Haven't tried the calamari at Noah's. I love chicken livers and every time I tried them I was disappointed. We used to go to the Monterey all the time and then we discovered Los Laureles. Much better in my opinion. MIL doesn't like it because too many Mexican's eat there. A good sign to me! We have eaten at Babe's once before they closed and never at Anjo's. Tried Tumea and Son's the other day for the first time and it was very good. Off to try some German culinary delights tomorrow. Going to visit family in Berlin.

I buy and sell at least a house a year, and have done more. I like to buy places like yours...dated, that others won't make an offer on because they can't see through the skin to the good bones :) So for what it's worth...here's what I'd do to get your house off of my hands :o) Your kitchen is horribly dated, and you know that. So what can you do cheaply to fix it? First, pant the grout black on the floor. Don't do anything else with the floor, just paint the grout. You'll have a high contrast floor that pulls in the black granite. Second..do the granite...it's huge, the fabrication costs aren't the major expense at all there...you have free granite available...take it! Tile right over that backsplash. 4" square tiles are very dated. I'd do white subway's (cheap from home despot) with a grey grout. Then change out all those knobs for black knobs. If that BS is solid, you can easily tile over it, and even do it diy if necessary, but changing the shape there will be a big deal. Then, paint those cabinets. And if it were MY kitchen to sell, I'd not only paint them, I'd trim them out by adding a molding strip to the inside of the existing strip (glue and some pin nails...not hard...I've done it a few times). And I'd paint the cabinets in a heart beat. Their shape and color are frankly horribly dated. Cleaning them up with paint is a big deal. It does NOT Matter what the future buyer does with the kitchen "after you do all that work". What matters is that you catch their eye and sell the danged thing in the first place! This is NOT a cool 1940's kitchen...it's a dated 70s at it's best. (I am currently doing a dated 70's kitchen myself...I will be doing the cabinets in a soft yellow). In yours I'd go for a white that works with the floor tile. You give yourself a crisp black and white theme that way. I don't like the white walls on a tall room like that. After all is said and done, I'd paint either a pretty butter color, or perhaps a soft green...gray would work as well, just paint some color! I am just one person who has an opinion :) But I do buy and sell houses and I drool over houses like yours where the stuff is left as is...because I'm one of a few (and I'd count many of the folks here like me) who can see beyond your "Stuff". But 99% of your prospective buyers...they can't see that. Some elbow work and a few bucks would help a lot here. Get rid of everything in the dining room except a table and chair. Edit to death. Those wires make me crazy, and they'll cost you thousands. I would add a chandelier or I'd buy a cheap oblong or rectangular table and do pot light conversion kits on the current pots. (You can't do that with your current table). If it were me, I'd do that before I'd add a chandelier. I would however change out that fan for a chandelier over the kitchen. Keep to simple black and white lines which will make your floor tile look great (if you paint the grout) verses doing something else that will highlight the out of date features. And change out the appliances. People do notice that. You know that :) I've never used an agent to sell a home, (I do it myself) but I will say....most agents I've run into have no clue what it takes to stage a home for sale. Typically they're failed workers elsewhere who go into real estate for a few years then fail again. (I've worked in real estate...I see this all the time). And then there are the top preformers who are really good...they can be of help, but you still get their opinion most of the time. If you really want to sell..consult a professional stager...not an agent.

Thank you everyone for the encouraging words and wonderful compliments! The party went great :-) Now it's time to make the grocery list for the family party next weekend, no calling the caterer next time...lol. But at least my house is ready! So many of you asked about the door sprays. I found those in a booth at an antique mall early in the fall. They were an autumn arrangement and I liked the look of them so much that after Thanksgiving I just added the sprigs of red berries and decided they would work through the Christmas season too. The holder is a cone shaped metal (tin?) with florist foam stuck down in it to insert all the dried leaves and stems. After I bought the arrangements I saw the holders sold separately at another shop. They were $15 each with no arrangement. I took a close-up picture and another one of how I mounted it on the door. I used the 3m Command hooks that peel and stick on. Then I used a little spot of the Bluestick putty like teachers used to stick things on the walls to anchor them toward the bottom since they are so tall. It seems to be working. They've stayed up since October. sippimom...You asked about the living room rug. It's Karastan and the design is Paysage. Whenever you look up Paysage it looks nothing like the real thing. My living room picture is an accurate representation of the colors in it. Thank you for the compliments :-) You must be somewhere down around the Oxford area? It's fun to find people here that are close by!

I have a roll of paper towels - should I need t use a hand rail or a door handle. Stored in my car. There's a rapidly dwindling supply of alcohol based sanitary wipes. Stored in my car. The small local grocery is now having people call orders in and they drop them out - this keeps us folk from handling the items IN the store. I was just there today - needed Liquid Plumbr for a stopped up sink, so figured I should order some other stuff at the same time. (Asparagus, chicken, ziplock bags, cheese). I wipe down the touchables in my car after I return to it, and when I get home I quarantine all non-perishables (or wipe the outsides down as in the case of the Liquid Plumr). Until just about a week ago, I could keep perishables in my car for a night or two but we are now getting warmer. The asparagus would be fine even now. Oh, yes, I scrub down upon house re-entry, and hit the house door handle too. For what I'm doing, since I'm raising chickens for egg production, is bringing a dozen eggs (last Friday, two dozen) over to the local community center. Donation basis. (I used to sell them, but even with selling them for the price that is usual up here, I never made a profit anyways...) Donate... I can't eat them all, and others can.