Beautiful abstract paintings by Sue Grady of Inspiration Home Staging and Designs
Sue Grady is a home stager and a talented painter. She recently posted a bunch of sets of paintings on StagersLIST. I think they are just beautiful and I wanted to share them with you! You can view all of Sue’s listed paintings here.
The one above is called Gold Shimmer. Shipping is only $15 and Sue has listed her beautiful paintings at wholesale prices. One of my favorites is the one below this, Southwest Sunset. I like that they are already mounted because I’ve ordered paintings in the past that came rolled in a tube and then I procrastinate about taking them in for stretching!
I just thought I would take a minute to introduce you to Sue’s work. Home Stagers are so creative!
“Friends” A Social Skills Group Presented by GOALS for Autism, Inc.
My daughter has been volunteering for these types of groups to socialize and play with the kids. She is getting a lot out of it, and loves seeing their improvement as time goes on. I thought I would share this group with all of you!
These groups are designed to involve social, motor and especially language skills through fun activities with skilled ABA therapists. Our groups focus on the essential skills identified in the SSIS (Social Skills Improvement System) as building block skills with positive interactions with skilled therapists and age-appropriate peers. Each group has experienced therapists involving the children in positive activities which emphasize development of language, social and motor skills necessary for play with typical peers. Groups are organized for children between 4 and 13 years of age. Group size is typically limited to six children to ensure optimal interaction with both adults and peers for every child.
Locations: Pleasant Hill, Pleasanton and Brentwood
Date: Classes will begin the week of January 11, 2009
Time: Groups meet for 90 minutes for 8 consecutive weeks.
Four to five year olds meet on Saturdays from 10am – 11:30am. Six to eight year olds meet on Saturdays from 12pm - 1:30pm. Nine to ten year olds meet on Tuesdays from 4pm – 5:30pm. Eleven to thirteen year olds meet on Thursdays from 6pm – 7:30pm.
Cost: There is a $300 charge for the 8-week program.
I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a win-win situation to me! Tomorrow (12/18/09) Pacific Puffs in San Francisco, California will be donating 10% of their sales to Team in Training to help the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Did you need a good excuse to try a delicious cream puff? I think I just gave you one!
Pacific Puffs is located at 2201 Union Street in San Francisco. Make sure if youi are in the area you pay them a visit tomorrow and help people fighting blood cancers!
If you prefer to make a donation, my friend Adryon is participating in the fundraising and you can donate at her Team in Training page.
One of my favorite live music memories is this one… My sister and I took our littlest sister to see Cyndi Lauper as she was on the rise (She’s So Unusual had just come out – Girls Just Wanna Have Fun). I may have blogged this before, but it came up again for me tonight. So Cyndi had a new band, Lone Justice, opening for her and asked the lead singer to come on stage and sing with her. They did their rendition of Mercedes Benz by Janis Joplin and had to improvise the words. It was a beautiful thing. No one can out-do Janice for feeling and emotion in her singing, but the fact that Cyndi was promoting this much lesser known (but none the less extremely talented Maria McKee) has stuck with me all these years. Enjoy the song.
We put an “arm block” around my youngest sister so she could be at the front of the stage and she did get a guitar pick from Rick Derringer, who was playing with Cyndi at the time.
Here in the San Francisco East Bay Area something very strange has occurred. Maybe someone can help us figure it out. The closest I’ve seen to this around here was when my friend put way too much liquid dish soap in the dishwasher. Perhaps one of our neighbors seriously overdid it with the Christmas decorating and decided to include the whole neighborhood rather than just their own home? I can remember this bizarre occurrence twice in the past… once when my daughter was in 3rd grade and once when I was in 3rd grade, 30 years before her. What can this mean? Any ideas? We are staying inside until it passes, just in case.
Sibling Support Groups Presented by GOALS for Autism, Inc. (Contra Costa & Alameda County)
Locations: Pleasant Hill, Pleasanton and Brentwood
Dates: Groups begin January 11th and 13th
Time: Groups meet for 90 minutes for 8 consecutive weeks. Elementary groups are on Mondays from 4-5:30pm. Junior groups are on Wednesdays from 4pm-5:30pm.
Cost: $200 for the 8 week program
Therapists conducting the groups have a Masters degree and have been working with children with disabilities for many years.
Children in 4th through 6th grades are welcome to join the elementary group. Children in 7th and 8th grades are welcome to join the junior group.
This group is for brothers and sisters of persons with developmental disabilities. Siblings meet to talk about their mutual concerns and feelings. They gain information regarding the specific problems of their brother or sister and come to realize that their family and personal situations are unique and yet common to many families. The groups are fun, informative and provide a tremendous amount of support.
FOOD DRIVE FOR Mt. Diablo Unified School District Volunteer Food Pantry Assisting Families in Need in Our District Community
Families in the Mt. Diablo Unified School District need your help. There is a food pantry at the District office which is a maintained by group of volunteers. Child Welfare and Attendance Liaisons (CWAs), School Psychologists and other District employees pick up boxes of food from the District office and deliver them to families in need. As food is donated, volunteers check expiration dates, box up the food (emergency 3-4 day supply) and store excess food in cabinets in their main lunchroom. All volunteers help during their lunch hour or after work.
The food pantry is not just for the holidays. This is a year round project. Please consider organizing a donation station at your school either by asking your school administrator directly or going through your PTA, PTO, or PFC organization. It’s simple, fill up some cans or barrels, then email or call Lori Amenta at amental@mdusd.k12.ca.us or 682-8000 ext 4002 and make arrangements to drop off your donations. This is a great way for your school communities and your scouts to help families in our immediate area, as all donations are given out to families in our District. This is also a wonderful community service project for your girls to be involved with. If you have any questions about setting up your donations please call Gina Soleimanieh at 925-429-0433. Thank you.
Top 10 Items to Donate
Peanut Butter Rice Canned Fruit Cereal Canned Tuna Canned Chicken Whole Beans Canned Chili Pasta Sauce & Pasta Canned Vegetables
Other Suggested Items to Donate
Soup (Cans or Instant) Crackers Macaroni and Cheese Jam/Jelly Protein Power Bars Granola Bars Individual snacks such as: Cheese & Crackers PB & Crackers Velveeta Cheese Instant Powder Drinks Canned Evaporated Milk Juices — no refrigeration Pickles Mayo Mustard Catsup
All this content in one fun packed day! Prizes, gift certificates and cash, contests, networking and guaranteed at least one tip that will earn you the cost of admission. You can’t afford to miss this! Visit www.StagersLISTExpo.com and click on Metro New York!
Keynote Speaker Christine Rae Speaker at California Association of Realtors Convention October 2009, past recipient of RESA Innovator award, President of CSP International Training Academy, trainer and author of Wiley Publishing’s Home Staging For Dummies (& a Resource for the Rest of us). This book is a terrific tool which guides the reader to discover that staging is a specialty that the average person needs professional help with.
Christine’s talk, 5 Mistakes Businesses Make, 5 Steps to Turn Your Business Around, 5 Market Driven Trends to Build Revenue will inspire you to take action to turn your business around. She challenges you to answer, “What keeps you from the success you want?” You will leave motivated and ready to turn your business around. Businesses need to grow and change to increase their market share; learn the trends that can help you reach your financial goals. What heights do you want to achieve in 2010?
Melissa Marro Founder of First Impressions Home Staging & Interior Redesign, IRIS, CSP, Dewey Trainer
Melissa will be presenting Marketing for Explosive and Consistent Sales. Learn how to effectively market your staging business with a minimal budget for consistent and explosive sales without cold calling or placing expensive media print ads. Melissa will cover e-newsletters, agent “lunch & learns”, neighborhood and agent farming techniques and more. Master these topics and you will be able to break free of the ebb and flow of the sales world and launch into increased, sustained sales and bookings.
Melissa will also have a workshop titled Overcome Objections – Increase Sales. Having trouble closing the deal or even setting appointments? In this session Melissa will teach you how to overcome common industry objections masterfully and with confidence. Melissa’s company has had incredible success in their marketplace, once managing 40 staged properties in one month! Learn simple, proven techniques and increase your presentation skills with this informative workshop.
Leigh Hagen Photographer, professinal stager and cofounder of LH2 Staging, Leigh’s work has been featured on the cover of Home Staging for Dummies, Midwest Living Luxury Tours, and International Staging Magazine Staging Standard.
Leigh is presenting our lunch workshop, Photos – the final ingredient. The Sale Begins in the MLS. Photographs sell your work, your talent and your staged properties IF they reflect what you’ve done. Learn how to take better photos, what you need in a camera and how to utilize your photos to sell more by marketing yourself and your work online and in your portfolio through brilliant photos.
Suzy Minken Home stager and Feng Shui practitioner
Suzy’s workshop is Feng Shui – The Home Staging Connection. Suzy blends home staging and Feng Shui with great success. Staging IS Feng Shui. Feng Shui does three things: 1. Harmonize space, 2. Neutralize space from negative emotions, 3. Direct energy to a specific goal. For home stagers that means creating space that buyers “feel” at home in. Learn how home staging and Feng Shui blend and compliment each other. Realtors know how a home feels makes a difference in what properties buyers will spend more time viewing. Stagers use these techniques all the time. Suzy will teach you why it works and help you understand how to use them with purpose and intention for even more success and SOLD properties.
Chris’ workshop is Websites, Blogging, SEO – The Key To Building Your Business. Learn how you can get a web presence on YOUR budget. Do you have a website? Do you know it doesn’t have to be expensive to be effective? If you have a website, is it active, engaging and bringing you business? You may only need slight changes to improve your existing site dramatically? Do you know that blogging is bringing Realtors and home stagers across the country business? If you answered no to any of these questions, this workshop is for you! Drive business to your door without spending a fortune doing it. Take this workshop and receive a FREE blog header for the blog platform of your choice.
How to Create and Solidify Realtor Relationships
We have three successful professional home stagers to talk about how they create partnerships with their Realtors and continue to get business. Sid Pinkerton has been featured on TLC as a home staging expert and has staged hundreds of apartments in Metro Nerw York in the last six years. Kate Hart is an award winning home staging expert, has helped hundreds of families prepare homes for sale, has mentored and trained thousands of Realtors and home stagers. Lynelle Hartman has been a trainer for the two largest staging training companies in the US, trains in the Dewey Color System and authored a continuing education course on vacant home staging.
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“Friends”
Locations: Pleasant Hill, Pleasanton and Brentwood
Keynote Speaker Christine Rae
Melissa Marro
Leigh Hagen
Suzy Minken
Chris Fisher
How to Create and Solidify Realtor Relationships
Chris Fisher
Chris's Blog