andy visualize the house that he only walked through twice. We stream it to the tv and watch it before bed, it’s the sweetest bedtime story! Me, you know I see it all in my head. I know every square inch and I see where everything goes when we are all moved in.
Today was a beautiful day in San Jose, I was doing some things in the backyard and hanging out with the cats and I felt a second of “why would we leave this?” Then I remembered the feeling of walking into the Spanish village 5 short minutes away from our new home, checking out the first Thursday art walk, listening to live music and having a delicious (and socially distanced) dinner outside on a mild January evening. My mind walked again the next morning through the quaint downtown cactus garden and farmers market and outdoor yoga pavilion.
I made lunch with an avocado from our amazing tree in my perfect, gorgeous, bright kitchen with the lovely views and everything exactly where it should be and the drawers that open with a push of the knee or hip and close so softly. Then I drove the 8 miles to the hardware store, all back roads because I hate red lights. I saw the blight and the homeless and the trash and graffiti. I remembered driving past every store and amenity you’d ever need one mile from our new home, along clean and well maintained roads with no traffic, because roundabouts! I put myself back to the feeling I had in our new tower with a view of the desert and Black Mountain, and our peaceful courtyards that will keep us cool and frame the views so perfectly, and the house with the saltillo floors and stone walls that embrace you every time.
Carefree has a population of less than 4000, we’ll go downtown to pick up our mail. I told Andy that once we are there, every time I leave the house I will look presentable. I will no longer be going to the store in sweatpants and grubbies because I won’t see anyone I know. I want to know everyone! I want to make connections and friends to share our beautiful home with (and you, of course, as soon as it’s safe).
Part 10
I’ve been packing and getting the house ready for sale. There are exactly TWO homes for sale in the entire bay area if you’re searching for a 3 bedroom home under 1.6m. We think it’s going to go fast (I just hope it goes high!). I’ll leave most of the furniture and art here for staging. We just drove a huge load of our things down and towed the Jeep, so we have a car in Carefree. I’ll drive the cats down on the 11th, did I mention they will now be indoor cats? That is not going to be a fun transition, I’ll be building a catio stat! There is a smaller courtyard I think will be perfect for all of us to hang out together safely. Photo shoot for the listing on the 11th, TV show filmed on the 12th, then the house goes live on the market. Our realtor expects lots of showings for about five days, and then we should have enough offers to choose from. I’m already anxious to get the rest of our things in the new house, so I can make it ours.
Today.
It’s a gorgeous day in San Jose, but it’s also perfect in Carefree. My to do list is long but I am happily checking things off. I keep thinking to myself “this is the last time I will” in this home, in this garden. We put so much love (and money) into it, I am sure the right buyer will see that and love it as much as we do. I feel a little weird/fickle, but I have already moved on in my mind. I do love chapters! You know what else? I don’t know that I want to do design in Arizona. The house (that we call the Carefree Hacienda) has so much potential for a venue, I see renting it out for special occasions, yoga and painting classes, etc. The kitchen is perfect for caterers. We are going to build a casita (we’ve already named it Casita Meandro) that we will rent out. I’d like to go back to making art. Ceramics is still a dream I would love to come true. I want to make a labyrinth. I want to plant more cacti. The area feels so full of opportunity, full of endless possibilities! The next part will be written from Carefree. I do hope you’ll follow.
* I sent this as an email to my followers yesterday. I did not say it then, because I felt it was so poetic I thought I would leave it at that. I do like to be fully transparent, so I will admit now that I am FULLY burnt out. I am in the final months of my dream job for clients that are like family. The job is not a burden, but it’s been about 4 years and we are all ready for the day they move in to their very special home. I am terrible at keeping business and personal time separate, so I only have myself to blame. This past year I have had countless opportunities to join virtual classes, design events, new product launches, etc. but I just wasn’t interested. I could have spent 40+ hours a week on these, but I was already spending 40+ hours on jobs, not all of that billable. Why? Because I am obsessive. I spend hours just thinking about a better way to do something, a better product, I’m brainstorming with myself in my head constantly. I can’t bill for that. I don’t take time to read books for pleasure. I felt bad for Andy because work was all I talked about. Now, I am ready to finish up this gorgeous house, interior and exterior, and take a break. Knowing me, and how when I closed the shop I was 100% done with antiquing/buying and selling/the whole shebang, I am done with designing for clients. Time will tell, but – chapters. The above paragraph still feels true, I am excited about what the future brings!
Blessings,
(that was the first word that came to mind so I went with it, I just feel so blessed and want to send some your way)
Scarlett
