1001 Stonewood Circle

Front view.  We also have a large side yard.




Foyer / entryway




Dining room with bay window

Living room with bay window




Den with high-efficiency gas logs and fully vented (traditional) fireplace




Eat-in kitchen, French doors open to patio




Kitchen island with prep sink, under-cabinet lighting throughout




Double oven -- gas stove with electric / convection ovens




Extra-large sink.




Master bedroom with tray ceiling




Glass shower in master bathroom




Master bathroom with jetted tub




Master closet




Guest bedroom (picture 1)




Guest bedroom (picture 2)




Girls' bedroom




Girls' closet




Bonus room -- also has two large walk-in closets




Hall bath with double vanity




Fenced backyard (picture 1)




Fenced backyard (picture 2) -- storage building stays with house




Covered patio with skylights, fan, lighting, and gas grill hookup

Post-It® Notes

According to the 3M website, Post-It® notes were first sold nationwide in 1980. It wasn’t long after that that my dad brought home a stack to me after work one day. (He would bring me little “treats” from time to time, and I always got so excited.) As a 6-year old, I was amazed that I could stick something to the wall and not get in trouble for it. And thus began my love of Post-It® notes.

Post-It® notes just make me feel organized....and professional. (Forget I’m sitting here in my pajamas, surrounded by random Post-It® notes, amid a sea of coupons that need filing. It’s a feeling; reality is sometimes overrated.) And I like the crinkly cellophane wrapper with the built-in pull tab to open it. It's like getting a new CD.

One of my favorite “happies” over the past couple of years was a birthday present from my Aunt Linda. It’s a pop-up Post-It® note dispenser. It has a nice padded bottom, filled with sand (to keep it from sliding around), and it’s PINK. I would say that’s the perfect mix of form and function.

With this dispenser in mind, the majority of the Post-It® notes I use these days are the standard square size. I do like to get a little crazy and buy the bright color pack of notes. (I reserve the standard light yellow color for when I’m trying to show restraint and/or actually be professional.) I use Post-It® notes all the time….mostly for lists….lots of lists. (Writing lists in neat print, sometimes with bullet points, is another thing that makes me happy. But that’s a topic for another day.)

I also have the tiny notes on hand, which I use most often to flag pages in books and magazines. And the larger rectangular notes are great for the longer to-do lists that I like to put inside my calendar.

And that brings me to perhaps the best thing about Post-It® notes….they allow you to be non-committal. Decide you no longer like the recipe you flagged? Toss the Post-It® note! Want to throw away your to-do list without a trace (because you didn’t cross even one thing off)? Toss the Post-It® note! Oops.…except wait….I need that one back. Good thing my “bright color notes” stand out in the recycle bin!

Jelly Beans

Mmmm….fresh jelly beans (as compared to the stale ones that I inevitably found in the bottom of my Easter basket as a kid, a couple of weeks after Easter)....nothing else quite signals the beginning of spring! (Yes, I know it’s February 16th. But hey, I bought my first round of Valentine’s candy before New Year’s. Don’t judge me. I like sugar.)

My favorite jelly beans are the “tiny jelly bird eggs.” I find the “classic” eggs, while reminiscent of my childhood, a little too robust. They’re larger than the “tiny” eggs, and thus it’s harder to eat multiple beans at a time.

Multiple beans at a time? Yes, I like certain combinations of beans, in particular red + orange + yellow. And white goes with most anything. But I always eat the black ones by themselves. So don’t ask me what my favorite flavor is, or – with the exception of black – what flavor is red (cherry? strawberry? pomegranate?). I don’t know. It doesn't matter. I just like jelly beans.

I also like the “spiced” jelly beans, again as long as they’re of the “tiny” variety. They’re great to add a little kick to my jelly bean flight mid-season. Just don’t buy me any “Sweet Tarts” jelly beans, or any of those “new age” flavors. If I wanted Sweet Tarts, I would buy Sweet Tarts. Sweet Tarts are not jelly beans. And “Jelly Belly” brand beans are OK, just not during the Easter season.

I take my jelly beans pretty seriously. But there are less than two months between Valentine’s Day and Easter this year, so I don’t have time for folly.