Right now, the high for Saturday is only supposed to be 86 degrees – that would be amazing.  Remember to go early – most of the vendors are ready to sell by 8:30am and you can actually see their items before all the crowds arrive. 

Of the 3 streets that are included in the festival, my favorite one is between the center of the Town of Cary and the old elementary school.  This is the street that I go to 1st.  Bring a small purse and remember that most of the vendors are happy to store your things for you at the booth until you are ready to go home.  And, if you want a bit of adult refreshment for a shopping break, you can drop in on the beer garden.  Check out the vendor CD this year to get a preview of the Lazy Daze wares.  See you there!

If I had only known 15 years ago when our youngest son Matt requested a fruit dryer for his 14^th birthday how that would change his life.  We had recently moved to the Cary area from CA.  Matt, the youngest of our four sons was the only one to make the move to the foreign country of NC. He came kicking and screaming which is very typical of any rising 8^th grader. 

The Food Channel, Cary High, and UCLA

While getting acclimated to his new life without a plethora of friends on his doorstep, Matt gained a real fondness for the TV Food Channel.  After learning to make beef jerky from his new contraption he started playing with recipes.  We never gave it a lot of thought until we heard about a Thanksgiving meal he fixed for his college roommates at UCLA.  By this time Matt had graduated from Cary High School in 1999 and went on to become an English major and Spanish minor at UCLA.  He was fortunate enough to spend a year at the University of Barcelona and during the summer he went to a culinary school in Spain. 

Eat This Not That!

Moving the clock forward several years Matt is now the co author of the “Eat This Not That” book series.  His real pride and joy is the latest book of the series “Cook This Not That”.  On Sunday April 18th,  Matt will be at the Cary location of Barnes and Noble to discuss his books.  The book signing and discussion will begin at 4pm.  On Wednesday, April 14th at 3am (the only weird time in the country) Matt will be on the Bonnie Hunt show along with David Zinczenko demonstrating several of the recipes. 

James Beard Food Writing Award

A few weeks ago Matt was nominated for the James Beard Food Writing Award.   This is a great honor and is considered the Oscar of food writing.  The nomination was for an article he did for Men’s Health Magazine called “Beauty and the Beast”.  He just arrived back to NYC from a trip to CA to work with Carl’s Jr/Hardees to help them devise a healthier menu.  There is an article about Matt in the April18th edition of the Cary News.

Proud Mom

As his Mom of course I beam with pride but taking that aside he is a wealth of information and if you meet him on Sunday you will be glad you did.

One of the things I am most proud of is that our LG Real Estate listings have the reputation of showing in top condition. In today’s highly competitive market, agents can typically present a buyer with as many as 30 to 50 homes that fit their price point and location. That’s why I place a priority on ensuring our homes stand out; when they do, they get the showings and ultimately the offer and contract. As an agent, I work very hard educating and guiding my new clients about the expectations of their homes as resales in a heavily saturated market.

 HGTV has done wonders to educate and inspire homeowners to be creative and tackle many projects to make their homes special, comfortable and personal. Yet, when a home is on the market and needs to appeal to a broadcross-section of potential buyers, neutral is actually best. To give the best advice to our clients, my supporting staff-Lee Ann Crowder and Jennifer Grinter-are specially trained and equipped to help our sellers. Once I have all of the paperwork signed to market a home, Jennifer Grinter makes an appointment with our new clients for the SWAT Team visit.

Swat Team Visit

 Jennifer and Lee Ann arrive at your Cary home with notebook and pad in hand and a very keen eye for all of those things we each overlook as we are busy just living our lives. Not even a spider web is too small to be

Jennifer & Lee Ann

overlooked, but don’t worry: we don’t suggest more than is necessary. Our goal is to ensure the home’s exterior and interior is as clean as possible and all the features show in their best light. This may mean anything from suggesting that you repaint a bath to “pop,” trim those shrubs blocking the front of the house or move the sofa from upstairs in the bonus to downstairs in the family room to enhance the scale of the room.

Helpful Suggestions

 Both team members are very detailed and have experience and training in design placement and style. Jennifer takes the lead on documenting all of the home’s features and creating our executive home brochures. Lee Ann focuses on placing the furniture and ensuring the client’s home looks as neat and as peaceful as possible for potential buyers. It helps for clients to have somewhere they can store personal belongings until they move. Friends’ homes, donation locations and even recycling sites can be of assistance.

 Our SWAT team takes this job seriously, and we are always sensitive to each seller. As we say, no one really lives the way you need to while you are selling your home. You may have to live lightly for a while, but it will get YOUR HOME SOLD. If you are serious about selling your home, call us at 919-653-2647.

Allie & Ashley

We (Dave & Lenda Goulding) have 2 married sons that live in Cary and 3 precious little granddaughters.  Our oldest son Rex and his wife Lora live in the Preston area of Cary and have 2 daughters – Ashley age 6 and Allie age 4.  They love swimming at the Prestonwood CC pool and fishing in their backyard which is located on one of the Preston Lakes. 

Sadie

Our 2^nd son Ryan and his wife Dani live in the Weston Manor subdivision of Cary. They have a daughter, Sadie Claire, who will celebrate her 1^st birthday in a couple of weeks.  Sadie is now walking and loves to explore and play games with GG (Lenda) and G-POP (Dave).

Normally, we as parents follow and locate close to our children so that the grandkids are nearby.  We are very fortunate to run a business- LG Real Estate- in a town so inviting and conducive to young families.  Our oldest son Rex moved to Cary from Boston in 2003 and Ryan moved here from California in 2007. 

Cary Senior Center

So not only is Cary a terrific place to raise a family, it’s also a great place for grandparents to reside.  The parks, recreational, and cultural department of the Town of Cary operates the Cary Senior Center.  The Cary Senior Center is a 17,000 square foot recreation and education facility designed by and for the adults 55 and older in Cary.  The center sponsors such activities as the Senior/Teen Wii Bowling Challenge, Ice Cream Socials, Annual Evening Concert (free), Tai Chi and other exercise classes. 

 So grandparents come to Cary – the kids and grandchildren will follow!

Kangu Ru ready for her walk!

We passed a lot of bikers and walkers.  I think next time we will bring along some friends who have a labradoodle as well.  In our real estate business, LG Real Estate, plenty buyers are always asking about local things to do in Cary.  I can’t believe how long it has taken me to enjoy this option that is so close and accessable to our home.  Do you have any ideas for local outings?

Veggies for Sale!

One of our favorite neighborhoods which we specialize in at LG Real Estate is Carpenter Village.  Just last weekend, they opened  a weekly Farmers Market which is open each Saturday until November from 8am- 12pm.  You can find out more about the amazing local vendors, fresh from their farms at www.westernwakefarmersmarket.org.  The address is 1226 Morrisville Carpenter Road.  Perhaps I’ll see you there!

What’s fun about going to the fair early?

For us, it’s the fact that you can get “fair food” early and just relax with your friends from work! The weather was 87 and perfect.  Lenda provided each of us some “Fair Spending Money”.  I splurged on  a polish sausage sandwich, from one of about 10 vendors that are open a few days before the fair begins.  You can get in the gate free (front gate only facing Blue Ridge Road), get your foot long hotdog, polish sausage and fries and walk around the busy midway.  A few vendors are also open with cotton candy and candy apples.

Instead of crowds of people, you have to dodge the various golf carts, trucks and other moving equipment, but it’s a good way to spend time with your friends from work.  I love showing the team around since I am one of the few local girls and can point out my longtime favorites such as Al’s Fries, the pickle booth, the location of the hush puppy samples, FUMC’s ham biscuit kitchen and the homemade ice cream.

Have you been the the fair on one of the pre-opening days?  I hope to see you there next year!

Among the suggestions that Lenda and Lee Ann had were:  remove the wallpaper in the dining room.  I love this wallpaper.  I am not a fan of wallpaper in general, but this one was beautiful in my eyes.  It was blue and white (like my china) with a white on white print in the background.  It took forever to pick out and hanging stripes isn’t easy, but I did it.

This little fact is key in removing it:  I hung the wallpaper, so I know that I sized the walls.  Sizing is a primer product you put on the wall to prepare it for wallpaper.  This preparation allows the wallpaper to adhere better and allows for easier removal of the wallpaper later on.  (For lots more detail try: The American School of Paperhanging Arts)

How well does it work? Well, I am not an expert/experience wallpaper remover, but from the horror stories I have heard, it makes a difference.  So, how did I do remove the wallpaper?

Tools:  Scrapper (wallpaper removing specific tool or I suggest metal and pretty wide), Dif wallpaper remover spray (I like the spray gel, less drippy mess), bucket for warm water, rag, ladder, patience.

Step by Step

Step 1.  Decide if you want help or not.  Simple? Of course you want help…but maybe not, read on

Step 2.  Try to remove the top printed layer of wallpaper.  My daughter’s border was more vinyl than paper, so this step was easy.  My son’s border was more paper than vinyl, not so easy.  My dining room actually had huge pieces that came off completely.

Step 3.  If the top doesn’t come off easy, be patient, this will take a little longer.  Stay tuned.

Step 4.  Once you have removed the top layer, spray with Dif.  Let it sit!  Wait 10 minutes or more.

Step 5.  Try to remove with scrapper, rag or fingers.

My process:

1. Pull off the top layer for a pretty big section.
2. Spray with Dif (give it pretty good soaking, thoroughly spray)
3. Leave this section alone.  Start pulling the top off another section.
4. Spray this 2nd section with Dif.
5. Go back to the 1st section.  Try pulling/scrapping off the back layer.  (Should be pretty easy at this point.)
6. Make sure it is ALL off.
7. Use warm water and a rag to wipe down the whole area.  You will find little pieces, get it all off.  Wipe it clean.
8. Move to a 3rd spot, start with the top layer, spray, go to 2nd area, scrape & wash.
9. Keep going.

Now it may be easier to see why you might not want help.  Unless you have 2 of all the tools (I didn’t), start at opposite ends, and have someone you work really well with, you will eventually need the same tool at the same time and get frustrated.

I found it helpful to have assistants for the most part, but we did get in each other’s way occasionally.

Back to step #4.  If the top doesn’t come off easily (like it only comes off in 2 inch pie shape pieces), you need to use another tool called a scorer.  I used the PaperTiger.  This tool will create holes in the paper so the Dif can penetrate into the glue holding the wallpaper to the wall.  I found that it then added another step.  Use the spray to get the top layer off, another application of spray to get the back layer off.

Sound like fun?  I did the top half of my dining room in 2 nights.  Of course I did have large pieces come off all together (top layer and backing).  I had other areas where I had to use the PaperTiger.

Turn on the stereo, sing out load, stay patient!

My home is getting very close to being ready to list with LG Real Estate.  Stay tuned for my next article, “Patience”.

Before - See my Dif?

After

Controlling Cost When Preparing Your Cary Home for the Market?

So I spent some time online looking for cheaper door knobs.  I figure I had a few weeks before the house is on the market, so I wanted to shop around for something less than $24-$50/knob.  After a good amount of time searching, the best we could find online was $15 for each closet door, $16 for each bathroom/bedroom door, etc.

Apex Hardware Store Saves the Day!

Before I had a chance to order them, I happen to be in Ace Hardware in Apex (for wall paper remover…) and had the kids just check the prices on their door knobs.  I have to admit I have not been a frequent shopper at Ace, but now things have changed!  For the same prices, I bought ACE brand door knobs and hinges, (Colonial style, brushed nickel).   They were friendly and a great help!  They ordered the 3 closet knobs, 1 bathroom knob, 1 front door handle with deadbolt, 1 key entry knob for the door to the garage, another key entry knob for the door to the deck, and one deadbolt for the deck door as well.  They were all in in less than 1 week and they re-keyed them all to match (keeping track of one key per person is enough!).

A Little Cary DIY can Save You Some Bucks

So this weekend my husband and my son got to work.  They started with the hinges.  My son watched my husband do the first one and off he went to the next door.  While still on the hinges, they started by removing the center brass hinge and putting in the brushed nickel one.  Then on to the top and then to the bottom.  For the 4 inside doors (1 bathroom and 3 closets),  they finished in less than one hour (just in time for hockey practice).  And this was using a regular philips head screwdriver since the battery on the cordless was dead!

Making More Progress

On Sunday they did the door knobs on the same doors.  I wasn’t home for this one, so I am not sure how long it took or if there were a few bumps in the road.  My son simply said that after the first one, it went smoothly and quickly (and what home improvement project does this not apply to?).

I have done my best to try to give you a before and after shot. Please excuse my photography, still life photography is not my forte!

Your Feedback!

As you can see, we are moving right along in preparing our home for the Cary real estate market. What tips did you use when prepping your Cary property to be “show ready” for your home’s debut?

De-cluttering Our Cary Home

First, we cleaned up our loft.  One of the best decisions we ever made was to have a loft built in the garage over the garage door of our Cary home.  We have a very high ceiling (19 feet), so we have plenty of room for storage, but with plenty of room comes with plenty of stuff…  We thought it would be good to lighten our load by getting rid of some things.  After one VERY full truckload to the dump, the loft is looking pretty well organized.  There is always room for improvement, but it is definitely a very large step in the right direction.

I Asked for Help From the Cary Real Estate Experts

What’s next?  The list seems rather daunting.  We had Lee Ann and Lenda come and give us some direction.  Some things wouldn’t surprise anyone who has watched any HGTV:  remove the borders from the kids’ bedrooms and paint them neutral, freshen up the paint trim outside, pack up personal photos, change the knobs on the kitchen cabinets from gold to silver, etc.  Some surprised us: replace all the carpet (shouldn’t have been a surprise, 9 years of kids and dog will do that…), replace the gold light fixtures, etc.

Step by Step Tips for Cary DIY Homeowners

So here we go – step one: remove the borders, posters, pictures, fill the holes.  Not as bad as it sounds, my kids helped remove the borders, my husband fill the holes, the kids sanded the spots, and I am ready to paint…

On to the next thing – stay tuned…