Did you know that Presidents’ Day was originally celebrated on George Washington’s birthday? Until the late 1960’s, when the Uniform Monday Holiday Act was passed, which was an effort to create more three-day weekends for workers. After that, Lincoln was added to the holiday and eventually it came to be a celebration of all past Presidents.  

So who was George Washington, did he chop down his father’s cherry tree and then confess to everything saying, “I cannot tell a lie?”  The short answer? No. George Washington was a man of honesty and integrity, an inspiring leader of men, and a humble servant of his country. But the cherry tree story is fiction – invented by Mason Locke Weems, Washington’s biographer, to make the point that the public greatness of the first President was directly linked to his noble private virtues. 

But when I think of George Washington, I still can’t help but think of that cherry tree, which of course makes me think of FOOD!  Like cherry pie, cherries jubilee, cherry ice cream and, of course, chocolate covered cherries.  Little boxes of chocolate covered cherries, bought at our childhood neighborhood drug store, were my brother’s yearly gift to me for every occasion.  I recently found a recipe for chocolate covered cherries that I can’t wait to try – you can try it as well by clicking here.

It has been a very gloomy winter for Texas these past couple of months. If you don’t already have cabin fever, you’re likely feeling it coming on. Being stuck inside is a great excuse for some organization. If you’re falling behind on your New Year’s resolutions, think of this as a freebie. Don’t wait around for “spring cleaning”…let’s get organized!

One place at a time.

First, pick a room or area that needs the most attention, or gives you the biggest headache, and devise a plan. Don’t try to take on the whole house at once. That gets chaotic and overwhelming very quickly, and can often just create more of a mess. This first task could be as simple as the junk drawer in the kitchen that isn’t shutting as easily, or a small space like your laundry room.

Make some rules.

Decide on a few pre-set rules about what you’ll keep and what you’ll get rid of. Star with 3 piles: keep, toss, and donate. If you are organizing your closet, a good rule to have is to donate or toss anything you haven’t worn in the past year. If it is torn or stained, toss it! Over the years you might have collected several sentimental items, and they now dominate your spare closet or even bedroom. Give yourself permission to get rid of those items. If you’re struggling to dismiss sentimental value, try taking a picture of the item and print it out for the sake of the memory. Holding on to your grandmother’s beautiful, huge lamp that once set on her living room side table, (but now rests in a random closet) is only taking up space.

Invest in drawer or cabinet organizers.

A messy drawer is not conducive to productivity. Drawer organizers keep things in their place and makes them look tidy and neat. The Container Store is a great place to to start for inspiration on how to organize almost any space in your home. By adding sliding drawers and/or tiered stacking shelves, you keep your most frequently used items up front, visible, and accessible. To really utilize every inch of drawer space, use expandable and modular organizers. These will help you organize your items by shape, function and/or frequency. Labeling your containers will help you continue putting things back where they belong. 

These are just a few motivational tips to help you get started on your next organization project. Whether organization is a talent you have, or you find it to be exhausting, we can all agree an organized house makes for a happy house. Do you have some tips that work for you and your family? If so, share below, we would love to hear from you!

Like a lot of popular modern holidays, Valentine’s Day has its roots in ancient traditions, religious rituals and important figures of the time. And like a lot of popular modern holidays, we have successfully turned Valentine’s Day into a flamboyant, color-soaked, commercial affair with a cute winged mascot to boot. Somehow since its humble beginnings in ancient Rome, Valentine’s Day has become one of the most celebrated holidays of the year, with some pretty outstanding, sometimes unsettling, statistics…

• Average spent annually in the US on Valentine’s Day – $18.5 billion
• Valentine’s Cards exchanged annually – 180 million
• Average number of roses grown for Valentine’s Day – 224 million
• Percent of Valentine’s Day cards bought by women – 85%
• Percent of all flowers purchased by men – 73%
• Percent of women who send themselves flowers on Valentine’s Day – 14%
• Average number of children conceived on Valentine’s Day – 11,000
• Pounds of chocolate purchased during Valentine’s week – 58 million
• Number of Sweetheart conversation hearts produced annually – 8 billion
• Average spent per capita on Valentine’s Day gifts for pets – $5.50

Whether you need to send flowers to yourself or pick up a nice bouquet of rose-shaped treats for your favorite dog, don’t leave it to the last minute – with statistics like that, you don’t want to miss out!

Happy Valentine’s Day from everyone at Beth Ferester & Company.

Need some ideas to help make your Valentine’s Day special? Whether you’re searching for something fun for your wife, husband, girlfriend, or a night out with friends, there are many local options right here in the Woodlands area for you to celebrate at. Some events will require a reservation, so plan ahead!

If you’re looking for a Valentine’s Day special…try out one of these places for dinner!

• Morton’s Steakhouse will serve steak and Lobster Oscar at their “Dine Your Heart Out” from February 9th-16th.
• Robard’s Steakhouse is having a Galentine’s Day event on February 13th. So grab your gal pals for drink specials and bar bites!
• Landry’s Seafood restaurant will be hosting a “Love at First Bite” romantic dinner on the special day.
• Jasper’s in Market Street is offering up a four-course dinner on the 14th and 15th. If you haven’t tried the blue cheese potato chips with roasted garlic herb butter, it’s a favorite among the locals.
• Dosey Doe, a restaurant and live music venue is hosting it’s 5th year celebrating with BJ Thomas. You will want to get a prime seat for his show, “Hooked on a Feeling”.
• The Glade Gallery offers another live music option in their romantic art gallery setting. You will be treated to a “My Jazzy Valentine Dinner,”  (four courses), champagne, a bottle of wine, and you’ll be entertained by the music lineup with Woody Witt Jazz Quartet featuring Ermelinda Cuellar on vocals.

If you want to skip the long lines at a restaurant, Wild Stallion Vineyards is having a Valentine’s Day cooking class. You will be greeted with a champagne cocktail and cheese and charcuterie board. Each couple will then be assigned a decadent course to create with Chef Mills.

If you’re craving something creative, Painting With a Twist makes for a unique date on this holiday. The instructor will show you step by step directions on how to paint a beautiful work of art that you can take home.

Don’t forget to make reservations, get a babysitter, and a gift before it’s too late.

Whether you’re still in the first chapter of your love story, celebrating your 50th Valentine’s Day together, or spending time with close friends, start planning your special night. Happy Valentine’s Day! 

Check in with your favorite restaurants to see if they are having any specials, and let us know in the comments…

Teams are all set! It’s the Patriots vs. the Rams for Super Bowl LIII. Did your favorite team make it? Regardless of who you’re rooting for (or if you’re just there for the commercials), you are going to want your Super Bowl party to score big with all your fans. Here are some fun ideas that are sure to inspire you the perfect party. 

Decorations

Nothing too out of the box here…the theme? Football. You can focus on your favorite team, or do a mix for guests that are rooting against you. Pinterest is your friend when coming up with fun DIY decorations that your guests will love. If kids are invited, set up and decorate a “concession stand” for fun grab and go snacks. Let them decorate paper bags with football stickers and fill them with popcorn, chips or pretzels. Mason jars can be transformed into cute decorations to organize your utensils. Use black and white striped paint and a whistle tied around the mouth of the jar to represent a referee. Try brown paint and white tape for football looking jar. You can even paint white x’s and o’s to look like a playbook! 

Food

The food is always the highlight when it comes to the perfect Super Bowl party. There are hundreds of recipes online to help you wow your guests. A few must-haves are dips, finger foods and of course, drinks.  This isn’t the time to treat your guests to a 5-course meal, so think along the lines of kabobs, sliders, wings, and meatballs. To bring your decor out in your recipes, use toothpicks and add little “pennants” to the ends to stick into any bite-sized foods. There are lots of ways to get creative with drinks, too. If you are a Patriots fan you might like the “Patriots Pass”. Or, for the Rams fans, check out these themed jello shots! 

Entertainment

Of course, the main entertainment at this party will be the game. But for before, after, or any lulls in between…everyone loves a good photo booth. Cover a small area in your house or backyard with either a table cloth, a sheet, or a fun backdrop to begin. Gather some props like footballs, whistles, pom poms, or other football themed trinkets you might find online. This is also a fun way to involve your guests if they have anything they think would make for a good addition like an old football helmet or jersey, tell them to bring it along! 

Game time is upon us…so start planning! No matter who comes out on top, your Super Bowl party will score big with all your guests. Here’s to Super Bowl LIII!

One of the top reported New Year’s resolutions was to spend less time on your phone and more time in the moment with family and friends.

Sound familiar?

It’s more challenging than you probably originally thought! The average individual spends around 3.6 hours a day on their phone. If the numbers displayed teens only, that number would be even higher. This data purely reflects cell phone usage, it does not include all the other screens that we interact with on a daily basis. If your phone has become a “time stealer”, and has distracted you from those around you, here are some ideas that may help you be more present.

1. Turn off the notifications.

This might seem obvious, (and scary!) but not receiving the constant buzzes and bings of every notification can help you avoid constantly checking your phone. Almost all of our apps give us the option to be notified of updates within it. Do you really need to know the second Aunt Mary posts a picture of her dog, or when your best friend from high school goes to the gym on Facebook? Social media has the power to quickly suck you in, and once you open the app, 45 minutes can easily go by without you realizing the time you’re spending. This doesn’t mean you have to go off the grid and post a status update telling all your friends you’re ditching social media…it just means having designated times to check in. 

2. Establish phone-free zones.

If your household is like most, even on the rare occasion everyone is together, phones are in hand. It’s a tough habit to break. When quality time is the goal, set a basket out for everyone to put their phone in. No calls, text, or snapchats invading your evening makes for deeper conversation opportunities. Having the phones physically out of reach during these times will help with the temptation to even just take a peek. Designate times that work for you and your family or friends that you agree to ditch the phones so that you can all interact and be present. 

3. Plan engaging activities.

With technology grabbing all of our attention and our time, it is hard to keep everyone’s attention. Plan activities that will engage everyone. Most of our games we play are now on our phones, and we play against strangers that we have no connection to. Introducing a new card or board game is a great way to foster teamwork and conversation with your friends and family.

In a technology-driven society, it has become the expectation to answer the text, email or message immediately. The more of us that choose to priortize family and friends over our phones in 2019, the sooner that culture can shift. Make it your resolution to unplug and engage with the people you love.

Beth Ferester & Company meetings are actually sharing meetings. Our team members come
together, pull up chairs in a circle, and share personal and professional stories, ideas, advice, and
encouragement. This unique team of agents has surpassed any goals and expectations I had for
them in 2018, both professionally and personally, and I am convinced that is a result of the group
synergy, from which we all draw to boost own our talents and goals.

At the last meeting of the year, I asked each agent to say what they were thankful for over the
past year. Thankfulness for each other was a consistent theme. Never before have I had the
privilege of working with such an amazing, successful group of women who care so much about
others. We have shared weddings, births, losses, and achievements and have given back to the
community as much as possible.

On the first day of the new year, I decided to ask for something other than resolutions, since
those are typically focused on dropping bad habits. Instead, I asked every agent to come up with
one word that would be symbolic to them for the coming year. I asked my family members
gathered with us in Maine this holiday season to do the same. Amazingly, I gathered all the
words within a matter of minutes from my two responsive groups.

Check out our list of words and ponder what you might choose. There are some beautiful and
fulfilling thoughts apparent in the choice of words.

May all of you have the most wonderful year ahead in 2019. We hope you will let us be a part of
your year.

The holidays bring so much excitement! The hustle and bustle is all around, and we have some bright ideas to help you create the perfect holiday memories. The Woodlands has so much to offer when it comes to celebrating, so take some time to enjoy some of these festive activities.

The Woodlands Ice Rink is open until January 21, 2019, and is located in the Cynthia Woods Mitchel Pavillion multi-purpose building. It is fun for all ages, and you can wear your favorite mittens and hats to keep you warm while skating to holiday music.

The Enchanted Forest is open until January 6th, 2019. This is a magical multi-sensory light dance and theater installation that invites audiences to experience a winter forest. It is family friendly and is located in and around the Glade Arts Foundation building on Woodlands Parkway. It is sure to get all the “ooooh’s and ahhhhh’s,” with its glowing lights and natural beauty.

If you haven’t gotten your pictures made with Santa yet, you still have time! He hasn’t finished making his list, so your kids can still tell him all their wishes. Market Street has the much loved holiday tradition “Smile with Santa”. He will be there until December 24th. It is the perfect setting to create those special pictures with the holly jolly man himself.

If you are searching for all the sparkling lights, you might find what you are looking for at the Gullo House. It is located on Old Hockley Rd. It is a 5-acre wonderland of music and magic. The lights will be up until New Year’s Eve, so grab your family and take in this special attraction. Also, there is the “Winter Wonderland,” which is a lighted display that runs along the two sides of the ice rink in the Woodlands. So, after you enjoy a day of ice skating, grab your hot chocolate and take in the lights.

If you are already planning for your New Year’s Eve, we have some ideas that you might enjoy. Dosey Doe Big Barn is having a New Year’s celebration. If you have never been to the Big Barn, you are missing out. It is a wonderful live music venue with amazing food. Mike Zito Band with Ally Venable will be putting on a great show, and there are still tickets available. There are also several other restaurants that will be having live music and special events to help you ring in the new year. Amerigos, Baker Street, Bar Louie, and Kirby’s are just a few around town that you might want to check out. 

No matter how you end up celebrating these next couple of weeks, remember to slow down and capture some memories. This sweet time only comes once a year!

 

If you stop to think about it, there are thousands and thousands of lids and caps, to all sorts of things. You’ve got your jar lids, your bottle tops, caps on toothpaste – the list goes on and on. Personally, I can’t stand it when the lids on my jelly jars become impossible to remove because of the disgusting layer of jam that somehow makes its way to the top of the jar. Solution, of course, clean the top of the jar each time it is opened, but how many of us do that?

I’m also not a fan of the ketchup bottles in restaurants that have a thick coating of ketchup all around the rim, causing the cap to only partially close. That is really a turn-off don’t you think?

Now, as for toothpaste, I always put the lid back on the toothpaste, but will take this opportunity to confess that I generally squeeze from the middle or top of the tube, which does make my husband crazy. I think after all these years, I may just do it to irritate him, and show him I am not perfect.

Lastly, and as a real estate agent, most importantly, is the discussion of the lid on a toilet. This is the pet peeve of our family. It started with my husband’s insistence that the lid on all of our toilets be closed at all times, which he had been taught growing up with a stern father. At first, I, along with the children, rebelled, but eventually came around and now cringe whenever I see a toilet seat lid up.

So, what is proper protocol with toilets – should the lids be up or down? I assume that since the manufacturers go to the trouble of making lids for toilets, they are meant to be down. And I know, for sure, that in showing a home, regardless of the price range, I find it a huge negative to find all the toilet lids up. I provide a booklet to all of my sellers, called First Impressions, and in it I make my top suggestions for making a house ready for showings. Among those suggestions: turn all lights on, remove pets, stage rooms where necessary, do not be at home when buyers come and by all means, close your toilet lids.

We recently moved our office to a lovely location in which we have our own bathroom. In the beginning, I was finding the lid up on the toilet more often than not. So I bought a cute little sign saying, “Don’t forget to flush, close the lid, and wash your hands.” It’s still a work in progress, but we’re getting there!

I hope that any of you thinking of selling your home will take this important advice to heart because it really can make a difference.

 

I was born and raised in Tennessee – the Volunteer State, as it is appropriately nicknamed because Tennesseeans volunteered in huge numbers for the War of 1812, The Spanish/American War, and the Civil War. Tennessee is truly a state of mighty men and women who serve and have served their country well, alongside so many other brave men and women from other states. Many of these soldiers have given their lives or suffered injuries in order to protect our rights and freedoms and the rights and freedoms of others from faraway lands.

I watched my own brother, uncles, friends, and cousins volunteer for the service, many going on to fight in wars, and several giving their lives. There is one in particular I can never forget on special occasions such as Veterans Day.

It was early fall of 1968 in Tennessee, and the trees adorning the Smoky Mountains were dressed in gorgeous fall foliage in hues of orange, red, and yellow. My husband and I were both students at the University of Tennessee, and he went straight to work after classes. One evening as I was waiting for him to come home from work while busily entertaining my five-month-old, as well as my mother and brother who had stopped by for a visit. Ironically, I was speaking to my pilot brother about his helicopter training when the phone rang – it was my best friend in the world, Becky. Becky had a toddler and was expecting her second child with her husband, Benny. Sounding perfectly normal, she simply stated, “Benny is dead, Beth.” Shocked and unable to comprehend, I asked again what she meant, and the same horrible words came out of her mouth.

Benny had bravely fought in the Vietnam war as a helicopter pilot and was fortunate enough to come came back home safe and sound at the end of his tour. This particular day, he had been on a training mission with a student when the tail rotor disengaged, sending his helicopter into an unstoppable tailspin. Both Benny and his trainee were killed upon impact. These two brave, dutiful young men were gone in a flash, leaving the rest of us behind to grieve and to help the surviving family members in any way we could.

Six months later, my beautiful Goddaughter was born, without a father to see what a gift she was. Benny wasn’t around to be a husband or a dad to his toddler son, but to this day, the entire family and everyone who loved Benny honors his memory on Veterans Day and every other day of the year as well.

To all of our brave veterans, past and present, God bless you and thank you so much for your service to your country – to all of us.