Carrie Friedman

I have to say, I’ve really been enjoying cooking over the last year or so. This is worth mentioning because I didn’t enjoy it before. But for the last 13 months or so, I’ve come to like it and cook quite often - more than 4 times per week - for the hubs and me. Earlier today, I bought a perfect eggplant that inspired my search for the perfect eggplant parmesan (or melanzane alla parmigiana, if you wanna get fancy about it) recipe. And, I don’t mean to brag, but I went on to make the most delicious damn eggplant parmesan you’ve ever tasted tonight. The hubby can vouch for it, and I can tell when he’s lying, so I know he truly liked it. I paired it with a gorgeous salad (I’m all about the presentation, the colors, the actual art of the cooking process). Unfortunately, we ate the meal too fast, otherwise I would have taken a photo to make it last longer.

I love TV, used to work in TV, and have a hubby and brother in law who work in TV, so I love the Emmys. The Emmys and the Oscars are like my Superbowls. (The actual Superbowl is also my Superbowl.) So I’m excited to watch tonight from the comfort of my home, and have picked my winners.

Best supporting actor, comedy - should be: Neil Patrick Harris; will be: Eric Stonestreet

Best supporting actress, comedy - should and will be: Jane Lynch

Best actress, comedy - should be: Tina Fey; will be: Edie Falco

Best actor, comedy - should be: Larry David; will be: Alec Baldwin

Best comedy - should and will be: Modern Family

Best supporting actor, drama - should and will be: Michael Emerson

Best supporting actress, drama - should be: Elisabeth Moss;  will be: Christine Baranski

Best actress, drama - should and will be:  Juliana Margulies

Best actor, drama - should and will be: Bryan Cranston

Best drama - should be: Breaking Bad; will be: Lost or Mad Men

Lots of critics are saying Glee’s going to win tonight, and while I enjoy that show, I don’t think it will because of what I’m calling the Desperate Housewives Factor. In 2004, Desp Housewives and Arrested Development both debuted. The former was a huge ratings winner, a juggernaut, a force of nature. It won all the awards leading up to the Emmys - the Golden Globes, the SAG’s. Arrested, however, was a new twist on the family sitcom and was critically acclaimed and beloved. Everyone predicted Desperate Housewives would sweep their categories, but they didn’t. Arrested won best writing, best director, and best comedy. This year, the juggernaut is Glee and the critically acclaimed, new-twist-on-the-family-sitcom is Modern Family. I think (and not just because I love the show) that Modern Family’s got this in the bag, for two reasons:

1. Emmy voters are typically older and into more traditional fare. Odds are they don’t “get” Glee.

and

2. Glee isn’t a comedy (just like Desperate Housewives). It’s not even always a dramedy - some episodes are straight drama. While I like Glee and never miss a week, its pop-culture-phenomenon status won’t help it tonight.

You heard it here first.

Other FAR less likely scenarios for this category:

-the “It Takes a Year for the Academy to Catch Up” — in which case, 30 Rock would win again, to everyone’s surprise. It was another very strong season, and I love that show too, but it’s not likely with Modern Family in the category.

or

-the “Other Choices Cancelled Each Other Out” — in which case, Curb Your Enthusiasm would win (in a huge upset) for its hilarious Seinfeld reunion season.

“Enlightenment…is the quiet acceptance of what is.” -Wayne Dyer

“Life is either a daring adventure - or nothing.” -Helen Keller

and

Like anyone, I’ve had my moments where I’ve engaged in catty gossip. But in the last few months, I’ve been more aware of my behavior, and have noticed how much I dislike that trait in others, so I stopped. Because we all know: if a “friend” of mine is talking smack to me about another person, they’re no doubt turning around and talking smack ABOUT me. I realized, too, that if I have enough time on my hands to think or say bad things about another person, odds are I’ve got way too much time on my hands and need to be a whole helluvalot busier.

I made a conscious effort to stop, and I encourage others to do the same. I encourage an ounce of self-awareness in these folks, so that they may hopefully recognize that what they’re really mad/envious/irked about is that they, themselves, desperately need lives of their own to focus on, rather than picking at/on others. Or hobbies. Or help. Or all of the above. So, I say this as a challenge to those who talk behind others’ backs or are judgmental of others’ risks and choices: try going a whole week without any of this poisonous behavior. Just try it. Catch yourself when you start to judge or gossip or become catty. Junior High ended when 8th grade did, so let’s all grow the hell up.

I read that moving is the third most stressful life-event, behind divorce and death of a loved one. (Just for frame of reference: having a baby or trying to have a baby or planning a wedding aren’t even in the top five.) I believe it.

It’s been a challenging couple of months. It has a very happy ending: we’re mostly moved in to our beautiful new home and we love it. We loved the old one, but this is different. Feels permanent, and BETTER BE: Am this close to making The Mister sign a binding legal agreement that says we will never. EVER. move again. For no reason. If we have sextuplets, they’ll all share rooms. If one or both of us suddenly comes into a gazillion dollars, we can get a pied-a-terre or two in our favorite cities, but there’s no reason for the main house to change after this. We have plenty of space, we’re in a kickass school district, and we’ve gotten the new house exactly the way we like it. As blog is my witness, we will never move again!

The first time we moved - in 2004 - was just months before our wedding, which I planned the bulk of. I’m not bitter about that, I’m merely stating the facts. We did a significant amount of construction on that house (and unfortunately had a terrible contractor who gave us the run-around), so we were living in it for months while the work was being done. For a whole week, one of our toilets was on the front lawn. Good times. And the hubby was working at a show with horrendous late night hours, 7 days a week.

This time was better, except that we had a house to sell in addition to purchasing and fixing up, and we did it all at the same time. Our cute (now former) house, which we’ve loved the heck out of, never made it onto the market. It sold twice. The second time was the perfect fit: a couple who loved and appreciated all the hard work and money we’d put into it. And now, it belongs to those sweet folks and their little girl. They will enjoy, I hope/expect, years and years of happiness there, as we have. I was sad to leave. I had always envisioned our kids running through the halls of that home. But, alas, someone else’s child is, and it feels meant to be.

(Oh, and staging WORKS! Only two parties walked through our home and BOTH made full-price offers. Awesome.)

So here we are now in this lovely new home. Bowie and Lila love the bigger yard to play in, hubby loves his new man-caves, and I love the whole house. Literally: every room. Sure, there was A LOT to fix and change (many of the rooms had no ceiling lights?! None of the windows had screens?! No security system?! And these were the littlest items on the list!), but now we’ve got it the way we want it.

When I’m not unpacking, I’m exploring our new neighborhood. I take the dogs on long walks. Each time, I pick a different direction, a different winding street, and just follow where it takes us. Just at the moment when I worry that we’re lost, we come out the other end and I have some idea of where I am and where I’m headed. How to make it home.

Your house needs to be (and stay) staged all the way through the end of escrow - the house ain’t sold ’til escrow’s over. So upkeep is key. Especially during inspections, where people are ACTIVELY looking for things wrong with your home. Make sure everything’s up to date and have your HVAC, sewer, etc. checked and/or serviced ahead of time so that there aren’t any surprises. Also make sure your home looks its absolute best-Learn from my horribly ruined manicure and aching back, and, in preparation for staging your current home, take a few days to do the following:

-bleach grout in the bathrooms and kitchen (using the Clorox Bleach Pen - $6)

-get rid of dirt and scuff marks on walls, doors, ceilings (Magic Eraser - $3; Paint - $11)

-get dust out of corners and off moldings

-clean out the gutters

-Windex both sides of windows to let in as much light as possible

-put close to half of your furniture into storage (a POD or something like it can cost around $75 a month - they drop it off and take it away; will deliver it to your new house when you’re ready for it). Less furniture allows the buyer to imagine their own stuff in the space.

-clean everything. And clean out/organize your cabinets and closets: potential buyers have every right to be nosy and look through every part of your place, as it will give them an indication of how well you kept the rest of your home.

Once you’ve got your home staged and looking perfect, you won’t want to leave! Always the way. Like having a great hair day when you’ve scheduled to get it all chopped off.

Clean your f*cking house! No one will (or should) buy a house that looks like you haven’t kept it up well because your mess is distracting, and should make a buyer think twice about your pride of ownership and, thus, how well you kept the rest of the house. Deal with your dirty dishes. Break out the vacuum.Windex your windows. BOTH sides of them. If you accidentally got schmutz on the windows when you were touching up the stucco outside, SCRAPE IT OFF. Don’t leave it for the next owner because there might not BE a next owner if you don’t present your house well.If you know you’re not up for these tasks, it’s absolutely worth it to spend $60-$100 to have the whole house professionally cleaned.