"Our House" -- Wicked Comfort Food

We LOVE Our House in Winooski! It's in the old Sneaker's space, at 36 Main Street. In the summer there is outdoor eating. But frankly, I love it most in the colder months. After all, it features comfort food and I need comfort food most when it's cold.




I admit, I'm crazy about macaroni and cheese. This is mac and cheese on steroids -- huge serving! You lift your fork up and there are stings of cheese connected to the dish. Yum. Don't think of the calories. When you're needing comfort food, you can't think of calories. My favorite is the Mediterranean. It has curly macaroni, cheddar and feta cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, kalamata olives, spinach and artichoke hearts. The serving is so large you barely put a dent in it until you've eaten about ten bitefuls. You might be full before you finish the serving but you'll be compelled to eat more because you can't stand to stop!

Here is the menu for dinner: http://www.ourhousebistro.com/#!cuisine/vstc3=dinner-menu

There are so many kinds of macaroni and cheese! You can make your own or pick one of their creations like South West: Grilled corn, black beans, roasted peppers, chipotle cream sauce,
cheddar & topped with fried tortillas or Surf n Turf: Shaved steak, shrimp, cheddar & topped with
fried onion strawsHow about Chicken Parmesan: Breaded pan-fried chicken breast, parmesan cheese,
diced tomato, basil & topped with marinara parmesan & mozzarella cheeses. It's hard to decide.
Other great meals of comfort food include Reuban Sandwich, open face turkey, chicken pot pie, grilled cheese and soup, mushroom risotto, fish tacos, fantastic french fries. The list is really long. And this is just dinner. When you visit ourhousebistro.com you'll see all the menus under cuisine.

The decor is great too -- nice bar where you can sit and have dinner and chat with the very busy bartender. Some of the tables are the high types with bar stools. Very nice. On the shelves around the restaurant are old lunch boxes -- think Batman... Dennis the Menace... Star Wars... The Brady Bunch... You get the idea. There are also Rubick Cubes at each table and a little container of Play
Doh so you can enjoy the wait for your meal. (Not a long wait.)




We love Winooski!




Winooski, a little city in one square mile is a fun place to live or visit. It's close to Burlington, close to the Winooski River, has great walking paths along the river and has a Community YMCA. Housing is affordable and there is a great variety of architecture. It's close to I89 also. Check it out at http://www.onioncity.com/

The Cascades are the newest addition to the revitalization of Winooski - more expensive than the older houses but if are looking for modern condos with all the conveniences, this is the place. Check this out: Condos ranging in all prices, underground parking, on-site work out area and right on the river.


Hope you'll give Our House a try -- and also be sure to go to Sneakers. I will give a review on that another day.

Colors in Your Home - Psychology Lesson?

On rainy days I love visiting the paint section of Home Depot or Lowe's. Why? Because it gives me a boost to think of how I can change the mood of my home by changing the paint color. I grab lots of samples, especially the historic home series, and then bring them home to see them in the light of our house. For less than $40/gallon, I can transform a room into a fresh living space, and change it as often as I like.

As a former art teacher, I know there is psychology of color -- For my design class, I asked students on a test, "If you are the coach of a football team and you want your opponents to relax during half time, what color would you paint the visiting locker room?" Most got the answer right - any cool color like blue or green.

I recently took a look at the website freshome.com and to create peace and tranquility, they suggest pink! Made me think about a "brain walk" I completed recently. In the exercise, I think of a challenge in my life, write a question directed at fixing that challenge, and then trace my finger along a winding maze -- to the center color of pink. My friend and coach Kim DuBrul says to think of the color pink when you want to relax. (Visit Kim at youryearoftransformation.com)

It made me start thinking of room colors. The website says to change your colors during certain seasons -- warm colors in the winter make the house seem warmer both visually and termperature-wise also as darker, warmer colors absorb light. In the summer, paint the rooms a cooler color. I am not sure I would want to do this every season! But this seems like a good idea if you are selling in a particular season. Why not paint your entry way a warm and inviting color? Then the room next to it can also be a warm color. We have shades of rust and gold in our entry and living room. If your furniture is neutral, it can easily fit in with a color change of the walls.

The website suggests you carefully choose the paint for the bathroom and do not choose one that does not complement your skin tones -- in other words, I won't wear bright yellow because it makes my skin look sallow. Very few people look good in bright yellow. So, paint the bathroom a color that looks good "on people." When someone is looking at a house to buy, they often glance in the mirror. They may be unconsciously turned off because the color makes them look bad! Try blue -- everyone looks good in blue!

Red kitchens make you hungry -- do they also make you feel like cooking? If that is the case, then paint a wall in your kitchen red, inviting the potential buyers to feel like cooking! Better still, be sure to add a plate of cookies to the counter during showings so they not only smell a great kitchen but they picture themselves cooking there. Beware of red in the bedroom.... the website says that red walls can up your blood pressure and can make you agitated. Not something you want to promote when you are trying to relax!

My bedroom is yellow right now. Maybe it's time to visit Home Depot and grab a gallon of cool-colored paint.

Essex Junction, VT - Crafts Fair and more!

There are so many wonderful craftsmen in Vermont and they gather at the Essex Junction Fairgrounds on October 26, 27 and 28. This is a great opportunity to get presents for the holidays. And if you are selling your home or have just bought a new home, it's a great opportunity to buy a special item for your home! http://www.vtcrafts.com/interiornav.php/pid/2/sid/5





Essex Junction is the home of IBM, one of the biggest employers in the state. It has a wonderful, walkable center with shops, the library and the town offices. The center area is called 5 Corners.





The Fairgrounds host events all year. Their biggest event is the fair at the end of the summer with rides, great food (don't tell my doctor about the french fries and fried dough) and exhibits. One of my favorite exhibits in the summer is the bonsai exhibit. There are several large halls for displays of everything from crafts to hot tubs.

Monthly Market Update - Comparing Quarters

 

In comparing the third quarter of last year to this year, we are seeing very good signs of market improvement.  Median and average prices in Chittenden County were up about 7.5%. This is great news. The median price for condo sales was down 6.5% but the average was up 4.5%. The number of day on market stayed approximately the same in single family homes and condos from last year to this year: 100 days average for single family homes and 88 days average for condos.

In the Franklin County towns of Fairfax, Georgia, Highgate, St. Albans Town and City, we saw an increase of about 10% in both median and average sales prices. We are ecstatic to see this market improvement. It shows us that people are willing to drive farther outside of Chittenden County to get the homes they want. The average sales price is $125,000 lower in those Franklin County towns compared to Chittenden County. So, a great “bang for the buck” in Franklin County.

Our friends in the Grand Isle towns of South Hero, North Hero and Grand Isle are still experiencing low numbers of sales so it is difficult to make market statements from only 13 sales (14 last year for the same time period.) However, if we take those numbers, the market increased in both median and average prices due to some higher priced sales this year. We hope this is a trend that continues!

People ask, “Is it a buyers’ or sellers’ market?” The question can be answered most accurately when looking at individual towns as sales vary from town-to-town. But if we look at Chittenden County as a whole, there is a 6.5 month supply of houses on the market and a 4.5 month supply of condos. This means that in theory if no new homes came on the market, it would take 6.5 months to empty the supply of houses and 4.5 months to empty the supply of condos.  This is called the “absorption rate.” A five to seven month supply indicates a “level market.” If we had less than a five month supply it would be a sellers’ market; over seven months is a buyers’ market. It will be interesting to see what the data is at the end of this year. These figures definitely show an improvement.  

We are optimistic that the combination of low interest rates and buyer perception that the bottom was reached will continue to boost housing sales. We must always be cautious in our analysis because we want to wait to gather data over a longer period of time, but comparing third quarters, we are feeling extremely encouraged.

Foliage Tours

Every year I take my "Foliage Sojourn" either to Chester A. Arthur's birthplace, or at least to Fairfield, Vermont. I take exit 19 - the St. Albans exit off I89 and at the end of the ramp turn right, then the first right onto the road to Fairfield. I know I should make note of the route numbers, but I have taken this trip every year for 20 years, and I know it by heart.

I stop at certain places -- at the crest of a hill by a farm house where years ago, the old dog barked the entire time while we stood across the street and look out at the most amazing panorama of hill truly looking aflame with the foliage. The hills had to be full of sugar maples as the red and orange rubbed up against each other and lit up the hills.

A little farther toward Fairfield on the left is a swampy area with a wall of maples. Because we can dry right by them, the look even brighter. Then closer and closer we come to Fairfield center and the foliage continues to be colorful. Some areas get dull -- the oaks and birches are brown or yellow - but the trip to Fairfield is bright with reds, oranges and yellows.

Next stop is the bakery in the center next to the town hall. You can get a great sandwich there or pastry. Then follow the signs to the birthplace of Chester A. Arthur. We pass fields of black and white cows, prosperous farms and not-so-prosperous ones. It's hard to survive as a farmer in Vermont, but Fairfield is full of dairy farms!

I don't do much when I get to the birthplace. Just sit for a bit and then turn around. But I drive that route every year.

This year, I added a new route that we took today. We drove to Bristol along the back roads and got a sandwich at the bakery on the main street. We heard about going over the Appalachian Gap but we didn't know how to get there. Well, it's Route 17 out of town toward South Starksboro. Unfortunately, the foliage had past peak, but Dave and I had a nice ride. We turned left toward Huntington where the elevation was lower and there were more leaves to see. Then the route took us to Richmond and the famous Round Church. After that we stopped at the Old Red Mill in Jericho where we took some photos and took a tour of the Snowflake Bentley Museum. Snowflake Bentley lived in Jericho and was the first to photograph snowflakes and discover that no two are alike. After that, it was back to Burlington.


I love the colors of autumn in Vermont although it signals the end of summer and the coming of winter. Taken as a season of its own, it'sone of the most beautiful in Vermont -- picture postcard material! It's a time to relax and slow down.

From Mourning to Night - At the Fleming Museum

I love our little Fleming Museum at the University of Vermont in Burlington. Tonight I went to the reception for the new show called "From Mourning To Night," a show with two large John Singer Sargent paintings. Displayed near the paintings are black capes and black dresses that would be worn in mourning. The idea was that black was only used in mourning until it became included in fashion.

The curator's comments about the exhibit are these:
"Black in Fashion will consider John Singer Sargent's role in popularizing the color black in America as a choice for high fashion, altering its association from a color chiefly associated with mourning dress, as a signal of sexual experience, or working class wear. These associations waxed and waned throughout the nineteenth-century, and often operated simultaneously. In America, however, black as a choice for high fashion lagged behind its European counterparts. As this exhibition aims to demonstrate, John Singer Sargent played a role in transmitting black as a fashionable color in couture in America through his publicly exhibited portraits, circle of fashion forward clientele, and his own sartorial selections he chose for his sitters."

First, there was a lovely reception with hors d'oeuvres. In the background a stringed duet played classical music. The setting for the reception was beautiful, at the bottom of a grand marble stairway.

It is a small exhibit but a good reason to visit the Fleming Museum -- be sure to see their permanent exhibits.

After the reception, my friend and I went to eat at "Cafe L'Hospital" which is my name for the cafeteria at the hospital next door. I know, I know, sounds strange,  but it is great, freshly made food with a fabulous salad bar. We had a half of a pesto pizza on very thin crust, salad and a brownie for $3.50  Fun night!

For more information, check out

http://www.uvm.edu/~fleming/index.php?category=exhibitions&page=sargent

Using the Winter to Get Ready to Sell

We have sellers who asked us to come see their house, evaluate the market price, and make suggestions to get their home ready to sell. They want to put it on the market in February or March of 2013, the time of year when more listings come on the market.

Here are some things we suggested that are specific to their house but will be helpful for others planning on doing the same thing.

• Declutter -- remove the majority of knick knacks from shelves, clean out bookcases and pack away, make sure closets are neat and do not look stuffed to the gills, get small items off bureaus, countertops, etc. Yes, you are going to live there for awhile, so it will feel a little Spartan, but you might as well get used to this way of living.
• Basement -- clean and get rid of unncessary items. Either have a garage sale or give them away. Be brutal. If you haven't used the items for awhile and you don't anticipate using them, get rid of them. Get shelving and large plastic bins. Fill up the bins with similar items. (That will help you decide to get rid of much of the stuff.) Label the outsides and place them on the shelving. If you can paint the walls and the floor. Check with a painting company for the right paint.
• Garage -- Ditto with the basement. Go on Pinterest.com for some great garage storage ideas. Or at the very least, hang up all the tools.
• Attic -- Okay, double ditto... We personally have boxes we haven't opened in four years. We are opening them and getting rid of things ourselves over the winter. You'll do yourselves a big favor getting rid of junk over this season.
• Wallpaper -- These folks have way too much wallpaper for most buyers. I told them which rooms to strip. After they strip those rooms, I'm going to suggest they strip the others. There was just too much for me to tell them to remove -- too overwhelming -- so they can do in stages. And, those home improvement perfectionists will scream at this next suggestion, but if they truly can't cope with removing the wallpaper in some rooms, or in the case of an old house if the plaster is being held together with the wallpaper, I say paint BIN over the walls and seal it in!
• Yard -- get rid of the elves and trolls and cutsie deer statues in the garden. And definetly get rid of the deer target in the back yard. While they are at it, get rid of the stuffed deer in the living room! Lots of buyers react negatively to stuffed animal trophys.
• Mudroom -- This one needed cleaning and painting. If this is the best entrance to the house, make sure it looks uncluttered, bright and cheerful. You truly only have one chance to make a good impression.

This is their winter "homework." I'll come back in February and see how they've done. Meanwhile, I'm going to take my own advice and go room-by-room and get my house in order -- not for selling, but for living clutter free!