Where do I start? How about getting a real estate agent?

I’ve been gone so long and there’s so much to say that I don’t know where to start. Even though it sounds like a trite movie dialog, it quite sums up my feelings at this moment :-).

Primary reason for my absence has been our moving into our first house and all through the buying process I made a mental note to write about all the big and small things/tips that would help a first-time buyer. Though they’re coming back to me, they’re rushing from different directions.

The first and the foremost task at hand for a first time buyer is to get yourself a good real estate agent. By good I mean:

• He/She should be very experienced in the specific area you’re buying the house in.
• You should be comfortable talking to him/her.
• Don’t hesitate to talk to her references.
• He/She should not be pushy.
• He/she should be very patient. They should let you take your time.
• Available for you when you need them. If you want to look at the house on weekends, then make sure he/she is available on weekends.
• Make sure he/she deals in real estate in your price range.

You should interview at least 3 real estate agents and then finalize on one. Whenever you’re selecting any servicemen, three is your magic number. Most of the above qualities you’ll come to know when you interview. If you find yourself not compatible with your agent during the house hunting process, don’t hesitate to switch. A real estate agent can make a huge difference in what kind of house you get and what price you pay.

Since I’m on this topic, I would like to post a recommendation for our realtor, Paula Sanford, for those in the Puget Sound area. She’s absolutely the best realtor one can find! Her experience in this area is simply astounding – which was a huge help. She knew what kind of architecture was prevalent in what decade and what was code then is not code now. The latter is immensely important. One visit to the house and she could tell why a decent house in a perfect neighborhood would not sell easily. Her knowledge of what sells and what doesn’t was very impressive and worked like a prediction during our house hunting process. We know that she always tried to get us the best deal and never hesitated to ask for anything on our behalf however small it maybe. Her philosophy “it never hurts to ask” is what you need in a good realtor. When we wrote an offer, she only gave us advice and left the final word on us and we know how right her advice was all through out. Once our offer was accepted, we never had to worry about the paperwork. She always had everything ready and if we’d to send something she would promptly send us a reminder. Paperwork seemed a breeze with her.Oh and she was so patient with our hunting. Being first time buyers, our requirements changed so much over the period; the house we bought is so different from the specifications we gave her.when we first met. She was always ready to take us to show a house and once she knew what we were looking for she would preview a house to screen it – isn’t that wonderful?!?! Ok, so now you know whom to contact if you want to buy a house here :-)

The Last Song

Author: Nicholas Sparks

For the last few weeks it’s been only food and books on my blog :-). I’ve been busy as a bee (or worse!) for the past few weeks and I think that will continue till at least the end of this month; but despite that a woman’s got to eat and read!!

Last Song is such a beautiful book! It starts with a teenage girl being forcefully sent to stay with her father over the summer, by her mother. She’s joined by her brother who’s feelings are diametrically opposite to those of her sister’s. She’s the most indolent kid one would’ve ever seen and her father the most patient. Her father and brother spend all the time together while she wastes away her days and often lands into troubles. One fine day, she meets Will and slowly they fall into  love. At the same time, her father’s patience with her pays off and they start getting along. However, that is just the beginning of the story. She’s yet to face an earth-shattering reality and tackle it.

I really loved the father’s character – there was something in that character that made me feel that he was out-of-the-world parent. His silent understanding and trust for his children was beyond measure and gave him that special relationship that he had with his kids. The novel is very “alive” – you can feel the emotions of every character. Another reason I like the novel was because it was in harmony with what I feel – it’s more important to be surrounded by people than to be surrounded by things! As I always say “Stop and smell the roses”, “Slow down and enjoy the scenery”, “It’s not the destination but the journey”…you get it! :-)

Bottomline: Love it!

The Wednesday Letters

Author: Jason F. Wright

I picked up this novel based on a blogger’s recommendation – she raved that she it was a very engrossing and touching story.

The story is about a husband and wife who die the same night and are survived by their three kids. Two of the three kids had rarely come home and it was the death of their parents that brought them together. As they go through the house, reminiscing the good times and the bad, they find boxes and boxes of letters. Their father used to write to their mother every Wednesday irrespective of where they were and unknown to them all these years. Some of the letters are plain janes, some funny, few romantic but all of them reflect how much their parents were in love and there is one which reveals a secret that none of them had any inkling of. A secret that rattles them all.

The story is indeed very interesting albeit filmy at times. It manifests the peaks and valleys of a marriage; and one can learn so much from the characters of the husband and wife.

Bottomline: I like it!

The Help

Author: Kathryn Stockett

The story is set in Missisippi at the time when racism was at its peak in the US and the white kids were raised by their black maids. Skeeter after graduating from her college comes back to Jackson where her parents are. However, with her liberal thinking she finds herself a misfit for the small conservative town. The treatment meted out to the black maids by their white mistresses always irks her. She’s itching to become a writer and towards her goal, starts writing the daily housekeeping column for the local newspaper. Given the background, a white lady has little knowledge of housekeeping and hence she resorts to her friend’s maid Abileen to help her out with the tips and tricks. One day an editor of a popular newspaper advises Skeeter than if she wants to make it big in journaling/writing she has to come up with something nobody has ever thought of. Skeeter takes this advice to heart and comes up with the most radical plan. To execute this plan she needs the help of many black maids in her town, starting with Aibleen. This plan changes the map of her life. Even though it makes her lose her boyfriend and puts her and the maids’ life at risk, it gives all the participants a ray of hope. It is the only light in their life. The way she executes her plan and the secrets that unfold during the execution are the essence of the novel.

I think the author has done a brilliant job – while reading the novel you forget that it’s a piece of fiction, you get so engrossed. You’re completely transported to Missisippi and with every page, your eagerness to read the next only increases.

Bottomline: Love it!

Eggless Chocolate Chip waffles!

If you were to look at my last post, you would think that I’m on an eggless recipe hunt :). It’s just that I prefer to cook things which require ingredients that I already have and by using eggless recipe I avoid one more ingredient in the house, it is healthier and feels good. Though I’m not sure if I would be able to find recipes for eggless-everything :).

Anyway, before I found this recipe I’d tried making eggless waffles using another one from the net and it was so bad that I vowed to never try eggless waffles again. However, on coming across this one I couldn’t resist :) and had to try it! I’m glad I did because they taste absolutely delicious!! So much better than the regular recipe listed in my cuisinart manual. I can eat these waffles just like that, without any syrup/topping!

Ingredients:

• 8 oz all purpose flour
• 2 1/2 level tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 4 tbsp melted butter
• 1 cup milk
• Chocolate chips, according to taste. To give a rough idea, I must’ve used 1/4 cup or less.

Method:

1. Heat the waffle maker.
2. Mix all the ingredients together except butter and chocolate chips.
3. Add butter. If you add butter in the beginning, it forms lumps with the flour. Even after adding it in the second step, there might be small lumps, that’s ok; but remove all the big lumps, if any.
4. Add the chocolate chips.
5. Make the waffles as per the directions of your waffle maker.

Note: The original recipe asks to keep the batter for 2-3 hours. I never remember to do that but still like the taste of the waffles. I intend to try this next time.

Eggless Banana nut muffin

I found  this recipe at Saffron Hut and the muffin were delicious! I’ve a 6-muffin pan so I halved the recipe and the recipe below is for 6 muffins.

Ingredients:

• 2 ripe bananas
• 3/8 cup sugar
• 1/6 cup melted butter
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• chopped walnuts, according to your taste

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. Mash bananas. Make sure to do it properly so that the bananas blend well into the batter.
3. Reserve some chopped walnuts for topping and mix all the other ingredients along with the bananas.
4. Line the muffin pan with muffin cups and divide the batter into the 6 cups.
5. Sprinkle the chopped walnuts on top.
6. Bake for 20 minutes or till golden brown. You can do the toothpick test – insert a toothpick in one of the muffins and if it comes out clean, they’re done.

Hope you enjoy them!

Twilight and New Moon

Author: Stephenie Meyer

Well, I’m sure most of the readers must’ve already heard about these books and the author. The popularity of the Twilight series as been compared to the Harry Potter series and seems to be the biggest craze in books for the past year.

I’d long avoided reading this series because I never thought that I could like a book whose hero was a vampire. I mean come on – a love story with a vampire?!?! However I caved in and finally started to read the first in the series – Twilight; and I was hooked. Its such a deeply romantic story that you just can’t keep it down. Of course, being a "YA” (young adult) category there were instances where I felt that how could the heroine be so dumb but I was ready to skip over those places and complete the book.

The story begins with Bella, a teenage girl moving to a dull town, Forks, with her father. She disliked that place and had no idea how she was going to adjust to it; but she was in for a surprise. At her school she meets this young handsome boy, Edward, who’s just perfect – the dream guy you can think of – and then she couldn’t think of leaving Forks, ever! All she could think of now was him. However, loving a vampire is not easy – it has its own risks!

New moon: is the second in the series. Edward decides to leave Bella because being with him had endangered her life now and again. This leaves her heart-broken – to an extent which seems ridiculous to me! It is then that she starts getting more and more friendly with her native american friend Jacob. If you thought that the story was now more human-e then you’re absolutely wrong! The author just doesn’t believe in human romance :). Turns out that Jacob is a werewolf and werewolf and vampires are enemies. You can now figure out the complications that would result in Bella’s life!!

I like Edward’s character in the story but have no words for Bella’s character. She’s the most dumb, irrational, ungrateful and stupid heroine I’ve ever seen! But she doesn’t stop me from getting addicted to this series :). So now I’m waiting to get my hands on the third in the series :-).

To all those who don’t belong to the YA category, you must be ready to gloss over some of the stupidity and irrationality. Oh and not to forget, the script is not well-edited. I wonder how they manage to make so many mistakes in this age where we have software like Word. That was seriously very disappointing – considering the popularity of the series! An extra “to” here, an extra “the” there – pathetic!

Bottomline: I don’t why I’m so addicted to this series!!!!