Cheers!

2009 is nearly here! Time to celebrate with people you enjoy! Check out allrecipes.com for a great list of fun, festive cocktails to make at your New Year's shindig. We hope you have some kind of celebration planned----big or small----and we wish each of you happiness and hope for 2009!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Babs Blog! We wish you a beautiful celebration of our Savior's birth! As you can see by the "Christmas card" above, the two of us Babs Blog sisters are spending Christmas in very different spots. Jill's view from her front door shows snow in Grass Valley, California, and Kari is enjoying Christmas in Maui this year with her husband's family. Two very different types of weather and scenery---but nonetheless, we will both be celebrating this beautiful time of year with loved ones. We hope that your Christmas is meaningful and peaceful, wherever you are celebrating this year. Please join us back here on the Babs Blog in 2009 for more fun ideas and chit chat!
Merry Christmas!

---Jill & Kari

In Honor of Babs and Dave...

This is in honor of our parents, Dave and Babs, who are, in fact, going to be celebrating Christmas in Africa (Liberia, to be exact!) Enjoy...

A Little More Info

In response to our posts about the Advent Conspiracy, some of you have asked for a little bit more info...
You can check out what The Advent Conspiracy stands for by checking out their website at www.adventconspiracy.org. The Advent Conspiracy partners with Living Water International to promote the digging of wells and the delivery of clean, healthy drinking water to those in the world who do not have access to this resource that we take for granted in the United States. You can check out Living Water International's video below. We hope it moves you beyond feeling and into some kind of action. We want to be very clear that this is not the only great cause out there---there are many organizations out there showing love and compassion to those who don't have what we have here in the U.S. We hope you'll choose one that speaks to your heart and act on that.

One More Time...

Yep, we know we already posted about this...but it's so important and it keeps weighing on our hearts. We hope you'll check this video out (even if you already have!) to help keep your Christmas in perspective. The Advent Conspiracy is a beautiful thing. Imagine providing love, compassion and life-giving water to people who need it...instead of buying your kid another video game that will be "so last year" within months. And, if you have children, think of the beautiful lesson you could be teaching them through participating in this movement! Such a lesson is a gift that will last so much longer than that video game. :)

From a Stylish Reader...

Thanks to Elizabeth for leaving this post for us. It's such a great idea for holiday creativity! And, what a great way to give something handmade. Not only is it easy on the budget, but handmade gifts are special and from the heart. Thank you, Elizabeth, for sharing with us! We hope more readers will share their great ideas for a "spend-less Christmas!"

"I collect small glass vases and candleholders through the year as I visit flea markets, yard sales, thrift stores, and dollar stores (with a few dumpster diving adventures thrown in) and toss them in a box year-round to be decorated for gifts at the end of the year. Sharpie markers, squeeze-on fabric paints, inexpensive craft paint, book-pressed leaves, broken jewelry, even pebbles make fantastic adornments for these unique gifts. Try this: Start with a clear votive holder. Draw a simple heart or some holly berries on the glass using sharpie markers. Pipe on an outline of "Liquid Lead" found at a craft store. Pop a scented candle in the holder after drying for a day, and you're ready to wrap it! Take a single sheet of tissue paper, ball it up around your candle holder, drop it into a sandwich baggie and tie off the top with curling ribbon. Presto! Protect your work surface with newspaper and throw some rubber or latex gloves on a child and set them loose with a package of colored Sharpie markers and a few candleholders, and Grandma and Auntie and Teacher will love the results. Enjoy"

Stylish Service...

Just spotted this website: Farmhouse Wares---fun stuff for your house and really great stuff for entertaining! For instance, these super-darling tureens! The little one would be great for serving up salad dressing during lunch, or homemade jam during brunch! And the medium and large ones would be great for, well, soup...and other things. Enjoy this site---we sure did!
(Also check out their great little inexpensive gifts---great for hostess gifts for the holidays!)

How Appetizing!

With Christmas just around the corner, it's great to have a new recipe or two up your sleeve. You never know when you might be asked to (gasp!) bring something to the next party you're invited to! Or, you might feel like being an extra great guest and actually offer to bring something---this is a really great way to get invited back, by the way! Try these great appetizers at Williams-Sonoma or just browse their site for other great recipes.
Try this Peppered Beef Tenderloin Crostini with Carmelized Onions...

or Endive with Pear, Gorgonzola and Walnuts...

or Cucumbers with Pickled Ginger and Crab...

or, lastly, Crostini with Tapenade.
Delicious! And if you have any fab appetizer recipes to share with us, please do! Leave a comment or send an email. :)

All Decorated Yet?

Hey, it's December 7! Are you all finished with the Christmas decorating? If you're running into roadblocks trying to come up with new, creative ideas, check out HGTV.com's top tips for decorating. Lots of good stuff there---and a lot of original ideas from viewers with limited budgets. Enjoy!

Tempe, AZ Home: Another Contract

The previous buyers walked from their contract but now, we have another contract. The "pending" price is nearly identical.

As investors, we can do our comps and attempt to determine market value but, ultimately, the market will have the final say!

Cheers to better success with this contract for both parties (us, the sellers and the new buyer)!

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Property Qwest Project Details
--------------------------------------------------------------

Address:
717 W. Manhatton Dr.
Tempe, AZ 85282

Listing Info:

• Listing price: $230,000.00
• Tempe MLS #: 4022329
• Tempe MLS Link

Take the virtual tour (click icon below):

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Hey, Party People!

Okay...so New Year's is approaching. It comes so fast after Christmas, but whether you are attending a party or throwing it, New Year's is an evening for a daring accessory, isn't it? If you can't pull it off on New Year's, when can you?
These most fabulous hair accessories are from ban.do, a fun site we discovered and are absolutely drooling over. Yes, some of them are a splurge...but so pretty, so fun, so perfect for an upcoming New Year's party. Just something fun for you to think about...what will you be wearing for New Year's?
(Sorry...we know this is a bit of a diversion from our regular "hostessing" topics, but every hostess should look snazzy for the holidays, right? :)

Peppermint Chocolate Fudge---YUM!

Chocolate and peppermint are pretty good together. Actually, they are excellent together and they seem to only make their appearances together around the holidays! Try this yummy recipe from Allrecipes.com and you won't be disappointed:

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups milk chocolate chips
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 (14 ounce) can EAGLE BRAND® Sweetened Condensed Milk
• Dash salt
• 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 1/4 cup crushed hard peppermint candy

DIRECTIONS:

1. In heavy saucepan, over low heat, melt chips with EAGLE BRAND® and salt. Remove from heat; stir in peppermint extract. Spread evenly into waxed paper-lined 8-or 9-inch square pan. Sprinkle with peppermint candy.
2. Chill 2 hours or until firm. Turn fudge onto cutting board; peel off waxed paper and cut into squares. Store covered in refrigerator.

Let us know how your peppermint chocolate fudge turns out! :)

A Beautiful Nativity

Peanut and Tommy, a darling Etsy shop, stopped us in our tracks when we came across this incredible hand-knit nativity set. The knitting is perfect and the complete nativity together is just beautiful. This would be a wonderful nativity set to have with children in the house---it's not breakable porcelain or glass and the colors are so joyful. What a wonderful little set to use to share the meaning of Christmas with your little ones!

Something to Think About...and Act On...

Join the Advent Conspiracy...
The idea is to substitute compassion for consumption---making Christmas more meaningful for all.
Check out this video and think about how you can make a difference this Christmas season.

The Spend-Less Christmas...

Budgets are tight for most folks this Christmas. While some people are woefully thinking about what they can't have this year due to less disposable income, truly savvy individuals are instead getting creative. You don't need to spend a lot of money to have a festive home. See that really cute sparkly, snowy, wintry house under the glass dome in the top picture? Yes, it looks Pottery Barn-esque. But it came from WalMart's Christmas collection a couple years ago! Folks, it's time to start scouring cheapo depots for decor!

And see those branches in the bottom picture? Some bare branches in a vase or cute bucket make for a great place to display your Christmas cards. Most trees need a little pruning in the fall/early winter, anyway, so you can probably get these free from your own yard. Have the branches ready (you can even hang a few ornaments on them or fill up the container with ornaments to cover the bottoms of the branches). When your first Christmas cards arrive in the mail, just punch a hole in the corner of each card, string with a little ribbon, and tie to one of the branches. As your cards roll in, your branches fill up, but it looks festive and upscale and it means that your fridge won't be covered in cards this year!

What are your great ideas for affordable holiday decorating this year? Please share them by posting a comment or by sending the Babs Blog an email. Happy decorating!

Letters of Gratitude...

Okay, it's December 1st. By now, you're likely thinking about a holiday celebration or two that you've been invited to attend. It's always important to show the hostess you appreciate her efforts. After all, if you are the guest at a party, it means that somebody else was scrubbing toilets, banishing dust bunnies, and putting out a platter of sweet treats in your honor. Never thought of it that way? Well, it's true. It's a lot of work to put on even the most casual shindig and the hostess should always be thanked. A small hostess gift is not necessary, but it's rather nice, don't you think? Check out Anthropologie for these sweet little monogrammed gifts. They won't break the bank, but they will show somebody that you were thinking of them and that you appreciate their hospitality!
***Remember, if you didn't have time to pick up a hostess gift you should send a thank you note a day or two after the party, just to show the hostess that you were so happy to be included :)

Make Your Gift Count

This year, if you are having a hard time figuring out what to get for someone, consider shopping at WorldVision, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving children's lives worldwide. They have an incredible gift catalog where you can purchase a wide range of items. Stumped on what to get that fisherman on your list? How about a fish pond? And for your cousin, the teacher? Education for girls in China seems like a good fit. For every gift, you receive a card that will tell your loved one exactly what you bought for them. It is truly a thoughtful, meaningful gift!

Tempe, AZ Home: Contract Falls Through

As it goes sometimes, our buyers backed out of the contract. Definitely disappointing as we had two similar offers and went with theirs because their offer came in first. Their reasoning for backing out was that they wanted to find something newer, a little further out. It took them two weeks to figure this out?

The buyers associated with our backup offer just found another home. Back to the market for this one. Anyone interested in buying a nice home in Tempe, AZ?

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Property Qwest Project Details
--------------------------------------------------------------

Address:
717 W. Manhatton Dr.
Tempe, AZ 85282

Listing Info:

• Listing price: $230,000.00
• Tempe MLS #: 4022329
• Tempe MLS Link

Take the virtual tour (click icon below):

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Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

Our apologies for the delay in our blog posts! We enjoyed a beautiful Thanksgiving and took a little blog break. We'll be back this week with more Babs Blog goodies. :)
In the meantime, here are some things we are thankful for (and we hope you took some good time this past week to give thanks for the blessings in your life, too!)

• We are thankful for our wonderful husbands who put up with plenty from each of us.
• We are each thankful for new dishwashers. :)
• We are thankful for amazing friends and family.
• We are thankful for our parents' safety and joyful attitude as they serve in Liberia.
• We are (above all) thankful for a great God who blesses us beyond our needs!

We have lots more to be thankful for...the list really just doesn't end. :)
We hope your Thanksgiving was full of smiling over the things in your life that warrant being grateful. Happy belated Thanksgiving!

---Jill & Kari

Tempe, AZ Home: In the Clear?

It looks as if we've cleared the inspection period hurdle. Some minor issues to be addressed including a few termites. We're still waiting to get docs from the buyers but, again, the good news is that it appears that nothing major was found. We weren't expecting anything major but there's always the unknown!

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Property Qwest Project Details
--------------------------------------------------------------

Address:
717 W. Manhatton Dr.
Tempe, AZ 85282

Listing Info:

• Listing price: $230,000.00
• Tempe MLS #: 4022329
• Tempe MLS Link

Take the virtual tour (click icon below):

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White Serveware

We love, love, love white serving pieces, like the ones from Pottery Barn, above. They can be tailored to every occasion, and complement almost every dish pattern. We know people that have a different set of china for every holiday. But if you are like us, you simply don't have the room to store six different sets of serveware. That is where white dishes come in handy. Just dress up your table with festive holiday colors, and no one in your family will remember that they are eating Christmas dinner from the same plates as Easter.

Peppermint Hot Chocolate

Just spied: This delicious peppermint hot chocolate recipe on Allrecipes.com. It has received a bunch of very favorable reviews and it's super easy:

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 cups milk
  
• 3 (1 ounce) squares semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 4 peppermint candy canes, crushed
• 1 cup whipped cream
• 4 small peppermint candy canes

DIRECTIONS:
In a saucepan, heat milk until hot, but not boiling. Whisk in the chocolate and the crushed peppermint candies until melted and smooth. Pour hot cocoa into four mugs, and garnish with whipped cream. Serve each with a candy cane stirring stick.

Hmmm...We are thinking that this recipe might save us from spending all our holiday gift money at Starbucks, paying over $3.00 for a peppermint mocha on a regular basis. Try this one out, and let us know what you think!
(We especially think that this would be the perfect toasty drink for when we decorate our trees this year!)

Scottsdale, AZ Home - So Far So Good!

Our rehab coordinator sent us an email this evening regarding business matters. One of which was in regards to our latest remodel project, our home in Scottsdale, AZ off of Devonshire.

Her message, "Things are going good in Scottsdale, next week will be a big purchase week."

Exactly what we want to hear!

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Property Qwest Project Details
--------------------------------------------------------------

Address:
8205 E. Devonshire Ave.
Scottsdale, AZ 85251

• Work Started!

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Putting the "Happy" in Happy Holidays...

Christmas is a time for smiles. :)
Here's an Etsy shop we stumbled upon that has things that are just smile-worthy. Paper Lady Invites made these cute holiday decorations, and there is much more to see at the Paper Lady Invites Etsy shop. Check it out!

Arizona Public Trustee Auction - Potential Property for Monday (Update: 11/17/2008)

The property we were pursuing at the public trustee auction, located in Tempe, AZ, went to a higher bidder. Opening bid on the property was $143,000. We felt comfortable purchasing this property up to $150,000, our highest bid. The home ultimately sold for $154,900.

For those not overly familiar with the process, this is par for the course. There's no need to get excited just to purchase a property. You get excited when you can pick one up at the auction for lower than your highest bid. If that happens, you've had a good day.

Finding homes at price points that make sense are few and far between after you factor in the competition. With that being said, there are properties available if you search EVERY SINGLE DAY! Be persistent.

On to the next prospect.

These Are a Few of Our Favorite Things...

Silver is great. Really, it is. Very pretty, dresses up a table, etc. But you have to polish it, which tends to be labor-intensive. That's why we fell in love with these pedestals from Sur la table. They are very pretty and give that dressy appearance...but they are crafted from aluminum. Genius! No polishing needed, so they are guaranteed to look shiny and fabulous whenever you need them (not just when you plan ahead so there's time for a good polishing). They come in a variety of heights and sizes and are guaranteed to be your favorite go-to pieces for entertaining. Trust us on this. :)
(Oh! Rumor has it that Crate and Barrel just started carrying these, too, for the holidays! Check it out!)

Arizona Public Trustee Auction - Potential Property for Monday (11/17/2008)

On the radar, we have a property that we're looking to pick up from the public trustee auction. It looks like the current occupants are in the process of moving out. On paper, the numbers look great which means there's most likely considerable work that needs to be done to properly renovate the home.

Waiting to hear back from our lender to get his thoughts on funding and valuation. Updates to follow!

Ahwatukee, AZ Home - Bath Remodel Pics: 4710 E. Tanglewood Dr.

More pics of our most current Ahwatukee, AZ remodeled home listing. Pic #1 is of the master bathroom, pic #2 is of the guest bathroom, and pic #3 is of the powder room. Enjoy!










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Property Qwest Project Details
--------------------------------------------------------------

Address:
4710 E. Tanglewood Dr.
Phoenix, AZ 85048

Listing Info:

• Listing price: $285,000.00
• Ahwatukee MLS #: 4065631
  
• Ahwatukee MLS Link

Take the virtual tour (click icon below):

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Party Tunes

When throwing a party, it can be difficult to pull all the little details together in the last minute. One of those details is music. We recommend keeping your playlists up-to-date so that when you throw a last minute gathering, you have the right music to put on. It can really be an effortless thing, but you must have your music "organized." Owning an ipod helps, for sure. And, using itunes means that you don't have to buy entire albums but can customized the playlists you keep for different parties.

If you are throwing a Christmas party for adults this year, we recommend Frank Sinatra's "Christmas Collection." You can find it on itunes and it's quintessential holiday cocktail music.

If you are throwing a laid-back dinner party, here's a playlist we can recommend. All these songs are easy on the ears...and we actually can recommend anything from these artists below. They are talented and a mix of any songs from their albums would make up a pleasant playlist that isn't full of overplayed pop music.

Dinner Party Playlist:
"1952 Vincent Black Lightning" Beth Wood
"Your Winter" Sister Hazel
"Your Song" Kate Walsh
"You'll Remember" Patty Griffin
"You Take the Wheel" Beth Wood
"You Have Been Loved" Sia
"You Are the One" (Live from the Hotel Café) Matt Hires
"Wurlitzer Prize (I Don't Want to Get Over You)" Norah Jones
"When She Loves You" Emerson Hart
"What Is the Difference" Aslyn
"What Am I to You" Norah Jones
"Weightless" Katie Herzig
"The Water Is Wide" Beth Wood
"Wally" Aslyn
"Vegas" (Live) Sara Bareilles
"Up to the Mountain" (MLK Song) Patty Griffin
"Until You Try" Katie Herzig
"Unsteady Ground" (New Version) Catherine Feeny
"Turn Me On" Norah Jones
"Trolley Wood" Eisley
"Triggering Back" Benoît Pioulard
"Trapeze" Patty Griffin
"Touch Back Down" Catherine Feeny
"Tomorrow Night" Patty Griffin
"Those Sweet Words" Norah Jones
"Thinking About You" Norah Jones
"Telescope Eyes" Eisley
"Tangled Web" (Live from the Hotel Café) Matt Hires
"Sweeter Than This" Katie Herzig
"Sunrise" Norah Jones

By the way, if you have an amazing playlist that you like to pull out for parties, please email it to us so we can share it with other Babs Blog readers. Thank you! :)

We Love A Good Dutch Girl!

How lucky we were to find this wonderful Etsy shop, called Dutch Girl Fabrics! Elizabeth is one of Jill's good friends from highschool and has set up this fabulous Etsy shop where you can go to glean the most fun fabric for your projects. Elizabeth also has a fun blog called "Late Night Over Pancakes" where you can see some of the fun things she works on. Check these sites out!

Scottsdale, AZ Home - The Budget

The budget may be bumped up a few thousand dollars depending upon how reasonable the costs are to replace the kitchen cabinetry. If we go this route, the budget may morph closer to 30k. Since we feel the neighborhood can support higher prices, we're giving this serious thought.

We believe that we will be able to recoup the additional costs involved in sprucing up the kitchen if we can get it done with the right product for the right price (the usual dilema).

--------------------------------------------------------------
Property Qwest Project Details
--------------------------------------------------------------

Address:
8205 E. Devonshire Ave.
Scottsdale, AZ 85251

• Work Started!

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Help Us Spread the Babs Blog!

The Babs Blog has been gaining popularity! We are quite excited about this and are thrilled (yet somewhat baffled) that people are actually reading our ramblings! The Babs Blog has readers in almost every state of the Union...but we are asking for your help.
So far, the Babs Blog has escaped Delaware, Alaska, Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming, and Idaho. So...if you have a pal in one of these states, could you do us a favor and send the Babs Blog link on to them? We'd love to see if we can get readers in all 50 states before the end of the month! :) Thanks in advance for spreading the word and thanks to those of you who read the blog regularly. Your comments and emails make this fun! :)

---Jill & Kari

Scottsdale, AZ Home - Eviction Done, Work Begins!

The occupants moved out without any issues. Again, always an unfortunate circumstance.

Upon gaining access to the interior of the home, the project looks to be inline with our original expectations. Our Team is finalizing the remodel plan and starting to line-up contractors to tackle the work.

The budget looks to be roughly 25k for this Scottsdale project.

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Property Qwest Project Details
--------------------------------------------------------------

Address:
8205 E. Devonshire Ave.
Scottsdale, AZ 85251

• Work Started!

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Thanksgiving Tables

Stumped about how to wow the relatives with your Thanksgiving table? Check out Martha Stewart's quick and easy "Thanksgiving Workshop" for ideas. Her ideas range from simple to simply insane (but if you have time for the "simply insane", go for it and make sure to send us photos!) The placecard ideas are pretty easy and could have great impact on a holiday table. Keep in mind, though, that if you provide a hospitable atmosphere, your guests won't be disappointed if you don't whip up the gilded pumpkin place markers that Martha suggests. :)
Remember, it's the people present who provide the joy, not the table decor!

Scottsdale, AZ Home - Where do We Stand with the Eviction?

We don't know! We'll be finding out today as the occupants plead guilty in their court appearance and are now required to move out by no later than November 11, 2008 (midnight). At 12:01AM, November 12, 2008 they're no longer lawfully allowed to remain in the home. If they continue to occupy the residence, we'll have to work with our lawyers accordingly to contact the constable for a potentially forceful removal.

We most certainly hope that it doesn't come down to this. An eviction process is not fun for either party but especially for the occupant. It's an unfortunate reality. When we purchased this home from the public trustee auction, the occupants were still in the home.

Once the eviction is finalized we'll get our first glimpse to see how much work is in store for us with this remodel. With these types of situations, you never know.

You can let the fear of the unknown rule your reality or you can get down to the business of the day. Difficult circumstances will always have to be dealt with and your success or failure will be born from the manner in which you handle the situation.

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Property Qwest Project Details
--------------------------------------------------------------

Address:
8205 E. Devonshire Ave.
Scottsdale, AZ 85251

• Project just starting

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Chic on the Cheap

If you haven't noticed by now, the two of us Babs Blog sisters are BIG fans of Ebay and Etsy. There are many reasons for this, but the biggest reason is that these two sites allow us to buy fun and creative items without breaking the bank. Face it, folks: Budgets are tight these days and people are paying a lot more attention to dollars and cents. However, you needn't sacrifice style in these days of decreased expendable income. Instead, be creative!
Above you'll see three photos of very simple yet stylish decor that would work great for your next party's centerpiece or for Christmas decor around the house. The white milkglass vessels all came from Ebay. Go to Ebay and search for "white milkglass" and you'll see literally thousands of items in different shapes and sizes to bid on. The items in the collection above were all less than $7.00 a piece (and a couple were obtained for 99 cents plus shipping!) The greenery was inexpensive, too! The mossy pieces were obtained on clearance at the local Marshall's and the trees (real Gold European Trees) came from a sale at Ikea!
Grouped together, the crisp white and vivid green look decidedly sophisticated. How chic---and how cheap!

Tempe, AZ Home: Counter-offer Accepted - 717 W. Manhatton Dr.

Counter-offer accepted! As fate would have it, while we were waiting to hear back from our counter-offer (deadline - 6:00PM, Monday, 11/10/2008), we received another offer on our Tempe, AZ home.

The offers were very similar but, since we had already started negotiations with the buyers who submitted their offer on Sunday, we felt it was only fair to go with their contract if ultimately they were close to agreeing to the terms of our counter. They did. The only change was the need to push the closing date out by roughly one week.

Both potential buyers chose FHA financing. FHA financing seems to be the only game in town right now. As sellers of our remodeled homes, there are hurdles for us when a buyer chooses to go with FHA financing opposed to conventional financing. Mainly, the 90-day seasoning requirements.

Next hurdle on our way to close our Tempe, AZ home ... the home inspection. Escrow to open today. Updates to come on a future day!

--------------------------------------------------------------
Property Qwest Project Details
--------------------------------------------------------------

Address:
717 W. Manhatton Dr.
Tempe, AZ 85282

Listing Info:

• Listing price: $230,000.00
• Tempe MLS #: 4022329
• Tempe MLS Link

Take the virtual tour (click icon below):

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What's Cookin'?

Veterans Day Weekend is an important weekend to us. A tradition was started by Babs that once a year a group of very special ladies would join together for an annual "Girls Weekend." We keep that tradition going even though this year Mom (Babs) could not join us. We know she was thinking about us from Liberia, probably sharing a story or two about former Girls Weekends with Dad. This year, Girls Weekend was held in San Francisco and we attended a wonderful cooking class as our "main activity." (A special thanks to Aunt Cathy and to Terri for making all the fun arrangements!) Our group keeps growing as marriages happen---(if you marry one of "our guys," you automatically have to endure Girls Weekend!) This year, Lindsey joined us for her first Girls Weekend (she married into the group this past September---hurray!) Lindsey actually made all the cute aprons you see in the photo above. What a nice surprise that was! So, not only did we learn some cooking tips, but we all looked pretty darn cute while we did it, thanks to Lindsey. :)
We enjoyed our cooking class in the home of Emily Dellas who owns First Class Cooking. What a wonderful treat this experience was! Emily was kind, warm, and definitely patient. She was full of great tips---secrets about ingredients and cooking utensils. The menu was delicious and all of us left with the recipes---and the confidence to try them again. We had roasted corn chowder with jalapeno, a butternut squash gratin (to die for!), pomegranate-glazed pork tenderloin, and we finished off with a decadent creme brulee. It was a very fun evening!

We hope this post encourages you to do two things:
First of all, gather the beautiful women in your life and begin a yearly Girls Weekend. We do something different every year, but it's really the getting together and having a weekend of good, old-fashioned belly laughs that makes it special.

Secondly, if you are in the San Francisco area, look up Emily Dellas and arrange a cooking class! Her website is at First Class Cooking, and you'll see lots of options for classes. It was a wonderful evening and we all learned so much. If you don't live near San Francisco and you aren't looking to take a trip to the City by the Bay, look in your immediate area for opportunities to take a private cooking class with your girlfriends!

Thank you, Emily, for a wonderful evening!


Above, Emily teaches the group some tricks for cooking a perfect pork tenderloin.


Our sister-in-law Meagan with her sister, Katie---washing hands before getting them in the ingredients!



Jill, serving up delicious corn chowder.



Sisters-in-law Lindsey and Katie. (Lindsey is responsible for those darling aprons!)




Jill and cousin Heidi showing us their stirring skills. (Or, Jill was stirring and Heidi was supervising...)



Cousin Heather, washing the leeks. Or at least holding the bowl for Meagan...



Heidi, rewarding herself for something...must be her supervising skills...



Terri, Meagan, and Jill



Emily teaches Heather how to properly cut an onion

Heather, attempting the cutting skills on her own



Emily teaching the group how to get the good stuff out of a vanilla bean



Terri and Jill at the helm of the stove



Heidi, serving up the creme brulee



Katie, showing her torch skills



Meagan does her best Julia Childs impersonation



The leftovers of our labor...amazing butternut squash gratin and pork tenderloin



Creme brulee...delicious!