"I'd like to include a whiskey cocktail for the pie event," a suggestion made to caterer and team member, Catherine Freeman, has led me to a new favorite cocktail and to a new podcast which I suspect is right up my alley.

I love whiskey cocktails and they feel so fall/winter holiday to me (bourbon balls, anyone???) and Catherine totally delivered with the perfect, most exceptional, whiskey punch. Catherine found the recipe on the Southern Living website and, lemme tell you, it was a huge hit at the party. Curious, I looked up the origins of this smooth but hard-hitting cocktail and learned it first appeared in the December 2011 edition of Southern Living, submitted by bartender Jayce McConnell. A bit of Facebook sleuthing led me to Derek "Jayce" McConnell's Instagram and podcast, Pocket Liquor! I'm pretty excited to follow both! Enjoy!

An update on our townhouse renovation nicely illustrates what a difference a little cleaning--or at least trash removal--makes. The townhouse has now been cleared of trash and debris and already looks so much better. Jackie and Diane have completed creating a list of recommended home prep items and have provided a detailed spreadsheet with costs and details for our clients’ review. Clients are 100% on board and next step is materials acquisition! Go team!

Open House 1-4

605 Manor Dr NE

Vienna, VA 22180

Q: Hi Cathy! Our Baron (large, 3 level colonial) has four bedrooms. We added a room in the basement but it’s not a legal bedroom because there’s no egress. Is it worth the cost to dig out the egress and have a fifth bedroom? Thanks! ~Heather

A: Hi Heather! It seems from our chat that your question primarily is focused on whether or not an egress window, and thus a fifth bedroom, would increase the resale value of your home down the road. While there are many benefits to adding an egress window and creating a fifth bedroom, chances are a higher sales price is not one of them. In fact, a review of nearby 3 level colonials sales, to include Baron sales, shows no appreciable difference in what buyers are willing to spend on a house with five bedrooms versus four.

Unless you need that fifth bedroom to enrich your life while in the house, consider applying that money to additional updates to your bathrooms, kitchen, or overall interior finishes. While there is a market for five bedrooms houses, it represents a smaller buyer pool than that looking for well-updated, four bedrooms homes. And the best return on investment comes from appealing to as many buyers as possible resulting in multiple offers, higher contract prices, and fewer contingencies. So go jazz up your bathroom or kitchen and call us when you’re ready to sell!

If you’ve ever walked past the corner of Eastlake Drive and Latimer Court, chances are you’ve met Marley, our 16 year old rescue tabby. Not afraid of kids, walkers, or dogs, he not only greets passersby, he occasionally includes presents with his greeting (most notably, he delivered a snake to our neighbors as they sat outside with their toddler).

Marley was a hit with the kids on Sunday at the pie event. Thanks, Deb DeYoung, for this cute picture of my baby boy. He looks quite festive with the lights behind him!

Thank you so much for continuing to read our newsletter! It's been lovely to reconnect with so many of you. We've received texts and emails with stories from your own lives prompted by stories of ours. How wonderful to share this crazy world with such wonderful people. So thank you again for reading but thank you even more sharing with us!

We will close with a party tip: Rather than curating a playlist on your own, consider checking Pandora and Spotify for a pre-made party mix. We really enjoyed the Brunch Café playlist on Pandora which you can check out here: listen now.

Deb DeYoung, Barb Murillo, Diane O’Neill, Jackie Steventon, Tammy Talbott, Mary Afton-Tarr, Kevin Lynch, Kellie Quartana, Cathy DeLoach, Autumn Riley, Catherine Freeman, Nicki McGuill.