Catching Up Part 2: Papaw & My New Obsessions

Well this past weekend we took a little surprise road trip... :) It was so fun to just get away and relax and visit with our family down in Virginia and Tennessee.

We planned to go down so that I could attend my cousin, Anna's, baby shower in Knoxville!

I wouldn't have missed it for the world... she is the sweetest, kindest, most caring person and through the years we have stayed close even though never really living in the same state I don't think ha ... but I was so thrilled for her and her husband when they found out they were pregnant and I was set on making sure I could attend her shower! I'm doing a separate post on this later to show her cute shower!
Before we went to Knoxville, we actually went to see my Papaw and stayed with him for two nights...I also got to see my Aunt Cathy and celebrate a super late Christmas!

My papaw is seriously one of the funniest people you would ever meet... and he doesn't even try to be.

This was him at my brother's 21st birthday party haha just being funny.. don't think he's ever had a drink of alcohol in his life which makes this even more funny.

Some of his classic one liners while we were visiting included:

(Preface.. my brother has a cute little dog named Whiskey that my Papaw met last time we were there)

Papaw: "How's that dog of yours? Does he pass out a lot?

My Brother: "He's good... and no, why would he pass out?

Papaw: "With a name like that I figured he'd be passed out all the time"

You just have to know him, he doesn't even laugh when he says this stuff... which makes it even more funny! hahaha

My Brother: " Papaw, is Cracker Barrel ok with you for breakfast tomorrow?

Papaw: "Why I guess that would be fine, but I gotta eat more than crackers"

Another good one...

Me: On my phone, looking at Facebook

Papaw: "What are ya doin? Tweetering?"

Me:"No hahahaha I'm looking on Facebook Papaw, and it's Twitter or tweeting...not tweetering!

Papaw: "Well whatever it's called... don't matter much to me... these computers are the mark of the beast! They won't be around much longer...

HAHAHAHA ... mark of the beast??  LOL that's classic

and my personal favorite was ...

Me: "What is that building going to be that's going up down the street?"

Papaw: 'Oh they said it's going to be another place to eat ... somethin called the Olive Garden... I suppose that's where they grow olives... in their garden..."

Pretty clever he is... prettttty clever ha.

Even more funny hearing him say these things... you honestly can't help but crack up! He is too much.

We took him to White Top Mountain in VA ... it was pretty cool I must admit.. I am not the "mountain" type and felt like I was going to vomit the entire ride up there on the curvy roads while my ears were popping nonstop ha. But once we got up there it was awesome... it was beautiful that day .. sunny and 55 degrees... but the elevation is so high up that it was freezing up on top and ice all over the trees! Crazy!!

How pretty is that? Look at those mountains!

Me and Papaw :) Can you tell I was freeeeezing up there? ha

Chris and I :)

My brother, Chris.

It was a good time for sure! Beautiful place!

We had a great time, can't wait to see him again for Keeneland when he is coming up to stay with us for a weekend!

Now, because I have been a blogging slacker lately... I wanted to share with you some of my favorite things right now... just for fun :)

I FINALLY jumped on the band wagon and got one of these...

Clarisonic Mia

She is my new BFF.

I don't know why I have waited this entire time to get one... PinkLouLou and ShastaAnne raved about them probably a year ago and I don't know why I didn't listen then?! It is amazing. Period. Love it.

Now I will say, it is making my face break out for a minute, just to totally keep it real for ya ha. But I am fighting thru the break out because I know it is just doing it's job and bringing out the dirt. I have faith it will go away in a day or so. My face has never felt softer and it looks more glowing kind of?

How cute is that bracelet? We all know my obsession with bracelets... cheap and/or expensive.. I love them all, especially if they have glitter ha. This one above I just got today... from Crewcuts... the kid's part of JCrew... for $10.50 :)

Love it! They have different colors too. But I like the gold the best!

My next obsession...

These smoothie Yoplait mixes!

They are delicious!

You just add milk and the mix (and a little peanut butter which is my fave!) then Voila! Amazingness!

My favorite flavor is ...

Triple Berry! So good and actually keeps me full for half the day pretty much!

Lastly...

I am obsessed with side pony braids.... so quick and easy and cute... love them!

Do you love them?

I think they will be fun for the Summer too!

Well that's all I've got for today..

OH wait ... HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my Mom!! Today is her actual birthday but we are celebrating tomorrow night for dinner :) Love ya Mom! XO

 

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Weekly Update

So there I was, all poised to write this blog last night.  Research done, thoughts composed, SU game still in the future....but I couldn't get in to blogger!  Best laid plans and all that.

Currently there are 84 - ONLY! - active listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service.  Of these, 24 are in the Village and 20 are waterfront.  One new one came on this past week in the mid-$200,000 range.

There are 6 homes marked contingent, 7 in the "under contract" category, and 5 pending.  None of these are new.

However - continuing on with our good fortune or pent-up needs, there is another closed sale!  This brings our year-to-date number to 10.  The one that closed was under $200,000 and in the town.

I told someone that we had a dozen homes listed under $200,000 - just off the top of my head.  So I checked, and there are actually 15.  The largest number come between $200,000 and $400,000 - 30 homes.  Between $400,000 and $800,000 there are 25, and that leaves an amazing 15 listed for over $800,000.  (And adding it up I see that somewhere a house appears in two categories - which is why people try for the even numbers so they won't be excluded on the internet.  For example, if I were to list a home at $499,900....it would be missed by people starting at 500K.  Unbelievable, but true!)

So come to my open house this Sunday from 1:00 until 3:00 at one of the "under $200,000" homes.  This is 1650 Coon Hill Road, literally just minutes from the village down East Lake Road.  Hopefully the weather will allow you to soak up the sun in the three-season room (see below) and walk out into the huge back yard over to the stream.  It's really a lovely home - very, very comfortable.  When you come, tell me you read about it on my blog.

Catching Up Part 1: V-Day!

Hiiiiiya!

I'll tell you what, people who say blogging is addicting sure know what they are talking about! It has officially been 10 days since I have blogged, and I feel empty haha.

I have not slacked on purpose, so don't judge, but I have seriously been super busy selling some houses (yay!)... then sick :( ... then out of town for a mini vaca (post to come!)... and then super busy again! I feel like I have so much to share... but I think I'm going to break them down into a couple different posts this week as to not totally picture overload yall!

Since I missed Valentine's Day :( I thought it would be fun to share a little bit of my day ...

the day before we did some fun little presents with the kids...

They had fun, we got them little surprises and some candy... we got the girls each a Moon & Lola monogrammed necklace and they loved them! (Need to post pic, forgot to take one!)

The next morning Jake was over so I fixed him a Valentine's Day breakfast :)

(Sorry the pic is sideways)

Heart Shaped Waffles (his fave) with red sprinkles!

That day I had a special shirt I had been hiding in my closet for weeks to wear for Chris hehe

However, I was apparently on something that day and took a pic myself so it is backwards lol and the only picture I got all day of it! :( It was so cute, a baseball type tee that said I Heart My Boyfriend! Got it at Target, Chris thought it was so cute :) I wore it all day and even to dinner, instead of the pink silk shirt I had planned on wearing lol

He surprised me (ok not really, I knew he would get them, they are my favorite!) with chocolate covered strawberries!!

Yummmm!!!

He brought me TWO things of flowers... some beautiful mixed ones and then also a new orchid that is so pretty... he gave me one two years ago and I kept it alive all this time until recently when it kicked the bucket, so now I have a new one :)

And then this lovely pressent, which was SO unexpected...

 I opened this and was so excited!!

The Hugs & Kisses Package from The Massage Center

what might this include you ask?

LOTS of goodies... :)

60 minute Relaxation Massage

15 minute Salt Glow - feet & legs

15 minute Facelift Massage

How sweet was that?

 I am so looking forward to spending some time relaxing and enjoying this present from my sweet honey! Thank you babe! Loved it! XO

We ended the day by going to dinner and me eating way more than I should have! Ha! But it sure was yummy!

Hope all your Valentine's Days were just as sweet and fun!

Oh, in unrelated news... have you seen these in your Kroger????

These little handy dandy touch screen thingys are awesome.. you scroll through different recipes and then once you find the one you like, you print it out and it gives you the ingredients and recipe right there while you're at the grocery! Genius! Why didn't I think of this?? Great idea! :)

And in case anyone was wondering... Frankie got all spiffed up and got a cute new haircut for Valentine's Day...

He was waiting on Miss Daisy May to give him a ring, but that unfortunately didn't happen and we have since then talked and realized that he is the man, he should have made the first move... epic fail... :( LOL

I have loads more to share.. will be back tomorrow talking about the mini vaca we took this past weekend :)

XO,

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Weekly Update

The emotions of real estate are always up and down - hence the stress level increases and decreases accordingly.  This week has been no different, but I am walking now, thanks in part to our two new dogs, Charlie and Sheba.  Charlie is the little one, and he is 9 years old.  His best friend Sheba is an English Shepherd like our Boo, and she is 11.  Charlie needed his teeth done - he has only 4 left after yesterday's

surgery at the Weedsport Animal Hospital, but it hasn't slowed him down any.  Sheba needs to walk -she weighs almost as much as Boo!  Together we are carving out an hour a day to hit the trails.  Boo really likes having a pack he thinks he can boss around, and the cats don't really care - they can handle dogs.  

So while the dogs wait patiently for their dinners....there are currently ONLY 85 single family homes listed in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service.  Of these, 25 are in the village and 21 are waterfront.  Three new ones came on the market after brief hiatuses, but these are primarily re-listed properties.

There are 9 homes now that are under contract, but still can be shown.  Three new ones were added this week, two in the village and one farther out.  Six are solidly under contract, and a new village home was added to that list, too.  There are no new pended properties, leaving the total at 3 homes.

The BIG news is that we now have 9 closings so far this year.  NINE!  Two are waterfront, and one is village.  I checked - I had to go as far back as 2008 to find nine closings this early in the year.  At that time the median selling price was $487,000 and this time it is $345,000....but still, I believe this is excellent news.  Combined with the reduced number of active listings, this could be a much better year than the last few have been.  Hooray!





Happy Birthday Mimi!

Today is Chris's mom, Cathi's, (aka Mimi which is what the kids call her) birthday!!

Did you follow all that? ha

We celebrated yesterday at our house... and actually had a birthday/valentine's day party which was so much fun! We were so happy to have everyone over to hang out, eat, open presents & watch the game!

I made little Valentine's Day goodie bags for all the kids...

We had lots of balloons and fun presents...

(Lex peeps, the Party Store on Nicholasville Rd has those red mylar balloons 20 for $10! Can't beat it if you're having a Valentine's Day party or just want to decorate your casa up a bit!)

Look at these super cute birthday plates... Katie I thought of you as soon as I saw them ha!!

You will need these for your next birthday bash I think! :)

Cathi LOVES the beach.. I'm talkin loves it! They go to Florida all the time and it is for sure their favorite thing to do... so I opted for a cute beach theme cake :) Seashells, sand, flip flops, palm trees... Precious!

Of course I can't take the credit... but the talented ladies at Confused Confections can :)

I don't need to tell you for the umpteenth time how amazzzzing they are because if you read my blog regularly then you already know since we get probably one cake a month hahahaha!

The birthday girl making her wish! :)

Opening her presents... we got her the cute Happy Everything Plate and some fun attachments for the top... if you have seen these before they are normally white with all different color polka dots, which to be honest was always just a little much for me... too much color idk... but I always wanted one just didn't like that bright of one. Well I guess I wasn't the only one who thought that because literally they JUST came out with this new one... tan with white dots... and it is SOOO cute!! :)

Chris's dad got her a tablet that looked so awesome... I know she will enjoy that at the beach! :)

I mentioned before, the kids Dyson vacuum I saw at one of my client's houses... and I knew Chris's nephew would die over it because he is obsessed with vacuums! Well we gave it to him for Vday and he loved it so much I couldn't even get a great pic because he was running around vacuuming everything LOL ... but here is one...

It literally is a mini replica of our Dyson. So funny. Even picks up a few crumbs. Love it!

(Got it from amazon.com)

Lastly, since I think almost everyone should have gotten their Valentine's Day card we sent... I want to show it to you! Another Pinterest idea, can't take all the credit... however I did take the pic, then make the card myself on Publisher then ran up to Kinkos and printed them out on 5x7 cardstock for dirt cheap... then mailed :)

They are so darn cute...

Hahahaha how funny is that?

Happy Early Valentine's Day :)

and ...

Happy Birthday Cathi :)

I am so blessed to have you in my life and thankful for your always fun, positive, loving, and uplifting attitude! I am thankful beyond words that I have you as a (basically) Mother In Law and so happy we are so close! Love you! XO - Dana 

Check back tomorrow for a little Pinterest time!

PS. Desperate Housewives was new tonight but I am DVR'ing it so therefor not getting on facebook tonight because I don't want it ruined lol! 

Everybody Needs a Photo Booth Prop Set!

I love doing fun, crafty, creative stuff... this is probably not a surprise to anyone! hehe :)

With that said, one of my favorite things at weddings is when the bride and groom have a photo booth, or photo props, etc. I think it is so fun, for adults and kids, and something that people can save as a memory forever! When my friend, Stephanie, got married last year they had an awesome photo booth and we had a blast with it!

Now clearly, we can't have a photo booth in our house...

 (how awesome would that be for my crazy parties though? lol)

 so I decided to order these cheap, fun, little props to make our own "photo booth" pics if you will...

Take a look at The Manic Moose on Etsy ...

 They have SO MANY FUN THINGS!

Great props for weddings...

 classrooms (all my teacher sistas out there!) birthday parties & more!!

Here is the mini prop set I got...

Only $26

 (one of the smaller ones, they have huge fun ones for up to $100)

Filled with just enough fun stuff to last for hours and take some good pics... I originally ordered these for the kid's Valentine's Day cards project I wanted to do.. will do a post on that for V-day... don't want to give it away yet because I haven't stuck them in the mail!!

The Manic Moose did a great job, they shipped quickly, they arrived just as they look and were perfect... I guess this is why celebs like Ashlee Simpson and her son, Bronx, think they're great too... ;)

(Chris loves to say that I often dislike something or don't like a certain place, but as soon as I hear a "celebrity" has it or has been there, then I am all over it, like flies on horse sh*t hahaha I would say that is not completely true, maybe just a tad bit, however I will say I ordered these before I knew Ashlee was a fan, promise!)

They also have vinyl decals for your iPads and laptops too... I am really wanting one of these :)

How cute is that ??

Only $8!

Comes in these fonts and colors...

Ok,

 so of course last night we had to test these bad boy props out... here are just a few quick shots to show you how fun they are!!

(and give you a good laugh for your Thursday of course!)

Hahahahahaa this is a favorite for sure!

I have no clue what's with the serious face?? lol

How cute is that? A framer for sure!

And now for my favorite...

Hahahahaaha Jake is killing me! What a ham!

So fun!

You need one ... whether you're a teacher, getting married, have kids or don't have kids, or just like to have a parties (like moi!) ... there are props for everyone!! :)

Angela, over at The Manic Moose was gracious enough to
offer 10% off your order
 to my followers on your purchase!
Enter the Promo Code "MOOSE" at check out! :)

Happy Hilarious Photo Taking!