Weekend highlights

Wow, what a day I had on Sat! It started at 9:00 when I picked up my friend Jon, who was staying at a friend's house nearby. We went to see 4 homes between 9-11:30. He ruled out 2 of them as I expected, and liked the other 2, as I expected. I dropped him off and ran to my next appointment.

Our real estate team doesn't normally have public open houses because in this area we usually get 'curious' visitors instead of potential buyers. However, because it was the Sat before Easter and lots of folks were expected to be in town this weekend, we decided to have 7 properties open to the public from noon-3:00. I arrived at mine with just enough time to put up the 'Open House' signs and start turning on the lights when the 1st couple came in. They were self-identifying "noisy neighbors" who were simply curious about the interior of the house. Of the 8 or 9 couples/groups who stopped in, I did manage to get 1 lead. A couple from PA who has just begun thinking about a 2nd home here at the beach. The wife mentioned her affinity for the 'classic beach cottage' style home so I will email them what's currently for sale that fits that description. When the open house concluded I turned off all the lights, locked up, and took down the signs before heading back to the office to debrief with the others. Then I went home and had a snack (since I'd not eaten lunch), packed an overnight bag, and left to meet Spouse at his mom's house.

Just as I was heading out of town I got a call from the listing agent that 1 of the properties I shown Jon that morning had gotten a contract so I pulled over to call Jon. He said it was just too soon for him and that he wanted to make sure he made a well-thought out decision, not a hasty one. I told him I understood completely, and then called the agent back with the news. When I arrived in VA I had a late dinner with Spouse and his mom, and then Spouse's eldest brother arrived from out of town. We visited a little while but I was exhausted and began nodding off so I went to bed.

Sun we had a leisurely morning at Spouse's mom's house. After a light breakfast (saving our calories for Easter dinner) we went to Trader Joe's to stock up on stuff we can't get back in DE. At 1:00 I picked up my aunt Mary and met the rest of the family at Spouse's other brother's house for Easter. The food was terrific as usual, and we all had a great time. I took my aunt home and then at 7:00 I headed back to DE.

The party

The party was a smashing success!

Fri I took off work and baked all day long. Literally, I started at 9:30 and took the last stuff out of the oven at 4:30. But making everything the day before was definitely the right thing to do.

Sat Spouse & I cleaned the house from top to bottom, all 3,770 square feet. Then I finished distributing the candles and other decorations around the living room, powder room, foyer, dining room, kitchen, family room, and bathroom on the main level where most guests would be.

I was lamenting what to do about the stack of Christmas cards we'd received. I'd tossed them into a large glass bowl after Spouse & I read each one, but didn't think that looked very nice. Then it hit me. I grabbed some wide plaid Christmas ribbon ribbon, cut it into 4 equal lengths, and stapled the cards to the ribbon. Then I used push pins to hang the ribbons on the wall in the foyer. They looked like this:

The cards were pretty to begin with, but by hanging them on the pretty ribbon they became lovely decorations too! Although I didn't invent this idea, I did pat myself on the back for thinking of it.

After putting the gold table cloths on the dining room and breakfast room tables, I got out all the platters, cake pedestals, cookie trees, punch bowl, coffee pots, and various serving pieces I thought we might need. Basically everything was set up except the food.

Spouse & I both showered, then went to a lovely birthday party for our friend Bill, hosted by his partner Dean at their house nearby. We had a good time, and it was nice to stop thinking/worrying/obsessing about the details of our party for a while and just enjoy talking and being with folks.

When we returned home we sliced all the desserts and placed them on the various serving pieces, started the coffee pots, made the punch, poured the eggnog in the pitcher, lowered the lights with the new dimmers, and started lighting all the candles as the 1st 2 guests arrived. All our hard work paid off; everything was ready and the house looked great. We had a total of 40 friends and neighbors attend. Unfortunately 6 more had to cancel due to being sick.

We had a great time! I heard friends recommending certain items they liked to others trying to decide was to eat. Spouse & I mingled among our friends and tried to have short conversations with everyone, although we were rarely together. We feel its best to split up so one can keep an eye on the food/drinks and refill when needed while the other greets people near the door and visits with those not near the food. It works well for us.

Several friends brought us ornaments, wine, and goodies to eat later, which was so kind!

After the last guests left, Spouse & I sat in the living room with our coffee and gazed at the fireplace and Christmas tree for a few minutes before 'comparing notes'. I told him about the conversations I'd had and he told me about his as we recapped the party. Then we put away the left over food and went to bed.

What a wonderful way to enjoy and spread holiday cheer!

Crush du Jour: Jeremy Santucci

Preparations

Happy Friday, everyone! As I mentioned last week, I took off work today in order to prepare for our holiday open house tomorrow night.

Today has been (and still is) all about baking. Thank you to those who sent the recipes! Today I made a batch of chocolate chip pecan cookies, a batch of cranberry oatmeal walnut cookies, 2 'holiday' pumpkin pies, and a big pan of sweet potato shuffle.

I still have yet to make the coconut cheesecake squares, the butterscotch cheesecake squares, the chocolate chip brownies, and the peanut butter chip brownies. I ran out of eggs, so I'm off to the grocery now.

If the evite responses are to be believed, we'll have about 45 friends and neighbors here for the party tomorrow night. I'm excited!

Tonight we're having dinner with 'the usual suspects', and tomorrow will be all about the housecleaning. Then we're off to a birthday party tomorrow from 2-5, then back home to set up for our party at 7:30.

Remember, its not too late to submit your Christmas tree photos!

Crush du Jour: Matus Valent