Pack It Up, Pack It In, Let Me Begin!

Now that song will be stuck in your head all day. You're welcome.

But yes, this post is about packing, even though I am not moving for another 6 long weeks (feels like 6 million weeks, when I make a decision I want to get going!). Since obviously I have a lot of time, I have set myself mini goals for packing up non-essentials and pre-moving some stuff to my parents' houses so that when it comes to actual move in day I won't be stressed or have to hire a big van.

My goal for the month of October was to pack up and move the locker and the balcony. I brought in the plants from the balcony, but otherwise there is not much to pack out there. The locker was an easy choice because nothing is critical down there. Plus my building has been having reports of locker break-ins, so I kind of want to get my stuff out of there...

I started tackling the locker on Monday since it was a holiday and I felt I needed to be productive at some point over the 3 day weekend. It ended up being a WAY bigger job than I anticipated and didn't finish until Tuesday night! Since the locker room is tiny, I actually brought everything up, packed it in bins in my condo, purged a bunch of stuff and moved it all back down. I actually used all the blue bins in this photo and one large box...oh man does my junk add up.

I actually think my locker is just as full now, despite being organized. I am hoping that is because some bins are not quite finished and will be filled once I tackle the condo.

But I am proud to say I am purging a bunch too! This whole box is full of decor items that I don't think I will miss at the new condo, so I am either giving them to a friend who needs some staging items, or dropping off the whole box at Goodwill. The decorative boxes are empty. I might hold onto them for moving purposes. Undecided. The stool is going too (new island doesn't have a breakfast bar anyway).

As for all my furniture, the buyer of my place has offered to buy it all off of me, but I am undecided! Certainly none of this stuff works in my new place long term (too small scale), but I didn't want to have to be "forced" into buying new furniture as I am definitely indecisive when it comes to buying big ticket items. I also really like my furniture and it will be hard to leave it behind. However, family has offered me a couch and a dresser and maybe a few other items so I may just sell it all. Would definitely help save on a moving truck! What would you do?

I Bought a New Condo!

Hello!! Long time no talk!! I've been extremely busy BUYING A CONDO!! I am not going to be sharing photos of it today because the listing is still up and I don't need a bunch of internet people knowing where I sleep at night. But terrible iphone photos will come next week hopefully!

I promised to share all the funness of my condo-hunting journey but it all went so fast so I will quickly fill you in. The sale of my current place was made "official" (all the conditions on the offer met) on Tuesday so we started hunting after work on Wednesday. I went through tons of listings and narrowed it down to 27 units, of which 9 or 10 had already been sold conditionally or were not built yet. So that night we saw three awesome condos, which were top of my list. All three units were 1+1s, which means they had a separate bedroom and den area, though I would argue some builders have a very loose definition of "den". The first three units were all pretty spacious, but 2 of them needed some work.

On Thursday I left work early and we went and saw about 9 more units. Some were decent sizes, but I didn't like the building (I like a concierge and security). Some were hilarious, like the one with 2 toilets in the bathroom (!!!!!), and the one with the 5ft wide hallway as the living room. Oh, and the one with 2 toilets was pitch black inside, despite being the middle of the day! Near the end of the day I was stuck between two condos, a large one that I had seen Wednesday and a 2 story unit out in the west end.

And then the last unit we saw was a cute 1 bedroom up by College Station subway station that really threw me for a loop- suddenly I was torn between the large one from Wednesday and this small, but well laid out unit by the subway (I eliminated the 2 story one, which worked out since it sold the following day).

Both units were awesome in their own way. The large one was close by the lake where I like to run, but the small one was by the subway, which is a prime spot. The small one had a teeny tiny kitchen, which needed to be gutted, but otherwise the rooms were a good size. Large unit by the lake had an amazing kitchen, but the living room was awkwardly shaped and it was on a lower floor. I could go on and on but trust me that each unit appealed to me for different reasons. My Realtor said it was like comparing apples and oranges.

I hemmed and hawed all Friday and on Saturday I brought my friend Sarah and my boyfriend Cam to see both and they gave me their opinions, but I still was torn. Finally after some long talks with my parents, my Realtor, and my friend Ginny I decided to go with the large one. As attracted as I was to living by the subway, I knew that a big unit (it is almost DOUBLE the size of my current space), would give me lots of room to grow into and living by the lake for running and having a large kitchen for baking really appealed to me and my lifestyle. I worried about whether I was making the right choice as an investment, but there is no telling what the market will do and the big unit has lots of spots where I can add value (it is a pretty blank space).

I submitted an offer on Saturday and on Sunday they countered and after a bunch of verbal back and forths between the realtors we came to a price that both of us are happy with (well, I think I am more happy hahaha). The place had been on the market for a long time, but wasn't staged at all and needed some updates so I think I got a great price and I can make it some place amazing. It also helped that the same floor plan, but upgraded and staged, was also for sale so I could go check that out.

The only downside is I do not have enough furniture to fill it! Fingers crossed for a bonus at work this Christmas :). I have so much to do! The condo is really cool with tons of windows and I am really enjoying flipping through magazines and Pinterest and finding some inspiration!! I still have 6 weeks until I move so I need to learn some patience :)

Where to Live?

A lot of people have asked me where I am going to live next, now that I have sold my condo. What's that? I was supposed to have figured that out already? Oopsie-daisie. I know a lot of people buy their next home and then sell their current home through a condition in their contract (so if they can't sell they will be able to back out of the deal), however this didn't appeal to me for two reasons
1. I might fall in love with a place and then be forced to back out of the deal if I couldn't sell, especially since condos in my building hadn't been selling quickly when I looked at comparables
2. I wasn't sure I was going to sell- I wanted to see what kind of interest I could get and move forward from there. Then when I did sell I would have a good idea of my down-payment size and therefore budget for the next place.

Well, I ended up selling my condo in 6 days and for an excellent price so here I am scrambling to find my next home! The good news is that I have until the end of November to move out, and I have lots of family and friends who live nearby who have opened up their spare bedrooms and couches to me if I do I end up between homes for a bit. Not to mention their storage spaces for my stuff!

I am still waiting a few days for some conditions of my contract to settle before I officially hit the pavement (the buyers and their lawyer are currently reviewing all the condo documents to make sure this building is in good shape). I want to make sure that this deal is going to go through before I go out there and offer on another place! A lot of places I saw online a couple weeks ago have already sold, so I know I made the right move by not looking before I was ready to offer, but I am going to have to make up my mind quickly if I find the right place.

I know I am looking for a one bedroom (or hopefully a one plus den!), but otherwise I am a little bit stuck on where to live. This city has so many great pockets!

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1. King West (North of Liberty Village)
King West offers some really cute loft-style condos in addition to traditional ones. I have always admired the loft-look and thankfully they now make lofts with separate bedroom areas. I would love to be on King for transit reasons, but I love being within walking distance to Liberty Village too- tons of great shops and restaurants there!

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2. St Lawrence Area
I am not willing to go too east of Yonge St. because I work way out in the west end of the city and commute is definitely a factor! However there are some great condos within a 5 minute walk of King and Union stations.

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3. The Bay St Corridor
There are less properties in this area in my price range, but once and awhile a cute model pops up! I would definitely love to be near the subway and that is what this area offers- not to mention being right downtown with all the action right at my doorstep.

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4. The Fashion District
A little west of downtown, but still right in the action on King St are some trendy newer condos. They are almost out of my price range now, but again I would be in a great area, right near the entertainment district.

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5. Harbourfront
This neighbourhood is really close to where I am now, but a block closer the waterfront. Cam loves this area and I can tell he would be ecstatic if I ended up living here, but it really depends on commute (no, he would not be living with me, but he visits almost every weekend)! The area is currently under construction, but hopefully that will be done in a year or so. I would need to be near Spadina streetcar if I was going to make this area work for me.

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And that is just a small taste of the areas I am looking in! I am also open to areas like City Place, Liberty Village, Midtown (Yonge and Davisville/Eglinton), the Bloor line, etc. I think it will really come down to loving the unit/building and still having a manageable commute and a fun neighbourhood. Oh, and as of today there are about 300 units for sale in downtown Toronto in my price range...I definitely have some legwork to do but hopefully I will able to find my dream condo in a short amount of time!

Casey Gets Fit: Week 32

Weight: 146 (19 lbs down)

I am not sure what to write about this week. I am ecstatic that I somehow lost 1.5lbs this week (actually, earlier in the week I weighed in at 145 somehow!), but I can't say that I did anything to deserve losing it. I ate lots and only made it out for a couple runs this week. I think sometimes weight loss is a mystery, but I will take it over mysterious weight gain any day!

I actually think I was stressed about the sale of the condo and I know that stress causes me to lose weight. However things are going along swimmingly so far with that and hopefully all the conditions of the sale will be settled in the upcoming week and then I can start hunting for my new condo!!! (of course, I have been glued to MLS for weeks, but now I can for reals look.

But back to food. I have basically stopped tracking calories at this point, which is bad and good. It is bad because I am definitely eating more than I think I should some days and I don't want to start gaining weight. On the other hand, I think I have learned a lot about portion control and I eat a lot of the same meals as I did when I WAS tracking calories so even on the odd day when I go back and add everything up it still is a pretty good number. I think I am just eating out a bit too much and those are the meals that will ruin all my hard work.

I also think I need to do a post on clothing because lordy I didn't think enough about that. All my skinny jeans are looking like elephant skin on me right now!! Even my newer clothes are looking a little loose and I think I need to see a tailor. Oh and the other day I bought a shirt that had an "S" on the tag...ya. Not sure when I qualified as a small??

Lastly, I am down almost 20 pounds, which is amaaaaazing. But everything still feels soft and squishy. I think I need to start weight training. Maybe go back to boot camp? UGH. That was hard and I am the queen of lazy. But I definitely need to supplement my running with some weights if I hope to tone up in time for bikini season next year!

Photography In Iceland

One of my biggest concerns with packing for Iceland was what photography equipment to take. I am by no means an expert photographer, but I have been working the past couple years to shoot in manual on a DSLR camera and I was set on bringing a good camera on this trip! My dad is also an amateur photographer so he lent me a whole lots of camera equipment to pick through for this trip.

Let's just say that didn't help my problem as I had too much to choose from!

Here were my various considerations when choosing equipment:

How would I carry it?
I knew we would be doing a lot of hiking, so I wasn't sure I wanted to lug around a huge camera. On the other hand I knew that we would also have a car that I could leave my large camera in. Therefore I ended up bringing a large camera (a Nikon D300S) AND a smaller camera (a Nikon 1). I also brought a large camera backpack (a Kata 3n1 bag) for leaving in the car, and a smaller camera bag to carry around the Nikon 1 in while hiking.

In Iceland there are a lot of scenic spots right alongside the road so that large camera got plenty of use without me needing to lug it all over.

Nikon 1, ISO 160, 11 mm, f4.0, 1/1000 sec

How will I use it?
I had a hard time choosing between the two tripods. They both weighed the same, but the orange one had more options for setting up. However the black one was faster to set up. In the end I took the orange one because it had a carrying case and was better suited for windy days because it could be weighted down. I knew I was unlikely to be setting a tripod up in a hurry, so I was able to ignore that problem. I also selected lenses between my two cameras so that I could use each camera for a different purpose- like zooming, wide angle shots, or quick shooting. No point in duplicating all my lenses just because I had two cameras!

I wasn't actually sure I would use the tripod, but it sure did come in handy for shooting the Northern Lights! I also was glad that I packed my wide angle lens and remote just for this:)

Nikon D300S, ISO 1600, 10mm lens, f4.0, 8 sec exposure

What Lenses Will I Need?
This is obviously a personal question, but I packed a wide angle lens and a good zoom lens (28-300mm) for the D300s, and a few lenses for the Nikon 1, but I only used a relatively short zoom lens on the Nikon. The lenses for the Nikon 1 were light and small so I didn't mind having packed the others. I actually weighed my two zoom lenses, though I did end up taking the heavier one :)

I also brought an FT1 mount adapter for the Nikon 1, which allowed me to mount my larger lenses on it. The adapter actually also increases the focal length of a lens so I was able to really zoom in on things with this adapter, which was amazing for certain subjects- like a puffin that landed a little too far from me (he moved spots, but wasn't that much closer to me in the 1st shot)

Top: Nikon 1 with FT1 adapter, ISO 1400, 300mm zoom, f 5.6, 1/500 sec
Bottom: Nikon D300s, ISO 250, 300mm zoom, f 9.0, 1/60 sec

Will It Be Safe?
When you are carting around a few mortgage payments on your back in a foreign country, you kind of want to make sure it will be safe. I carried all my cameras and lenses in the backpack as my carry-on for the plane and I brought a lock with me so I could lock it up the hostel (most hostels have lockers available if you bring your own lock). So do some research before you go!

So what did I use the most? I really loved the Nikon 1- it was small, lightweight, and durable! It is actually waterproof, and while I certainly didn't go swimming with it, it was so handy for all the rain and misty waterfalls. It even came hiking on a glacier with me! I generally left this camera on auto settings as the manual was kind of tricky. I did use the manual when doing dusk/night photography because I didn't like how the camera did low lights on auto settings.

Nikon 1, ISO 320, 12mm, f3.8, 1/250 sec

However, I definitely do not regret bringing the large camera. It was great for so many scenic shots- not to mention the northern lights! Some of my favourite shots were with that camera because it just picked up great detail and did some great panoramic shots (though in the Nikon 1's defense- the Nikon 1 for some reason made my skin look fantastic). I think a lot of packing photography equipment is just balancing comfort of carrying all that stuff vs your desire to come back with some good shots. I think if you have a car and don't need to carry around everything on your back all day, then definitely bring a few extra things to get that perfect shot!

Don't judge my leggings-as-pants, I was on vacation!

Going Once, Going Twice, SOLD!

So this happened...

Ya. Kinda sorta sold my condo already. Well, I am under contract and we have all signed off, so barring any issues with the regular financing and home inspection conditions, I will be handing over the keys to the new owners in a scant 2 months! My closing is on Nov 27th, which is incidentally both marks my 14th year of having Alopecia, and my 1st anniversary with Cam. Big day!!

The process was fast, crazy and stressful, but I am glad it came to a satisfactory conclusion (well, I am happy. I hope the buyers are too). I listed officially last Thursday and I had a showing booked on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and then the Saturday people came again on Sunday and on Sunday night they submitted an offer!

Their original offer was a little low to me, but still a fair offer, so after a LOT of back and forth with my agent and their agent, we verbally agreed on a slightly higher sign-back price. I submitted my counter offer on Monday and on Tuesday morning they accepted it!

I know a lot of news goes around about the crazy Toronto real estate market, but trust me when I say my building has NOT been experiencing crazy fast sales or bidding wars or any of that stuff. I really was expecting to sit on the market for awhile so this sale is kind of a shock! But a nice shock!

I am not counting my chickens until all those conditions on the sale are met, however. So I am not writing too much about this deal yet. But the juicy details will come one day, my dears!!

But for now, I think I need to track down some boxes....