At Home With Valerie

With the New Year almost upon us I want to take this opportunity to wish you the very best for the coming year.  I'm looking forward to sleeping in late and kicking back in the easy chair after lunch to enjoy a football game.   Of course I'll be sleeping in late because, just like you, I'll start off the New Year at exactly midnight on New Year's Eve by singing Auld Lang Syne.  We'll all be singing it and most of us won't have a clue what the title actually means!  So, just for fun, I looked up the song online to find out its history.  I learned that Auld Lang Syne is a traditional Scottish song.  The version we know today was written (in part at least) by Robert Burns in the 1700s.  The title refers to “old long ago,” or the good old days, as we would say today. I don't want you to stumble around when it comes time to sing it, so I'm passing along to you the lyrics.  Have a great New Year's Day and don't forget to break a resolution

Do you really care about building community? Want to promote economic growth and support neighborhood jobs? Then shop locally. Here’s why. As a real estate agent, one of my biggest concerns is ensuring that local real estate values continue to appreciate as neighborhoods improve, businesses grow, and people are able to sustain safe, prosperous relationships with their neighbors.  There are many factors which contribute to this, but one of the most important steady investments you can make in your community is by shopping local, independent businesses. Whether it’s the holiday season pushing you to peruse a downtown district, or simply picking up a few things for your everyday needs, making the choice to shop locally and independently can contribute hugely. Consider these economic statistics gathered from a range of credible sources by “Independent We Stand” ( www.independentwestand.org ), a website dedicated to helping small, local, and independent businesses thrive:

Love Christmas Day? Love to cook turkey? Wish your dinner could be like those you see on television cooking shows?  Follow my tips and you can have a turkey dinner you will be proud to serve your family or your guests. Whether it is a small family gathering or a huge party, cooking the perfect turkey for the holidays is every chef's goal.  Here are a few foolproof tips to cooking the perfect turkey! Get The Right Equipment The first step to the perfect bird is having all the right tools.  You will need: Heavy duty roasting pan Rack to keep turkey from resting on the bottom of the pan Foil to cover turkey Basting brush to brush turkey with melted butter Baster for basting with pan juices Fine sieve for straining the pan juices for gravy Wire whisk for making lump-free gravy Good quality carving set Meat thermometer Follow These Simple Instructions: A small, fresh turkey that weighs less than 14 pounds will usually be a more delicious bi

Staging can be a great way to boost your home’s appeal to prospective buyers... but it can depend on the type of buyers in your market. Here’s one perspective on the right way to stage. Staging a home to sell is the process of redecorating or cost-effectively renovating aspects of your home to present it in the best light. Much like cleaning up a home’s curb appeal to appeal to buyers, staging can position your house to sell faster and for a higher price than it might otherwise. It’s important to remember with staging that you’re not decorating the home to appeal to you, the seller, but to the prospective buyer. When working with a stager, you have to learn to set aside your own aesthetic preferences and ask yourself how a buyer might see the home. Imagining who those buyers might be can help your stager make decisions about which direction to take the interior design. So who are the buyers? Can you know? It depends on local market conditions and trends. A common scenari

Christmas is almost upon us and if you and your family haven't put up a tree yet, you may be wondering, should you get a real tree or an artificial one? If you want a real live tree, keep the following facts in mind before you buy that Christmas tree. There is nothing quite like the smell of fresh pine filling your home during the holiday season, and a real Christmas tree can do that better than any candle or air freshener.  Having a real tree is a tradition for many families, but if you haven't had one before and are considering it, there are a few things you should know before you take it on. Real Trees, Real Mess A real tree can make a bit of a mess in your home-you will have to vacuum up the dropped needles regularly.  You will also have to keep fresh water in the tree stand and watch out for leaks or spills.  There can also be other natural surprises in a real tree such as insects and spiders!  While this is rarely a serious problem, it is something to k

Do you have an old tree on your property that you love? You might want to make sure you do everything possible to preserve that tree... for the right buyer, old growth trees can add tremendous value to your property. Landscaping plays a major part in your home’s curb appeal. When preparing a home for sale, it’s common practice to spruce up lawns by planting fresh flowers,  bushes, weeding, trimming back trees, and staying on top of the overall condition of the lawn. But there is one major contributor to your property’s value which you can’t just drop in when you’re getting ready to sell: old growth trees. It turns out that the number and quality of established, mature trees on your property can have a direct impact on the value of your home. In a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, “Leafy Luxury: Mansions With a Tree Premium” ( http://online.wsj.com/articles/leafy-luxury-mansions-with-a-tree-premium-1417015300 ), reporter Amy Gamerman took a look at several real-l

Christmas is probably one of the easiest times of the year to use environmentally friendly decorating ideas, and given the more traditional decorating trends for the season and the ever increasing need for all of us to contribute to making the planet a greener place, it's never been easier.   Here a few great ways to decorate your home for the holidays and be greener at the same time! Green Tree Ideas Replace your old Christmas lights with new LED lights.  They use less electricity and last longer than the older ones. If you put up a real tree for the holidays consider using a live tree that you can plant after the holidays, or be sure you recycle your tree after the season is over. Only purchase your real tree from a Christmas tree farm or retailer who purchases from farms.  Never cut down a tree in a conservation area or in a public park. Consider using an artificial tree; be sure that it is recyclable and not made using any harmful materials or chemica

Along with the Christmas festivities comes the desire to decorate your home with twinkling lights, wreaths, trees and even yard ornaments featuring the theme of the holidays.   If you want to make your next Christmas decorating venture a real holiday treat, consider the following ideas. Homemade Wreath Decorations Create your own lighted wreath by taking a short strand of mini-lights and wrapping them around a plain wreath.  You can use either multi-color or clear lights, and this approach can easily be used for both indoor wreaths and garland decorations. Creating A Modern Centerpiece With Classic Holiday Style Use a clear glass vase or bowl as a centerpiece and fill it with round glass ornaments.  For Christmas, the combination of silver and gold or red and green will be ideal.  When paired with the beauty of a simplistic glass holder, the ornaments will add a very modern twist to a very traditional color combination. Holiday Decorating Scents A nice bowl

Interested in a home, but not 100% sure the floor plan will work with your furniture? Try using these free floor planning tools to help you decide. When marketing a listing, lots and lots of photographs help give buyers an idea of what the home is like before they tour the property. Professional photos online increase the amount of qualified interest in a home. But one often overlooked piece of information you can provide to help buyers is an accurate floor plan. Up-to-date, detailed floor plans give buyers context for all those photos presented with your listing. While photos tell buyers how the rooms look, the floor plan can help them understand a bit more about the flow of the home, the relative location of the home’s amenities, and (most importantly) give them an idea if their furniture will fit. If a buyer has an heirloom piece of furniture they’re unwilling to part with, a floor plan can save everyone involved a lot of time and energy. There’s no sense in going down t