Celebration Station

We wanted to celebrate all of the great things our Mortgage Planner (Jeremy Beck) and our Realtor (Ibanez) had done for us so we invited them over for drinks Saturday afternoon. Jesse had been working in the back yard all day and I had been running errands (side note: my most expensive trip to the grocery store EVER...more than $200 - of course that included two bottles of liquor, two bottles of wine and nearly a case of fancy beer for the festivities...)

Jeremy and myself:Jenn and Jenn:

I met Jeremy through my friend, Jenn - his wife, who I went to school with (and who I would not have made it through school without.) I met Ibanez through Jeremy. I also met my last roommate, also named Jenn (we'll call her Culver - incidentally, her boyfriend's name is Jeremy...it gets mildly confusing) through the first Jenn. Regardless, it's a big web of fantastic people who all know what they're doing a lot more than Jesse and I.

I made some bruschetta for the evening - my trademark dish that I learned to perfect while working at Koozinas - and we decided on margaritas. Not only because I had just bought all the fixins, but also because Jenn and Jeremy brought a lovely gift bag full of margarita glasses and a margarita pitcher!! Perfect! They also brought along their fantastic daughter, Adelaide, whom I adore to pieces. Ibanez also showed up bearing gifts (this was supposed to be the occassion where we gave them gifts --- not the other way around...but that is not a complaint.) He had already showered us with moving supplies and sweet cards and he upped the ante by bringing a book I've been meaning to read, "Rich Dad, Poor Dad."

Anyway, we had a lot of fun drinking and chatting and telling them our plans for the house. Jesse even did a little presentation with his computer hooked up to my TV - showing them our plans for the house then walking them through it in 3-D. I think Ibanez took all the pictures because, regrettably, there are none of him. Next time.

Jesse and a 3-D view of our future kitchen looking at it from our future living room:

Speaking of next time, we had double-booked ourselves for the evening. Our friends Patrick and Jenny were coming over at 7:00 with pizza and beer. I took a lot of gruff for the double-booking. It's a mistake I'll never make again. So now I owe Jenn, Jeremy and Ibanez a fancy-schmancy dinner in our new kitchen - that is, if they'll ever return to our house after my faux pas.

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This is a plug. Not just because I like them but because they are the best at what they do. We would not have closed escrow if it were not for these two pros. They had curve ball after curve ball thrown at them, and they caught every single one. They love what they do and it shows. If you're thinking about anything having to do with a loan or a house or a condo or ANYTHING, call these guys:

The GreenHouse Group
Jesse Ibanez, Realtor and more: 888-747-8485
Jeremy Beck, Real Estate Finance Consultant 858-273-3639
You can also find them and their blog at http://greenmeansgrow.com

They're amazing. And they can help out if you're having trouble with the house you already own, too. If you are, check out www.HopeagainstHOPEnow.org or call them.

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Back to the blog. So Pat and Jenny stopped by with beer and pizza and we had a lovely time eating and playing Pictionary. Jesse did his presentation again, taking them through the 3-D version of our futurehouse (it looks so much like a first-person-shooter that every time Jesse opened a door, Pat was waiting for the zombies to attack...)

Sunday it's back to work. We have much to do and spring break is ticking down...it's going to be hard with these very pretty margarita glasses looking sad and empty...maybe if I just fill it half-way...