September

Well, school is under way, we've dodged Hurricane Ike (although I am still praying for my sister on the gulf in Texas) and the holidays are upon us. I haven't blogged in a while, but am going to make a commitment to keeping up to date on a weekly basis. Most exciting thing upcoming is the fundraiser for the CCCA Colts Swim team...cannot wait to support the day of shopping with a booth set up and meeting new friends...I'll keep you posted. Bev

New Commercial for Realtors

South Florida Today and Technical Difficulties

WOW! What a week. The South Florida Today Show was Wednesday. What an awesome experience. Very nerve wracking and all, but was a good day. Trying to not look nervous on camera is actually a skill!

I am very excited about some new things and old friends I have found this week as well.

For the show, Top Priority Salon in Coral Springs did my Cinderella treatment and got me camera ready. Pam is a genius at making bad hair look good...you can visit her site (and then in person) at http://hairandnailsaloncoralsprings.com/.

My old friends, Ronnie and Ezra, at Ronnie's Clothing dressed me in the most fun, funky and gorgeous clothes! I love Ronnie, not only for her clothes, but for her heart...954-755-4701.

As soon as I can figure out how to get the video from my DVR to my computer, I will post!

Old Friends, Same old Me

It has been a wonderful week in my life. My long lost college roommate/BFF during our high school years found me through a web search. It's funny, because I had been trying to find her for months. I hope that we don't lose touch again...it was such a beautiful surprise.

I started telling Bryan (DH) stories about our first place outside of the dorm. I was redesigning even then. We had a college budget, but bought mismatched chairs, painted them all the same color and recovered the seats. Sewed window treatments, recovered hand-me down sofas and chairs and created a home away from our "homes". What great memories...I now realize the place was probably a really run down triplex off a college campus, but to us it was a castle! We hosted parties and friends and thought we were "real" adults.

Wanted to share one of my favorite finds this week:

It is from Pottery Barn, but it brings home the point beautifully that our outdoor spaces are more than yards or patios. They are valuable square footage and should be treated as outdoor LIVING spaces.

Spring Break to the End of School

Well, I am declaring spring break officially over. It is 6:32 pm on Sunday and I am ready for school to start back up. But then I think, we are now into April and school ends the first of June...well, at least I get a break until then!

I have to admit I have watched more TV this week at home with the kids. I am now addicted to Freestyle on HGTV and add that to my other fave, Get It Sold. I know understand why my husband watches two games at once.

In between swimming and having fun this week (and vegging out during nap time), I have been really working on the spring redesign of Shabby to Chic. Going from a partnership to being the sole owner has been a true transition. However, it has made me really examine what Shabby to Chic does and what I really want to expand on. When the website is back up, we will be officially offering a Marriage Saver Service and a Semi-Custom curtain program. Both are things we have always done, but we are now going to really expand and offer them as stand alone services. I have also been working on sample boards of different cabinet treatments as an alternative to refacing or replacing.

New Website, New Business

Finally chose a web designer, then finally chose a template and color choice. Made the move to a new host and hopefully, hopefully will have new site up and running in the next week.

Very exciting weeks in staging...even as everyone delights in telling me about the people entering the field. Well, as a Realtor for 15 years, I can tell you that the more quality people who enter the profession, the better it gets. More clients understand it, and competitors can also be allies. And sometimes having more than one opinion can strengthen value.

Did a great home last week in Meadow Run in Parkland. The home had been rented out and had some straggling furniture. For a small budget and big effort, the home now feels warm and inviting when you enter. I was excited to see that the owners took our advice to pressure wash the home as well. If a buyer doesn't like what they see when they pull up, they aren't going to want to go inside!

Once I get the site back up and running, I plan on posting weekly! Let's see if I can do that!

Changes for a New Year

The new year is well under way and changes are under way as the redesign of Shabby to Chic continues. We have a wonderful marketing person/web designer redoing our site and giving us a "makeover". Hopefully we will unveil in the spring.
As the year continues however, there are other changes. My computer crashed and really burned. With it burned many of my before and afters of our wonderful clients. Deciding that I never wanted that to happen again, I've started an "online portfolio" of sorts. So now we have the salvaged photos on Flickr and I am working to fill in the gaps.
As the market continues to work itself out, we are seeing many more redesign clients. People who want to freshen up their home without totally remodeling.
I am excited about my personal project...spending time at my two younger children's preschool in the morning. It has been a joy to be able to spend "playground" time with both my children and seeing what their days are like. The joy of owning your own company is deciding how your time can be spent. I made a personal commitment to spend my mornings there until the end of the school year. And of course, I still room mom for Carter's class. I felt real conviction at the beginning of the year to enjoy my children at each stage for who they are at this time. So with prioritizing my schedule and better time management, my clients are flourishing because I am focused and relaxed and my children are flourishing for the same reasons :)
I am tossing the next post around in my mind and think I will personally start to tackle spring cleaning...let you know how it goes!