SOLD! Congratulations Brad! He just closed on a beautiful row house in Historic Church Hill and just in time to decorate for his up and coming holiday party!

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I read recently a blog from a home inspector who was discussing the decisions some home owners make about putting in granite counter tops rather than properly insulating their home.  His argument was that people are not particularly drawn to a high efficiency heating and cooling system. They would rather see a beautifully done kitchen.  Why? Because kitchens and bathrooms sell homes! People are so drawn in with kitchens that they will overlook insulation issues if the kitchen is pretty. It is a cold hard fact. I live in an old row house built in 1910 with no sub floor and no insulation. When I say I have no insulation in my house, truly there is none to be found. None in the walls and non in the ceiling the only insulation you will find is the newspaper I stuff into my clothing to keep warm during the winter months.

I have lived there for three years and I have a running list of things to fix. Do you know what’s at the top of my list to do? No, not my energy problem, my kitchen problem. Granted I can argue my kitchen does not in fact function properly, the drawers are all broken, the cabinets don’t close or open, and the storage space is limited. I’m always looking for creative ways to decorate my kitchen with food because after the first couple of bags of food there isn’t any more room. Not only am I disgruntled with my kitchen but now when I think about it I’m freezing and annoyed! I see my curtains move from the air that circulates in through the cracks but if I just had new counter tops the cold wouldn’t bother me. Winter is only a season but a kitchen is used daily. What if I did fix my energy issue wouldn’t I save money to put into my kitchen? I have to agree with the home inspector, insulation just isn’t as sexy as granite counter tops. There just isn’t two ways about it. Maybe it’s my northern blood talking but I think I can handle one more winter for a new kitchen. I will be freezing in my new kitchen but happy. My old house is cold and creaky but it’s charming.

What would you do first? Kitchen or insulate?

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Have you recovered from Thanksgiving feast or black Friday shopping? In the chaos of the holiday season it is important to remember to take some time for yourself.  It isn’t fair to work so hard that you don’t enjoy the fruits of your labor. There is also the fact that taking time for yourself helps you enjoy the holidays without heads rolling.   I look forward to the Christmas every year but I also forget how it takes a toll on me.  I pull out the decorations, I bake, I wrap, I run but do I take enough time to sit and enjoy my decorated apartment or my yummy holiday cookies?

It is a constant balancing act where I often land on my face. Face down drooling on my Christmas pillow while I miss the relaxing moments with friends and family as well as the perfectly mixed southern comfort egg nog. It isn’t about the decorations or the perfectly selected presents it’s about the reason you gather and the people you surround yourself with.  Absorb every moment because they are here and gone before you can take a mental photo for safe keeping. Make another list of things and people that are important to you this holiday season. That will help you keep your sanity and keep the focus on the important things.  Gifts come and go, they break and shatter but relationships will carry you through.

There are many moments in life that require you to pull out your multi-tasking skills. Whether as a parent or as a professional, things will happen all at once demanding you to do several things all at the same time. Keep calm and remember some of us shine through multi-tasking and others crumble. If you’re one that crumbles remember not everything has to be done right at that moment. Write yourself a list and tackle each task one at a time. You can take each item and focus on it, complete it and move on to the next one. I think even the greatest multi-tasker will end up with more errors, then someone who can’t multi-task, because doing so much at once doesn’t provide you the opportunity to check your work. You’ve heard the saying that your strength can be weakness. Well multi-tasking is a fantastic skill but it can also create more work if you have to go back and fix things that were missed.

I read something this morning about the power of claiming your mistake. Offering an apology for your mistakes can disarm people or open up a dialogue that can be both revealing and humorous. In an age full of technology it’s nice to feel connected to people even if it’s through our mistakes.

I hope all of you have a wonderful relaxing Thanksgiving filled with good food and good company.

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Good morning! How is your short work week going? Do you find yourself day dreaming about the feast and football that awaits you on Thursday? There’s nothing like enjoying pumpkin pie and the Detroit lions get pounded by the Green Bay Packers to usher in the holidays. Bring on the beating Packers, football is a good turkey digestion activity.  I hope you are thinking about easing into your Friday with extra sleep and a good cup of coffee, not in a tent outside a store or standing in line to fight through the black Friday crowd. Black Friday shopping frightens me. It is my night mare to be trapped in a store with thousands of slightly on edge people looking for a discount on socks. What if one of them snaps or the end of the world happens and everyone goes into panic mode. That is way too many people to calm down. Then suddenly saving money becomes a fight for your life while everything gets thrown into chaos. But even without the end of the world scenario happening what about all that traffic, sounds stressful.

I would rather sit on my couch still in whatever clothes I’ve slept in, with my lap top, a cup of coffee, and the remote control in hand.  Maybe I’ll be doing a little online shopping, maybe not. Do you have any clients looking for a black Friday deal on a house? Some clients may be praying for the black Friday deal of the century on their dream home. Not a very realistic expectation. Don’t read me wrong there are deals to be had but there aren’t miracles waiting around every corner. Steals and deals take time, take effort, and sometimes they take a renovation. That is why this Friday I am sitting back and taking my time. If a deal happens my way I may take up on it or I may take up on a nap. Either way I will be far from stores.  What black Friday deals have you come across?

I’m not the one to ask to be your wing man for black Friday shopping but if that’s you remember to stretch before hand and watch out for right hook.

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This beautiful apartment has just been reduced!!

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It was an eventful weekend with Brian and Kara Landefeld who went under contract to buy this beautiful home.

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Happy Thursday everyone! Only one more day till the weekend and next week brings a short work week. The grocery stores are pack with shoppers and the turkeys are flying off the shelf. The holidays bring many wonderful tasty things. They also bring the family; the corky, the loud, the liberal, the funny, the familiar extended family. I really and truly look forward to being with my family around the holidays. Getting together is like coming home and I feel very fortunate to have family that I enjoy. But not everyone feels this way. Often extended family brings stress. Similar to high maintenance clients, you have to cater to them and deal with their antics, as unpleasant as the experience may be.

High maintenance people can really run a toll on you and so can the holidays. I always use my ignore and redirect tactic on winey people just to see if it will work. If you don’t give any attention to someone’s annoying behavior it doesn’t reinforce them to continue doing it. People do things to get a reaction. If you do not react it takes the wind right out of their sales. It’s like a joke; if the punch line doesn’t elicit a laugh then they will not be telling that one again. People use others reactions as a temperature gauge for the room.

For example if you are showing a house to a couple who insists they need a back splash in the kitchen so in every house you show them they comment on how the kitchen needs a back splash. If you have already told them a back splash is an easy thing to install then just start ignoring the comment and redirect them to the positive; “oh those cabinets are lovely”, “this is a great eat in kitchen”, or “I love the natural light in this kitchen”.  You don’t have to be a reverberating gong reassuring them over and over again that a back splash is a minor issue.  Your clients will constantly look to you as a temperature gauge when looking or listing their home. Stay calm, give sound advice, be flexible, and redirect. It works like a charm every time.

Hopefully you can use the ignore and redirect tactic on your extended family as well as your high maintenance clients.

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Congratulations to Ben & Paula Winn on the purchase, and Chris Griffith on selling, of Ellerson Drive.

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Tis the season for over eating! I can’t seem to get away from talking about the holidays. I love this time of year and all the festivities of November and December. The food is delicious, the lights are mesmerizing, the parties are fun, and everything gets dressed up including us. This year I’m trying to be mindful of my waist line. I usually throw all my good eating habits out the window and enjoy every chocolate truffle, every savory dish, second helpings, and appetizers that are usually the same portion amount as my dinner plate. In the moment I am completely happy with all my decisions but then I start to feel so full that I can’t move and then I’m left with regret. This year I’m trying to approach things a little differently. Can’t I have my fun and eat it too? How does one enjoy the plunders of the holiday and not feel like a glutton? Well I may have discovered someone who can help. They come highly recommended and very inexpensive. It’s YOU! Our bodies are amazing creations that actually tell us when we need to eat, what we want to eat, and when we’ve had enough. How often do we ignore the signals our bodies tell us about food consumption? I think it’s extremely important to listen to our bodies. Enjoying all the tasty foods around the holidays is something we all look forward to. But if you want to fit into that cute New Year’s Eve outfit, that I know you’ve already picked out, here are a few tips to keep in mind.

1. Don’t abstain from sweets or savory things so much that when you do allow yourself to eat those things you binge.
2. Eat anything you want but only eat when you’re hungry, you know the rumbling empty feeling in the pit of your stomach. Food will taste much better and your body will actually use those calories instead of storing them.
3. Eat slowly, enjoy every bite and don’t save the best bites for last. Eat the best parts first so at the end when you are full you won’t feel guilty about leaving the last couple of bites.
4. Eating the best parts first. Think about how in the beginning of your meal you are hungry and every bite tastes the best. Then towards the end of your meal you are so full you aren’t even sure you can finish. If you’ve saved the best bites for last then you will feel guilty not eating them. Then all of a sudden dinner becomes an emotional encounter.
5. Don’t get over emotional. Eating interacts with the part of our brain that responds to pleasure. Eating is a positive emotional experience.  But if you overeat you feel uncomfortable and guilty then begin to beat yourself up. Getting overly emotional.
6. Hit the reset button. The moment you over eat and get that horrible sick feeling and you start to feel all those guilty emotions welling up. Just stop and hit your reset button. Don’t tell yourself that because you ate something bad or over ate that your entire week is ruined. You are mentally giving yourself permission to eat poorly the rest of the week because of one mess up. Just hit your reset button and try again the next day or the next meal! You don’t have to wait the entire week to put yourself back on track just do it!
7. You have to consider your beverage as part of your meal. If you choose to have a glass of wine/beer/soda/tea with dinner you must understand that those liquids fill you up faster. It’s a mental thing. If you decide to have a drink be mindful that you might feel fuller faster, so fill your plate accordingly.

Learning how to listen to our bodies is no easy task when there is delicious food to be had, but it’s a habit that becomes priceless in life.  I am constantly reminding myself of these tips and my restart button has about worn down to nothing but I keep trying.

What are your hardest eating hang ups during the holidays?

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