Christmas - Chicago & More. How do do it all and remain sane.

Well it's that time again. We have all been hearing christmas music, seeing some snow flakes, constantly hearing advertisements about the holidays... Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Christmas, New Year's... So many things to plan, bake, cook, shop, wrap, go, see, do.... and then come January 1st - it's all over, and what will you be left with?

I hope to be left with more than those few extra pounds - complements of too many holiday treats - hopefully I won't be left with those at all. I

hope to be left with the satisfaction of knowing I found the prefect most thoughtful gift for everyone on my gift list - not only the perfect gift, BUT that I also got a great deal on it too (black friday/cyber monday deals!)

I also hope to have sent out great christmas cards/letters to everyone on my christmas letter list,

I hope to have spend time with my sisters & mom baking cookies & other treats on our annual cookie baking day,

I hope to have fun pictures with friends & family at gatherings & outings, including a train ride to Chicago to ice skate and see the German market & huge tree,

I hope to watch my dog Matilda pull treats out of her stocking and get the perfect picture of her as she's enjoying her treats.

I hope to go to my husbands military christmas parties - one of which is a formal military ball - that will involve getting a appropriate dress and reading up on proper edict for the event.

I hope to find some awesome New Year's eve party, or event, or something to goto & actually be awake and having a good time at 12:00AM January 1st 2015.

I hope to make a great new years resolution list full of life changing, fun, constructive & realistic things for 2015.

I could go on and on about all the things I hope to do this "holiday" season - more than I have already.... The point is, I have a little over a month &  a LOT of things I want to do - i'm pretty sure most of you have just as much maybe more than me planned.

Here is my strategy to get it all done - it's simple actually. I'm a list maker. I don't even know how many lists I make around this time of year, but it really helps!

A few key lists that may help you stay on top of all your events this year.

Grocery shopping list
below is a app to plan your thanksgiving menu. I have not tried it, but it looks cool.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/thanksgiving-menu-maker-from/id474820051?mt=8

1) menu list - what are you making?

Time list / to bring list - when to start food, what food to bring where & when to leave for each event.
I also really like having nice cloth bags for these events, then each event gets a separate bag to stay more organized as we travel around from place to place.

Next up, since I love deals  - who doesn't? , I always make my Christmas list early so that I can ether go out on Thanksgiving night, or black friday, or just shop on line. One thing though MAKE A LIST. and stick with it! I didn't one year and ended up with a TON of stuff I though I needed and really did not... Great deals though ;)
Good site to look at deals:
https://blackfriday.com/black-friday-2014

Last year The Microsoft Surface deal was sold out all over the place, everywhere I looked, however all I had do do was go to the Microsoft website and order one for the same sale price, it was great. Only problem was that the website was swamped, and I ended up pressing the "process" button twice, so I got 2 of them... It worked out ok though because I was able to sell it on craigs list and make $50 on it - the buyers still got a better price then the store...

Anyway - After I make my christmas gift list I look at all the adds then make a schedule of where to go for what - I always try to find a on line option because it's really fun to sit home in sweat pants and then have things brought to my door.... Also if you need any special outfits (such as a military ball dress) it's also a great time to go shopping for yourself - good time to get tools, maybe an air mattress for camping - anything you know your going to buy sometime in the next year - why not try to get it cheaper? Here is a link (best & worse things to buy in November) http://dealnews.com/features/what-to-buy-in-november/

As far as Christmas cards go - if you do photo post cards, I really like Vista print. make sure you google "coupon code vistaprint" before  you pay because you can pretty much always get at LEAST 20% off. Link to vista print Christmas cards: http://www.vistaprint.com/christmas-cards.aspx?couponAutoload=1&GP=11%2f20%2f2014+10%3a30%3a04+AM&GPS=3310761900&GNF=1

Now for fun things to do - Sure baking is fun, shopping is fun, running around like a chicken with it's head cut off trying to get to three thanksgiving dinners in one day & then rolling your way out the door of the last place feeling terribly guilty for the thousands of calories you just consumed ... thats fun too right? but here are some things that are not just about eating & talking here are some active things to add to your holiday season.

1) make your Christmas gathering more fun by trying some of these games -
http://www.signupgenius.com/home/christmas-party-games.cfm

2) take the train to Chicago (my favorite!) Here are some things to help you have a great time.
 -- Link to the train schedule http://metrarail.com/metra/en/home.html

3) Ice skating - we all know about the rink by Millennium park - always a good time, but sometimes really crowded - here is a lost of other options: http://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/facilities/ice-rinks/ My favorite is http://www.yelp.com/biz/daley-bicentennial-park-chicago?osq=Outdoor+Ice-Skating - it's not too well known - so don't spread the word too much ;)

4) The German marked & big Christmas tree
http://www.timeout.com/chicago/shopping/christkindlmarket

5) Macy's windows
http://www.timeout.com/chicago/things-to-do/macys-state-street-sets-up-its-holiday-windows

6) Navy Pier
http://www.navypier.com/things2do/entertainment/special_events.html

7) the zoo (it's free!!!)
http://www.lpzoo.org/events/calendar/zoolights

8) Festival of the lights (better hurry it's this weekend!!)
http://www.themagnificentmile.com/events/lights-festival/

Just a few options here... I dare someone to make it to ALL of these in ONE day!


Since this is getting long, I'll save some for another post - happy list making!
Oh, and one more thing - here is a link to healthy new years resolution ideas.
http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20452233,00.html

Grapes - Jelly & Juice

3 years ago I planted a grape vine that I purchased at, of all places, Aldi. 3 years ago is when we had that super dry summer here in Illinois, and I must admit, I forgot to water this new plant pretty much the whole summer. I though it had died... It did not however, and the next year - last year, it looked pretty good, and grew quite a bit but had no fruit. I researched what to do with it and how to keep it under control and producing grapes, and this is what I learned.

Concord Grapes

The first year you don't do anything to it, same for the second year. The third year, however, you prune it. Ether in the fall or the early spring. The goal is to get it down to one main vine, and cut off everything else. Mine however seemed to split, and I had 2 main vines, I couldn't decide which one was more worthy of living, so I kept them both....  They grew, HUGE, the whole side of the porch (not over running it, but close) And, as predicted, I got grapes! about 350+ of them actually. At first I though they were concord grapes, but my friends from down the street have a friend who has LOTS of grapes, too many grapes, and they gave me 5lbs of them to make Jelly (will go over that later) After tasting the concord grapes, I realized that my grapes were not concord grapes, I don't know what they are, but they are purple, and have about 2-4 seeds in each, they are a little sour, but not too bad anymore.

I read that once they turn purple you wait 1-3 weeks to harvest them. It's all about the way they feel (not too squishie, but not too hard) the way they taste (not too sour) and the way they feel in your mouth (I got lost on this one, they felt the same to me every time I tried them) Anyhow, I picked them because I saw a couple of them shriveling up... And then they sat in the fridge for a while while I decided what to do with them. I liked eating them, but they had so many seeds I didn't really think I would eat all 350+ of them... So they sat till my neighbor brought over the concord grapes for jelly.

The Jelly making process seemed really rough when I read through the instructions, but with a little help from my neighbor (he did most of it) it seemed pretty easy... Pretty much 3 steps.

Jars being cleaned

Step one: boil the jars and tops you plan to use and leave them in the water.

squished grapes

Step two: Make grape juice. You do this by taking all the grapes off the stems and then squishing them in a pan while the heat is on. Leave the heat on till they look pretty liquidie, then add 1.5 cups of water and squish some more.

Then you pour the substance in a jelly bag (cheese cloth bag basically) and squeeze all the juice out, then throw away the skins.

 

After that see how many cups you have, I had 3.5 cups, and I needed 5, so I added 1.5 cups.

SUGAR LOTS OF SUGAR

Step 3: make Jelly. Bring juice to a boil and add Sure Gel (I got mine at walmart - it was by the jello) THEN you mix it in and boil it for 10 minutes... Then you add all your sugar (7 cups!! YIKES) bring it to a boil and boil for ONE minute.

JELLY!

While you are waiting for it to boil grab the jars and lids out of the boiling water...Leave the heat on the stove though, you will need the water again.  After it boils you put it in the jars and put the lids on, once you clean off any jelly from the edges.., then you put the jars back into the water for 7 minutes, remove from the boiling water, and your lids should pop sealing them till you are ready to use them. One of mine did not pop - I think I did not clean the edges off well enough - guess I better start eating PB&J's.


Anyway, that was my Jelly experience, it was fun, I would do it again, and I can do it, you can too - it's really not that hard.

My 350 Grapes 

my 350 grapes.... hmmm

As for my 350ish grapes... I made juice out of them... I plan to make "sour grape martini's" out of them next weekend prehaps... maybe tonight... anything could happen.

Here are some detailed instructions to make your own Jelly. How To Make Jelly

Homes, Homes and more homes

I've looked at a lot of homes lately. I've become familiar with the games that REO (banked owned homes) sellers play. It's frustrating. They are tricky to get - sometimes offers are accepted, multiple offer emails are sent out, then all the offers are rejected only for the seller to take $10,000 off the price and let everyone put offers back in. I'm assuming they are hoping to get more offers and more interest. That's the downside of REO property I guess - sure, you may get a good deal, but you will invest a lot of time trying to get that deal.

The problem is though, if you doing want a foreclosure you many times deal with owners who want a lot more than their home is currently worth - or  a seller strangely accepting some other lower offer for some unknown personal reason.

Bottom line, getting a home, is a tricky business as is selling one when you own more than you can sell it for. I do love that feeling of finding a house that my client loves, and may feel just as bad as they do when the offer I submit for them is not accepted.

Lately I have looked at a lot of homes in Plano - Lakewood Springs actually. They have homes from 5 bedrooms to little 1 bedroom town houses. A nice variety, they do have a SSA tax however, which makes the taxes a lot higher.

Another nice area is right off of 71, Rain Tree & Country Hills - they have mostly bigger homes, a lot of them are part brick, and most have more developed trees and nicer back yards than Lakewood Springs. Country Hills has no SSA tax, however they have no club house or pool etc, While Rain tree located right behind Country hills has a SSA tax with a club house, pool, tennis courts and more. They also have a nice paved bike/running path around the homes.

Oswego is another great place to buy a house, it's closer to 88, and more shopping, places to eat and things to do, although even the homes in plano have a Target, Kohls, Dicks Sportings good store and more. Oswego has a lot of bigger homes in subdivisions. One of them that I looked at yesterday was right off of Rt. 34 - go left instead of right to cross the river... The house we looked at was a former model house, it had a nice brick patio, hard wood floors, big loft area, a balcony that I loved, and a full finished basement with an extra room, bathroom and kitchen. It's listed for the crazy low price of $166,000 thinking it will go fast, it's a bank owned property, so anything could happen.

Yogi Bear in Milbrook

Last week my husband, myself and my sister in law got a 2 room cabin at Yogi Bear in Milbrook. 
here is their website: Yogi Bear Milbrook  -- Here is another place in the area I would like to camp at - seems comparable Mallard Bend Camping

It's only about 20 minutes from plano - and I had never been their. We had been working a lot, and really just wanted to take a break from everything.

Yogi Bear has 2 pools, a kid pool, a hot tub, horse shoes, a volleyball net, a snack shop, a over priced camp store, and has a creek running through it. They have full hook up sites for campers, primitive sites, camping sites with electricity and water, cabins to rent, and a couple bigger "cabins" to rent. Basically trailer homes. We had a good time their, it was relaxing, we made a fire ($6 per wood stack) The cabin had a little fridge and a microwave, so that was nice. The cabin was $98 to rent I believe for the night - Yogi bear gives no discounts. Camp sites were around $55 with electric, the bigger trailer homes were around $200 to rent. All of these prices are for 2 people - each additional person is $15 plus $5 if you want to take your dog -and I did. So it did get pricy, but that's just how Yogi bear rolls. You could actually fit 8 people in that tinny cabin, so if you had enough people it could be cheaper...

We pretty much cooked awesome food, hung out by the pool, drank too much... pretty much most of the things a good camping trip is made of. We would like to stay a little longer next time - maybe purchase a pop up camper. I would recommend Yogi bear because they have so many activitys - if we had kids, they would have been very entertained the whole time.

One thing though - they said they had a pond, it was not a pond, it was a small dam made in the creek - do not think it would be good for fishing. One more activity close by is horse back riding - not on site, but down the street.

Where do you hike?

One of the views hiking at hoover

Today looks like a great day to go hiking. Sadly I will not be able to - but if I did today I would go to Hoover Forest preserve It's right in Yorkville and has about 3-3.5 miles of trails. 11285 W Fox Rd Yorkville, IL 60560 is where you can find it. I would say it's medium difficult level - it has some big hills. I would say half of the trails are looking down from a hill along the river - its really pretty. Most of the rest are through the woods, as well as a large stretch of open prairie in the middle of the woods - one creek crossing with out a bridge (use rocks) and 2-3 more with bridges. - if you want a really easy hike, you can actually park in the far back lot and just walk on a paved path around a loop for about a mile - would be good for a stroller I think. Hoover has some great picnic areas, at least one of them is covered maybe more. They also have  a awesome new building  you can rent out for events. Horses are welcome as well, so watch your step on the trails!
Hoover is also a great place to go for a run - since a lot of it is on a hill (along the river) it does not get as muddy as some of the other places in the area.
Happy Hiking

Oswego Family Restaurant

Today Before my husband Judah and I headed over to paint - we ate at : Oswego Family Restaurant. We had gotten up early to run, then off to bid a painting job, we were hungry and had some time to kill. Oswego Family Restaurant is located right down town Oswego 69 Main St, to be exact. It was a pretty typical diner - good prices, good food, good service. I got a breakfast sandwich (english muffin with sausage, egg & Cheese) and hashbrowns for $5 - so not bad at all & very tasty. One thing to know about this place is that they only take cash - so hit your own bank before you come in - we ended up walking to the closest bank and paying a $3 ATM fee :( I hate ATM fees. 

The restaurant has good reviews on line as well - good place to have a casual in expensive meal.

Guess What? I'm a Realtor Now!

It's been a long time since I got my first home. Much has happened. Right now I find myself with a Realtor's license, ready to help people buy and sell homes! I'm really exited about this - I love homes, painting homes, looking at homes, but I also love being active and enjoying life. Why do people move? Generally speaking, I believe, to enjoy life. Do the things they love, raise their kids, make a living, maybe have a dog, have hobbies. So this blog, is now re-purposed. Here I will post about the homes I am listing,  the homes I have looked at, the homes I have sold, AND the adventures and fun places I have found here in the Greater Fox Valley Area.

My hobbies include: Running (A LOT) hiking (A LOT) fishing, kayaking, reading, my American bull Dog Matilda, My home (taking care of it, improvements...) Cooking, Eating out, going to movies, playing chess (I'm not very good) meeting people & much more. These are the things I will share on this blog - so if you find yourself wondering what to on some nice summer day, or some yucky rainy day - I hope that I will soon have some fun suggestions for you. Also if you are getting your first home, hopefully I am helping you do so, feel free to read in my early posts about my first home purchase! It was... well... an adventure and I learned a lot!