Today was a big day. Michael and I went to the closing of the condo this afternoon -- finally! -- at the Law Firm representing Wells Fargo (the lender for our mortgage). Also present were the Sellers and their attorney, an attorney for Wells Fargo, the Sellers' Real Estate agent, and a Notary Public. The closing lasted about 3.5 hours and involved signing dozens of documents and writing a lot of checks, but we are done and are now the legal owners of the Condo in Park Slope, Brooklyn! We're thrilled to own a place in a new neighborhood that is in good shape, won't require a lot of work, has more space than the one-bedroom we're renting now, and has a washer and dryer (!).
We got home after the closing around 5:30 pm and I was glad to take off my tight shoes and wind down. Michael reminded me that our friend, Sheila, was expecting us to visit a run-down studio that evening that she'd heard about from Alex (friend who is real estate agent). She asked us to take assess the unit and offer a second opinion before the unit gets listed publicly, since she was booked every evening last week and wouldn't be able to check it out herself directly before the unit was publicly listed.
I put on tennis shoes and we jumped in a taxi to check out the "studio fixer-upper". I asked Michael how we'd be able to get in to see this place, and he dodged the question, but I didn't think much of it.
When we got to the door of the unit Sheila asked us to visit, Michael rang the bell, and I was expecting an estate agent or building supervisor to open the door. Instead, Sheila opened it. The first thought that went through my head was "What is Sheila doing here?", and then I looked past her and saw a beautiful marble kitchen and living room, and thought "this is definitely not a studio, and definitely NOT a dump!", and then I realized Kerri, Meredith, Shari, Nigel, Alex and Shannan were standing behind Sheila smiling and saying "Surprise!". It finally sunk in that it was a surprise party/baby shower and I was truly surprised. Michael & Sheila came up with a credible set up!
The party was at Kerri's apartment, which is beautiful, and there was a great table of food lined up. The group played a wine-tasting game, and we opened shower gifts. Michael and I received gift certificates for Babies R Us (Kerri, Meredith, Jenna & Volpi), some cute clothes (Meredith, Kerri, Shari & Nigel), a funny book "3-Martini Playdates" and swaddling blanket (Shannan), and a very cool Keith Haring rocking horse (Sheila). It was a fun visit -- everyone has a lot going on. Shari and Nigel are getting married on June 2nd in Montauk; Jenna is training to do the Ironman in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, in June!; Meredith is plotting a career change; Kerri got back just a few months ago from a 4-month trip around the world, etc. so it was fun to catch up with everyone. Thanks to the generous gifts from our families, friends (and 2005 US tax refunds), we'll be well set up for the Bean when he/she arrives.
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