Our New Casa

2014-05-18T01:23:00.001-04:00

Rate My Spce on HGTV

2013-01-29T11:41:00.002-05:00

I know I'm skipping around and haven't finished posting pictures of the Keys house, but I will soon.

We are almost finished with Phase 1 of the New Casa transformation. Just for fun, I posted pictures of the kitchen on HGTV's Rate My Space and just wanted to share the link.

Feel free to go on and rate my space:
http://www.roomzaar.com/rate-my-space/Kitchens/Our-New-Casas-Kitchen/detail.esi?oid=30279231

Thankful for many things

2012-11-22T20:24:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wow! We have so much to be grateful for! Our family, friends, good health, good jobs, good opportunities and a good life. Hopefully we will continue to be blessed and have many wonderful reasons to be thankful for many, many, many years.

Thanksgiving weekend marks a year that we saw the house in Key Largo for the first time. Since we were depressed about losing the contract for our new casa, we started looking for a second home in the Keys and found our little diamond in the rough.

In the past year we have had many personal accomplishments and made huge strides in accomplishing some of our goals.

One of the most recent accomplishments is that the kitchen in our new casa is 95% finished, which means we were able to cook Thanksgiving dinner in our new kitchen (actually, it was the first meal ever cooked in the new kitchen).

I am very pleased with how it's coming out.

The Master Bathroom

2012-08-11T00:47:00.001-04:00

This is one of my favorite projects ever...

I had a vision, but not enough space. The original master bathroom was so small the previous owners removed the door to have more space inside. You could literally stand just inside the doorway and take one step over to the toilet, shower or sink. There was no room to move.

I really didn't want to have a tiny bathroom. I wanted the bathroom to make a statement. I wanted the bathtub to have a view.

I once stayed at the Westin Diplomat hotel in Hollywood, Florida and I loved their Grand Deluxe King bathroom. It had sliding doors next to the tub that would slide open and provide a view of the Atlantic Ocean (through the room). I thought it was a great idea. It was really nice to just sit and soak and look out and enjoy. I wanted something similar.

The first step was to figure out how to make the bathroom bigger. We didn't have many options. If we made the bathroom more square, then we'd take space from the bedroom. I really didn't want to take any space from the bedroom. I wanted enough space in the bedroom to be able to fit a king size bed and a sleeper sofa.

After much deliberation and weeks of going back and forth looking for possible solutions, we decided the only option was to remove the tiny master closet and use that space also.

We also used the closet in the 2nd bedroom that backed up to the master closet. This allowed us to make a decent size rectangular bathroom. However, there was no way to add the small sliding doors to create a window next to the tub. I decided to just make a sliding wall with a series of doors that could close completely or open wide. The whole process gets complicated and I won't bore you with the details but it did work out. My spa tub can have a view or not, which is very nice.

I wanted the master bedroom and bathroom to have a West Indies feel. My husband and I traveled through the South Pacific for our honeymoon and I've always loved the look and feel of those places.

I purchased a Mahogany wood TV cabinet (originally had legs) at Nadeau with matching long vertical mirrors. I had the legs removed in order to mount the cabinet. I wanted a wall-mounted piece for this bathroom. The piece would not have worked with the legs anyway because it was too short for a vanity. The imitation wood porcelain tile in a dark finish provides a rich wood, dark finish. I went through three different paint colors before finding the perfect one. The toilet is hidden behind the wall on the right so it gets the maximum amount of privacy possible.

In this photo, you can see the width of the opening we created. It has three doors on three tracks. They can slide behind each other to have an opening that's two doors wide or staggered so the three close off the entire opening.
It is really nice to have. The only set back is that the back patio runs across the back of the house so if anyone is there, you don't have privacy to soak in the tub enjoying the view. Having the open bathroom makes both areas more spacious and comfortable.

I haven't taken beautiful pictures yet because I still haven't completely finished the decor in this bathroom but I will post some more very soon.

I really love how this bathroom turned out!

Bathroom #1

2012-08-02T00:55:00.002-04:00

This bathroom is the guest bathroom. It was originally done in grey tile. The color was acceptable but the bathroom was falling apart. We removed a hall closet and took 18" from the foyer (pictured below) to renovate this bathroom.

This is the bathroom now...

I was going for a "coastal beach house" look and I believe I accomplished it. For the vanity, I purchased a solid mahogany buffet in a distressed white finish. I bought the mirror in the same place, but they didn't have the size I wanted in white, so I painted it and distressed the finish a bit. Both pieces are from Nadeau. They import furniture from India, Indonesia, etc. and have extremely reasonable prices. When I owned my furniture store years ago, we used to buy wholesale from them, now they sell to the public and have locations throughout the U.S.

The accessories are in blues, whites and greys. We hung white pendant lights from the ceiling on either side of the mirror. I love the pendants and they provide fantastic lighting in the bathroom.

I opted for wall tile strictly within the shower, rather than a larger part of the bathroom. It took me a long time to decide what look I wanted and what tile to use to best achieve the look. I opted for a mosaic tile with glass and carrara marble. It was the most expensive option at $10.00 per sq ft for each sheet, but I splurged since I was able to save money in other areas.

I really love how it turned out. It feels bright, roomy and very "beachy".

A Taste of What's Been Going On

2012-08-02T00:22:00.002-04:00

Although we still have much to do before we can say the house is completely finished we have made some huge strides since January. These are some of the "during" pictures:

Color

2012-08-02T00:07:00.000-04:00

Wow! Who knew it was so hard to choose just the right color. Even though I bought small sample size containers and tried several different colors, once the paint was on the entire house, it wasn't quite the color I was looking for...I was going for a medium beige and instead I got a mauvey taupe.

It's growing on me and we've gotten many compliments on the color so it will do for now.

Here it is...

The Vision

2012-06-05T21:54:00.000-04:00

As I look through the pictures of my dream house on the sea, I can't help but think about the many times I've been out with clients, as a realtor, and have been horrified when they turn down beautiful homes because they were in need of repair.

Many people lack the vision to see something outdated, messy and unappealing and envision what it could be...it's potential.

Thankfully, I normally have the vision. I actually prefer the dilapidated homes to the ones that have been renovated. I have very distinct taste and I don't necessarily like what everyone likes.

I like to try new things and don't usually go along with what everyone is doing.

When I see homes that are remodeled and updated I cringe...they are usually much more expensive and I would change most of the things the previous owners have done anyway. For me, the perfect properties are the ones with good bones, especially the land, view or size.

If it has all three, I hit the jackpot!

Below are pictures of the house we recently purchased. Many prospective owners

passed it up because of it's condition...lucky me! My family and I will get to enjoy

it for many years because it wasn't in perfect condition and

others couldn't see beyond that.

These pictures were taken the day of the home inspection before we bought it,

so the pictures are of the home exactly as we saw it the first time.

Funny how I don't remember seeing many of the items I notice in the photographs now.

I was so in love with the property and the view that I missed all the ugly stuff. I focused on the

diamond in the rough!

My Daughter's Event

2012-05-13T11:18:00.001-04:00

My daughter received her First Communion on April 28th. There was a lot going on in our lives during that time, with the two purchases and remodeling of one house. We made it through and had plans for a beautiful reception. Some plans worked out, others didn't because it rained all day. We set up outside because I was in denial and was convinced the day would be beautiful...it didn't happen and we had to scramble and move everything under our covered terrace and inside.
I don't know how many guests we had in total, but it was over fifty people for sure.
I'm usually a control-freak when it comes to my events and I get stressed if things are not "perfect". This was really not "perfect" in my sense of the word because since we had to scramble, everything was just kind of placed wherever without much thought. Once I knew it couldn't be "perfect" I just let go, relaxed and truly enjoyed!

Even though we had the setbacks with the weather, it turned out to be one of my favorite parties. I felt blessed and genuinely at peace and happy...it's funny how you never know what little things will make life so special.
My daughter had an amazing day and we will have the beautiful memories forever!

The cake was exquisite. I loved the delicate flowers! To
make it a little religious, I just asked them to place a
rosary on the top level.
I love the cake stand! I searched high and low for it and finally found it online.
I ordered the cake stand for the Communion but also
mostly to have as a family heirloom for all upcoming special
events in our lives.

Fun dessert table

This tablecloth was my mom's and she used it for most of our special occasions.

I love it and it reminds me of her (although I don't need help to remember her...she passed away

seven years ago and I think about and miss her every day). I wanted to have her things out

so somehow she would be a part of the day.

We had a chef cooking an authentic Cuban dish (arroz con pollo). That was my husband's choice for several reasons,
because he is very reasonably priced, serves just-cooked meals at the parties and everyone is always
very pleased with the meals. He was off to the side cooking under a canopy and I forgot to take a picture of him.
The table above had the leftover arroz con pollo which he left for anyone who wanted seconds, etc.

This table was a big hit! Before the big day, I asked my daughter what she would like us to
serve at her party. She said she wanted burritos. After contacting several Mexican
restaurants, we opted for Moe's (fast food SW grill). They delivered all the ingredients to make
tacos and burritos. All the guests under 20 loved the idea and went back many, many times for more.

My infamous sangria...I had to make it three times during the party.
I love the dispenser. I bought it for my more formal parties and also
hopefully to keep as a family heirloom.

We set up the six tables with six chairs each under the covered terrace.
I had my silver chargers and wrapped silverware on each table.
I chose to arrange the tulips haphazardly, because I just love them in their natural state.
Each table had silver-plated picture frames from Dollar Tree with different photos of my daughter.
Everyone loved the idea.

We didn't have enough tables and chairs to seat everyone at the same time, but it was okay because some
people ate inside and others didn't eat at the same time. The children ate while playing and running around...
it worked out fine.

All in all, a magnificent day that I will remember and cherish always!!!

2012-05-13T03:17:00.002-04:00

Happy Mother's Day to all the great moms out there!!!

May all your dreams come true!

2012-05-12T23:59:00.000-04:00

I haven't posted much in the past few months for many GOOD reasons. But mostly because I was sooooo sad in October ( I know its silly to be sad about a material thing and I know horrible things happen to people all the time and this really wasn't horrible, but I couldn't help being sad) and then after that just too overwhelmed and extremely busy.
Here's the story:
In September for my birthday gift we were given an approval to purchase a short sale house (the house this blog is about) we had been waiting for almost one year. At that time we had some issues because the house was vandalized, we were given extremely high estimates to make the house habitable and the owner wouldn't cooperate, so we decided to walk away from the deal. I was devastated!!! I couldn't accept it. Two days later I went back to tell them I wanted to go forward, but the house was under contract with another buyer. I was so upset I refused to write in this blog that I had lost the house. One of my followers asked why I wasn't posting, and my response was, I can't because I am so sad, I don't even want to write about losing the house.
Since we had been searching for our dream home for many years and hadn't found anything and also made offers on less than ideal homes in late October and November, we decided to give up on looking for a home in Miami and stay in our current casa.
However, we did want to invest in real estate. We started looking for a property that we could buy and then rent out for vacation rentals in the Florida Keys. We are familiar with the process because we own one in Miami Beach. We looked very far south close to Key West and didn't see anything we loved.

On the way back to Miami I made an appointment to see a house in Key Largo. It was almost dark when we arrived. The realtor warned me ahead of time that it was really in bad shape.
Immediately upon arrival we fell in love. The house was in a beautiful neighborhood, on a decent lot with the bay in the backyard. You can even see the bay from the front yard as you drive in. At that point we were hooked...it didn't really matter what the house looked like...

Thank goodness, because the house was in pretty bad shape. Everything was original from the 1960's and pretty ugly. The realtor encouraged us to make an offer if we liked it. I explained that we did like it, but it was way too expensive with all the things we needed to do to it. Again, she told me to make an offer.
I offered $500,000.00 under what they were asking. After much convincing by the realtor, the owner counteroffered just $125,000.00 above what I had offered. We were thrilled!!!! Immediately we signed the contract and got to work on securing the financing. When we did the inspections we found that the roof also needed repair although the realtor had said it was new. I won't bore you with the details, but I will tell you the price was reduced another $25,000. We didn't tell a soul about the purchase. Nobody knew because we had told so many people about the other house and it fell through we decided to keep this one quiet until it happened.
We were scheduled to close on January 30, 2012.

On January 26, 2012 I received a call from the realtor of our "dream casa". When I saw his name on the caller i.d. I flipped. He told me he thought the other contract was falling through and was willing to give me an opportunity to buy the house although he had multiple offers for the property (true). He said I had to agree to all their terms or else no deal. The terms were not unreasonable, however, they made us agree to purchase for $10,000.00 more than before. We closed on the Keys on January 30th. We were very happy!!! On February 1, he called that the contract was officially cancelled and we could send him a contract with all the items we had agreed on. I did and we entered into the contract. We waited about two months and received the approval and were told we'd have to close before April 23rd. Again, the process was arduous and very annoying at times, but I am happy to say we closed this evening and the house is ours!!!!! Yay!! (Which goes to show many things, but mainly I think if something is meant to be it works out without you having to push it or manipulate it. Of course you have to help it along, but in a reasonable manner. I also think this was a good lesson for our children to see. We were persistent and we achieved one of our dreams.) Again, we kept this purchase quiet also. Imagine everyone's surprise when we told them the news today. I'll just say, many people think we are crazy!!!! I assure you we are not...both purchases were made of sound mind, with much thought and with great price tags which didn't hurt!

One of our friends asked, "when did you win the lottery?" Lol! We didn't win the lottery, but we did have an amazing mortgage broker and banker who figured out the best way to structure each deal within our means. I'd be happy to recommend them, we were very happy with both.
I've started working more in order to pay for the remodeling of the house in the Keys. We will be renting our current casa and the Keys house so as far as monthly expenses for the new "dream home" it will probably be right about what we pay now in our current home. Taxes and insurance might be a tiny bit higher, but not much.

What I've been doing all this time:

working more to make money to pay for all the new expenses
remodeling of the Keys house
organizing and looking for the paperwork needed for our loans
looking for fixtures, flooring, bath tiles, accessories, etc. etc. etc.
Being a wife and mom
Planning and hosting parties for my childrens' religious events (one in February, one at the end of April)
Worrying
Worrying more
Stressing about whether buying the "dream house" was financially smart
Stressing about finances
and tons more I can't think of right now

I have to say, although intensely stressful and overwhelming this has been a very rewarding and happy time in my life. I am immensely thankful for the opportunity to realize these dreams and feel very blessed that I had the opportunity to do so.

Look for posts and pictures about the progress of both houses, shortly...

My Son's Event

2012-02-10T20:03:00.000-05:00

My son's Confirmation was on Saturday, February 4th at 10:00 am. It was very difficult to set everything up by the time I had to leave to church in the morning, but we got most of it done between my husband, mother-in-law and I. Help in the form of a housekeeper arrived much later, almost at the time I had to be in church, so the morning was very hectic.

Since my son is thirteen. I wanted the theme and decor of the event to be masculine. I opted for white tablecloths with custom-made burlap overlays. The centerpieces were simple but strong statements of color. I simply cut bunches of leaves from tropical plants in my front yard and placed them in vases with water.

On the serving tables I placed burlap runners that hung about 12 inches down the sides and then placed a striped runner right over the burlap. I purchased gorgeous wood cheese boards and used them for drama on one of the tables.

I didn't have much time to execute many of the plans I had because of other very stressful activities such as buying and closing on an investment property 4 days before.
Nevertheless, I was happy with the results and what was supposed to be a 3-4 hour brunch reception turned into a "12-hour see how many meals we can eat breakfast foods marathon" because our very close and welcomed friends were here until midnight. WE had a fabulous and most importantly special and memorable day and evening. I look forward to many more special and memorable events with family and friends...

Upcoming Family Events

2012-01-06T13:58:00.004-05:00

As the new year rolls in, we have many different projects underway. I am not at liberty to discuss details, but you will know soon enough. I do have major events occurring in our family's life.
My son is receiving the sacrament of Confirmation in February and my daughter is receiving her First Communion in April. I am working diligently to plan for those events and the receptions that will follow.

My son's reception will be a brunch as the ceremony will be held at 10:00am.

My daughter's reception will be a late lunch.

These will more than likely be small events in my backyard, as they are more religious in nature, but I still want the events to be beautiful and memorable.

I have several photos on my Pinterest board titled, Religious Ceremony Reception. When you look at the board, don't think I've gone crazy. I will not be having any Christmas colors or wacky things going on.
Sometimes I just pin photos because of the idea behind something. I may like a name tag on an item or how a ribbon was placed, etc. Again, I'm just collecting a variety of ideas, brainstorming, to then narrow down and decide what I will do.

I will post photos as the events come together and I make decisions, but for now, know I am very busy gathering information and beautiful pictures.

Click on the Pinterest button on the margin and follow me on Pinterest. You will receive up to the minute photos of everything I pin. Let me know if you need an invitation.

New Year, New Goals

2012-01-01T14:19:00.015-05:00

Happy New Year to all!
We had a fantastic start to the new year. We drove to Boone, North Carolina and arrived there on December 27th, 2012. My friend asked us to go with her family. We had never been to the mountains there. We've always gone to the larger ski resorts out west, but were pleasantly surprised with the area. Our experience with the state was mostly driving through on the way to the northeast or during a 33-day road trip in 2009, we visited the Outerbanks, which we loved!

We waited until the last minute to book a house, so there were none left to rent. We rented a 2-bedroom condo with a loft which worked out well. It was centrally located and was in a nice and easily accessible community.

We were in the middle of all the action and had four mountains to choose from. We had an action-packed few days which included, ice skating, tubing, skiing, horse-back riding, hiking, sight-seeing, sledding, zip-lining and of course, shopping.

I will describe the vacation in more detail on my blog: http://www.livelovelaughtravel.com/

On our drive back from North Carolina, I had time to think and write goals I hope to accomplish in 2012. I read somewhere that it works out better if you have goals rather than resolutions so I am trying it that way this year.
My goals for 2012 are:
1. Exercise more (at least 5-6 times per week) and eat healthier
2. Make a budget and try to control unnecessary spending
3. Publish the childrens' books I've written
4. Create TV show, I've had idea for over 7 years
5. Make sure my children and husband exercise daily
6. Write in each of my three blogs 3-5 times per week
7. Publicize my blogs more
8. Organize each room in the house and give away unnecessary items
9. Get rid of clutter throughout the house and yard
10. Plan travel ahead of time
11. Organize old photos and videos and digitize them
12. Plan ahead for all upcoming events so I don't go crazy a few days before
13. Be a great, loving and kind wife, mom, sister, daughter, niece, cousin, friend and colleague
14. Enjoy the little moments and have a great time with my family

Hope you have a wonderful 2012!!! I am trying my best to make mine great!

Christmas Morning

2011-12-25T13:38:00.001-05:00

Christmas morning is always special. Especially after only a few hours of sleep. The excitement in our children's face and voices is priceless!

They usually wake us up and are anxious to go out and look at their "stash". However, I torture them a little. I make them wait until we get the cameras ready and we put the same Disney Christmas CD we've played since my son's first Christmas twelve years ago.

It usually goes the same way. They run out look at the presents, look for notes from Santa, start playing and putting things together, etc. It's a great day! They stay in pj's all day long, until its bedtime again. We make a special breakfast for the four of us and usually my brother (single and without children) who normally stays with us on Christmas Eve.
Then we prepare an all-day brunch/lunch/dinner. Our family comes over, grandparents, aunts, uncles, second cousins. We spend the day with family, playing with our new gifts and loving every minute.

What are your Christmas traditions?

Christmas Decor

2011-12-15T13:14:00.007-05:00

I have been accumulating vast amounts of decor for every holiday at ridiculously low prices since I discovered "after-Christmas" sales a few years ago. The only problem is that it is a large contributing factor to our not "fitting" in our current casa. We have too much stuff!

My husband says I'm a hoarder, but my kind friend says, no. She says I am not a hoarder because I actually use all the stuff I have. I don't have it put away. I think I have to agree with her.

I constantly give away things I don't use. The only things I don't like to give away are furniture and household items because we own vacation rental properties that must be furnished and I like to keep things in case I could possibly use them there and not have to buy again.

Besides, I love entertaining and decorating for all holidays and events, and in order to do that inexpensively, you must own the things you are using. I own round tables with their corresponding tablecloths, chairs, dinnerware, glassware, flatware, chafing dishes, serving platters, and the list goes on.

I use them constantly and enjoy having friends and family over.

I don't like to share my items...and its not because I am selfish. It's mostly because if I lend my items, even to family, they don't come back in the same condition. Since most of my things were purchased in sets, if I start lending them out, I will have incomplete sets, broken items and my tables and events will not look the same. My tablecloths will get become worn out and ugly. I really do like to have my tables and decor looking perfect and beautiful.

I have purchased so many different holiday accessories over the years, that I think I've reached my limit. With what I bought this year, I think I will have to give away or keep some of my older things away next year, unless we buy a bigger house.

Another thing I discovered this year, from Ina Garten of the Barefoot Contessa, is to put light strands in vases and wrap them around tree branches. For many years during this time I collect Christmas tree branches and put them in vases as my natural foliage. This year I added the lights and they looked spectacular!!! I received many compliments on those.

Christmas

2011-12-10T12:39:00.003-05:00

I love the holiday season. Although as a parent of young children it is stressful, we manage and have a great time in the process.

I ordered several craft projects for my daughter during the holiday.

Our favorite was the wishing ornament. I ordered it from Oriental Trading. I don't remember the cost, but the kit includes 6 clear ornaments that open. It also includes glitter, slips for wishes, bows and bells. It's very cute and we did it as a family.

Each of us got an ornament.You can write as many wishes as you'd like. The idea is to write your wishes for the next year on the slips and put it in the ornament. All the ornaments are hung and put away at the end of the season. The following year, you open your ornament and reflect on whether your wish(es) came true. Then you do the same thing again. You write your wishes for the new year.
It's a cute activity and I look forwarding to hearing what my children wished for and whether their wishes came true!

Tree of Thanks

2011-11-27T10:20:00.001-05:00

As you may have noticed, I have not posted in awhile.

We were not able to purchase the "new casa" and that was very depressing for me. As you know, I've been counting on it and dreaming about it for one year. The house is under contract with another buyer right now. I still think that sale will fall through and the house will be ours, but in the meantime, my husband thought it best if we looked for another house and jump right into another purchase to help us forget this one.

We found a couple however, we decided to wait until January before making any decisions, as this is a very hectic time of year. Although we want to jump right into buying a home and moving, we think we should be more clear about the decision. We wouldn't want to make any mistakes!

We did take the time to have a wonderful Thanksgiving day and prepare for our family meal. We created a Tree of Thanks with a branch from a tree. My daughter cut out construction paper in the shape of leaves. We put them out for everyone to take as many leaves as they'd like and write one thing they are grateful for on each leaf. It was a beautiful idea, it gave everyone a chance to really think about and actively give thanks for the important things in their lives.

I wish we'd thought of this years ago, but so glad we finally figured it out!!!

I hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving and may you have many things to be

happy and grateful for next year!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T21:04:00.054-04:00

Happy Halloween!

Hope you have a wonderful, fun and joy-filled day!

About three years ago, I started the tradition of hosting a pumpkin-carving party. My children are twelve and eight, so they were nine and five back then. We host it every year and our friends look forward to it and have even gone as far as saying, "It wouldn't be Halloween without it". We also paint and/or decorate the pumpkins with funny parts.

These are some of our creations...

Our family portrayed as pumpkins.

One of the tables with appetizers. The spiders really enjoyed this dip.

Frankenstein Jello and meringue ghosts...

The dessert table...

Ready for the action...all necessary supplies at their fingertips...

Hard at work...

Ghostly designs...

...a tiny jack-o-lantern

How creative!!!

OOOOOOHHHHHH!!!!

Our funny little pumpkin, Coco!

Halloween decor...

and more...

and more!

2011-10-16T23:48:00.000-04:00

I've discovered a wonderful new tool...Pinterest. I love Pinterest! It's a website where you can create "boards" of things you are interested in from the Internet. You "pin" photos of things you like when you are surfing the Internet. When you pin the photograph, the site also keeps the web address of the photo on file. When you click on the photo, you link back to the original page.
Pinterest is such a time-saver!!!! You can bookmark everything you like and you can keep it organized by topic, etc. You don't have to cut an paste to your harddrive anymore. Everything is stored for you on your boards.
I am really enjoying this...check out my boards and feel free to like or repin my finds on your own boards!!!
If you need an invite to join Pinterest, let me know and I'll send one to you.

Happy pinning...

HGTV'd

2011-09-05T23:42:00.000-04:00

As I've mentioned before I love HGTV and my family loves HGTV. I would love to be HGTV'd by Jamie Durie and have applied for our new casa to be on the show. The space I feel has the most potential in the new casa is the outdoor area. You've seen in previous posts, that I am planning to add an outdoor kitchen and outdoor living area. I would love for Jamie Durie to help me do this!!!

The yard is in a scary state right now. The trees are overgrown and it's just a huge mess.
Please follow this link and look at the pictures of the current state of the yard and also vote for:
" Our Big, Bad Mess " on HGTV.com:
http://my.hgtv.com/hgtvd/Yard/Our-Big-Bad-Mess/detail.esi?oid=25225548&cObjId=25225563

Please go to the HGTV site with this link and vote to have our space HGTV'd.
Thank You!!!!!

Rate My Space: Outdoor

2011-09-05T23:33:00.000-04:00

I've recently posted more photographs on the HGTV website. Please click on this link to "patio with a bed" on HGTV.com and rate the outdoor space in our current casa:
http://www.roomzaar.com/rate-my-space/Patios--Decks/Patio-with-a-Bed/detail.esi?oid=25257030&cObjId=25257073

I'm very excited about the feedback I have received on the site. Visit and leave your comments and please Rate My Space!
Thanks!!!

Our Casa's Kitchen on Rate My Space

2011-09-03T09:23:00.001-04:00

HGTV is my favorite network. The entire family is hooked. WE watch just about everything on the network but we do have our favorites. We love to watch Jamie Durie, Sarah Richardson (all her shows), Bang for your Buck, House Hunters on Vacation, House Hunters International, HGTV'd and Design Star.

My twelve year-old son is encouraging me to try out for Design Star so I can have my own show. I would love to, but I couldn't live for so long without my family. Therefore, for now, I will not attempt it.

I did find another way of showing the world my design skills, or lack there of. This blog is one, and yesterday I posted photos of the kitchen of "my current casa" on HGTV's Rate My Space. I'm curious to know how my space will do.

The kitchen was not staged for the photographs. I wish I would have put away some of the small appliances and accessories. Also, I used my cell phone camera because my "real camera" was sent away for repairs. The pictures are dark and not great quality. You can still get the idea and see the components of the room.

I'd love for you to check out Our Casa's Kitchen on HGTV's Rate My Space and rate it.

Post your comments and let me know what you think.

I wish you a relaxing and enjoyable Labor Day weekend.

Inspections

2011-09-02T08:00:00.002-04:00

As soon as we receive the letter stating that the lender has agreed to our purchase offer, we will start doing the inspections at the property. We will start with the mold inspection ($750.00), because it concerns me most. I have young children and want to be sure the home is free of mold. We should be having that inspection very soon.

Depending on the outcome we will decide whether or not to continue with the purchase. If we decide to continue, we plan to get estimates from pool companies, a/c companies, electricians, window companies, contractors, etc. We want to have a very clear and accurate picture of exaclty what expenses to expect.
I would also like FPL to provide an energy efficiency analysis.

I will be extremely busy the next few weeks so please forgive me if I don't post for a few days.

Shopping

2011-09-01T23:37:00.001-04:00

I've been "window shopping" online and actually have gone to a couple of stores in person. I am extremely anxious to start this process. We still don't have the written approval from the lender, although we were told it was approved, we haven't received the letter... Surprising right?????

In order to sort through my anxiety and depression over the whole thing, I turn to retail therapy on a regular basis. This always helps me. I can't really purchase anything because I have nowhere to keep everything, however, I take notes, pictures and have many files with ideas for what I want for the new casa.

I went to look at furniture recently. I used to own a furniture store. I love furniture and decorating. Although having a store was not much fun, I sometimes toy with the idea of doing it again. The style of the things in my store was very similar to the style we currently have in a store here in Miami. I went to see what they have to offer. Of course, I loved everything I saw. They have beautiful pieces and the prices are very reasonable.

I will not buy a lot of new furniture because most of my furniture is less than 5 years old and in perfect condition. However, I am planning to buy furntiure for the new family room, my son's room and the outdoor room(s).

Here are some of my favorites: