Hoppy Birthday, Hadley!

The time has come for us to celebrate sweet Hadley's 2nd birthday!  Her actual birthday was a few weeks ago, but because my parents wanted to be here for the party and they couldn't come until the end of the month, we decided to wait.  Aside from the joy of having her grandparents here to celebrate, it's always nice to have them help in the party preparation.  Thanks for all of the help, Mom and Dad!  We couldn't have done it so smoothly without you!

I decided on a "bunny" theme for this party.  Hadley's bedroom decor is bunnies and she has a couple stuffed bunnies that she loves.  Not only that, I started planning for this party after Blair's was over in February and took advantage of Easter decorations after they clearanced out.  I didn't want the decor to scream "Easter" though, so I chose just rabbits, not eggs or chicks or anything else.  I think it turned out really well.

The weather was pretty great- a dryish 80 degrees and sunny which made me very happy because having 30 people in my living room stresses me out and the nice weather allowed us to keep everything, for the most part, outside.  I think everyone had a good time and people hung around for an hour longer than planned.  Miss Hadley was so wound up from all her friends and birthday treats that she didn't fall asleep until 11 pm!  Definitely a 2 year old success!

I was able to take a few pictures, but will add more whenever my mom sends them to me.  It's hard to be a good hostess and take pictures at the same time.  Here are the few that I did get.  Enjoy!

The Cake Table

Mini Carrot Cakes for the kiddos and Round Carrot Cake for the adults

The Party Favors: Rabbit Whiskers and Noses, Annie's Bunny " Carrots" and Lindt Chocolate Carrots all to be placed in the little take-home bags

The bucket and the porcelain rabbit were from Target

The Food: "Shriveled Carrots" (Cheetos), Fruit Salad, Spring Salad, Veggies and Hummus.  We also had hamburgers but they were grilling at the time of the photo.

"Carrot Juice"

Fun paper straws from Hobby Lobby

"Happy Birthday" to the birthday girl

Taking it all in

Blowing out her two candles

Make a wish!

To Flip or Not To Flip... Update Added

I'm sure many of you have seen the t.v. shows about house flipping or maybe you know someone personally who has flipped a house or two.  I have to admit, I am a sucker for such shows and find real estate in general so intriguing.  I plan to get my real estate license as soon as my kids are all in school and I have time during the day to show houses and meet with clients... I wish I could do it sooner than that, but I know that it wouldn't be good for me to try to juggle being constantly available with the needs of three small children that need what they need when they need it.  As much as I would love to drop everything sometimes and just pop over to check out a house, it wouldn't happen that easily.  All that to say, I still dream about real estate and house flipping often and find myself perusing the MLS during free time in my day.

Recently, I found a property that was listed low for the area and had a lot to offer with some love-- perfect for flipping.  I showed it to Mark and he agreed to drive by and check it out on the outside.  Now, a little sidebar on Mark's flipping feelings (see what I did there? ha), he is also intrigued by house flipping and would love to grow his business savvy with additional properties, either in rental form or flips.  However, he can be very wishy-washy when it comes down to actually taking steps forward to make a possible investment as big as a house a reality.  It can become frustrating for both of us because he sends me mixed messages about whether he is really interested or not, and he probably finds my persistence in searching annoying.  Communication, then, as in anything, is key.  Okay, so back to the house we went to see.  It needed a lot of love-- the bushes and trees were overgrown (no problem for us since that is Mark's area of expertise), the siding was dark and dreary and in need of paint, the roof was sad and the street, while in a wonderful location as far as schools and desirability, was busier than we would prefer which may have lead to longer sit time on the market.  And that was just the outside.  We knew from the pictures that the inside was very dated and needed a new kitchen and bathrooms (there were 3 bathrooms) and paint and flooring.  Since it was so well priced though, it was worth a drive over for sure.

We emailed the listing to two people: Mark's former boss/sort of business partner for landscaping and our realtor friend.  Both thought it was a great location and a good deal, depending on the amount of work needed, but they weren't sure if it would almost be a wash with all of the things needed to spruce it up and the busier street.  That was enough proof for Mark to call it DOA.  Sad.  I will say that someone else agreed with my feelings for the place and snapped it up a week later.  I'm willing to bet it was an investor too.  Ah well, keep moving forward.

That leads me to yesterday's MLS find... a 3 bed, 3 bath bi-level in a very good location, though not as desirable as the last.  This isn't on an overly busy street and oddly enough, it's right next door to a house owned by some of our friends.  Like the other house, this one needs love.  It has many of the same issues as the last, except this one is 30k cheaper... and it seems like the seller (maybe a bank?) is getting sick of holding it because the price has dropped 3 times since it was originally listed.  Mark was enticed by the price, but again, when I wanted to drive by, he seemed to lose interest.  We talked about it in more detail, which was good, because we were able to explain how each other was feeling, and at this point, haven't made any decisions.  We did ask our realtor friend what he thought it could sell for all fixed up... depending on what is needed, we could make a nice little profit if we went ahead and made it our first official flip.  Or, we could break even... but we likely wouldn't lose money.  It's hard to take risks when money is involved.  Still in the contemplation stage... to flip or not to flip.

What about you?  Have you ever flipped a house?

**Update on the 3 bed/3bath mentioned above.  We went to see it today and it was r.o.u.g.h.  We would basically need to gut most of it and start over.  When we added up the cost of the work needed, we decided that unless they dropped it another 20k, we probably wouldn't make enough of a profit for it to have been worth the trouble.  Interestingly enough, when we got home from seeing it, it was no longer listed on the MLS... so maybe someone felt like it was a deal after all... or they lowballed.  Either way, it wasn't meant to be for us.  We will find something one day and get our flip on then.  

UGH, Attitude

Maybe I'm feeling this way because I am pregnant and hormonal, but SOME PEOPLE need to learn manners.  The "people" I am actually referring to is one person, a potential buyer for the SUV we are trying to sell.  We have it posted on craigslist in four different nearby locations and have had it there since May, dropping the price every so often and getting tired of seeing it sit out in front of our house.

Well, in the last couple of days, we have had some interest, one person in particular, a lady we will call "Amy."  She saw the ad in the place about an hour away and her first email was harmless enough, aside from the first sentence whining that something must be wrong with email because she sent her message 3 times.  Okay, lady... sounds great.  I only got it once and then I immediately responded because like anyone wanting to sell something, the sooner we get money the better.  Mere minutes after I press send, I get a reply where she asks how much I want, says she needs to get confirmation from the loan officer and the car looks pretty nice.  I then, of course, tell her that I would like the price I asked in the listing (duh) and question her use of a loan officer because in the first email, she wrote, "I deal only FACE to FACE and I can pay CASH."  It is my understanding that when you get a loan, you do not walk out with cash, but instead a certified check.  Her reply, another minute later, was that the price was fine and she would pay cash.  All of this is a little weird to me because of the way her emails are worded, but as a seller, I don't want to lose the sale if it is, in fact, legit, so the emails continue on.  She asks for the history and records and I tell her what I know and that I do have a copy of the carfax report that is still current and did cost us $40.00 to obtain, something we didn't have to do or offer.  I offer it to her and then I get a reply about where to find car history reports on line, how she won't buy without one, and then sprinkles in all these verbs that really turned me off.  "You will do this, you will do that, etc."  I don't know if her approach is to try to have the upper hand or to sound strong and in control so that I won't take advantage of her, but it comes off as so rude to me!  Please, talk to me like an adult and one that has something you seem to want to boot.  At this point, I am definitely annoyed by her tone, but I send her a copy of the carfax and tell her we can meet whenever she would like.  Her reply?  I will just copy and paste it so you can get the full effect:

"sorry but the report must be up to date from today

i am at work now. i told you that you can get the report from the page that i have sent you or any car dealer approved by the dmv

just shoot me an email once you get the report and will talk about our meeting and you will show me the report when we will meet. (you will keep the report and present it to me in person)"

Again, with all of the condescension.  It really irritates me how she is writing to me.  Is it just me or is she being totally rude?  Part of me wants to call her out on it and the other part just wants to sell the stupid car so I will do anything to keep the sale, including being verbally trampled on.  I haven't written back yet... What would you do?