real estate – Jenn Delle Fave

Weekend Vibes

jenndellefave / January 20, 2020 / Leave a comment

Friday was little man’s BIG 5 year birthday!! Both of us were able to go into his preschool class and help out. They kept us busy!

He got to blow out the 5 year old candle as we sang happy birthday one last time…

After preschool we took Bradley to get his “Ham and Cheese Broissant” and Joe and I grabbed lunch downtown. We then hit up Home Depot for a new rug & lamp! With real fires, the logs can roll out and splatter ashes/pieces onto the rug and it ruined the old one. I am trying to preserve this one by keeping an older rug on top! I love the look of it.

We had to grab a new lamp too because the base of our old one shattered and was a mess every time I went to move it. When I saw this one I got a little too excited, as there is a reading lamp! Our high ceilings make it hard to keep it bright in the living room so this white is perfect!

When Brookie got home we then hit up good old Chuck E Cheese for some birthday fun! We all had a ball playing games, eating pizza and drinking fountain drinks. We need to do more outings like this in the Winter!

And before bed, I had “my baby is 5 cry”. It happened with Brooke and I knew it was a matter of time, and I made him come over and snuggle with me a few minutes…how on earth has 5 years gone by so fast? So much has changed and I am so grateful to be your mommy Bradley boo! You love playing video games, but you also love running around pretending you’re playing football. You love curling up with Bailey on the couch and watching Bluey with your sister. You’re my little buddy and I’m not quite sure what my life will be like when you go off to school full day. I know it will be great for you, but goodness you keep me on my toes every day! I love you so much baby boy. You can be a complete goofball or super sensitive, serious and sweet. You’re my little bubba-dooz. I love you!

I am missing the kids as I drove out to my dad’s in a snowstorm to drop the kids off so they could watch them so Joe could have a colonoscopy done. (that Crohn’s life) I was happy to make it home and put my feet on the ground because that drive was NOT FUN!

Saturday night I made a yummy dinner–an oldie but goodie! I’ll share the recipe this week. Vodka Penné on a cold night is divine! We celebrated our “12 years” together anniversary by the fire and wrote down some dreams to be tucked away and opened again in 5 more years.

I’ve been focusing on my workouts more (I need it more emotionally/mentally than physically I think!!) I love this quote.

Sunday we took an old “Jenn and Joe Sunday drive” and checked on the two houses we are fixing up. I’m so excited as both kitchens are super gorgeous!

This flooring is stunning! I’ll share more in depth on the kitchen renovations in an upcoming blog.

I supported my friend Cathy as she is donating to the Ronald McDonald House. I love giving and the beer bread and soup is such a tasty meal! You can give too if you would like, Paypal Cathy at: cagallag235@gmail.com

And we ended our weekend with watching our boys win their game against the Packers! Onto the Super Bowl we go! I can’t wait to see them take on the KC Cheifs!

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day! As my 5 year old said, “He had a dream and it was that we be nice to everyone no matter what.” Good advice little dude as I am always striving to be nice, no matter what.

Currently 2020 Edition

jenndellefave / January 16, 2020 / Leave a comment

Happy New Year!

I’m only a few weeks behind…

I’ve been busy (who hasn’t) and figured a quick little “what I’ve currently been up to” will catch everyone up and maybe help me feel more at ease.

Currently:

My word for 2020 is JOY. I want to have fun and feel happy most days! This means that I am not just rushing through the hamster wheel of life: work, kids, dogs, chores, cooking…but actually and intentionally enjoy what it is I am doing. It’s helping me prioritize what matters most, what needs to get done and how I’m spending my time. The other day I sat with Bradley and we played memory card games, started a puzzle and took a walk since it was a beautiful almost 50 degree day! What’s your word this year?

Reminding myself of this.

And this.

Kiddos-

I have an almost 5 year old (little bubs birthday is tomorrow!) And he’s been keeping me on my toes by getting sick with RSV–he had such a terrible cough and was wheezing he had to go on a steroid and use an inhaler. Then just the other day he told me his mouth hurt and I looked inside, poor little guy has molars coming through! He could barely eat last night as they were bleeding and so sore. Lots of yogurts, puddings and soft foods for my dude. GQ anyone?

And I officially have a 7 year old. This party princess had a blast at the party! Nana gave her hair chalk and all of her friends were helping her! She was my strong and healthy one, but I kept her home due to a slight fever and sore throat. She was sad to miss school and dance, but her health is always most important. I could tell when she got off the bus Tuesday just by looking at her sweet face she wasn’t well. Her big baby blue eyes were sunken and bloodshot….and sure enough she was ill.

We threw them a party on Brooke’s actual birthday (post to come) and then watched the 49ers beat the Vikings in a playoff game!

It was a fun day and we made this one switch out of a purple shirt (Vikings colors) to a red for good luck. It worked!

Renovating–

We have two properties under construction, this one being ALMOST finished! It’s been fun (and stressful) and as per usual, I have learned a lot in the last few months about real estate. The end result is really going to be stunning. I am loving the darker floor with the white cabinets, lighter counter and I think it’s just a fresh and simple kitchen! It’s giving me lots of #kitcheninspo that will be happening in another blog post for our new home.

The simple subway tile with the light grout was just gorgeous! I know this will be someone’s new home in no time.

Healthwise-

Stressed has been an understatement and I haven’t been truly taking care of myself the last two months or so. Over Christmas I was experiencing terrible GERD pain and super inflamed anything I ate bothered me. I went to my acupuncturist and within one treatment I felt relief. The day before the kids’ party I sent an SOS text because my stomach was a mess again and she somehow squeezed me in. You’re not supposed to have any redness near a needle, when you do it’s heat and it needs to be cleared. Once again, I’ll create another post, but at 38 years young, I am in what is known as Perimenopause and my hormones are basically whacky. I’ll keep up with my acu treatments and I’m taking some herbs…and really truly watching my stress.

Workouts-

I have been doing some Yoga and Barre workouts, but my chiropractor even suggested I do some kickboxing/HIIT to release some of the frustration/pent up stress in my life so I will add that to my regimen too!

Cooking-

I’m hoping to share some simple, fast and inexpensive recipes here soon! This ham is a family favorite and you really can’t get any easier than throwing it in a pan real quick.

Watching-

Yup! I have actually forced myself to lay down on a couch or bed and just veg out. I never do, so I figured with my stress being high, maybe it was good to just be blah for a bit. I am almost through the 2nd season of this psycho show! What keeps me hooked is that while he is indeed a very bad guy, he still on the other hand has normal and good tendencies. It’s a mind trip for sure. You is on Netflix.

This little movie was an Amazon Prime movie and I loved it! It was funny and truly a good reminder how people in our life don’t always know what is best for us. Only we truly know what it is we need, we just need to distance ourselves a bit and figure it out.

Reading-

I received this advanced reader copy in the mail and I am excited to see where it goes! I am only a few pages in…I look forward to reading it this weekend.

Enjoying-

The sunset was stunning last night. While my view of it is not perfect, it’s nice to actually see the colors in the Winter since Summer the trees are all filled in.

Breathing-

Life is hard, but you are strong. Remember to breathe in the calm air and exhale the stress and anxiety. Life is what we make of it, cheesy but true. I made myself put on some lipstick and where some cute clothes, because all I have been living in are sweats and leggings—nothing wrong with that but it feels good to get dressed up and feel pretty!

What are you currently up to?

Weekend Vibes

jenndellefave / November 4, 2019 / Leave a comment

It was nice that Brooke had Friday off, even though I didn’t realize it until a few days prior! Haha. #momlife Which later that day I saw this meme and it was perfect because I seriously thought I was on top of my game!! Luckily my neighbor Katie kept me up to speed.

After we dropped Bradley off at Preschool she wanted to have a girls’ day. We hit up Starbucks and then headed over to Target for some birthday gifts, as she has a few parties to attend in the next few weeks.

She brought her doll and set her up like this and I about died when I came over and saw her sitting like this.

Brooke’s favorite treat at Starbs: Kiddie Hot Cocoa and the confetti sugar cookie. Nice choice girlfriend!!

Saturday morning was such a gorgeous sunrise!! The pinks and purple mixed with the orange glow were simply stunning!

We had out last day of gymnastics, which was fun and a little sad! It’s about an hour drive and we would usually go visit my dad and step-mom after their session, but with the impending Winter weather, it is not a commitment I want to make. I hate driving in the snow, so I’d rather wait it out until Spring or Summer.

My sister asked if we wanted a babysitter Saturday night, so of course we said yes!! It was a little chilly so I did a basic grey bell sleeved sweater with my favorite pair of jeans from American Eagle. They fit like a glove!

We went to Village Gate in downtown Rochester and hit up the restaurant Lento. They serve everything fresh, the menu changes daily and it’s all locally sourced. It’s in a funky building with lots of crazy art pieces. He wanted me to take a picture of this fish. Speaking of fish, we had some amazing Oysters and I had the BEST Salmon dinner with roasted brussels and bacon and apple. I can’t stop thinking about it! I also had some to die for brie and goat cheese….yum!

Joe loved this mural and it looks like some of the “amazing art” we have hanging in our room. Our artistic preferences may differ slightly…

Sunday I spent some time talking with the contractor and checking out shower tile ideas for the house that burned down. We like the bigger tiles, like this look minus the extra small tiling. I want to keep it simple and clean looking.

Photo Via Pinterest

Sunday we had our neighbor’s birthday party at a YMCA.

The kids played in the jungle gym and swam in the pool.

Well, all but one did.

SO hard to get a still shot! I love that Bradley is covered in vanilla cake frosting.

Brooke picked out her presents all by herself…

Lily turned 9 and yes, our daughter who’s 6 is taller than her. They wear the same size! They are so sweet together and we are very grateful to have good neighbor friends.

I finished this book and it was full of good gems! I’ll share a few later on.

I had “the house shut down” (Joe makes fun of me, but seriously, I say this all the time! I think because my mom used to!) by 8pm and I think I was asleep before the Patriots game, it may have just started. I got up to use the bathroom, and I had taken a Nyquil a little earlier so I could sleep well and try to get this cold/allergy whatever out of my system and when I stood up I had this feeling/flash/premonition and I told Joe, “The Ravens win.” When we got up this morning, he said hey, by the way you’re right! I’m a tad freaked out by this but find it cool as well. I felt like I was in that state of semi-consciousness and half awake, which I bet if I meditated on a regular basis I could tap into more. I may have lost you at this point, but yes, I do believe in psychic ability and a little voo doo. Joe says if I hone in my skills he’ll start betting. Hahaha!

Happy Monday friends!

Day of Rest?

jenndellefave / November 3, 2019 / Leave a comment

Working for yourself is the best and craziest thing ever at times. I love the flexibility of it, but if I am being totally honest, I struggle with time management. When I was a teacher, my day was scheduled for me. I ate when it was “lunch time.” I started class when the bell rang, and then ended when it rang again. Every 42 minutes (or 85 in the HS block schedule) I knew exactly which students would walk into my classroom and exactly what we’d be doing that day.

Enter motherhood and all ‘scheduling’ went right out the window!! Baby’s dictated everything and as soon as we seemed to settle into a nice routine, a leap or growth spurt would happen and it all went to heck. I survived it, like all mothers do, and really just became adapt at ‘bobbing and weaving’ as my husband so lovingly calls it.

Now that I have one child in full time school and one in 3 half day pre-school classes, and a real estate business to run, I find myself sometimes going a little batty. As I sat in on an another amazing Serve Sell Live Well class with Sam Sagot, she had a guest speaker present on time management. I believe I have gotten better, but man I feel like I am still not always finishing what I started, as I get so distracted easily! She said that our brains take 23 minutes to focus back on the original task at hand, and that multi-tasking is BAD (which I know) but gosh, it’s so hard to break this habit! I feel like kids (who are 4, little and still quite needy) constantly interrupt my flow–whatever it may be. I could be working on marketing, book-keeping, renovation details, talking to a contractor, paying taxes, you name it! I could also be folding laundry, doing the dishes or trying to vacuum. As I sit here and type this blog I just realized I have a pile of wet laundry behind me that needs to be hung.

I guess the point is, as much as I love giving tips, help a mama out!! I am working on “time blocking” but how do you stay on task? How do you make sure that you finish what you started? Working from home can be tricky–hello, I cannot leave my kitchen a mess and just walk by it without cleaning it!? How do you do all the housework, cook, take care of kids and get all your work done and still find time every day or week for you?

I also listened to the girls talk about having one day where they do not work. Day of rest. I know that Sunday should be that, but sometimes that the only day Joe & I can catch up and talk about business stuff without other work interfering. So, this week I think I will take Tuesday off…maybe my “Day of rest” will be Saturdays. And mamas, by rest I don’t mean my feet are up all day and I’m not hustling around the house, but I mean one day off from “WORK.” I LOVE what we are doing with our real estate company and I truly feel empowered to step into my role better each day, but I am sensing a little burnout and I simply can’t help but wonder if it’s because every day I “do” a little real estate work.

What are your thoughts, do you take a day of rest from your “job”? Do you work every day and never feel a burn out? What do you enjoy doing on your day off? I would like to use my Saturdays to catch up around the house, play with the kids, write, workout and let my mind take a mental break. At the same time, I realize that we all have seasons of work, and I feel like right now maybe it’s more of hustle season, and it’s hard to break because we have a lot going on right now. Maybe it’s okay to work a little every day, as long as you build in ‘down time’ every day and stick to it…

Maybe this blog makes zero sense, but I felt like getting my thoughts out of my jumbled mind, so feel free to chime in! I feel like it applies to stay at home moms, work at home moms, working moms—all the moms! We take care of SO many things in a day, in a week–and don’t get me wrong, I know men do a lot too, but I’m just speaking about myself who’s a work at home mama…

Happy Sunday!

Weekending

jenndellefave / October 28, 2019 / Leave a comment

Happy Monday!

Is it me, or did I blink and the whole thing was gone?!

I finally grabbed these snacks for the kiddos and their “Fall Treat.” They love it! I just mix it together in a small bowl or bag and they thought it was the coolest thing ever.

Meanwhile, mama is trying to keep the balance with lots of roasted veggies. PSA– after these are roasted, they are so good with fried eggs on top!

Friday Joe hunted, Bradley had Pre-K and Brooke had a half day. I got to go to Zumba!

By noon, we all were back home and gearing up for a little family fun day! We grabbed lunch and then had to check on some of our properties that are being rehabbed. This was the home with the fire in it. Down to bare bones!

We took a drive down one of Joe’s favorite roads and the scenery did not disappoint!

After working a bit, we made sure to have fun and stopped to grab some pumpkins!

Saturday is our gymnastics day and we’ve been stopping by my Dad & Stepmom’s afterwards. She begged me to take her photo!

That night I came home to a new Advanced Reader’s copy of this book–it’s a thriller!

Sunday was spent mostly tidying up the house and catching up on laundry. We were going to do up some chicken wings, but they were still a little frozen! That’s okay, we’ll have them tonight. I ended up with pasta (aka butter noodles for the kids) and I did some chicken up in a pan and slathered some Thai Peanut Sauce on the chicken & pasta. It was actually quite good! We did carve our two pumpkins too! The perfect ending to our weekend.

The the crazy, spooky madness of Halloween week commence!