White Oak Bakery! My Pal is the new owner!

It’s so difficult to keep a great secret!  My pal Beth has been working for quite some time to make something come together and it’s finally official!

Beth is the new owner of White Oak Bakery!!!

Located on Piney Green in Jacksonville NC, directly across the road from White Oak High School, it’s a full service bakery and lunch spot not to mention amazing custom cake orders!!!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cup-Or-Cakes She and her partner Casey have been on a roll with amazing custom cake creations as Cup or Cakes with a portfolio on Facebook.  Follow/friend them to check out everything from a Duck Dynasty themed birthday cake, a Guinness bottle cap, a uniform cover, tinkerbell and more!  I don’t think folks knew they could find talent like this in a smaller town like ours.  Check out their page or, better yet, visit!  Tons of cupcakes, pastries, and cakes by the slice or to take home (a delightful coconut number almost went home with me today!).

Great spot to dine in for a lunch or enjoy their new patio area and expanded parking.  🙂

Hope you enjoy and tell Beth and Casey I sent you!

~McKenzie 

Dhurrie Rug Cleaning Tips

I was digging around on ole Pinterest for pointers on how best to clean a color fast dhurrie rug.  I remembered on one or two PCS in the past using dish soap and a scrub brush on a driveway or two but figured there had to be a more magical mix that helped with another decade or two of wear, and dog smell.

A pal pointed me in this direction: http://laundry.about.com/u/sty/laundryproblems/Your-Laundry-Questions-And-Answers/How-to-Remove-Yellow-Age-Spots-From-Wool-Clothes.htm

“Mix a solution of oxygen-based bleach (OxiClean, Clorox 2, Country Save Bleach, Purex 2 Color Safe Bleach) and cool water. Follow the package directions as the amount of product to use per gallon of water. DO NOT USE CHLORINE BLEACH. Completely submerge the garments and allow them to soak overnight. Check the stained areas. If they are gone, wash as usual. If the stain remains, mix a new solution and repeat the process. It may take several soakings to remove the stains depending on what caused them and how dark they are.”

It’s primarily for older wool clothing but compared to a rug, is considered a gentle cleaning solution so I’ll be giving it a whirl.  After hand painting a fence, it’s par for the course this season.  I should have amazing arms before the season is over!

May 4, 2013 Jacksonville’s Jamboree

http://www.ci.jacksonville.nc.us/Residents/Recreation—Parks/Jacksonville-s-Jamboree.aspx

A fun free all day event in Jacksonville in the Commons area at Richard Ray Park located just off of Western Boulevard near the light for Carolina Ale House and Cheddars.

Sporting events range from baseball to cornhole and start at 9am and run until about noon when events start to take the main stage.  2 Mar Div Band starts at noon, and other events include a talent show and more.  Three more afternoon bands and tons to do.

Check out the link for more information on events and sponsors.

Sounds Fun!

I like Boston Butts and I cannot lie. . .

I snuck out during lunch to stock up on green smoothies and watermelon for a snack and walked past a crazy great sale on Boston Butts, a buck a pound with no limit on how many you could buy.  So, I bought the ten they had sitting there.  Don’t judge, that’s what the deep freezer is for, as well as a few friends and their spare garage fridges.

This was a Food Lion deal in Eastern NC, don’t shoot the messenger if your local store doesn’t have the same special.  The sale goes through Tuesday and they will honor the deal, if sold out, with a rain check.  Win/Win!  And, because I am a nerd, just added up what I WOULD have spent which makes my heart dance a little.

BBQ, this time of year, makes my day.

So, plotting a large bbq with family and friends at the end of the summer and I think this just helped set the menu!  I’ve already pinned some great recipe ideas and killer dips and marinades if you’d like to check them out here: http://pinterest.com/mckenzie27/pins/  ENJOY!

“We’re going to need a bigger boat.”

One of those projects you’ll try once then say never again.

. . . to hold all the adventures -fun, work and personal, planned for this summer.

I started the season deciding I could tackle (and do a better job) hand painting my fence than a professional.  Sadly, after days in the sun, sharing personal space with bugs that have no aversion to bug spray and starting my seasonal “tan” (shooting for band-aid beige). . .I’ll never be doing that again.

Thankfully, I was bailed out by a dear pal who helped me wrap up the job so I’m bribing her after the fact with a pedicure and a steak dinner, because, nothing says THANKS A BUNCH like pretty toes and a huge meal (btw, fence painting, according to our iphone app, burns about 2k calories per session, so dinner calories today don’t count!).

I’d post pics of our loverly toes after a nice trip to the salon, but I think after years of dancing injuries (pointe, not pole) and deftly finding coffee tables and other furniture in the dark with my toes, it’s a community service that I do not.  I have visions of the Brush Up company from the Wizard of Oz dancing through my head, but with a steak on the side, which, let’s all be frank, was probably  what the Lion was REALLY thinking during his hot oil treatment!

Brace yourself for more fun seasonal updates, but then, maybe that’s what you’re hoping to read here hence the thirty day spike in site visits?  🙂  I’m thrilled you’re here and offer you a virtual glass of iced tea or lemonade, if you’re a libra like me, perhaps an Arnold Palmer is more up your alley?

I’ll try to write more interesting things now that I’m mostly don’t with manual labor for the season but if you’d like more to do, visit my Pinterest page, it’s been getting a WORK OUT lately!  Lots of real estate ideas, paint swatches, renovation suggestions and a few dessert recipes. . .and MORE.

Here’s a handy dandy link:  http://pinterest.com/mckenzie27/pins/

First Quarter Onslow County Real Estate Stats by office, etc. We’re number one, again. :-)

 

 

Residential Unit Sales Stats and Ranking By Office

 

Statistics from Jacksonville MLS (Onslow County Areas 1-7)

 

Jan – Mar 2013      

 

Total Number of Residential Sales “Sold” YTD 3/31/2013 = 569 (669 in 2012)

Decrease of 100 or Down 15%

Total Number of Active Residential Listings = 2460

Total Number of SF and NC 1,2,3 “Sold” YTD 3/31/2013 = 477 (595 in 2012)

Decrease of 118 or Down 20%

Total Number of Active SF, NC 1,2,3 = 2021

Total Number of NC 1,2,3 “Sold” YTD 3/31/2013 = 290 (389 in 2012)

Decrease of 99 or Down 25%

Total Number of Active NC Residential Listings = 714

Total Number of SF 1,2,3 “Sold” YTD 3/31/2013 = 187 (206 in 2012)

Decrease of 19 or Down 9%

Total Number of Active Re-Sale Residential Listings = 1307

Total Number of  REO SF 1,2,3 “Sold” YTD 3/31/2013 = 66 (26 in 2012)

Increase of 40 or Up 154%

Total Number of Active REO Re-Sale Residential Listings = 122

 

OFFICE INFO  (ONSLOW COUNTY Areas 1 – 7 all types)

 

 

Rank	Office	Units	Volume	Units	Volume		Units	Volume		% Volume
		Listed		Sold			Total
1	Keller Williams	59	$11,301,676	44		$8,307,685	103		$19,609,361	10.24%
2	C-21 Sweyer	39	$6,273,400	53		$8,426,886	92		$14,700,286	7.68%
3	Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage	45	$7,175,655	44		$7,359,510	89		$14,535,165	7.59%
4	Coldwell Banker Fountain	47	$8,117,975	26		$4,616,700	73		$12,734,675	6.65%
5	C-21 AmProp	22	$3,294,996	55		$7,931,642	77		$11,226,638	5.86%
6	C-21 Champion	17	$2,348,820	50		$7,770,630	67		$10,119,450	5.28%
7	HomeTeam	21	$3,851,677	27		$4,154,000	48		$8,005,677	4.18%
8	Prudential Hometown	19	$3,441,700	22		$3,985,548	41		$7,427,248	3.88%
9	RE/MAX Home Connections	27	$4,858,560	9		$2,005,736	36		$6,864,296	3.58%
10	C-21 Am Prop West	33	$4,927,000	12		$1,583,100	45		$6,510,100	3.40%
11	Treasure Realty	14	$4,219,499	9		$2,151,899	23		$6,371,398	3.33%
12	Landmark Real Estate Group	10	$4,152,570	10		$2,136,150	20		$6,288,720	3.28%
13	Non-Member Selling Office	0	$0	27		$6,035,484	27		$6,035,484	3.15%
14	Choice	24	$2,871,710	21		$2,397,550	45		$5,269,260	2.75%
15	Fonville Morisey & Barefoot	15	$3,667,722	5		$1,303,504	20		$4,971,226	2.60%
16	RE/MAX Home Connections II	38	$3,518,637	12		$1,305,200	50		$4,823,837	2.52%
17	Castro Real Estate Group	12	$2,117,065	8		$1,427,605	20		$3,544,670	1.85%
18	ERA Strother & Wilkinson Real Estate	3.5	$614,751	14		$2,437,908	17.5		$3,052,659	1.59%
19	C-21 Sweyer.-Hampstead	6	$836,800	11		$2,199,500	17		$3,036,300	1.59%
20	DR Horton Inc	10	$2,303,463	2		$447,000	12		$2,750,463	1.44%

I’ve been busy reading and tweeting!

Looking for lots of great real estate articles?  What’s going on with the market, what are the new construction stats, how to you best prep your home for the market?

 

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Happy reading and tweeting!