 We spent many days this past week at The Northwest Washington Fair in Lynden, WA. I have always made it a point to attend The Fair annually as an end of summer hurrah and was so excited to partner with The Fair this year to take you behind the scenes and inform you of all the fun there is to be had during fair week! If you follow me on Instagram you got an up close look at much of it over the last few days but if not (or if you need a refresher), here’s a recap!  For over 100 years The NWWA Fair has been a Pacific Northwest Favorite. It features a fun carnival complete with rides and games, yummy food, concerts, a demolition derby and a rodeo and highlights the agriculture of Whatcom County with barns full of animals ready for 4H/FFA showings and more!   My family had such a great time at the Demolition Derby, always held in the afternoon and evening on the first day of The Fair (Monday). I ordered these earmuffs for my girls on Amazon, as the derby can get pretty loud, and they worked great! I had gone many times but it was my girls’ first time at the derby and they were mesmerized by it; my youngest said it was her favorite part of our trip to the fair that day!    One thing no one can resist at the fair is all of the ridiculously amazing food! King corn dogs, funnel cakes, cotton candy, yummy PTA burgers, Shishkaberry, ice cream, poffertjes, and much, MUCH more! I’m drooling just thinking about all of the options! If you’ve never had a poffertje before, they are a traditional Dutch batter treat, resembling small, fluffy pancakes; do NOT pass them up!   Another fair favorite, for all ages, would be the animal barns. You are able to walk through the isles and see cows, horses, chickens, rabbits, llamas, goats, sheep, pigs and more! We really enjoyed the small animal experience too where we got to see a fresh new calf as well as two litters of piglets and my girls adored the fake cow that fairgoers were able to “milk”.     We decided to devote one day to rides and games and had a blast! The Fair provided a great variety of rides for all ages and though it was busy we never had to wait in line long! From the enormous Ferris Wheel and the Zipper to the Carousel and the giant slide, there is something for everyone. We played a few of the kids games too and my girls were so happy to walk away winners (many kids games were offered in which everyone is a winner, so as a parent of a toddler that was sooo appreciated)!    We enjoyed creating memories at The Fair this past week and I hope you did too! We ran into so many friends (like my friend Chelsea pictured below from Adopt Adventure Blog), family and acquaintances; it was fun to catch up with them all! My husband and I also attended the Larry the Cable Guy grandstand performance for date night and laughed harder than we have in a long time; it was such a great show! They also hosted Cheap Trick and Mark Chesnutt; I can’t wait to hear who all of the performers will be next year! You guys know I’m always crossing my fingers for The Backstreet Boys! ;-)   Be sure to follow along with more of my adventures:
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 As most of you know, we recently sold our home and will be building again.🏡🔨#blankersrealestatepartner | Buying/selling a home can be a stressful, busy time and I was so thankful to have Jerry, Kassi and Carrie of The Jerry Blankers Team there to help us go from FOR SALE➡️𝕊𝕆𝕃𝔻!
Next week The Jerry Blankers Team with The Muljat Group North will have a booth set up in the Expo Building at the NWWA Fair and they will be offering an🌟𝕖𝕩𝕔𝕝𝕦𝕤𝕚𝕧𝕖🌟listing promotion to receive up to $1,000 back at closing! We were very pleased with the sale of our home through The Jerry Blankers Team. Working with a local real estate team that understands your market and is fully available, committed to serving you is immensely helpful. Working with a real estate TEAM multiplies the effective effort of getting your property sold and doubles the attention to detail without any extra fees or costs.🎉🎉 The Jerry Blankers team consists of 3 full time working brokers, all locally born and raised, with vast knowledge of the area. Their knowledge of and connections within the local community along with their strategic marketing methods are a recipe for success! Be sure to stop by their booth at the NWWA Fair in Lynden, WA next week and tell them Haley sent you!😄🏡 You can connect with The Jerry Blankers Team here: Facebook / Instagram / Website #homebuyingtips #homeowner #homeforsale #fair #lyndenwa #lynden #pnw #realestateagent #nwwafair #localcommunity #fairweek #nwwa #northwestwashingtonfair #fairground #realestateteam #homebuyer #homeforsale #firsttimebuyer #howtosellyourhome I can’t believe how quickly time passes! My youngest turned three years old this week and since she is in love with mermaids, fish, and all things blue/aqua, we celebrated her with a Little Mermaid Birthday Party!  I made this fun balloon garland with a kit from Confete Party Box. They sent all of the balloons (varying sizes and colors) and well as the pump and fishing line necessary to put it together. Confete offers prepackaged party boxes as well as the option to create your own custom party box like we did. I told them the theme and colors I wanted and they took it from there! The balloon garland is very easy to make and took me about an hour. Wondering how to make a balloon garland? It’s simple. You pump up the balloons with a hand pump, tie them together in pairs of two then tie each pair to a strand of fishing line. Girls Mermaid Dresses and Princess Accessories here. Girls Snap Clips here. Thank you to Confete Party Box for gifting the decor. All opinions are my own.  Our Confete Party Box also consisted of adorable plates, wooden utensils, straws, cups, napkins, baking cups. The colors were perfect and quality was amazing! I love how they mixed stripes, colors and iridescent pieces, they came together so well. We did an afternoon party of candy, snacks and cake. Safeway did a fabulous job on the cake (chocolate with cream cheese frosting-yum!), even including an Ariel figurine on top.   Our party included a magical visit from Ariel as well as bubbles, fun slap bracelets, and time spent getting mermaid tattoos. I ordered these dresses on Amazon and the girls are in love with them! They came with gloves, a necklace, earrings, a tiara, and a wand. Snap clips are from Luna + Liyah Hair Accessories.   The day couldn’t have gone any better! We all had so much fun celebrating and reminiscing over the past three years. Parties can be stressful and it made my life so much easier having adorable, coordinating decor sent right to my doorstep!
Have you used a party service? Do you do parties at your home? I’d love to hear about any upcoming celebrations happening in your life! xo- Haley #mermaid #birthdayparty #toddlergirlbirthday #littlegirlbirthdayparty #celebrate #celebration #partybox #ariel #thelittlemermaid #underthesea #partyideas #princessdress #3yearold #disney #3rdbirthday #disneyprincess As we are approaching August I can’t help but start thinking about shopping for back to school items. I decided to share what we are getting not only for back to school but also items my kids use and love in general that makes life, especially during the busy school year, run smooth. A back-to-school favorite of my girls is picking out a new backpack and lunchbox. For multiple years we have chosen to go with Pottery Barn Kids backpacks and they don’t disappoint! They come in so many cute colors, prints and styles plus you can personalize them! I let my girls choose which one they wanted and we decided to get a lunchbox and water bottle to match this year too! We just received them and couldn’t love them more! They come in multiple sizes, both backpacks pictured here are size large, and the lunchboxes come in multiple styles (we chose the ‘Cold’ option). Purple Unicorn Backpack // Lunchbox // Water Bottle Blue Unicorn Backpack // Lunchbox // Water Bottle Use code SCHOOL to save 20% right now at Pottery Barn Kids right now! Select back-to-school items are already marked down 25-60%!     Back-to-school clothing and shoe shopping is always fun too! I usually get my girls a few high quality items they will wear a lot from the big Nordstrom Anniversary Sale (open the the public now)! We also grab a few of the adorable, high quality dresses from my friend Andrea at Dot Dot Smile Andrea Ames and round the shopping off with items from Target, Old Navy, H&M, and Macy’s.    Some items that I’m stocking up on, that can easily get overlooked are things like lice prevention items (no one wants to get lice!), multivitamins and great bedding to make the little one’s dreams extra sweet. This is what we have been using as a lice deterrent conditioning spray and this is what we have been using for shampoo for the kids over the last year and nobody in our house has gotten lice yet; fingers crossed that we never do! My girls also love “going to school” themed books and something as simple as that can be a great help at easing littles of their fears surrounding starting school or going to a new school. Sleep is so important, especially on school nights. We are big fans of Beddy’s Beds. The bedding goes on like a fitted sheet but it’s a sheet/comforter set in one and it zips down the sides making bed making super fast and easy to do before school! My two and five year olds can make their beds unassisted with Beddy’s and they LOVE doing it: life changing! Even better, you can save 20% with my code HALEYP20 at Beddy’s right now! What are some must-haves for you prior to a new school year starting?! I’d love to hear!
xo- Haley If you are local to Northwest Washington this is one event that you won't want to miss! The time is near for the Lynden "Razz Fest" Raspberry Festival and The 21st Annual Curt Maberry Memorial 3 on 3 Basketball Tournament sponsored and put on by The Muljat Group North. The 3 on 3 tournament features players of all ages (K-adult) and the festival includes various street vendors, a classic car show, two stages with live music, kid's games (including face painting and inflatables), and sidewalk sales! Growing up in Whatcom County, the Razz Fest has always been a highlight of the summer, bringing the community together through sports, shopping and good food! I remember attending it growing up, going there with my husband back when we were dating, and now it is so fun to take my girls there!   Taking place on Front Street in historic Downtown Lynden, the Raspberry Festival is Whatcom County's largest FREE to attend event. It takes place this Friday, July 19 from 10am-8pm and Saturday, July 20 from 8am-5pm. Lynden is known for having the largest harvest of raspberries in the world so you can bet there will be yummy treats available including these fresh, delicious berries!  The legendary 3 on 3 Tournament is organized by The Muljat Group North and now includes well over 200 basketball teams! Games start Friday morning and carry through all day Saturday so be sure to watch a few games while you're there enjoying all that this event has to offer! For more information regarding the 3 on 3 tournament, call The Muljat Group North at 360-354-4242 or visit them online at www.lynden3on3razz.com. You can follow and like their Facebook page here. Thank you to The Jerry Blankers Team at Muljat Group North for sponsoring this post; all opinions are my own. You can connect with The Jerry Blankers Team here: Facebook / Instagram / Website   We will be selling our second home soon and I have been getting a lot of questions from friends, family and followers regarding the process of how to prep your home for listing and what it all entails. I've been getting asked if it's difficult or overwhelming but I do not find it to be (other than trying to keep things neat and organized for showings with crazy littles running around)! As long as you take it one day at a time and complete one task at a time prior to listing your home for sale your chances of finding a buyer and feeling confident that your home is looking it's best are much higher. First impressions count and a home shown in prime condition can sell for as much as 10-15% higher than one in disrepair. Let's dive in! Recommendation #1. Purge! Go through your home room by room and get rid of all items you do not need or want anymore. Clothes don't fit? Consign them. That old lamp that's sitting in the closet because you can't find anywhere to put it: get rid of it too. You want your home to feel welcoming but not full. 2. Now that you have gotten rid of everything you don't need or want anymore it is time to organize the items that you do want to hold on to. Keep in mind, potential buyers may be interested in opening closets and cabinets so those spaces should be organized as well. All unnecessary items should be removed from shelves and counter tops to make your spaces appear larger and more welcoming. You want anyone that walks through your home to envision themselves living there and it's difficult when mail, small kitchen appliances and your child's artwork are scattered throughout. Which brings me to my next point. 3. Some may disagree with this one, but I believe it is helpful to depersonalize your home (to an extent). This doesn't mean you have to take down every family photo and art piece but you don't want all of your friends and relatives Christmas cards or excessive photos of your family scattered throughout. We keep a few out but have scaled back the personal touches a bit. 4. Interior touch ups and deep cleaning. Go through your home and perfect it. Fix any big or small issues that make sense. Fix dings in the wall, chipped paint, broken doorknobs, etc. and replace any burnt out light bulbs. Most of these things can be fixed quickly, inexpensively, and pretty easily. It will make such a difference in the overall aesthetic of your property. If you have a larger issue be sure to check with your agent first to see if it is worth fixing prior to listing but small issues should definitely be dealt with. Scrub bathrooms, mop floors and shampoo carpet if needed. 5. Last but definitely not least, touch up the exterior of your home. Not only should you mow and edge the yard but take the extra time to pull weeds, replace dead plants, pressure wash the walkways-anything that you see that could use some extra attention now is the time to do it. Additionally, you could stain any fading fences, aggregate or stamped concrete, lay new bark, etc. to give it an extra bit of a facelift. The exterior will be potential buyers first impression of your home and you want it to be a good one! Pay special attention to the main entry/front door and consider replacing the door or adding fresh potted plants or decor to that area to boost it's appeal. Additional side note: If you are a pet owner, remove your pets and their litter boxes or other unappealing accessories from the home during showings, if at all possible. They can be distracting and a turn off to potential buyers that don't enjoy animals. Thank you to The Jerry Blankers Team at Muljat Group North for sponsoring this post. All opinions are my own.  If you are looking for a team to help you sell your home or are looking to find your dream home, Jerry, Kassi and Carrie would love to assist you!
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January 2020
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