Late Night Decorating.

That's it. I've finally hit the point where I just can't take it any longer.

I cannot continue living here with no things on the walls - no mementos, no trinkets on shelves. I've got to finally unpack some boxes. With Dom tucked in and fast asleep, I creep downstairs to sort through memories bound up in bubble wrap. Nostalgia and excitement waft into the air as I open the boxes and begin deciding where things should go.

I took out pictures and laid them out across the floor, trying to envision them in their new homes on the walls.

Arrange and rearrange.
Picture them in new places.
Try and try again.

The butterfly collection was a wedding gift from JM's cousin, Susan. She found it fitting because we were married in the Florida Museum of Natural History's Butterfly Garden and Atrium. It was a beautiful wedding (not that I'm biased) and a wonderful gift to commemorate it. No matter where we move, I'll always want this piece on display somewhere common so it can be appreciated by all.

So anyway, this is the arrangement I settled on. I like it, I do, especially the large collage. But I'm still not convinced everything is where it ought to stay.

Take the two paintings on the stairs for example. Neither of these feels like the right fit in this location, but I can't decide what else to put there. Maybe it should be nothing. Maybe I should just paint that wall a glorious, funky, vibrant color. We'll see. For now, this is it. And I love what it is ... so far.

Introducing the McIntosh Hotel!

As you know, we bought the McIntosh Hotel. What you may not know is that we bought it on the anniversary of our first date. We didn't plan it that way, but how poetic that on the anniversary of the day we began our life together, we take this step for our family.

We bought a piece of history and we're so honored to give it purpose and life again. Friends and family, please say hello to the historic McIntosh Hotel, now the home of the Soracchi family.

Closing Time.

So today is the day. We've closed on the McIntosh Hotel.

Jon-Michael and I met at the title office, signed the papers, and took the keys.

She. is. ours.

In case you didn't know - and you probably didn't, since this is the first entry in this new journal - in October, we set out to acquire the beauty sitting alone across from the Post Office in McIntosh.

What started out as a joke has evolved into a family dream.

Rewind to mid-September, maybe early October. JM sent me a listing to an eleven bedroom, three bath, single family residence for sale in a prime location for our family and work lives. Eleven bedrooms? Who on earth would ever need that?!

You know me, I had to know.

I called an agent I was connected with randomly on Zillow. She looked up the listing and she too was immediately intrigued. We went to look. I fell in love. We'd all be fooling each other if we said JM was as excited as I was right out of the gate. He is always more of the realist between us. We walked up the stairs and down the long hallway separated the bedrooms. We walked out onto the veranda and took in the mossy view. We envisioned the noise from Dominic playing. I envisioned myself nestled in a hammock on the upstairs porch. I got supremely excited about the possibility of having my own work space in the house. JM dreamed of a room where he would retreat to for a quiet read.

We learned quickly it was not eleven rooms anymore. Several rooms had been combined to make larger, more spacious bedrooms. Now there are only seven. The plumbing had been updated and the bathrooms remodeled in really adorable fashion, the air conditioners reasonably new, and the kitchen cabinets were beautiful.

The walls though ... the walls were leaning. This beyond anything else hung us up greatly. Why is it leaning? How badly is it leaning? Is the lean the reason it's been for sale all this time? I'll tell you all about the lean later. For now, we celebrate!