Main Line Real Estate | Jennifer LeBow, Realtor
Helping You Relocate to Philadelphia's Main Line
Jen LeBow’s Gazpacho
Using a food processor, lightly puree and put into large bowl:
1 ½ medium cucumbers
2 red peppers
1-2 T onion, depending on taste
2 stalks celery
1 carrot
3 minced garlic cloves
Drain 3 14.5 oz. cans diced tomatos and pour the liquid into the large bowl.
Using a food processor, lightly puree and add to the bowl:
3 cans of drained tomatos
Add to the bowl and mix well:
¼ cup olive oil
3 T good quality balsamic vinegar
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
Salt and pepper to taste
Just as with home design and decorating trends, homes’ outdoor areas also go through style changes. Tastes evolve, different materials and techniques become available and, as a result, backyards are undergoing some changes (you can read more here). Currently, one concept that has been gaining popularity is planting indigenous plants. Previously, people often planted gardens based on which plants they liked, with little thought to how much environmental manipulation might be required to keep them alive. With increasing awareness of environmental issues (especially water conservation), people are moving toward planting things that are most likely to thrive in their existing habitats. This new sensitivity has even affected that most basic yard attribute: the green lawn. Similarly, there has been a shift in hardscaping materials to natural stone and other non-artificial surfaces. These spaces are also becoming less about impressing people with how beautifully manicured the grounds are and more about using the spaces. So play areas, comfortable seating, mixing old with new and creating a less formal space are becoming more prevalent as well.
While vacationing on a working farm has been a fairly common event in Europe, Australia and New Zealand for quite some time, the concept is new to Americans. Designed for people who want to escape the city or suburbia and have a rural experience, the farm stay also puts people in touch with where their food comes from. A farm stay might also show someone how sheep are shorn and how wool is spun. Sometimes guests are encouraged to participate (want to collect eggs from underneath the hen? ride a tractor? feed the pigs?), while other times, the law of the land is “watch and learn”. Animals figure prominently in most farm stays and children tend to be satisfied customers of farm stay vacations. Breakfast is frequently provided and can be the stuff of legends. We are only about an hour and a half or so from several farm stay locations. If you think you or your family might be interested in planning a farm stay, click this link.
So you’re ready to put an offer on the house. Before you do, you will need to read and sign a long document called the Seller’s Disclosure (at least, you will if your purchase is in Pennsylvania). The purpose of the document is to inform the buyer of pertinent information that would affect your decision to buy or, at least, your choice of offer price. The disclosure includes questions about the age of the roof, heating and a/c systems, whether the water is public or on a well, whether any pets have lived in the property, if the basement gets wet, what additions or alterations have been made, etc. I have a few suggestions to buyers as far as reading the disclosure:
Just two years after Philadelphia was declared the first US World Heritage City, it has recently received a new designation bestowed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation: National Treasure. The purpose behind the label is to save historic buildings from demolition during a time where the city is seeing significant new construction. This move protects some of our period architecture from the result of the common cry “Out with the old, in with the new!”. The hope is that some of the old buildings which may no longer be used as they were originally can be repurposed (and maintained) for new uses. While the new status does not provide funding to save or refurbish these buildings, the hope is that it will increase awareness and eventually result in money being set aside for preservation.
It’s August and it’s hot. But you still have to eat. So….one of my “go-to” summer meals is chicken Caesar salad. I grill chicken outside so the oven isn’t on. Then I cut it up and throw it into Caesar salad. But what makes a Caesar great, next to one that’s just “eh”? The dressing, of course (there’s nothing else in the salad, other than romaine, croutons and parmesan cheese)! I make a creamy one that is always very well received.
Jen LeBow’s Ceasar Salad Dressing
Shake together well:
1/2 cup EVOO
3 T mayonnaise
¾ t Dijon mustard
½ t Worcestershire sauce
½ anchovy paste
1 garlic clove, partially smashed (with a toothpick in it so you can flavor the dressing, but remove the garlic later)—or you can mince the garlic and just add it to the rest of the ingredients.
When you buy a house, there are all kinds of logistics to manage and information to process. One thing that I encourage my buyers to do at the settlement table (if not before) is, assuming it hasn’t been a very contentious transaction, to ask the sellers for their list of service providers–from the person who mows the lawn and blows the leaves to the plumber electrician, HVAC guy or chimney sweep they’ve used. Why? Well, it’s a least a starting point if you need any of those services to have the names and contact info for people whom the seller trusted. What will you do, especially if you’re new to the area, when you realize there’s a pipe leaking? Sure, you can google “plumbers”, but you will have no idea who’s reliable, trustworthy or expensive. Second, all houses have idiosyncracies. Sometimes, you may either pay less (for a shorter service call) or even have better success with repairing a problem if the technician is already familiar with the house. If the HVAC contractor has serviced the heater for the last 11 years, he probably knows that you have to wiggle the knob to get the panel off, for example. So I always recommend asking for “the list”.
So this is a “feel good” post. Theme parks, like Great Adventure or Hershey park are selling “fun” and everyone deserves to have fun, right? Well, people with certain disabilities are often unable to experience the fun that theme parks offer. Beyond that, their exclusion from them adds insult to injury. Not only can they not enjoy participating, but they are pointedly reminded that they are different and “other”. I recently read about a theme park in Texas that was designed to accommodate disabled visitors as well as all other visitors. It’s called Morgan’s Wonderland and it was created by parents of a disabled girl who wanted her and others like her to be able to enjoy the same activities as “all the other kids” while not singling them out. From their website:
When it celebrated its grand opening April 10, 2010, Morgan’s Wonderland became the world’s first theme park designed with special-needs individuals in mind and built for everyone’s enjoyment. The completely wheelchair-accessible park features more than 25 elements including rides, playgrounds and other colorful attractions. From the very beginning, anyone with a special need has been admitted free of charge, no questions asked.
It has been so well -received that they are now opening a water park to complement it. They offer water-proof wheelchairs, lots of different splash pad experiences, floom rides and even an accessible pirate ship. I don’t know that I’ll ever find myself in Texas, but if I do, I might go see this place whose mission I very much admire.
