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"Your column this morning resonated with me," a colleague said. "My daughter gave me her lovely Restoration Hardware sofa, which then made everything else in the room look old and worn . . . so now I've had to update the den, paint the walls, and buy a new rug." (You're preaching to the choir.)
Hey, I'm just glad to know I'm not alone. (Turns out, there are lots of us home-centric addicts in need of a 12-step program.)
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"You're doing WHAT?" my husband, Cliff, asked, his patience clearly tested.
"My clients have offered me their 60" double oven Wolfe Range at a bargain rate," I said, pleased with my "find." "Our kitchen has always NEEDED a second oven," I added, "and now we have the opportunity to finally "get it right.'" Of course, "getting it right" isn't quite as easy as I make it sound. Accommodating a much larger range means removing a bank of drawers and relocating the microwave. Additionally, I'll be eliminating overhead cabinets for the 60" hood (included in the sale), and retiling the backsplash as well (a slight miss from the get-go). And I've added pantry-depth cabinets on the opposite wall to house the items that will need a new home. But why stop there? I've had a custom butcher block extension built for the island, AND because the island has grown considerably, I've had to replace the current lighting with three large pendants to anchor the room. (They look AMAZING.) Yes, Alice, I've fallen down the rabbit hole . . . Tuesday marked the first COMPASS meeting of the new year, so in spite of the torrential rain, hail storms, and frightening thunder, a friendly and familiar group of Realtors® came together at the Berkley office to discuss the market and the coming year . . . (Spoiler alert: none of us knows what's going to happen.)
As it'd been several weeks since we saw one another, we also talked about the holidays and how we'd spent the time off??? As many of my colleagues read "The Perspective," I was greeted with inquiries of "How was Egypt?" (Egypt was fascinating, thank you very much.) But if I'm being completely honest, after the third or fourth ruin, I'd come to the conclusion that the pharaohs must all have worked with the same designer . . . turns out the pyramids were the track homes of the Ptolemaic Period. (Who knew?) Happy New Year! Cliff and I celebrated with dear friends in the City, stayed at The Palace Hotel for the night (elegant), enjoyed John Mulvaney at the Masonic Temple (a gifted comic & storyteller), followed up his performance with a late-night dinner (too much food), and stayed awake long enough to welcome in the new year (way past my bedtime).
Despite the heavy downpour, the skies had cleared by the time midnight rolled around, allowing us to leisurely stroll back to the hotel via Union Square, which was alive with glow-in-the-dark balloons, sparkling partiers, and families with young children determined to stay awake. All in all, it was a festive and lovely way to bring in the New Year. I couldn't be more grateful. Now that the holidays are behind us, it's time to get our heads back in the game . . . |
AuthorJulie Gardner, has been writing The Perspective for 18 years and has published more than 670 essays on life and real estate. 
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