Halloween events in B-Ham

Lots of things are happening this weekend for Halloween. Enjoy!

Downtown Trick or Treat

Saturday, Oct 30 2:00p
Downtown Bellingham, Bellingham
The Downtown Bellingham Partnership invites children ages 13 and under with their families to attend the annual Downtown Trick or Treat.

Halloween Portraits during Downtown Trick-or-treating

Saturday, Oct 30 2:00p
Public Market, Bellingham
Trick-or treaters in downtown Bellingham can capture their fun in a professional photograph by Mark Turner.

Halloween in Fairhaven

Sunday, Oct 31 3:00p
Historic Fairhaven District, Bellingham
Trick or treat in Fairhaven on Oct. 31 from 3 to 6 p.m. Look for posters at participating shops. Little ones can stop by Fairhaven Pharmacy to have their photo taken.

Kids Harvest Festival

Sunday, Oct 31 2:00p
Central Lutheran Church, Bellingham
Oct. 31st, 2-4:30pm. Costume contest @ 3pm (please, non-scary costumes only). admission: kid-friendly food bank item (ex.

DIA de los Muertos Workshop with Ben Mann

Saturday, Oct 30 12:00p
Whatcom Museum Lightcatcher Building, Bellingham
Remember your loved ones and learn more about Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Allied Arts teaching artist Ben Mann will guide participants in making skull masks from noon to 4 p.

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House of the week

I have a soft spot for houses with white exterior. This South Hill house speak to me with lovely bay windows, well designed porch, not so prominent garage, simple yet elegant landscaping, and the list goes on. It has lots of old house feel and features, yet it's built in 2001. Thus it fits perfectly for modern lifestyle.  I absolutely adore this house.

MLS#14026

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Posted in: House of the week

One of my favorite blogs, 6th street design school just posted Etsy Pumpkin Roundup and I think they are the cutest things. Check it out.

1. 2.  3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16.

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Posted in: Misc

Cloud Mountain Farm

We made it to Cloud Mountain Farm over the weekend. Jen was right about that place. What an amazing nursery. I loved the setting, friendly and knowledgeable staff and wonderful selection of plants. 30% off was just icing on the cake!

If you've been to the farm, you probably noticed the paperbark maple in front of the store. I've always loved that tree. It gives year-round interest. It is low maintenance and is perfect for a small garden. What else could you ask for?  I recently saw a paperbark during the Whatcom artist studio tour in front of  Lisa Mcshane's  studio and I thought it was my destiny to have one even though I had no clue where I can put it! (Hi Lisa!) Then, I saw the one in front of the store at Cloud Mountain which just confirmed it was indeed destiny... I loaded up all my trees, including some apples and beeches and drove home. Along the way home, I realized I forgot to tell the staff I wanted a paperbark, too. Haha. So the next day, of course I had to go back to get it and it was a good excuse to get some more plants. :)

These came home with me today.

Two apple trees- hubby wants to espalier them to hide unsightly chain link fence to the storm water pond behind our property.

It's hard to imagine though that my ugly twiggy little tree can become something like this. 

Three columnar beech trees- this will give nice vertical element to the backyard while providing some screening to the neighbor's yard. I hope Ian (he's my landscaper and brother-in-law) will agree.

One Methley plum tree - this is self pollinating so I only needed one. How fun it will be to harvest juicy plums with the kids.

An added bonus was that there was a pumpkin patch at the Cloud Mountain and my kids had lots of fun. Thank you Stephanie for baby sitting my kids at the farm!

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Posted in: My house

Digging bird lamps

Arteriors home

West Elm

Target

I like the wise old owl from West Elm. What's your favorite?

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Posted in: Interior Design

House of the week

I've always liked looking at houses. As a real estate agent, I go through lots of properties. The difference is that now I try to look at them from my clients' perspective. I love it. But once in a while it is a treat to find a house I feel is special for myself. I get excited about architectural details, nice interiors, landscaping, views, the house's potential, you name it. So I'd like to feature 'House of the week' on my blog.

The first one in this series is this cabin in Glacier. But you can have it anywhere. I will explain.  It was built in a factory and got moved. This isn't your typical "manufactured home". It truly is a new concept home built by Method homes, "a Builder of Prefabricated Dwellings with a Modern Approach to Green Homes".  Isn't it fabulous?

This is how they move the house! 

If you are dreaming of an environmentally friendly cabin in the woods but you have a difficult site to build, this might be your solution. 

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Posted in: House of the week

My teeny evergreen tree

I've been busy shopping and planting trees in our yard. I got this evergreen called Abies Koreana 'Aurea' .  It's gorgeous as is and it bears insanely beautiful purple cones even at young age.  

It's suppose to anchor the corner of our property so it needed to have good presence in size but the biggest size they had was still tiny. Oh well. I had to have it.  If anyone has good potion or spell to make them big and strong, please let me know. Grow, tree, grow!

I still need a lot more trees to plant. My good friend Jen loves Cloud Mountain Farm in Everson and I haven't been there yet. If the weather is good I will finally check it out tomorrow.  They are having 50% off sale on trees in burlap. Yipee!!!   I can't wait! Who's coming with me?

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Posted in: My house

Hot chocolate

We went out for a nature adventure walk with my kids to collect some treasures like leaves, broken branches, pine cones, etc. When we came back nothing sounded better than a cup of hot chocolate. Yum. I need to remind myself sometimes life is good with simple things.

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Posted in: Misc

Dreaming of a play house

I once had lots of fun making a playhouse from a cardboard box for my kids and they absolutely adored it.

Sadly, it was left outside one night and got rained on. I had to throw it away.
Now I'm dreaming of a play house that all of us can enjoy. One that I don't have to worry about getting wet and destroyed. When my kids grow out of it, perhaps I can use it as my pottery studio.

I'm crazy about Purestyle home Lauren's fun-shed.

To read the full story click here.

Can you believe it is actually a Lowe's standard shed?

Here is Michael Devine's shed redone from another Lowe's standard shed.

Oh,  how I wish that I could just say a few magic words and it would appear in my backyard.

Let's see... the first step would be convincing hubby that we NEED one. Wish me luck!

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Posted in: My house

Silver Beach water front home

I showed this home to a client last Friday and I am in love with the house.

It's got 86' of water frontage. Almost every single room has a nice water view. My favorite, though, is this bathroom.

The only slight problem for me is its price tag of $1,395,000 (Worth it for some buyers, but I don't qualify).

So I settled for this piece of water front property in Winthrop. Only $21 per night.

I found a great contractor and workers free of charge to build a home.

I'm happy with what I've got for now :)

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Posted in: Real Estate

Park Place Residences

I bet you've seen this glass house going up from Boulevard Park if you are a Bellinghamster. I toured it today with the listing agent. I'm going to prepare advertising material for him as we expand our marketing scope to Asia.

What a place! As you enter the house, the ocean greets you and it feels like you are floating on the water. And the finishes on these condos are amazing. Too bad I didn't take any photos today but I promise I will have some next time.

It's a bargain because it's bank-owned. There are four units total in the building and three are available. I have no doubt that this will become a historic home in Bellingham.

For details, please visit:

http://www.parkplaceresidences.net/



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Posted in: House of the week