Charlotte!

So first, an update...Molly and Kate are moving....

to Charlotte!

I'm so glad to have it decided. We decided on there for a few different reasons, the largest of which is the low cost of living, the proximity to our hometowns (she's from lower Delaware, I'm from Lynchburg) and the job/career prospects for both of us. Anyway, we just got back from a few days in Virginia and Charlotte, a whirlwind of a trip. We left on Sunday, after both of us had gone out the night before. We had one car, and figuring out who drives first with a hangover is quite a chore. We stayed overnight in Lynchburg with my mom, who thankfully agreed to watch Colonel Mustard and Kate's dog, Bambi. We were so exhausted, we crashed right in the middle of watching the Sex and the City movie.

The next morning, we pulled out of Lynchburg a little late (we're not known for punctuality, I suppose), driving quite slowly down to Charlotte. Kate's iPod wasn't really cooperating, and we started talking about how we missed Alabama's Greatest Hits. So we stopped at the Wal-Mart in Greensboro and bought it and took a tour of the first Super Wally World Kate had ever seen, and the first I had seen in six years. An hour later, we realize that we're wasting the day away, and truck it down to Charlotte. We realized that we had neither a map of Charlotte, directions to half the houses we were looking at on craigslist, nor any sort of guidance on what areas to avoid. We called Meghan and Matt's friend Eric, and he advised us to just go to his house and he'd take us around to help us. We went to one, which seemed to fit all our criteria, but didn't have as much of that "neighborhood" feel - it was on a bit of a busy road, and it backed up to a park and bordered a more industrial area. He took us around the corner to the Plaza-Midwood area and recommended the area, as it has a lot of younger people such as ourselves, either single or married with no kids. We loved the area, and liked our first house a little more because it was right near this area, as well as the NoDa area, as its the home of the upcoming arts scene. We then toured one other house, which, although gorgeous on the inside (The closets were so big, I think the exact word I used was "closet porn"), was way more out in the middle of the suburbs than we wanted to be. We set up some appointments with that particular realtor for the next day and decided to go get something to eat, as the three of us were getting rather cranky off of low blood sugar levels.

That night, Kate and Eric and I went out for dinner, then back for drinks at his house, which turned into a rousing game of the symbol of the unemployment that plagues the three of us - Guitar Hero. Kate and I drained his house dry of bourbon, then she and I hit the hay. We got up early-ish and researched a little, then went off for lunch with....Holbrooks! Well, Meghan and Caroline and Owen. They had both gotten so big since I saw them - only a couple months ago! Owen was full-on RUNNING around and didn't look so baby-like anymore, his hair came in so quickly. He's going to be HUGE - he's only 18 months and he's taller than my cousin Lauren's daughter Lily. Caroline says things that shocks me in how easily she understands things and forms ideas now. So cute! We went out to check out another house after that, and were commenting that we hadn't seen any REAL bad areas since we had come to Charlotte. Well, we found them. Or we at least found where strip malls go to die. The house was pretty from the exterior, but was on a corner of a busy street with no fence (we want the dogs to be safe). We then walked in and surmised that the entire marijuana trade of Charlotte had been run through this house - it REEKED of smoke, both tobacco and wacky-tobacco. We wanted to run away screaming.

Finally, we decided to go with the first house. It was just too good to pass up - a fenced-in yard, nearby everything, three bedrooms (so I get a studio!), two bathrooms, granite counters, stainless steel appliances, a deck, a security system, hardwood floors, subway tiles in the bathroom and all for HALF of what I was paying in Philadelphia. We had to wait to see if we were approved, so we stayed overnight, probably driving Eric insane. He went to a debate-watching party (as Meghan would say, only Eric...) and Kate and I watched girl TV and made him Oatmeal cookies to say thank you for helping us. Kate and I also met up with my friends from high school, Courtney and Martha, who were nice enough to invite us to join their little dinner club that night. We had lots of fun meeting their friends, and Court and Martha are going to be right around the corner from us. We're so excited!

And then there was Wednesday....I'll start this on a new post, because it's going to make this too long. But to make a long story short here - we're moving to Charlotte!