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How to make the best decision? A question that each and every one of us grapples with at some point, if not at many times, during our lives. At the moment I am beginning my search in earnest for a house to buy in Bend. It has been four years since I have owned a home - a house that I called home for nine years and I loved
and remodeled and refurbished and redecorated quite extensively on my teacher's salary at the time. But buying a house in Bend is a different animal, and I am grappling with how to navigate it whilst making the best financial and personal-peace-of-mind question for myself.
The good news is that I am the only one who will be making this decision. The difficult part is that I am the only one who will be making this decision. :) However, I am gathering outside feedback being clear about the speaker's experience, bias and knowledge of the situation I find myself in as well as about who I am. Ultimately, I am realizing I can trust myself to make the best decision, I
just honestly don't know what it is yet, which tells me that making the best decision is not something that necessarily takes place in the blink of an eye or when we need it to be made. Patience is required.
So that is what I am doing. I am sitting with the journey I find myself on, seeking out information as I need it due to the questions I have, and letting them simmer. What I find interesting is that in one 24-hour period, my thoughts can contemplate a wide breadth of considerations. Admittedly, this initially frustrated me even further, but what it tells me, and why I think it is a good thing, is that it
reveals I am considering all the possibilities, I am asking questions and I am thinking both with my heart and my mind. Because buying a home involves both.
Yes, it needs to be a place that you feel comfortable in, a place that is a sanctuary or can be a sanctuary with decor touches that speak to your needs and lifestyle, but financial security is also something that cultivates comfort. Don't get me wrong, owning a home does not guarantee financial security. There are a myriad of factors that strengthen or weaken a home as an investment - economy, location,
etc., and as many of us know, Bend was ravaged by the Great Recession. Some have even argued a home is not an investment ultimately if it is your primary residence as you will always need a place to live and will never be able to sell it for profit without buying another home to live in. And so I find myself going back and reading books by financial experts I trust. One such book is Jean Chatzky's most recent, Women With Money, in which an entire
chapter is dedicated to real estate.
As you can tell, I am in the midst of the decision making. I don't know when or how it will unfold, but as I can, I will be sharing my journey so that if you too by chance find yourself in a similar situation or are looking ahead and considering what to do or not to do based on the life you are building, perhaps I can help in some small way.
One thing that I am sure of is that I love working on the blog and this week the cooking show as well. Just this week the first two episodes of The Simply Luxurious Kitchen were taped, and I getting ever more excited to bring to you a better quality production than I have shared in the past.
What you will find in this week's newsletter is an Outfit of the Week that just epitomizes a simple, sophisticated, yet casual summer ensemble. I absolutely love the shoes in this outfit as well as all of the other details, and I think you will too as it most of the items are available at wonderfully low prices. Also on the blog this week, I had the opportunity to spotlight a woman who is
quickly becoming a friend here in Bend, Oregon, as her European decor boutique is one of my favorites to visit to add special touches to my home that cultivate an even more simply luxurious sanctuary. Lastly, This & That offers an abundance of books, many, many articles to read, two beautiful maxi dresses, a new film directed by Greg Kinnear (his directoral debut) and the market tote many readers have asked about that I shared on IG that was given to me by my mom recently during our
trip to San Francisco.
I do hope you enjoy this week's newsletter and thank you for subscribing. Wishing you a wonderful weekend as we head into the latter half of July. Until next Friday, I will see you on the blog.
