Ashley's Garden Update: July 2010

Hey there everyone! I bet you've been wondering what's the latest update with my garden? You haven't...well, I'm going to tell you anyways! LOL!

Most of my plants are doing very well although I'm sad to say that my cilantro plant died due to all the heavy rains that we had. It drowned from too much water in the pot. I wish I could plant things in the ground, where they do so much better!

Here are some pictures from my garden:

These are some yummy veggies that I picked: grape tomatoes, yellow banana peppers, sugar snap peas, and green beans!

These are my green beans that I made for dinner after just being picked! They were soooo good with some butter and breadcrumbs!

This is my lantana plant that has gotten huge! It's doing so well in the ground!

This is my garden in the back, which also does very well every year. The in-ground sprinklers hit it just right and when it rains, it really saturates the area back there!

This plant has grown into a huge bush!

Here's a jalapeno from my plant. I plan on making this jalapeno cheddar potato soup that my parents had on a cruise and the waiter gave them the recipe for...yum! (recipe to come soon I'm sure!! lol)

Here are some yellow banana peppers on my plant. I want to make a relish with these for Italian sub sandwiches.

Here are some green peppers from my plant. I also have red peppers, which start out looking exactly like this.

Well, I hope you like looking at my progress! Sorry I couldn't figure out how to flip my pictures I'm starting to look forward to mums in the fall and mini pumpkins! But mostly pumpkin spice lattes!

- Ashley

Recipe of the Month: Heavenly Chocolate Mousse

Hey there! You absolutely have to try my favorite recipe for chocolate mousse...it's so delicious! It takes a little work, but it's definitely worth it in the end! It's from my Betty Crocker Cookbook!

Ingredients:
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 cup (heavy) whipping cream
- 1 package (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips (1 cup)
- 1 1/2 cups whipping (heavy) cream

Directions:
1. Beat egg yolks in small bowl with electric mixer on high speed about 3 minutes or until thick and lemon colored. Gradually beat in sugar.
2. Heat 1 cup whipping cream in 2-quart saucepan over medium heat just until hot.
3. Gradually stir at least half of the hot cream into egg yolk mixture, then stir back into hot cream in saucepan. Cook over low heat about 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens (do not boil).
4. Stir in chocolate chips until melted. Cover and refrigerate about 2 hours, stirring occasionally, just until chilled.
5. Beat 1 1/2 cups whipping cream in chilled medium bowl on high speed until stiff. Fold chocolate mixture into whipped cream. Pipe or spoon mixture into dessert dishes. Refrigerate until serving. Store covered in refrigerator.

Be ready to indulge yourself! Let me know if you make it...I'd love to know what you think!

- Ashley

New Affiliate Staging Company: Elle M Staging

Hey There!

I'm super excited to announce my new partnership with a local staging company servicing the Chicagoland area. They are called Elle M Staging and here is a word from them:

In today’s real estate market home staging is critical. A house on the market for too long not only loses dollar value but loses buyer interest. Don’t neglect the opportunity to get the most out of your largest investment!

Elle M Staging will set your house apart from comparable homes in your area and help avoid costly price reductions. 

In our initial consultation, we tour your house and present ideas and solutions to your most challenging spaces.

Through furniture placement, wall color, accessorizing, and more we will neutralize and bring alive your house.

Create that winning first impression so buyers can envision themselves living there!

Elle M Staging is now offering professional home staging in the Chicago land area.

Take advantage of our affordable services by contacting us today at:

708.805.6886 or ellemstaging@gmail.com

View us on the web at ellemstaging.com

I hope you'll take a minute to visit their website!

- Ashley

New Phone: Motorola Cliq XT powered by Android

So after having plenty of issues with my T-mobile MyTouch and 3 exchanges later, T-mobile finally decided to replace my phone with a different phone all together. They sent me a Motorola Cliq XT. So far, I'm not gonna lie, I really like the phone...even more than the MyTouch. The only problem that I'm having right now is that it's on the 1.5 version of Android and the MyTouch was on 1.6. On the 1.5 version of Android, there is no navigation in Google maps. Being a real estate agent, I used that navigation on my MyTouch like it was going out of style!

All in all, it's a pretty neat phone. Being an avid Facebook junky, I like that there are a lot of social media tools on this phone. When someone calls or I call them, the contact's Facebook picture shows up on the phone! I like this feature because people update their Facebook pictures frequently and so I will always have a current picture of someone in my phone! Another pretty sweet thing is that there are 5 screens as opposed to the MyTouch's 3 screens. I definitely will be filling those screens up with my favorite apps and widgets!

My only complaint is that my contacts transferred over strangely and it will take me a little bit of time to perfect them.

Anyways, I am hoping that this phone will allow me to be an even more efficient Realtor!

- Ashley

The Housing Market: Supply and Demand

Remember that dreaded economics class back in high school or college? Supply and demand? Well, hopefully you paid attention to your professor, because economics plays a large role in the housing market.

Remember that as the demand for something goes up and the supply goes down, the value and price go up? And likewise as the demand for something goes down and the supply goes up because there's more available, the value and price go down?

Now in terms of the housing market, as the supply of housing went up and the demand fell, the values and prices fell. Many people do not think of the housing market in this way. All sellers think that their house is worth more than they paid for it, which isn't always the case. Since there are fewer buyers out there nowadays, they truly have the upper-hand in most cases. Once demand for housing begins increasing, we will see the supply decrease and the value and prices will begin to rise.

Thinking of selling your home? At least we are in the prime summer months where showing activity is generally higher than other times of the year. Contact me today and I will share my marketing plan with you. When you list with me, you also get a free home staging consultation! Call or email me for more details! 708-307-9616 or sales@ashleywydra.com

- Ashley

Ready to List your Home?

Don't miss out on all the summer buyer activity! List with me and get a free home staging consultation, too!

There are two things that sell your home: being priced correctly and being marketed correctly. Get both when you list with me! I utilize an extensive online marketing campaign and share several comparable properties when pricing your home.

Let's get your home SOLD! Contact me today @ 708-307-9616 or sales@ashleywydra.com. Don't forget to visit my website http://www.ashleywydra.com/ to see my listings plus search through the entire MLS of available properties!

- Ashley

110 Sonoma Road, New Lenox, IL 60451

19816 S. Edinburgh Lane, Frankfort, IL 60423

Awesome New Feature Added to AshleyWydra.com!

Hey Guys,

I wanted to let you know about this cool new feature that I added to my website: Live Chat! On my contact page, customers and clients can now chat live with me! Check it out: http://www.ashleywydra.com/contact.htm

Let me know what you think! : )

- Ashley

Recipe of the Month: June 2010 - Garlic Chicken Pizza

This is such a unique twist on pizza and is very light and refreshing! I hope you'll give it a try!

Ingredients


- 1 skinless, boneless chicken breast half
- 2 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons chopped green onion
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 (10 ounce) can refrigerated pizza crust dough
- 2 roma (plum) tomatoes, diced
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
 
Directions


Place the chicken breast in a saucepan with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, and cook until no longer pink, about 20 minutes. Drain and cool slightly, then cut into strips.

Meanwhile, in a small skillet over medium heat, melt the butter with garlic, onion and basil. Pour into a chilled dish to cool, and refrigerate until set.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Roll out the pizza dough, place onto a pizza pan or other baking sheet, and spread the herb butter over the surface using the back of a spoon. Arrange chicken on top, then dot with ricotta cheese. Top with tomato slices, cilantro and Parmesan cheese.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until crust is browned and center is cooked through.

Some of the things that I did are use butter (I never use margarine) and added in some extra garlic because I love it! The ricotta cheese sounds strange, but is definitely a lighter cheese than mozzarella and gives it a unique texture!

I'd love to hear your thoughts if you make this dish!

- Ashley

Garden Update: June 2010

My garden is really thriving now and my herbs are getting really big! It smells amazing when you walk out onto my patio because of the cilantro and basil, especially. I also planted green beans and sugar snap peas from seed and they are huge already!

my herbs: basil, cilantro, peppermint, parsley, and chives. Please send me some good recipes for these!!!

This is my grape tomato plant! This is definitely my must-have every summer. Now that I have the basil, all I need is some fresh mozzarella for a yummy appetizer!!!

These are my HUGE green beans, started from seed less than a month ago!! They sprouted up so fast I couldn't even believe it!

These are my sugar snap peas, which also sprouted up super fast! They are beginning to vine up the tomato cage and I have since put additional stakes in the pot for them to grow up, too.

This is my 3-year old lavendar plant, started as a small plant no larger than a baseball!!!! It smells wonderful on my patio!

These are just some pretty purple flowers in my garden!

This is the planter on my front porch and the sweet potato vines are becoming really big already!

This is my favorite little doggie planter!

Well, I hope you enjoy seeing the progress of my garden! I'd love if you'd share some recipes for me to try with my fresh herbs!

- Ashley

Beautiful 2 Bedroom, 2.1 Bath Townhouse in Plainfield, IL

Happy sunny Tuesday everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend! I wanted to share this new listing with you in Plainfield, IL!

Take a look at this beautiful townhouse on realtor.com: http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/11915-Holly-Court_Plainfield_IL_60585_1119005976

Thunderstorms and Lightning Bolts

So during last night's heavy storms, I couldn't sleep at all! Buster, my 5 year-old cairn terrier is absolutely terrified of thunderstorms and was literally hyperventilating! Baxter, my one-year old cairn terrier was just walking around the bedroom, obviously also being kept up by all the noise outside.

I started thinking about how thunderstorms are nature's way of keeping us in check - meaning that they make us enjoy nice weather all the better. Then, I began relating this information to my real estate career - the rude, inconsiderate customers make me appreciate the grateful, friendly ones all the better! Sometimes, I think people are under the misconception that agents get paid a salary, which is not true. A lot of buyers don't feel any sense of loyalty to an agent and may work with many agents. It's a matter of convenience for them, as to who ends up getting the commission, even though the other agents may have dedicated hours of work to that particular buyer. Unless people have worked on commission before, they simply don't understand how it works or affects an agent who has spent countless hours working for them and doesn't receive a penny of income.

Of course, then there are the greatest buyers in the world who stay loyal to you no matter what and truly work with only you as their exclusive agent. Those are the best kind of clients to have. However, I must treat all my clients as though they are these wonderful buyers until they give me a reason to act otherwise. Getting stood up, betrayed for another agent, or simply used as a means to get information are all reasons that I'd be happy to let another agent deal with a particular buyer. Real estate agents don't go through all the training and classes, get their certification, take their continuing education classes and become professionals to be treated as any less than that! If I am not treated as a professional, then I'd rather let the client work with a different agent, who may or may not care about them as much as I do.

All I can do is give my clients the best service possible and hope that they will conform to the world's greatest buyer status and not the opposite. Referrals are truly the highest compliment that an agent can receive and I appreciate any and all that come my way!

As for the thunderstorms that are on the way this afternoon, I say bring them on...I will only enjoy my sunny, clear days more!

- Ashley

Amazing Taco Pizza Recipe That I Recently Made!

So I recently came across this taco pizza recipe on allrecipes.com and absolutely fell in love with it! I decided to feature it this month in my e-newsletter and here is the recipe:

Ingredients


- 1/2 pound ground beef
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 (16 ounce) can refried beans
- 4 (10 inch) flour tortillas
- 1/2 cup salsa
- 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
- 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 2 roma (plum) tomatoes, diced
- 1/4 cup finely chopped jalapeno peppers
- 1/4 cup sour cream (optional)
 
Directions


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Coat 2 pie plates with non-stick cooking spray.

Place beef, onion and garlic in a skillet over medium heat. Cook until beef is evenly browned. Drain off grease. Season the meat with chili powder, cumin, paprika, salt and pepper.

Lay one tortilla in each pie plate, and cover with a layer of refried beans. Spread half of the seasoned ground beef over each one, and then cover with a second tortilla. Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven.

Remove the plates from the oven, and let cool slightly. Spread half of the salsa over each top tortilla. Cover each pizza with half of the Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses. Place half of the tomatoes, half of the green onions, and half of the jalapeno slices onto each one.

Return the pizzas to the oven, and bake for 5 to 10 more minutes, until the cheese is melted. Remove from the oven, and let cool slightly before slicing each one into 4 pieces.
 

Here are my results:

 
 

Here's the link to the allrecipes.com page: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Jimmys-Mexican-Pizza/Detail.aspx

Definitely let me know what you think when you make it!

- Ashley

 
 
 

Ashley's Garden Update!

Slacking isn't even the right word to use here...I'm basically ignoring my blog...not purposefully, believe me! Things have been insane and I have been out there working it in the real estate world. I did recently take a trip out to Grant Park, IL, to Wagner's and Sunrise, and I wanted to write about it and share the beginnings of my garden this year with you!

I bought TONS of flowers this year and filled the entire trunk! It's hard to stop once you get started!

I brought them home to their "adjustment period" in the garage (and my car has to "rough it" outside for a few days!) and here are some pictures from that:

A lot of the green, leafy ones are veggies. This year I am growing jalapenos, yellow bell peppers, red bell peppers, candy onions (sweeter than vidalia!), of course my famous grape tomatoes, and a huge assortment of herbs!

Here are some of my supplies - I use the organic dirt for all my veggies and herbs because I grow them in pots and don't want them exposed to any unhealthy stuff! I use the garden soil with fertilizer in it for my flowers that go in the ground.

Close up of one of my pretty pink flowers!

Here are some of my herbs: peppermint, chives, basil, parsley and the orange one in the right corner is my cilantro! I am also growing green beans and sugar snap peas from seed! And of course my green onions! Yummmmmmmmmm!

What are some of your favorite things to grow in your garden?

- Ashley