txvoodoo

53, originally from Philly too. We always went "down the shore." I really miss it. So much. I like Texas, but I hate being landlocked in DFW. I miss being 60-90 minutes from the shore!

It's like they were princesses of some weirdass kingdom of Quiverful Land and Josh was the heir apparent. Well, now the heir's committed sacrilege and has been exiled, the King is dethroned, and the princesses have lost their only value in terms of their status in Quiverful Land. This is practically medieval.

This was one of my first indications that these people were not good people. I don't trust those who don't like animals, and it keeps being validated.

Or gets her own agent. She needs to write a book, get a podcast. America may love a redemption story, but even more, we love a woman who beats the odds after she's been put down. If she did something to help other subjugated women?

I'm from the Northeast but I've lived in Texas for 16 years now. I can count on one hand the occasions where I've seen people in boots & hats like that, and one was the State Fair. To be honest, it's so damned hot down here, most of what people are in is shorts and tshirts. Practicality rules!

Depends on the size of the house, I guess? If it also functions as an eating counter, it can work. I agree though - many times it takes up "flow" space. I don't like to be cramped in the kitchen. I have a great layout though - 1 wall is a halfwall so we have a peninsula on it.

Here's an article on two of the types of reno+mortgage thingies: http://www.interest.com/fha-loans/news/finance-fixer-upper/ (thingie is a technical term ;))

I'm ok with having a big kitchen, because a lot of the time, you end up with a lot of family there & you have big dinners. Whenever we went down the shore, we always made seafood (crabs, mussels, etc) or spread out cold cuts and stuff for lunches. You want a lot of counter space for that. eating every meal out gets expensive when you're a family. Also, this way you can just go back to the house still in your bathing suit. You certainly don't need an office though, or uber luxury.

I admit, I skipped to the end of the episode because it the middle drama is starting to bore me. Martha and Alex: WAY too much furniture, shoulda had a sleeper sofa, removed a closet? Never do that. Also, they replaced a wicker chair with..2 wicker chairs. :D The Obnoxious Ladies: That bunk bed looked horrible. The "whale" looked really unfinished. That closet they left over is like one you'd put in your kitchen to store cookie sheets. Why bother? (except you can't list it as a bedroom with NO closet). Good on the sleeper sofa but under that bed is ridiculous. But the furniture doesn't..match. The desk doesn't go with the wicker chair doesn't go with the sofa, etc. And they're right - the lighting isn't good. Sarah & Nick: love the wainscoting. Nice desk nook. Pullout sofa, check. Desk, check. And they managed to get it in without shrinking the closet down to nothing. TV, good move. I like the shelves near the desk. :D They really created a lot of storage, versus the others who lost it. Mahdi & Melissa: Wow, it's really really pretty. I'm usually not a big modern fan but that's nice. Also, way to KEEP the closet structure but use the space for other things. That means that a buyer can turn it back into a dedicated bedroom really easily - as most will, because that's more important in a vacation house!

We don't know that the listed price has anything to do with the winners - they're going with appraisers valuations & percentage increased.

Works for me. Maybe you have to be lgoged into zillow? It seems overpriced compared to other properties in the area. Here's the listing without the map: http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1451-W-Beach-Blvd-E-Gulf-Shores-AL-36542/2102764227_zpid/

Thanks for the tip - gonna try it! My fridge is fine - we bought that to match the range & dishwasher in the house, but those have some smudges. A lot of people buying a fixer-upper with that in mind get a home reno loan folded into their mortgage. I can't remember the name for it off the top of my head, but that's how I understand that they can do it.

Do you have a link to them? I'm 90% sure that's allowed here. :)

Ohhh - so that's who. The guy who owned the mansion she left in mid stream. See this post: And this is the Gold Guys: http://www.goldguys.com/about/

Except, of course, where she ended her latest season of Rehab Addict with a profile shot of her belly in a state of advanced pregnancy. She wants the attention but only on her terms?

Napolitan? Pfft, mainland. ;) (friendly jab, y'all!) I asked my grandmother once why no sugar, because I had friends' moms who put it in. She said, in the US, sugar was too expensive when they first came here, and in Sicily, it was too rare. They'd get sweetness from the process of cooking, or from fruits in desserts. One thing she taught me was that everything they did had a reason, either in the accessibility of ingredients, or the cost. We came from peasants, and then they had the Depression when the moved here. The good thing is that I learned from her how to cook delicious stuff on a budget!

I'm a Sicilian raised in Philly, and we put no sugar in our gravy, and never have. I'm using the recipe my grandmother & great grandmother used - going back to 1902, when we came to the US. And my family in Sicily doesn't add sugar, either. The secret is slow and low. Simmer it for a couple of hours, and the carmelization will add its own sweetness.

Finally! A flop!

Exactly. If the choices for your son to satisfy his puberty curiosity are A) read porn or B) molest his sisters, and you think B is a better choice, well...I don't know what to say.

I like it! I'd gotten tired of Christina's vocal fry, and the California prices.

Because Matt Blashaw was filming another show - that Vacation House for Free show. He announced that the new guy was just filling in a while ago.

Actually, they did. "The Duggars have a P.R. expert helping the Duggars tell their story: Chad Gallagher, the head of the Arkansas firm Legacy Consulting. Gallagher is also a longtime adviser to Huckabee, and is the executive director of Huck PAC." from http://money.cnn.com/2015/06/03/media/duggar-parents-interview-fox-news/index.html?iid=SF_LN

Tarek & Christina have 2 new shows coming up. (from: http://www.scrippsnetworksinteractive.com/newsroom/company-news/Pages/HGTV-Adds-New-Series,-Original-Programming-to-2015-Slate.aspx ) Flip or Flop Follow-Up Series premiere: June TBD From the most successful flips to the biggest flops, find out what happened to the houses that remained unsold on Flip or Flop. In Flip or Flop Follow-Up, cameras reveal what happens behind-the-scenes of Tarek and Christina El Moussa’s most interesting house flipping experiences. Also: "Flip or Flop at Home, which will highlight renovations and preparations for the birth of Tarek and Christina’s baby." (No mention of date on that.)

It went nowhere -- they didn't spend the $4,500 for indoor laundry.

Meant to mention - she's gonna be on another new series: "Due to the success of competition titles, HGTV will premiere Beach Flip, which features three of the network’s renovation and design experts—host Josh Temple and coaches David Bromstad and Nicole Curtis—as they mentor contestants in a beachside renovation challenge." (from http://www.scrippsnetworksinteractive.com/newsroom/company-news/Pages/HGTV-Adds-New-Series,-Original-Programming-to-2015-Slate.aspx) More info here: http://blog.hgtv.com/ihearthgtv/2015/05/29/get-ready-for-an-all-new-hgtv-summer-series-beach-flip/ She's definitely showing in the promos, so it was filmed this year. It premieres July 5.