Family Saturdays at Eastern Market are truly one of my most favorite things ever. This past weekend we went a little before closing, so the crowds were nonexistent and the vendors were pretty sparse. It was still pretty great though because that gave our little crazy dynamo nugget plenty of room to roam.
This morning I was heading to the amazing Cornerstone School for one of their Partner Mornings when I got stopped for a train crossing on Nevada. Ugh! It was your typical obnoxious wait until I noticed this gorgeous old ghost building on my left. It looks to me like an old train station, which would make sense given my then situation. Coupled with the amazing morning sky, I feel like its old elegance still shines through.
Taking a stroll is one of the best (and my personal favorite) ways to admire the historic architecture throughout the neighborhood. Each time I spot some entirely new and insanely beautiful details. From herringbone brick work to metal turret toppers, to elegantly twisted gutters and colorful leaded glass inserts, each home has a wonderfully unique character you will never see anywhere else.
Plus, my fellow company ain’t too bad either.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a fence at the Detroit house! This might seem like a small step for most, but before this mamma jamma went in, there was no gate, and the fence between our yard and our neighbor’s was an old, rotted, red, falling down thing. This update not only adds a classier touch, it also means our two pooches will be able to roam their new backyard freely.
Every day he’s off of work, he’s over at the new house demo-ing, cleaning and generally kicking ass. And even after a long day, he still wants to meet me downtown with the dogs after work for some fun time! Gotta love that!
The other night we met at the Midtown Dog Park (holllaaa Shinola!) and chowed some delicious chicken shawarma from Bucharest Grill that I picked up along the way. Then we popped over to Bronx Bar to sit on their patio to enjoy a nice cold beer (him) and water (me- preggo whomp! whomp!) It was truly a lovely little family outing.
So living in the ‘burbs starts to get real old after a while. Especially when you spend all your time downtown… eating, drinking, playing etc. But everyone and their mother has an opinion on moving to Detroit and it’s pretty much: “DON’T DO IT.”
While I understand the rationale behind it (high taxes, poor schools, crime, etc, etc) I clearly have to disagree… Especially since we have officially bought a house in Detroit! Yes-sir-ee! We are now official Detroiters!
The decision truly happened organically… As my husband and I started to talk about how our current house wouldn’t be the house we stayed in, we both started to give some thought to where we would like that forever house to be in. A more city/urban environment, close to restaurants, events, museums, the usual. Detroit seemed like a crazy choice, but we both seemed to be unable to let the idea go… Even with a baby on the way. So I started trolling the real estate internets and scoping out areas and prices. One day I came across a listing in Brush Park and emailed the realtor. We never saw that property (it was a duplex and we wanted a single family home), but we hit it off with the realtor who knew a great deal about another fantastic area: The Avenue of Fashion/Sherwood Forest/University District. That very same weekend I met a buddy for brunch who had recently looked into a house in that very neighborhood and raved about how gorgeous the homes were. Post-brunch we took a tour and I was in love. A few weeks later a listing came up, we went to see it and my husband fell in love- but with the neighborhood- not the house. That house was not for us.
But we both got a feeling about the neighborhood… the people, the businesses, the location, the vibe… It all just felt like where we were supposed to be.
So we saw some more houses and even got outbid on one, before stumbling across the ramblin’ old beauty above.
It was a foreclosure with 5 other offers on the table, but they chose us.
!!!!!
So now this big, old, ignored house becomes our home. Where we will bring our first son into the world and hopefully a sibling or two, and grow old together.
It’s an epic 3200 sq. ft., built in 1925, with original masonry and oak hardwood flooring throughout, with rich plaster detailing and a coal chute, still intact. It’s also a house with holes in the ceiling, disgusting carpet covering those hardwoods, old plumbing and electric, and cracks and gauges in that glorious old plaster.
It’s dirty, neglected and rough around the edges, yet charming and warm and full of potential—just like Detroit itself. And it’s ours.
And so our Detroit adventure begins!
Was totally taken aback by the gorgeous architectural details of the Buhl building as I walked to grab a sandwich at Jimmy John’s this afternoon. Just another downtown Detroit gem!
Ugh—how many of you eye-rolled at the title? I know, right?! I would really be right there with you, except, well, it’s true. Like most people, I had a plan. A very clear, awesome plan that involved New York City, fabulous parties, amazing friends, kicking ass and taking names. And I executed that plan. I executed the sh*t out of it. But then after five years, as you now know, I fell in love and everything changed. To tell you honestly I actually fell in love twice—the first time with my now husband, and then with a city I had never in a million years even given the slightest thought: Detroit.
It’d been years since I’d been downtown when a good buddy took me for a tour while home for Christmas. The whole time I was like a little kid, nosed pressed up against the pet store window. It was more than I remembered and it was also worse. It was riveting. It was terrifying. It was thriving. It was drowning. But I knew… It was home.
THIS IS HOW WE DETROIT 