Halloween in Paris

We flew back into Paris on Sat. Oct 31st at 8:30am. Whole family took a 4 hour nap. By 4:00pm, we were at Square Violet, ready for some serious trick or treating.

Here is our bat inspecting his ghetto trick or treat candy bag:
Yup, I made that 5 minutes before we left for the trick or treat. It's a Le Bon Marche bag that I glued black construction paper over the logo and then did that pumpkin. Not sure if I should get mother of the year or not since I did not buy my son a trick or treat bag.

It was a nice little party with stations for the kids to beg for candy.

The usual suspects were there with us! Jonah and Michael showing me their candy bags:

Looking happy. I think Michael has candy in his mouth:

And hung out with Elise too. She was a cute little princess. Michael with still more candy in his mouth and Jonah waving a glow stick there around his wrist:

All in all, a great party! We were jet lagged, and I had to convince Michael to go to the trick or treat! He told me later he was glad he went because there was candy there.

Pictures from our House Hunting Trip - Poll at the End

Pennsylvania was G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S this time of year. The leaves were BEAUTIFUL. Golden yellows, lush oranges, bright reds. Here's my fav pic from the trip:
Loved the farmlands. I wonder what would be the premium to buy this guy? He's sleeping behind that sign there:

Michael's opinion on househunting. Loved his pose here in the car:

So...who was our best contender? Here we go...#1 on our list:

This is the gorgeous mature-tree lined street towards the house. The reds were a lot brighter in real life:

Gorgeous orange tree lined streets towards the community:

The front of the house. LOVE the wrap around porch. Don't love the grey siding and the grey shutters and the grey grey grey of the house. To re-side it cream would be a $10K job. Then, would need dark blue shutters - $1-2K. Then a red door. And don't bother asking about Brick. That's an additional $20K premium up north.

Lots of land. About an acre.

Let's go inside:

Here's the entryway. Love the stairs and hardwoods. Great quality house. 2 coat closets there. AWESOME. HOWEVER...notice how the view from the front door leads STRAIGHT to the view of the back door? BAD FENG SHUI. VERY BAD. Possible solution: Make the back door into a window and move the door elsewhere.

View of the living room/dining room to the left of the entry way picture above. Again, well kept and gorgeous:

Here we go up the stairs to the master bedroom:

Ignore the pink carpet, replace it with hardwoods and a nice rug. You see that hallway to the back there? Yes, that is a hallway in the freakin' master bedroom. The hallway leads to a his and hers closet and a dressing area. Plus the bathroom:

3 bedroom house. Need to finish the basement. GREAT quality. You ask about the kitchen? Needs a new stove...but the cabinets are nice. Could use an update with granite countertops and new cabinet fronts, but overall, great design. Good quality. All lower cabinets have pull out drawers and there are even built in utensil dividers.

Back view of the house. There's a gazebo there:

Now comes the poll.

I love this house. It's gorgeous. With some updating, it would be really beautiful. And the community is nice, it's in an award winning school district, and it's 30 minutes from Brian's work.

BUT...when I set foot in that house, I feel something bad. Not horrible, but bad. The first time. And when I went in the 2nd time WITH Michael. I felt something REALLY bad. REALLY REALLY bad. SO bad, I had to leave.

Come to find out...the lady is selling it because she lost her job. And when she bought the house, she was married. And now she is NOT.

Which means...in the 19 years she has had that house, she lost a spouse and a job.

Makes you think twice about the feng shui doesn't it?

SOOOOO...

POLL:

Would you:

A) Buy the house, ignore the feng shui. It's a great price, great value, great quality. Got a lot of things going for it. Figure out how to change the feng shui.

Or

B) Walk away. Will you fall off the face of the earth if you buy that house? Maybe...maybe not. But I think it's proven now that the house does not have the best luck associated with it. And if it doesn't feel right. It doesn't feel right.

Let's see...