{{Easy Entertaining}}

In today’s world it seems as though the art of entertaining and hospitality has been lost.  Life is busy, full to overflowing with things to do.  We’re meeting, tweeting, Facebooking, on our phones, our computers and not really welcoming people into our homes, unless it’s on our computer!

A couple weeks ago the Bakers talked about the ability to turn any house into a home…I want to run with this idea and explore it a bit more.

One VERY simple way to transform your living space into a welcoming home is let people in.  Open the doors, invite people in, enjoy spending time with others.   Now I don’t want you to get overwhelmed with the thought of having to entertain and host people for a whole meal, start with something simple like appetizers or dessert.

As newlyweds, Tim and I love having people in our home, and sometimes it happens to be very last minute, or even surprise guests.  I have two tips I thought I’d share to encourage you to relax your entertaining style and just go with it:

1.  Easy Appetizer – my all time favourite appetizer is super simple to prepare and only requires three ingredients.  I make sure I keep these things on hand at all times: cream cheese, sweet chili sauce & crackers.   Place your cream cheese on a large plate, pour sweet chili sauce on top and serve with crackers.  Delish…..and always a crowd pleaser.

2.  Bake & Serve cookies – who doesn’t really love a good cookie??  When you bake cookies double your batch and instead of baking all of them at the same time, roll half the dough into logs, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze.   When unexpected guests pop in, put on a pot of coffee and pull out some frozen cookie dough.  Cut into pucks, place on the baking sheet and in 12 minutes (or so) you have fresh baking!

{{Get Your Garden ON!}}

Hello!

Continuing our look at getting a garden going I thought I would share a couple posts from the "Reluctant Entertainer." 

Her blog is full of great ideas for home, entertaining and gardening.  She talks a lot about growing what you love, eating from the garden and making the most of what you have without blowing the budget.

Here are links to her first two posts in her gardening series this year:

http://reluctantentertainer.com/2011/03/gardening-and-building-raised-beds-in-the-city/

http://reluctantentertainer.com/2011/04/gardening-amending-the-soil-for-raised-beds-in-the-city/

Tim and I have been working out in the garden the last couple days enjoying the sunny weather. My raised garden bed is almost built now and I will be posting some photo’s to share with you soon.  It’s turning out REALLY well and I think some of you may enjoy this style of gardening as an alternative.

Stay tuned!

{{Get Out the Garden Tools}}

I LOVE this photo…it’s my inspiration shot to get me moving and working in the garden!

Spring has SPRUNG! It is time to get out in the yard, do some clean-up, some trimming and plant your garden.  Maybe you’re scared of gardening, maybe you think your thumb is more black than green, well be encouraged my friends, you can do it!

Even I, yes I, went to the garden shop the other day to buy some seeds! I was leafing through a gardening issue that Martha Stewart put out the other month and I have anxiously been waiting for this cold weather to go away. Now that the cherry blossoms are blooming it’s a pretty good sign that spring has arrived! So Tim and I are going to work out in the garden over the next couple weeks to start to get things “Spring Ready.”

My plan is to do a little vegetable patch in my backyard and to add a few more herbs to my garden this year. Because I have limited space and I like things to grow fast (are you surprised? I admit I am not always the most patient lady. That’s why I have a large amount of miracle grow for my flowers in my garage!) I have asked Tim to help me make some homemade boxes to grow some veggies in. Hint: Boxes that are elevated off the ground will help the soil heat up and will help your plants grow faster.

Over the next few weeks, stay tuned for some great gardening inspiration, I have found a number of blogs with excellent tips on how to get going in your own garden.

Martha Stewart has some great information on starting your own vegetable garden, everything from seed starting, planting and garden prep to a vegetable garden glossary. Check it out:

http://www.marthastewart.com/photogallery/planning-your-vegetable-garden

Don’t have a big backyard? No problem! Container gardening, indoor vegetable gardens and “square foot gardening” is simple and easy to do.

Have you had gardening success? If so, I’d love to hear your tips and ideas, please feel free to leave a comment.

Happy Planting!

Lacey

{{ The Bakers - Part 5...The Grand Finale }}

The Grand Finale….Drum Roll Please…

 

With cash in hand and a quick closing date the search was on to find our new house.  (***We say “house” specifically instead of “home” because it’s a good lesson to learn that you can make any place into your HOME***)  Don’t get bogged down by nasty paint colors, overbearing carpet or retro flooring….a house will be transformed into your home when you add your own unique touch and character.

Unfortunately, finding our new house wasn’t as glamorous or as easy as expected. You would think that cruising the streets with cash in your pocket would make the search a breeze – this was not so for us. We had very specific needs, this, combined with the market slowing down for Christmas, limited our choices.  We had a “short list” of things we required – not wanted – but NEEDED (*** Be sure to break down your wants from needs before you head out looking for homes. This can help you really determine what house is best for you***) we searched, and searched AND SEARCHED.  We literally knew EVERY house in the entire Langley area and spent copious amounts of time driving, viewing and praying about what house was right for us.

We were down to the wire in our search, the last week we really had before we needed to start sourcing out a rental for the interim (Lacey learnt not to say the “R” word to Lisa unless she wanted to see spontaneous tears!!! She really didn’t want to have to move twice, anyone with children will understand this). 

There was one house we had seen online, we were skeptical it would have the space and “potential” we needed, but the yard was AWESOME.  We didn’t get our hopes up because there was already an accepted offer. So, we waited.  We stopped looking and kept packing, not really knowing where our little family would land.

Then one Friday morning Lacey called. She had just got off the phone with the listing agent and the offer had fallen through!  We had nothing to loose so off we went!

 

And......... drum roll please...........WE FOUND IT!  A house we could make our home! A yard our kids could romp in from morning till night, a dead end street that would make a great track for some serious bike riding.  There was some updating to do, but there was potential.  It met our needs, proved to help us reach our short and long term goals and would be a great investment for the future of our family.

From the beginning, and right through to the very end, and with every up and down, Lacey was positive, upbeat, encouraging and support of the decisions we were making for our family.  She listened to our concerns and respected our decisions.  She worked hard on our behalf, negotiating the best deal on the home we sold and searching out any and every option for a new home. Her extensive experience, and family history of builders and developers, gave her the knowledge to answer all our questions and helped us think of potential costs/options to renovations we may have never considered.  If you are thinking of buying or selling we would highly recommend Lacey.  Her passion for people and her integrity are her driving forces; she is courteous, honest and dependable.  We have not only gained a realtor we have gained a great friend.

Here are a few pictures of our new house:

Front Of House & Front Yard 

Back of House

Backyard from Far Corner

Stay tuned in coming weeks for before and after pictures....as the Bakers turn this house into their home.

{{ The Bakers - Part 4}}

Decaf? Not A Chance!!!

It’s a funny thing when you sell your home; you get to know your Realtor REALLY WELL.  And in our case, we already knew Lacey socially, so, it quickly became like spending time with family…relaxed, easy and comfortable.  Our comfortable repertoire would prove vital…as we embarked on viewing a number of properties and entertaining offers late in the wee hours of the night. (***make sure you feel comfortable with whomever is going to help you buy and sell homes…you need to be able to voice your feelings, thoughts and ideas***)

The first large property we found didn’t end up being the right one for us, we did have an accepted offer on it; however, it was subject to the sale of our home, and that didn’t happen before our offer was bumped by a second offer.  In the midst of writing offers it’s crucial to STAY FOCUSED. (***stay true to your “must have list” and don’t get emotionally attached to any property…those emotions can make you do crazy things***)  Although large property #1 wasn’t for us, we did learn a few things that would help us down the road, and most importantly, we learned we loved the idea of a large property…it seemed like the best short and long term plan all in one.

Even though we had lots of interest in our home we had no offers.  We rode out the market as long as possible before considering, and reconsidering, the idea of a price drop (GASP!!).  ( ***It is very important to know and agree on what your “bottom line” is for your home, it is equally important to know and understand the real estate market and what your home is worth to other people***) At times we struggled with this idea, and to be honest, just wanted to call the whole thing off.  At times we wondered what in the world we were doing.

Eventually we did decide to do a price drop and it proved to be very successful.  Suddenly we were entertaining and negotiating multiple offers on our home.  It was fun, exhilarating, exhausting and required copious amount of caffeine to function.  After MUCH hard work we had negotiated a solid and secure offer on our home. 

Now it was time to find our new home!  Now we had cash in hand and were ready to write an offer!

The Bakers - Part 3

“Turn on the GPS – We’ve Had a Change in Plans”

During our real estate adventure one of the largest struggles we had was looking down the road.  What will life look like for our family in three, five or even ten years?  With hopes of Matt making a job shift and having Lisa’s dad living with us permanently there were MANY dynamics to consider and, at times, thinking five or ten years down the road was a little overwhelming and exhausting.  (***make the most of your move and your money, don’t just think about life next year, but down the road, you want to be in a house long enough to recoup the costs of moving, as well as enough time to make money off your property***)

A potential job change could easily drop Matt’s wage significantly, this was a major factor in selecting the price range we wanted to stay within. 

While waiting for action on our place the dynamics changed! 

Matt received an opportunity to apply for a management position with the company he works for.  The job change we had been factoring in for “down the road” just popped up on the road map and changed our real estate direction.

We are happy to say the job opportunity came to fruition and amidst our road to finding our new home we were happy to wipe one factor off the map.  He made a great job shift and we were blessed that there was very little adjustment in pay.

With one factor out of the question we needed to reconsider our game plan.  A change in salary was no longer a factor, and somehow a Brookswood home didn’t seem like a “long term” decision.  Would it do the job – yes, would it be the best for us – probably not.

So we took a turn in the road and found ourselves looking at a large piece of property with an older home…the thought of more yard for the kids to enjoy, neighbors not so close by and a home that we could live in for years and then rebuild on the same land suddenly became VERY appealing!!!

A MESSAGE TO ALL YOU FIRST TIME HOME BUYERS!

Just a reminder to all you first time or soon to be first time home buyer's out there! Be sure to get your RRSP contributions into the bank before the end of the month! This is the best savings plan out there as not only are you saving money towards a new home but you are also getting a credit on your taxes for 2010. If you would like more info on this program be sure to read my post on December 7, 2010 or give me a call and I am happy to help with your planning process.

Talk to you soon!

Lacey
604-910-LACE (5223)
http://www.homeswithlacey.com/