5 Simple Tips To Great Curb Appeal

5 Simple Tips To Great Curb Appeal

I love all things decorating, and home beautifying. When we purchased our first home 4 and a half years ago I was so excited to decorate, paint, personalize and just make it my own. Having lived in condos and apartments before we bought our home, I was used to having weekly gardeners and pretty much NO back or front yard to worry about maintaining. I was in for a little shock when we moved in. We now have a back and front yard that’s greatly larger then our home, and a lot to maintain! I’ve learned to love it, and become a pretty good little gardener if I do say so myself!
I’ve asked my friend Jackie, who just happens to be our awesome realtor to give me some of her tips for beautifying the front yard– aka: “curb appeal”. I just love her tips, and will for sure be implementing them in my yard. Here’s what Jackie has to say, hope you enjoy!

If you’ve spent any time watching or reading about selling your home, then you’ve heard the term
“curb appeal”.  Truly: what is curb appeal?

From a potential buyers’ perspective, it is the simplest, most welcoming invitation to your home.  We all know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder – but you need to know who your beholder is…..

When you are a homeowner selling one of your largest investments, the beholder is everyone that is planning to purchase a home in the price range of your home.

So! How do you appeal to everyone without appealing to no one?  It’s actually quite easy.

Look at your frontyard with a 5 point plan of attack:

1.       What is your largest area of space…..

-          Is it grass….  Make sure your grass is green, mowed and free of clumps of weeds

-          Is it hardscape….. wash and sweep it, it needs to be clean. Add potted plants to soften the edges.

2.       Plant fresh flowers. It might sound corny, but that first impression is overwhelming.  One of my clients bought 2 colors of the same annual and alternated them up the walkway to the front door. It really looked great.

3.       Planters…… clean them, deadhead the plants regularly and clean up the dead undergrowth, then put down colored wood chips. The wood chips might seem a bit costly, if you’re working in a budget but well worth it. The chips add such a freshness and make it seem tidy.  The contrast in colors between the plants and the chips, emphasizes the planters in a good way.

4.     Look at your outdoor lighting. Do you have a single porch light? Is it looking worn? Replace it. For less than $50 you can replace the porch light and sharpen up the entry.  For more than one light, please be sure they match…..AND keep working bulbs in them. Using automatic timers is a good idea.

5.       Mailbox and welcome mat. These items should be clean and if necessary, replace them with new. 

Does a buyer not buy a home because of a porch light or welcome mat? Probably not. Curb appeal is setting the stage of what your guests (potential buyers) will find inside, whetting their appetite. 

I will tell you, having shown hundreds of homes and written too many offers to track, serious buyers will step over each other, fight and compete for the homes that have a sense of “HOME” and create the warmth that we strive for.

Seriously, if you live in OC and are looking for a great realtor or someone to call to get some of your housing questions answered- give Jackie a call. Hope you have enjoyed these front yard beautifying tips! Thank you Jackie!

      c.949.813.9950

      o.949.597.1596

      BRE#01233768

www.jackiedirect.com

5 Easy 4th Of July Desserts

5 Easy 4th of July Dessert Ideas

The 4th of July is very quickly becoming one of my favorite holidays. I just love the Americana decor, warm summer weather, being outdoors, swimming, BBQ’s and of course the fireworks. Easy going living, and I just love it!
There are just too many cute dessert ideas out there. I want to share a few of my favorites with you, and FYI all of these are pretty self-explanatory, super easy and cute… Enjoy!

These white chocolate dipped strawberries are adorable with the blue sugared tips, and how easy?!

This might be one my favorites! I just love how beautiful the berries and whipped cream look in the pretty trifle dish (have I mentioned how much I love trifles?) And again, so simple, as you just layer the berries and whipped cream, and if you want to get a little crazy add a layer of cut up angel food or pound cake into the trifle.

These firecracker pretzel rods are cute. Just take your pretzel rod, dip in melted white chocolate, and top with red, white and blue sprinkles. Display them in a cute glass or mason jar. These would even be a really cute centerpiece.

I just love this fruit/pretzel flag. This includes strawberries – (they can easily be substituted with raspberries) and blueberries- which are some of my favorites. It also includes yogurt pretzels,  love those too! (a little hint- purchase your yogurt pretzels in the bulk bins at Sprouts, its cheaper and you have the control over how much to purchase!)

I LOVE these patriotic ice cream sandwiches! Take a box of frozen, pre-made ice cream sandwiches and rim in patriotic colored sprinkles for a yummy, cool treat- stick optional, but I think it looks cute!
Happy 4th Everyone!!

photo credit: rollingout.com, schmittastic and celebrations.com

My TOP 10 must haves for summertime!

My top 10 must haves for summertime!

HAPPY HAPPY SUMMERTIME FRIENDS!!!
Thought I’d share a few of my favorites with you guys.
These are my absolute must-haves for summertime (actually, all the time!)  Here you go–
#10- Skinny Girl Sangria


I’m normally a red wine kind of girl, but I was chatting with a good friend recently and she raved about this stuff, so I thought I’d give it a try- and you know what? It’s pretty darn good! This sweet, fruity white wine sangria is absolutely perfect for summertime, and approx 130 calories per 5 oz to boot. I’ll take it! I found it at Target for about $10 per bottle. The Skinnygirl brand of cocktails has many more variety/flavors available. I’ll definitely be checking them out!
#9- The Honest Company Sunscreen

It is almost impossible for me to choose only one item from this amazing company, as I love every product of theirs I’ve tried (and I’ve tried almost all of them) but since it’s summertime I’m choosing their sunscreen. When it comes to my kids and the products I use on them, I want to be certain that the products are safe and made with pure, natural, amazing ingredients. I do not have to worry whatsoever when I’m  using  The Honest Company products! This sunscreen is SPF 30, fragrance free and glides on super smooth. I just love it! I was first introduced to this company about a year ago through a friends instagram photo. I read the book “The Honest Life” by Jessica Alba (founder of  The Honest Company) and the book changed my life! Why use products with yucky synthetic ingredients in them when you can purchase great, high quality natural and organic products for about the same cost? The Honest Company offers customers to sign up for their monthly “bundle” to get your favorite products shipped directly to your house every month at a discounted rate (which is what I do!). They are now also offering their products at Target and Costco, so if you just want to try out an item or two from them, this might be the way to go. But seriously give their stuff a try- I promise you will love it!
#8- EOS “Sweet Mint” Lip Balm

Everyone loves lip balm/lip gloss, am I right?! Thought so. If you haven’t tried this one, then I highly suggest you run out to Target, Walmart, Ulta, Ralphs… Like right now! EOS (Evolution Of Smooth) is 100% natural and 100% organic, and for approx 3 bucks a pop, you can’t go wrong. I love the fun packaging too. The “sweet mint” flavor is my personal favorite, but they have so much to choose from including lemon drop, tangerine and summer fruit- which smells like fruit punch, yum! So go on, go out and get your EOS!
#7-  doTERRA Peppermint Essential Oil

I Love my doTERRA  essential oils. I think the peppermint oil would have to be my favorite. I use this for reducing my kiddos fevers, tummy problems, an afternoon pick me up and in my water, but the number one reason I use this stuff is for my headaches, and I tend to get a lot of them (blah!) All you do is take a drop or two, apply to temples and back of neck, and I tell ya it works almost instantly for me. Love it.
#6- Bare Minerals Faux Tan

I’m addicted. This product delivers the results I need. It absolutely DOES NOT disappoint. Trust me friends, I have tried so so so many sunless tanners out there, and this one plain and simple works! I do not like to be exposed to the sun at all- it’s horrible! Nor do I desire to tan like I did when I was a teenager. This Bare Minerals Faux Tan gives a nice bronze, sunkissed glow immediately without the harmful rays of the sun and a few hours later the bronze color will intensify. It really is amazing. I purchase mine at Ulta.
#5- Alex and Ani Bracelets

Oh how I love my Alex and Ani bracelets. My hubby bought me 4 in gold for our 10 year anniversary last February. I got the initials “A” for me, Alisa, “B” for my hubby Brandon and “C” for the kids, Charlie and Ciera. I also got the “path of life” symbol (each Alex and Ani bracelet has a specific meaning). Since then I’ve purchased two more, a gold one with a grape charm (for my love of the fruit- in liquified version, ha!) and I also started the silver collection, uh oh. My silver bracelet has a cute little cupcake on it- don’t need to explain that one. These bracelets are the perfect accessory for anytime of the year. You’ll rarely catch me without mine on. They are made in the USA, eco-friendly and made with all recycled metal, they are approx $28 each. The more you wear them, the more of a vintage look they will acquire, which I love. I’m warning you, these are very very addicting. Just like the potato chip- you can’t have just one Find these bracelets at Nordstrom, Bloomingdales and various boutique shops.
#4- Reed’s Kombucha

I love the Reed’s brand. They offer a variety of fancy sodas (my kids LOVE their rootbeer!) But I LOVE their kombucha. My fav flavor they make is the mango ginger. I think kombucha is the “in” thing to drink these days, and that’s ok with me. It’s a fermented tea and definitely has an acquired taste, but I love it. It has a natural effervescence. It’s also full of probiotics, B vitamins, antioxidants and so much more. Give it a try!
#3- My Crockpot

Who wants to slave over a hot stove on a warm summer day? I love using my crockpot so I don’t have to! Here’s my favorite crockpot recipe to make from “Just A Pinch”- Rootbeer chicken.
#2- Rita’s Italian Ice

I won’t go into detail on why I love Rita’s so much- you’ll just have to read my blog that I posted a few weeks ago- click here. But please guys, check this place out. It’s THE perfect summertime dessert!
#1- Trader Joe’s Coconut Body Butter

And, my NUMBER 1 favorite item is this little gem. Trader Joes Coconut Body Butter. It is ahhmazing! I use it constantly throughout the day. My hands are extremely dry- probably from my OCD hand washing, and I swear this stuff cures the dryness. It smells divine- like summertime, really. It has such a smooth, non-greasy texture, and the BEST part– it’s only $4.99 a pop at your local Trader Joes. Yep, at that price friends, you NEED it!

Please give some of these goodies a try and as always, I’d LOVE to hear from you. Shoot me a comment on your favorite summertime products- I’d love to connect. Stay cool friends!
xo, Alisa

My Interview with Ringling Brothers Executive Chef Matt Loory

I recently had the privilege of conducting an interview via telephone with executive chef of Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus- Chef Matt Loory.

This was so exciting to be able to chat and ask him a few questions about his life as a circus chef, keeping all those talented circus performers tummies full, every day- on the mile long circus train to boot!
Matt studied at Le Cordon Bleu graduating with honors, but of course he learned a lot of his skills working in his mama’s kitchen. Matt has been cooking professionally for about 8 years now, and has been with the Ringling Brothers Circus for about a year and a half.
I asked him what some challenges of cooking on the road were, and besides adapting to cooking on a rocking and rolling circus train, he says his biggest challenge is chasing down those food delivery trucks!
With over 18 different countries represented and over 20 different languages spoken by the circus performers, can you guess what the #1 top seller is when it comes to food? A good ol’ cheeseburger! I found that so interesting! Of course, many other food items are offered including chicken sandwiches and hot dogs. Matt also mentioned his signature Asian inspired meatloaf with wasabi mashed potatoes (which instantly made my mouth water!), and his fried rice with sweet chili beef- so the performers definitely have some yummy options when it comes to food!

I asked Matt what his favorite types of foods are to cook. Breakfast foods are among one of his favorites and also comfort type foods, “food that warms your soul”. You know, “food that tastes better than it looks”. Matt, being exposed to a global palate starting at the young age of 5, says his personal favorite dish to eat is Vietnamese Pho.
The circus train has 2 kitchens called the “pie carts”. I of course had to ask Matt how big a role dessert plays on the circus train, in which he answered “we don’t call it the pie cart for nothing!”. Dessert is HUGE! From cheesecakes to key lime pie, chocolate chip cookies, and their top selling dessert- the “fudgy wudgy” chocolate cake- YUMMO! Matt loves making (and eating) key lime pie, and attributes that to his Florida roots, although is his all time favorite dessert is the bananas foster at Chef Emeril Lagasse’s restaurant in Orlando, FL.  He says his number one favorite dessert  to make is the decadent eclair, and then went on to tell me a really cute story of how when he was in culinary school on Valentine’s Day he had made a bunch of eclairs and fruit tarts, and told his fellow classmates to clean up his mess after him because he had somewhere to be! He then drove 4 hours away to bring the treats to a girl he was dating (how sweet is that?!)

In concluding my interview with Chef Loory I asked him if he has any cooking tips for us at home, and I just love his response: “Follow your tongue”, a recipe is nothing more then a guideline, have fun, be creative and get to know your flavors. He recommends the book “The Flavor Bible“. Well Matt, I think I’m just going to have to check that book out!

I so enjoyed my conversation with Chef Loory, and I hoped you enjoyed reading a little glimpse into the “man that feeds the circus’” everyday life!

(photo credit top to bottom: Feld Entertainment,  Kraft recipes and Taste of Home)

Old Fashioned Coconut Cream Pie

If you are a coconut lover like myself, then you are going to love this recipe I have for you!
Old fashioned Coconut Cream Pie:

Ingredients:

1 cup sweetened flaked coconut

3 cups of half and half

2 eggs, beaten

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup flour

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1- 9 inch pie shell baked (I usually use the frozen pre-made pie shells from Trader Joes or Pilsbury, and just follow the instructions for baking on the package)

1 cup of whipped cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spread the coconut on a baking sheet and bake, stir occasionally, until golden brown, approx 4 minutes.

In a medium saucepan, combine half-and-half, eggs, sugar, flour and salt and stir it well. Bring mixture to a boil over low heat, stir constantly! Remove the pan from the heat, and stir in 3/4 cup of the toasted coconut and the vanilla extract.

Set aside the remaining coconut to top the pie.

Pour the filling into the pie shell and chill until firm, about 4 hours.

Top with whipped cream and sprinkle with the reserved toasted coconut.

* Here’s a little tip- I like to make my own whipped cream. You can do this by taking about 3 cups of heavy whipping cream, add about 2 tbsp of powdered sugar, and blend until firm(I use my magic bullet to blend and it turns out perfect every time). It is SO extremely easy to make your own homemade whipped cream and it makes a world of difference. Although, if you don’t have the time or don’t want the fuss, feel free to use canned whipped cream or cool whip to top the pie. It’ll be yummy either way!

This would be such a great dessert to make for a summertime bbq. I might just make it for the 4th of July holiday coming up in less then a month.

I made this pie last week to bring to our small group. My pastor went nuts for this pie and said it was possibly his favorite dessert I’ve made yet- and trust me, I’ve made many many desserts! He loved it so much, I left him with a few slices of it before we left. Well, found out the next day that his kids had gotten to the pie before he had a chance to get to it and it was long gone, so he asked me for the recipe– well, here ya go Steve! Now you can make this pie anytime you’d like!

Enjoy!

Rita's-- My Happy Place!

Ice-Custard-Happiness is right! Rita’s may just be the happiest place on earth (my version of it anyways).

If you have not been to this ahh-mazing little sweet shop-PLEASE, just stop what you are doing and do yourself a huge favor and get on over and check it out! I so promise you will not be disappointed!
Let me give ya some background on this neat little company:
Rita’s was founded 30 years ago, by Bob Tumolo, a former Philadelphia firefighter. He opened up his first Rita’s location in Pennsylvania and named the biz after his wife, Rita. In about 12 years Rita’s had grown to over 100 stores in 9 states.
Now, 30 years later, Rita’s continues to thrive with over 600 locations in 21 different states, and I’m beyond thrilled they have come to CA- specifically Orange County! I’ve been frequenting the Rita’s Mission Viejo location, but you may have read my last blog post, this FRIDAY Rita’s will be opening up a Laguna Hills location, which I’m thrilled about because I live about 5 minutes away. This could be dangerous living so close!

Rita’s is just SO different from the typical fro-yo/ice cream shop. First of all, they have a huge selection of Italian Ice flavors offered in a large variety-daily. If you go there today, you will not find the same exact flavors as if you go in the next day (which is what I did a few weekends ago- yep, I went there 3 days in a row– what?) Some of Rita’s famous flavors include mango- which is their most popular, cherry, cotton candy, Swedish Fish, cookies and cream- an Italian cream ice (one of my personal favorites), and this month’s yummy fruity flavor- watermelon chip. I seriously could go on and on with all the flavors Rita’s has to offer!

Rita’s makes their Italian Ice fresh. Daily. In house. With real fruit. Friends, you can’t get any better then that!

They offer SO much- one of my favorites being their signature “Gelati” their #1 selling treat, which is a layering of their  Italian Ice and creamy old-fashioned frozen custard.

Blended Misto, which is your choice of Italian Ice blended to perfection with your choice of frozen custard flavors (vanilla, light vanilla, chocolate or strawberry)
The Blendini- Your choice of frozen custard with as little or as many topping add-ins as you’d like. One of my favs is their signature vanilla frozen custard with topping add-ins of snickers and heath bars- YUMM

Rita’s also offers milkshakes, sundaes, frozen custard cakes (I MUST have one of these for my birthday in October!), and custard cookie sandwiches made with real Oreos.
I had a great time last week taking a behind the scenes tour of Rita’s. Rita’s offers behind the scenes tour to the public too! Your group will get the inside scoop on how their treats are made. The best part – a free taste of happiness at the end!

You can join Rita’s birthday club, and receive a free treat on your special day.
You can also sign up to receive e-mail alerts on when your favorite flavor will be available in store! Now I’ll always know when my favorite cookies and cream Italian Cream Ice is available!
Rita’s also has a frequent buyer rewards program. Just download the Rita’s Rewards app to your smartphone, and every time you make a purchase at Rita’s, scan your app. When you get to 7 purchases you get the 8th free (regular sized Italian Ice)! How cool is that?!?

I hope you guys fall in love with Rita’s, just like I have! I’d LOVE LOVE LOVE to hear from you if you try it out- just leave me a comment under this blog post. And who knows, maybe I’ll see ya at the Rita’s Laguna Hills grand opening tomorrow?!?

(I think I need this for my car!)

How to throw a little girl's Frozen party!

My Ciera turned 6 last weekend, and all she wanted for her birthday was a “Frozen” party. I had her choose 11 of her closest little girlfriends, and invite them over to our house for an afternoon of frozen themed fun.

Ciera didn’t have any clue that I had arranged for Queen Elsa herself to attend her party. All the girls were almost in shock as they opened up the door for this very special guest!

We played “pin the nose on Olaf”, and I made this game myself- I pretty much got a big piece of poster board which was about .59 at JoAnns, traced out an Olaf, and then cut a bunch of orange nose shapes out of construction paper- and there ya go- a twist on the classic party game “pin the tail on the donkey” and the girls loved it!

I set up a “headband bar” for the girls. I bought a bunch of  colorful headbands, and had the girls hot glue silk daises on (with an adult’s supervision, of course) This was a fun activity.

Queen Elsa just so happened to bring an icy blue and glittery nail polish, and she painted the girls nails. They were in heaven!

I had the girls decorate their own cupcakes. Ciera really wanted a lemon flavored cake, so we baked those up ahead of time, made a yummy homemade butter cream icing, gave the girls some icing and sprinkles and had them decorate away! It was so sweet to watch them, lots of the girls asked for an extra cupcake to decorate for Queen Elsa! How cute is that?

Here is my tried and true buttercream icing recipe, pair it with your favorite cake recipe:

Alisa's Buttercream Icing:

1 cup (2 sticks) of softened (room temp) salted butter
4 cups powdered sugar
1 TBSP vanilla extract
Approx 3 TBSP of milk (OR) coffee creamer- flavored or plain (that's my little not so secret tip!)

**Blend all the ingredients together with en electric handheld or stand mixer. This is seriously the BEST icing!

We did some face painting as well-

And we also did an Olaf craft. I found some Olaf printables online and had the girls glue some cotton balls and a bunch of glitter on. They really enjoyed this!

When it was about time to wind down from all the partying, we all came inside and Queen Elsa read the girls a Frozen story (but of course!)

Ciera opened her gifts, and then it was time to go.

Let me tell ya, these girls were busy busy busy the whole time!! I hope this will be a day these sweet girls will keep in their memories for the rest of their lives! So much fun!