We bought a house!

Hilariously enough, I can’t believe I’m writing this and that we actually did it. We closed on our house TODAY… and that house is in California!

I think in the blur of the last 2 years of the housing market frenzy that came with the way the panini changed a lot of our priorities and day-to-day needs, it seemed like a “we bought a house!” announcement was popping up on my Instagram feed every other day— from IRL friends, to influencers, it felt ubiquitous, and also a bit difficult to watch when we were sharing 600 sq ft of space and WFH 24/7.

It was something I was hoping for and desperately working my ass off for too, but the path and process of saving up and trying to go through the purchase process ain’t no picnic— you’d think it’s a lot simpler, from the sheer amount of young influencers buying these massive homes or building their dream homes from the ground up. But it really has not been an easy road for us to get here, so it kinda feels that much sweeter because of it too. I’m also incredibly aware of the fact that we are so fortunate to be at this point at all, as this housing market is. not. normal.

The past few months of this process has been all-consuming and my brain is just EXPLODING with the amount of information I’ve learned about this whole home-buying process that I’m dying to share with you all— because truly, why the hell are we not taught this in school?? I’m very grateful that we had such a stellar real estate agent and mortgage advisor, because it was an extremely difficult process to keep up with and navigate EVEN with proper, proficient guidance; so I could not even imagine what the process would have been like without them.

I wanted to share the news here, and to also say that I am so excited to be reviving the blog from its slight dormancy to be bringing you WAY more content here on the blog in this upcoming year—everything from finances (not just around the house), the BTS on the home-buying process, navigating the process with a partner, decorating, the moving process, and just documenting how our lives will be changing and unfolding with this cross-country move!

I’m so excited, but also have so many swirling mixed emotions around it all, as it’s a huge change for me— I’ve lived in New York for nearly 14 years now, my family is here, and I’ve never lived on the west coast before. But today, I’ll just be celebrating with J and Benny to enjoy the moment— and we’re gonna do takeout from our fave local Thai food spot here in our neighborhood.

More to come soon! But in the meantime, here’s a lil sneak peek at our backyard🥲Not gonna lie, one of the things I’m most looking forward to is watching our Benny boy hop around in the backyard like a little bunny.


LifestyleMinna LeeHome, House