Our journey to homeownership

Even though we’ve only walked through a couple of open houses and haven’t put down any offers, our homeownership journey has started. We’re months (or maybe even years out!) from buying a house, but we’re saving aggressively, learning as much as we can, keeping our eyes open for homes and making a list of the nice-to-haves and the “must haves.” Today, I’m chatting a bit more in collaboration with MSHDA about what prospective homebuyers (like us!) need to prepare for as they begin their homeownership journey. It’s important to remember that the path to homeownership is a journey. We’re inching closer and closer to that dream of buying a house, in a neighborhood we love, in this beautiful state of Michigan.

This post is sponsored by MSHDA. All opinions are my own.

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Muted yellows

Hello, June! I fell off the earth a little bit at the end of May after getting my goal of eight blog posts up in just a couple short weeks. Haha. Ugh. You win, then you lose, then you win again, right?! Well the major news is that it’s starting to finally feel consistently warm here in Michigan and I’m having all the summer vibes right now. This past weekend was super fun — lots of friend time and sunshine! We had a “We Didn’t Start the Fire” party on Friday to celebrate the apartment being back to normal-ish, haha. We grilled out, had a bon fire, drank too much fireball sangria and smoky old fashioneds. I woke up Saturday morning to the stickiest, smokiest kitchen. 😂 It was super fun though. Now I’m just excited for the next three months. June/July/August are always what I consider summer, even if it doesn’t officially start for another few weeks. I’m here for it nowww! ☀️

Outfit details:

Madewell Wide-Leg Crop Jeans in Finney Wash
H&M Knit Top
Ray Ban Clubmaster Sunglasses
Rattan Mini Woven Bag via Etsy (similar)
Elva Clogs c/o MIA

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Living Room Reveal

I’m so excited to finally be sharing a ROOM reveal for you guys! I currently rent in a beautiful historic home in Heritage Hill (in Grand Rapids, Michigan). Within walking distance to my favorite corner in GR (think Donkey, The Winchester, Rowster Coffee), and about a mile from downtown. It’s my ideal apartment.

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Windmill Island
Windmill Island

One of my favorite traditions every year is to head over to Holland to see the tulips during Tulip Time! And can you believe this is my 10th year blogging at the tulip fields? So crazy to see how long I’ve been running Selective Potential. I decided to check out Windmill Island this year instead of Veldheer Tulip Gardens just to mix it up a little bit from the past two years! I absolutely love the windmill in photos, but Veldheer has more tulips. But either way, you’re in for a real treat if you visit either place (or both) during this time of year. We always make it a tradition and go on a weeknight, because there’s less people and it makes for better photos! Afterwards, we usually head downtown to check out some of the wooden shoe street dancing and to grab a bite for dinner.

Outfit details:

Madewell Wide-Leg Crop Jeans in Finney Wash
Madewell Wrap Top (similar)
ModCloth Coat (similar)
Madewell Shapes Statement Earrings
Madewell Indio Sunglasses
Woven Tote (similar)
Target Mules

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Night in Seaside
Night in Seaside

One of my favorite nights during vacation was when we headed to Seaside, Florida! So apparently 30A is this strip of the Florida Gulf Coast (very similar to M22, if you’re a Michigan reader!) and Seaside is another town along 30A (like Santa Rosa Beach, where we stayed). We drove over (about 15-20 minutes from our cottage), to grab dinner, drinks and to see some of the sights! The weather was beautiful, we ended up grabbing drinks during happy hour on an outdoor patio, and then headed into the little main area where there were so many cute shops, outdoor restaurants, and airstreams with donuts, hot-dogs, ramen, you name it. So fun! I could have spent a whole day there, and definitely would love to go back one day to explore more!

Outfit details:

Madewell Wide-Leg Crop in Finney Wash
Woven Bag via Etsy (similar)
Madewell Wrap Top via Nordstrom Rack
H&M Sunglasses (similar)
Target Woven Mules

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Buddy's Ice Cream
Buddy's Ice Cream

Two more posts from Santa Rosa Beach, Florida! The first full day we were there, we laid out by the pool and beach (and got maybe a little too much sun!) so the next day when everyone else was heading back to the pool, Eric and I decided to walk into town, do a little shopping, and grab some ice-cream! I loved that we were easily able to walk from our cottage to the little strip of cute shops, artsy shacks and of course… ice cream! Buddy’s Ice Cream was just down the street from us, which was awesome… and a little dangerous! We went on one of our first nights and it was crazy busy, but during the day it wasn’t too bad! We loaded up on strawberry cheesecake ice-cream. Yum!

Outfit details:

H&M Denim Dress
Woven Bag via Etsy (similar)
H&M Sunglasses (similar)
ModCloth Fudge from the Fair Flats (similar)

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outfits, travelTieka Knightflorida, springComment