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Seeing Florida One Town at a Time

In January before the shutdown, Lee and I spent a great day in Venice, Florida. A nice little town with a friendly downtown area, good shopping, a busy, local restaurant scene, a farmer’s market, and a quiet public beach. We shopped a few of the boutiques and purchased some Italian imported ceramics. The restaurants were spectacular, and our meal did not disappoint.

We had quite a few restaurants to choose from, so instead of enjoying just one restaurant, we enjoyed a “Moveable Feast”. Appetizers in Bodrum, a Middle Eastern Restaurant, Escargot and Salad in Café Longet the French Bistro, and Homemade Gelato at Ciao Gelato. A delicious, beautiful day in the Florida sunshine. The beauty of life in Central Florida is we are central to it all. Venice is only about 15 minutes south of Sarasota. This was the first time Lee and I spent any time on this part of the Florida Gulf Coast and we enjoyed the day and the community. We spent the morning stretching our legs with a beach walk before our afternoon feast and then shared a leisurely drive home through the farmland that spans the Central Florida backroads.

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Looking for a Good Breakfast, Look No Further. First Watch has you Covered.

Yes, the name is unusual, my curiosity led me to do a bit of research into the name. Turns out the name is a nautical reference to the first work shift aboard a ship and since the First Watch Restaurants are only open 7 am to 2:30 pm the chain founders felt the name appropriate. This chain was founded after the co-owners of First Watch left the breakfast chain of Le Peep. Interesting, when we lived in NJ I used to love breakfast at Le Peep on Route 4 in Paramus. Thoughts of leisurely brunches at Le Peep evoke sweet memories of time spent with friends from my NJ Youth.

First Watch in Champions Gate is convenient and a really good choice for breakfast or lunch. Lee and I start our days early, so finding a great spot for a good, healthy Breakfast is a great bonus to us. First Watch serves up fresh, made to order, locally sourced, and truly inspired menu items. Yes, they are a chain, but a responsible chain who care for their employees, give back to the community, and are concerned about the quality of the food they serve. On a recent visit at 7 am I started my day with the Turkey Egg White Omelet with house roasted onions, tomatoes, spinach and Feta. The Omelet was piping hot and delicious, and carried me through the entire day. Lee enjoyed The Avocado, freshly smashed on Toast with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, a squeeze of lemon and sea salt served beside two basted eggs. First Watch does get crowded on weekends and at peak breakfast and lunch hours, but it is worth the wait. Since Lee and I are out working, breakfast at 7 am works for us, but I hear from my retired friends that First Watch is the perfect Brunch Spot for dining at 10 or 11 am.

 

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Tis the Season to Enjoy Fall Flavors

Pumpkin Quinoa Bars, Gluten Free, Great for Breakfast, a Snack and good on the Golf Course too!

1 ½ Cup Quick Cook Oats

1 Cup Cooked Quinoa (cooled to room temp)

1 tsp baking powder

¼ cup ground flax seed

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

½ cup real maple syrup

½ cup pumpkin puree (right from the can)

1 egg

2 tbsp almond butter

1 tsp vanilla

½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts

 

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9×9 square baking pan with parchment and spray with nonstick spray. To keep these Gluten Free do not use spray with flour.

Combine oats, quinoa, baking powder, flax seed, and pumpkin pie spice and stir till distributed

In a second bowl, whisk the maple syrup, pumpkin puree, egg, almond butter and vanilla together.

Combine the wet with the dry, stir into a batter and fold in the nuts.

Pour into the prepared pan and smooth the top.

Bake in the center rack of the oven for 25 – 35 minutes until the bars are golden and firm to the touch.

Remove the pan, cool completely. Once Cooled, slice the bars. I wrap these bars individually and freeze them. These bars will keep in the refrigerator for several days, and in the freezer longer.

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Tips for Getting Top Dollar for Your Home

If you are reading our newsletter, congratulations, you have come to the right place when choosing the BEST REALTY Company to provide Real Estate Services to you and your family. A member of our team will be happy to come out to your home and perform a complete Home Value Assessment for you, plus share with you the SUCCESSFUL Marketing Strategies Bella Verde Realty Employs. Bella Verde Realty has a great online marketing presence, a large group of knowledgeable, experienced Realtors, and a proven, successful track record. We are consistently ranked as ONE OF the TOP REALTORS in SOLIVITA. Please call us today to arrange an appointment that is convenient for you.

Following find a few tips to help you get the best price for your home:

  1. Fix Everything including broken faucets, door handles, and make sure nothing annoying or embarrassing is visible that could spoil a showing.
  2. Paint the interior rooms in your home a neutral color.
  3. If you have a tile roof, have it cleaned. Removing the dull look from a roof can make it look newer and reduce buyer concerns.
  4. Tidy up all interior and exterior spaces for the best listing photos possible.
  5. Curb Appeal is very important as the potential buyer’s decision is, many times, made from the street. So, it pays to do a little landscaping, fix any broken or raised sidewalk pieces. If you have a lanai, and are in residence, add a few colorful potted plants. An attractive lanai is a good selling feature. Flaunt your space by adding attractive, colorful pillows, and set your table to enhance that welcome home feeling. Stage your residence so it appeals to potential buyers, and you want potential buyers to see themselves and their loved ones enjoying and living in your space.
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Florida Housing Market Forecast for 2020

The Florida real estate market is experiencing growing sales, prices and growing transaction volumes. Although active inventory is up, new home and condo listings are down. Could it be that very low prices and constrained supply is a buy signal?

Experts agree, when Americans are feeling wealthy, they look to buy in the Sunshine State, and with the recent tax cuts and the strong job market, Americans report they are feeling wealthy. This leads the experts to believe that buying in Florida is a wise long-term real estate investment decision.

When you compare the low prices of a Florida home to homes in California or New York; and add to the mix Florida’s favorable tax situation, I am surprised that more folks are not selling and moving to our lovely state. Interest in buying Florida properties is strong and given the strength of the Florida economy, plus an aging population, I expect to see strong prices for many years. So, if you are considering selling your home this is a good time, and if you are considering buying a home, prices are only going up. Why wait, when you can lock into a great Florida home at a good price with a low interest rate now and enjoy your investment while your equity grows.

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One Plus One Giving Program, Sponsored by Bella Verde!

Bella Verde is proud to Sponsor the ONE PLUS ONE GIVING PROGRAM FOR THE GUARDIAN AD LITEM & FOSTER CHILDREN OF OSCEOLA COUNTY.

Donations are kindly accepted from 10/15/2019 – 12/3/2019 at our office. Bella Verde Realty will match every gift or gift card donated. You give one and the children will get two. Let’s make it a Happy Holiday Season, please give generously. Bring your unwrapped gift to the BVR Office and place it under our tree. Santa’s sleigh delivers the gifts to the Offices of Guardian Ad Litem and the Elves (AKA Social Workers) sort and deliver these presents to the children in time for the holidays. Currently over 500 children are enrolled in the Voices for Osceola’s Children Program and gifts at this time of the year are especially appreciated.

Visit with us on Facebook and Watch the Giving Tree Grow! Please see our flyer in Reflections, stop into the office with a gift for the children and let the HOLIDAY CHEER START TO FLOW! Thank you for your Generosity and Your Business. We are truly Thankful for each of You!

An inspirational Quote:

It’s good to be blessed. It’s better to be a blessing.
― Author Unknown

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Thanksgiving Time in Central Florida

Time to break out the turkey roaster and get going on Thanksgiving preparations. The last few years Lee and I have been putting up our Christmas Decorations before Thanksgiving. We find that having the decorating done affords us extra time to spend with each other and to enjoy the season.

The longer we live in Florida the more we realize how lucky and thankful we are to live in such a pretty place and how non-traditional our Holidays have become. As our families have moved to different states, and the children have grown, we find our desire to prepare and host large Holiday Dinners has changed. Instead of preparing and cooking for days and hosting twenty or thirty guests we now enjoy a lovely dinner and focus on spending time enjoying Florida and the life we have built in our Southern Home. A few of the wonderful options for Thanksgiving in Florida are below:

  • Enjoy a few days in the Nation’s Oldest City as it decorates with millions of lights during the Annual Night of Lights Celebration that starts the weekend before Thanksgiving. The City of Augustine is charming and really puts on quite a show. A great way to start the season.
  • If driving up to St. Augustine seems too much of a challenge, Enjoy a Disney Adventure. Mickey, Minnie and the gang always dress up to celebrate the holidays and not only do they play dress-up, but the park dresses up too, and adds lights for sparkles. If the grandchildren are in for the holiday, think Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, it is held in the Magic Kingdom during select nights starting around Thanksgiving. It is a special ticketed event; and is a ton of family fun.
  • After enjoying Your Turkey Dinner, put on your bikini and head to one of 14 pools in Solivita. They are all heated, beautiful, and most of the time surprisingly quiet.

Whatever you do on Thanksgiving Lee and I wish you fun, love and good health. We will probably see you at the pool.

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Road Trip from Solivita

We recently entertained friends from up north and spent a few hours at the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg browsing the surreal masterpieces of this world-famous artist. Wow, did we enjoy the afternoon, the Dali in St. Petersburg houses the biggest collection of Dali’s art outside of Europe. Dali’s Works are housed in a modern museum on the waterfront and the museum was constructed with a glass atrium. A lovely building in the daylight, but in the evening, the entire building is illuminated and shines on the waterfront – a real showstopper. We signed on for a tour and were glad we did. The Docents genuinely enjoy sharing their knowledge of each piece and the symbolism embedded in each work. Cheers to the beautiful modern museum, the art, and the docents who share the life and times of Dali with you. It was an insightful day, full of fun, discovery and we left the museum with a new appreciation for Salvador Dali and Modern Art.

Following the Dali Museum, we enjoyed a walk in the quiet of the Sunken Gardens in St. Pete. It was cool under the canopy of trees and we were happy to enjoy an hour in the serenity of the gardens. The Sunken Gardens are four acres of well-established botanical gardens in the Historic Old Northeast Neighborhood of St. Pete. These gardens have existed for more than a century and are one of the oldest roadside tourist attractions in the U.S.

St. Pete is just a couple of hours drive away and is a good day trip; but is also a great spot to spend an evening or a few days. Lee and I did not have the time to spend a night away, but if we did, we would have been happy to enjoy an evening at the Vinoy Renaissance in St. Petersburg. The Historic Hotel is at the Marina in downtown and has a lovely courtyard with a pool, great public spaces, a wonderful restaurant and a small section in the lobby devoted to the Vinoy’s colorful past. Lee and I are adding this hotel to our list of must dos next time we have a few days away.

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Fun Times in and around Solivita

Solivita does put on some wonderful entertainment, and both Lee and I enjoy Solivita entertainment, but in Central Florida, we have so much good entertainment around us it is hard to choose a bad show. Recently we caught a show at the Ritz and had a blast. So do not despair if you are too busy to see a show in Solivita, there are lots of other venues near us to enjoy.

The Winter Haven Theatre and The Ritz can be found at the following websites:

https://theatrewinterhaven.com/

http://ritzwinterhaven.com/

Catch a show at the Winter Haven Theatre or at the Ritz. The Ritz is in downtown Winter Haven, near the center of town, the restaurants, and the bars. Back in the day, The Ritz was originally a Vaudeville Theatre and later turned Movie House. Recently the Ritz Theatre was refurbished, it is a small, but a very nice venue, with good acoustics and is a great place to catch a concert, a comedy show, or a play. We caught a great comedy show and laughed our way through the evening. Lee and I know, if you go, you will enjoy an evening out at either of these venues.

You can visit https://centralfloridatix.com to see what else is going on around us too.

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Halloween 2019

Lee and I always look forward to a fun night of mischief and laughs on Halloween. When we lived up north, Halloween was always a dress up night with the doorbell ringing off the wall. Children, neighbors and friends would knock on our door to visit, get treats, and party with us. Halloween in Solivita is quieter, with no children in costumes to knock on our door, so every year Lee and I plan something fun. This year we are going to see the One Night Only RAT PACK UNDEAD Show at the Osceola Playhouse. Although Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. are dead, on Halloween 2019 they will rise again and perform on stage for a few hours. We will be transported back in time as the cast croons their hearts out for one night only in Kissimmee. We are Looking forward to seeing and hearing this show, it has gotten some great reviews and sounds like a fun way to spend the evening. Dinner with family and friends first and then on to the main event. Happy Halloween to all our friends, family and clients. We wish you a Sweet, Fun Evening filled with mischief of your own making.