Let's make a deal

Side Note
First off, for those of you following this who have not purchased a home, you're in luck! CNN announced today that the Senate reached a tentative deal to extend the $8,000 first time homebuyer tax credit. And, it gets better for you current homeowners - they're considering offering $6,500 to those who purchase a home by April 2010.

Onto today's topic: Rugs...
Minus the bathrooms, my entire house has hardwood floors. They're everywhere: living room, kitchen, dining room and all three bedrooms. I briefly considered carpeting the bedrooms, but decided against it. I'm not quite sure why I went the all hardwood direction. Probably because my last two apartments were covered in wall-to-wall nasty carpet and I missed the idea of hardwood floors. I never thought I would take such pride in my floors - but they're beautiful. Before moving in I had them stained a very, very dark color. Since moving in, I've learned they're a little bit more work than I anticipated. They collect dust easily (yeah for Swiffers!) and I had to put pads on every piece of furniture to avoid scratching the floors. Although, within the first few weeks I managed to scratch them by sliding boxes across the floor and made tiny indents in the floor with my high heels.

Despite the work, I love them. After moving in, I began looking for basic seagrass rugs, nothing too fancy, just neutral ones that would be a good addition and 'warm' up the dark floors a bit. Pottery Barn has some great ones, but they're a little pricey for me.

Meet Natural Area Rugs, a Web site with a wide array of fabulously economical seagrass and sisal rugs. I chose a the basketweave pattern for my living room and the herringbone for my dining room. I was pleasantly surprised when my herringbone rug came with a free 3'x5' seagrass rug, which is now in my kitchen. What a deal! They're constantly having specials and sales. Just sign up and you'll be notified when those are going on. Warning - these rugs aren't particularly soft. However, they're fine for bare feet and my dog-niece loves rubbing her tummy on her seagrass rug. They're great for the time being, get the job done for me and are a perfect addition to the hardwoods.

Also, a big, big thank you to my sis who helped me put these rugs down and arrange my furniture. The 8'x10' rugs are a beast to carry and unroll by the way.

* Photos coming soon...

Dog Duty

Weirdly, my parents are in Vegas with their friends right now and I'm here babysitting their dog and house sitting for them. It's actually been okay dog sitting and really has opened my eyes to what owning a dog might be like.

One of the perks of owning a home is having a yard and being able to get a dog. "Are you going to get a dog?" has been a common question since I bought my house. That must be the single person's version of "When are you having kids?" right after you get married.

My old apartment allowed dogs but I just couldn't bring myself to raise a dog in an apartment. You could tell some of the dogs in the building were overweight and didn't get the proper care living in an apartment. More specifically, I'm talking about one tenant who let his Westie get really fat, and poor thing, had the most matted coat I've ever seen. Not to mention one night the owner got so drunk, he forgot his dog and it some how ended up walking off the elevator by itself in the lobby. That's another story...

Gracie, my temporary dog, is about two years old, very small, and verrrry needy. She's become spoiled by having my mom around all the time. She constantly wants to be held or have her tummy rubbed all the time. Here's a photo of our afternoon nap yesterday. As you can tell, she likes to get very close :) I've found myself offering her many 'puppy treats' to keep her occupied, since I can't hold her 24 hours a day. Maybe I need one of those Baby Bjorn carriers for her. I've actually seen the dog version of it. This dog looks absolutely ridiculous: http://www.pampered-dog-gifts.com/product/WP-SS007-OH00644.



At least during these next few days I can pretend what it's like to have a dog. I'll probably wait a bit to jump into the dog ownership, considering I'm still in the process of understanding home ownership. Until then, I'll keep looking online for my perfect dog. (http://www.kansascity.com/classified-ads/Pets/classification/DOGS/) (www.petfinder.com).

Halloween

The weather is getting cold and rainy here in Kansas City and that means one thing - Halloween is right around the corner.

I have some great memories of Halloween as a kid. My sister and I would get all dressed up and we'd head over to the Sagamore area in Mission Hills. This is one of the best areas for trick-or-treating in KC. Almost every house hands out candy and the street is bustling with kids. Following a busy night on Sagamore, we'd head
home and separate our candy by grouping all the same kinds together. Oh, to be young again...

I'm actually really excited for Halloween. It will be my first year having trick-or-treaters! I went out a bought a cute little basket for candy.

I can't wait to see the little kid costumes. Some of them are so cute. Much more creative than when I was a kid. My white "Ghost" pillowcase costume with holes for eyes and arms constitutes as a pretty 'blah' costume.

My costume for this year has yet to be determined, but knowing how many little kids are in my neighborhood, I probably shouldn't pull out the "sexy" bee or pirate costume I've donned in the past. I'll keep it classy this year. Maybe one of these will be appropriate for the burbs: http://www.countryewe.com/category.cfm/117. Kidding.

I received a flier in my mailbox last month encouraging homeowners on my street to put a seasonal decoration in their front yard during the month of October. Most of the "yard art" on my street hasn't been too bad. It consists mainly of straw scarecrow-type figures.

I don't plan on putting art (crap) in my yard this year. For now, I'll consider my leaves I haven't picked up as my festive decor. In addition to my fall "leaf display" I'll probably add a few pumpkins and hang these jack 'o lanterns from my porch.

I'll post photos of my non-festive house once I put my pumpkins out. Speaking of photos, check out this disturbing lawn display...

For Sale By Owner

I had never heard of "Fizz-Bo" until my friend Hillary went into Real Estate. I think it's realtor lingo. Am I sure glad I heard about it. That's how I purchased my house. I had been casually looking online. Side Note: I find it really fun to look at houses online - especially the really tacky ones. Then I dream what I would do to renovate them if I had a million dollars. Anyway, I found my house on Zillow.com, a great Web site and one of the only ones that advertises FSBO houses. This makes it much easier than driving all around town looking for signs in yards. It worked out well because I didn't use an agent and obviously they didn't use an agent. What does that mean? Of course, no commission!

My aunt recently listed her house as FSBO (photos above!). She's really technologically saavy and made a fancy flier. You can see her Waldo house (and fancy flier) on Craigslist, http://kansascity.craigslist.org/reo/1405783054.html . She's had a few nibbles and even had a guy come to the door and ask to see it right then.

That's the freedom of FSBO - you're the agent and can show it anytime you want. I'm not knocking agents, they do a great job and have more time to invest in selling a house than the average Joe. FSBO worked out great for me as a first time buyer. And a major plus, the contract was only four pages long and so easy to understand. That was a definite perk. You want to know what you're signing off on, right? So, if you're in the market for a FSBO home, I recommend taking a look through Zillow or Craiglist. Here's hoping your For Sale By Owner experience is as simple as mine!

Neighbor Etti-cat

I have to admit, I've never been one to go out of my way to meet neighbors. Maybe it was because I was in an apartment... no, that's probably a lame excuse. Now that I have a neighborhood, I thought I should probably review good neighbor etiquette.

I scoured the internet and found some pretty obvious neighbor etiquette. You know, things like not making too much noise, keeping up my lawnwork, not speeding down the street at 90 mph. I did, however, find some "different" neighbor advice:
1. Invite your neighbor over for a leisurely cup of coffee to discuss any problems you may have, or to share good news. (Seriously? Not everyone lives on Wisteria Lane)

2. If your neighbor has a pool please don't think it's ok to invite yourself for a swim. If your neighbor wants you to come over he will certainly pick up the phone and invite you.

3. AVOID THEM AT ALL COSTS!!!! Don't become friends with them. Don't let them know what you have. Don't let them know anything about you because they're simply looking for a reason to dislike you. (I swear, this is really someone's advice)

4. Be neighborly and put up with the noise for an hour before calling the cops.

5. Move to a very remote area where you don't have to deal with them!

6. Train your cat not to go into a neighbor's home (this is my piece of etiquette)

Yep, number six happened to me last weekend. Meet my newest neighbor "Bear." Bear sauntered onto my property like he owned the place, made himself very comfortable, and wouldn't leave (check out pics of him sunbathing on my porch and walking through my plants). That certainly doesn't sound like good neighbor etiquette to me. In fact, during my attempt at gardening, he actually snuck into the house through my open front door. Thank god I noticed. That would have been soooo not cool waking up to a cat in my bed.

It really could be worse, he's not that bad. He's kind of cute actually. Just as long as he doesn't decide to mark his territory on my house, then we'd have a problem...