FFB4MD's Profile

First of all, add a few hanging ivy or spider plants above the cabinets to give the kitchen some life. Like some other commenters, I wouldn't paint the walls either, because what would look best would be a dark color, and you don't want to have to paint back to white over that when you leave! I agree with a bold rug and towels or art, and painting the tabes and chairs, or glass and metal frame table if you want a modern touch - which could be easy with dark brown and white. You could even add something like Ikea's black-brown color Expedit with white drawer inserts on the opposite wall to mirror and balance the cabinets (of course, incorporating whatever bold color you choose for your rug, art, and towels), which would celebrate and elevated the color scheme from "embarrassing" to "statement" status.

Food for sure. And secondly, very brief babysitting. Massage certificates, movie tickets, etc. are awesome, but if there's no one to watch the baby, they can't be used! Just watching the baby for an hour so the parent can shower, go for a jog, do the laundry that's been accumulating, etc. or couple hours so they can go to dinner without being those annoying people that bring a screaming baby to a restaurant, is the best thing! Oh, and visits are nice, but keep them to under an hour, max. When the baby eats for 45 minutes every 3 hours, every bit of those 2 hours and 15 minutes in between are used for something functional like showering, eating, napping, etc. and if you take too much of that time up visiting, the new mom or dad's whole day just got set back three or more hours.

One more thing - if someone has a small baby and you want to get an outfit, "newborn" size is for 5-8lbs babies, whereas "0-3 month" size is for 8-12lbs. I don't think many people know that, (I certainly didn't), so we had tons of giant 0-3 month outfits but nothing that fit my 6-pounder. The couple of newborn size outfits we did get were just perfect for that first month or so. I had no idea, until I had one of my own and saw the difference. Live and learn!

I had a similar problem until I got a pair of these. Works great behind my couch, facing the entryway. A place to sit and take off your shoes, then to store them, too!
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50152703/

I found the easiest way to make the bed is to stretch out all my arms and legs while still under the covers to straighten everything out, then just slide out the side and neaten the corner I just exited. Takes 3 seconds, not 3 minutes! =)

@beeforbrian, if you read closely the comment said "mostly women," so the commenter allotted for those men who really want to get all nitty gritty with the details. But if you did a demographic survey of the profession's true audience, I'm sure you'd be surprised that it tilts heavily toward women. Do many brides wish the groom had more interest in wedding planning? Perhaps. Nevertheless, just because most wedding photos also include the wedding dress doesn't mean the wedding dress actually has an opinion or involvement, much like many grooms in a large number of brides' collective experience.

Each mode of communication has its place:
Text = for one-liners.
VM = for longer messages, or if you're driving and don't have Siri. I'm shocked people think VMs are rude, but that's probably only because of simple "call me back" messages, which I never do. That is pretty annoying, I have an uncle who does this as his "trick" for getting people to call him back that I refuse to fall for - just leave the reason for the call if you're leaving a VM!
Email = for longer topics you want a record of, or if you think the receiver will need to read it carefully or repeatedly.
Hand-written note = thank yous, especially to the older generation.

I've used raspberry or other fruit jam in lieu of sugar... gives it a fun variation.

Just the right little black purse, in Canada. The hotel we stayed at even had a 20% off coupon to their store, but the price tag was a bit too much for me since we were already spending money on the trip, and I didn't want to pay customs on it. "I'll just get it at the USA Roots store when I get home," I thought, then discovered that the US store didn't carry them at all and it was already sold out online. Gaaaahh! Still haven't found the perfect black purse and it's been 4-5 years.

I would agree with removing the palm tree borders, countertop flowers, clock, and replacing the rugs with white ones. I don't think it's gross to have a rug in front of the toilet, that's normal. I would say paint the door and window trim white to give the bathroom a very sterile appearance - you're trying to sell it, so what people are looking for is "clean," not "personalized." If you have money, then replace the glass shower doors with new full glass with a swinging door, or at least crisp curtains. Not being mean, but from a buyer's perspective, the current silver trim looks cheap.

For those of you who think you can move just as quickly with a cell or without don't know basics of crowd psychology. Air flight attendants aren't concerned with any one individual action. These comments are all focused on one individual's thoughts or desires, but as any junior high teacher can tell you, if you let one person do something, everyone else will demand why they can't do it too. And if you have never tried to move a crowd, you will never understand how imperative it is for everyone to be on board. I've seen people with the most gristly traumas taken from the scene of a car accident to the ER, yakking away on their cell phones. There's been several reports of people on their cell phones who walked out in front of a train and got killed. Walked into a train and died!!!! The power of distraction on those things is incredible. Just turn the thing off for a few minutes. It's not a personal affront.