Old About Page

First of all, thanks for stopping by! I get so excited when people visit my little blog... and there's practically a party over here when you comment on my posts! I am new to this community but I am loving every minute of it.

Applying a "Fresh Coat of Paint" is not just the old standby pre-listing advice in the real estate industry; it's also a phrase used to refer to something being revived or renewed. I like to think that any home, relationship or endeavour can be made beautiful with some hard work, love and a fresh coat of paint.

My blogging journey seems to differ from those of other "Home Bloggers" since I actually started my blog for business. I'm a real estate agent and last year, I made a HUGE push to become more active in social media. That's how this blog was born, although at that point, it was just called "Taylor's Real Estate Blog." I still post market tips and real estate articles sometimes but this blog has evolved into so much more! That's your hint that it's safe to keep reading, (even if you think reading about real estate and finance is a snooze) because I post about so many other things too!

For a great post which explains a little about why I choose the topics I do, click here.

These days I post about our home life and my other passions as well (decorating, DIY, Craigslist treasure hunting, art, camping... You name it!) I think I have barrels full of untapped creativity built up because in high school and even university, all of my studies were concentrated in science. Now that I've been finished university for nearly ten years, I'm finally letting the fun, visual Taylor inside me come out to play!

You may notice that I often consider resale and market value even in my decorating and renovation posts. If you hate this, I really am sorry but these are smart things to keep in the back of your mind and I suppose my "work switch" is never fully turned off! :)

Enough with the boring stuff, I want to talk about that hunky guy in the picture! Isn't Corey cute? We met and started dating back in 2006 and we're still going strong! He's the Dwight Schrute to my Angela (I'm a big fan of The Office and some of my friends have suggested an intervention to put a stop to my "That's what SHE said" jokes) and together we laugh A LOT! Several years later, I still can't believe my luck to find someone so perfect for me. We've been through some ups and downs and we find that when life gets tough, we just need to laugh harder! Corey's training to be an electrician (love a man who can work with his hands!) and he's very handy around the house so he'll be the muscle behind most of our renovation posts. Hopefully you'll follow us as we move homes, add to our family (dogs first, kids later) and embark on as many adventures as we can pack into each day.

Here's the "children's book version" of our story:

The other hunky guy in the picture is Barkley. His nicknames are "Bark-opotamus," "The Bark" (like The Hulk) and "Fatso." I wanted to call him "Bark Ruff-alo" but Corey put his foot down. I make tons of bad jokes so there's always some eye-rolling going on at our house! Barkley is our bundle of joy and he's 70 lbs of muscle who thinks he's a tiny purse-dog. Seriously, when he gets the chance, he'll sleep ON TOP of me! I have dreams that we have a giant cat walking on me in the middle of the night but I love him too much to get mad. He's lovey and lazy and a bit of a prima donna but we wouldn't have it any other way. He's a Rescue Greyhound from a racetrack in Alabama. In our house, we strongly oppose the racing industry.



Here are some fun facts about us:

• We are Canadians. We live in Toronto, Ontario. Sometimes on a cold winter day, when we're putting on Barkley's winter coat, we imagine him cursing his luck for being adopted by Canucks instead of Southerners.
• We act like kids when we're alone. Seriously, we buy theme park season's passes every summer and often sneak away on a Saturday morning to ride the biggest roller coaster ten times in a row before I have to leave to go to work.
• We love the outdoors. In the summer, if I have a weekend off, we are probably camping, fishing or canoeing... Although the last time we went canoeing, we discovered that I have no endurance and Cor had to paddle non-stop for 6 hours in heavy currents while I cried because I thought we might die.
• We have a Zombie Emergency Plan. You can never be TOO prepared... But Seriously, we have one.
• I am five years older than Corey. We don't think about it anymore but it was pretty scandalous when we started dating. We even discovered that my BFF had been a student teacher in one of Corey's high school classes. Can you say AWKWARD?! It made me think of that Oil of Olay commercial from the 90's: "Miss Fitz-Henry???" "Bugsy Brrrooowwn." It's even funnier since Corey's last name is Brown.
• We are opposites. Opposites really do attract! I am Type-A, high strung and just a little bit bossy, while Corey is laid back and easy-going; I can barely walk and chew gum, while Corey is athletic and good with his hands; I am tough and opinionated, while Corey is the nice guy. Paula Abdul said it best!
• We kept our relationship a secret in the beginning. This was mainly due to the age difference and the fact that we assumed things wouldn't get serious. I think it was a year before Corey met some of my closest friends.
• We hate spiders. Even Barkley hates them and we always justify it by telling ourselves that they're our natural enemies. We are useless against them! Okay, not quite since Corey reminds me that they only bother him if they sneak up and surprise him. Still, if there were ever a really big spider on the floor, I'm fairly certain that all three of us would be on the nearest table.

Are you new to my blog?  Please browse the topic tabs in the heading bar to find what you're looking for!

Now that you know us a little better, I hope you enjoy visiting us here in cyberspace. We are so glad you stopped by! Leave a comment and let us know what you thought. :)