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There are a few key factors for a great home buying experience. One of them is to make sure you have an experienced, professional loan officer. Do you think it is important to have someone who is highly reputable, responsible and knowledgeable guiding you through one of the largest financial transactions in your life?

Here are 4 simple questions to ask your lender when you are shopping around.

1 - What are mortgage interest rates based on?

2 - What is the next Economic Report or event that could cause mortgage interest rates to change?

3 - When Bernanke and the Fed “change rates”, what does this mean?… and what impact does this have on mortgage interest rates?

4 - Do you have access to live, real-time mortgage bond quotes?

Be Smart! Ask Questions! Get answers! Your lender MUST be able to answer all of these questions correctly. If not, run - don’t walk - to a lender that does!

Email me for a cheat-sheet to grill your potential lenders!

The WCPSS has released it’s 2007 ABCs report for all Wake schools. The report shows eleven Wake County schools have achieved “School of Excellence” status, and 58 have reached “School of Distinction” status. The ABC program measures student achievement over the past six years, using a weighted formula.

Davis Drive Elementary School had the highest score this year, of 96.3

Salem Middle School had the highest score for a middle school, of 96.1

Green Hope High School had the highest score for a high school, of 90.5

This weekend the NC Museum of Art hosts a unique puppet show by Paperhand Puppet Intervention. The show uses huge puppets made of cardboard and household miscellany, shadows, stilts, and dance to create a whimsical mystical presentation to children (and adults) of all ages.

When: Sept. 7th and 8th
-Pre-show event (different each night) 6:20pm
-Pre-show music: 6:30pm
-Show begins at 7:00pm
Where: NC Museum of Art (Click for directions)
Cost: Adults $10, Ages 4-12: $7, 3 and under: Free

Calling all Tift Merritt fans - the Grammy-nominated singer will be providing a FREE show this Sunday September 2 at Koka Booth. She will be performing with the North Carolina Symphony for Pops in the Park.

Bring your picnic, lawn chairs and blankets. For more info, you can visit Tift’s Ofiicial Fan site (she’s a Raleigh native and UNC-Chapel Hill grad), or the Koka Booth Amphitheater site.

Anyone in Lochmere can easily ride/walk over to the park via the Swift Creek trail past Ritter Park to avoid the long lines.

If we go, we will be the ones pedaling the 2 kids in the double-seat GoBug.

Would love to hear what the fans think after the show! Hit the comment button below at the bottom of the page to register (and get a chance for a free dinner) to leave your thoughts.

Map below.

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We were looking for a good bakery in Cary. We had tried a few “bagel” places, and supermarket bakeries, but they just weren’t of the level we were used to. Then I was told about a bakery in the Preston area of Cary, so we had to try it out. The bakery is La Farm on Cary Parkway, just north of High House Rd. From the moment you open the door, your senses are overwhelmed. The smells of the baking bread, and treats are so wonderful. There are samples of delicious morsels strewn about the tables.

I was fortunate enough to be able to wrangle an online interview with Missy from La Farm this week. When asked what were the three most significant differences between La Farm, and other local bakeries, she responded.

1. “We are an authentic European bakery lead by one of the greatest bakers in our county.” The master baker Lionel Vatinet hails from prestigious “Les Campagnons du Devoir” Guild in France.

2. Lionel and La Farm have a passion for the highest quality bread and bakery items incorporating local ingredients and flavors.

3. Missy suggested that we try the “new” cornbread soufflé made with historic Yates Mill corn meal!!! Sounds intriguing.

Missy was excited to explain that La Farm was being featured on Rachael Ray’s talk show this year and in the upcoming December issues of Food and Wine and Oprah Magazine – so please watch for your local Cary business!!

The Sourdough bread is not just the bland, white bread you find in supermarkets, but the real deal. It is a three day process steeped in tradition for Master Baker Lionel Vatinet to bake his sourdough bread. It is a stunning mixture of just the right tang, and smoothness coupled with a thick, crispy crust and dense bread. We also tried the La Farm Bread, which transported us to a streetside bistro in Paris, where we were enjoying a plate of bread and cheeses, while sipping a deep Bordeaux and ruminating about the days events.

Just as dramatic as the breads, were the treats. I had a blueberry and raspberry tart that was to die for. It had a creamy smooth filling that mixed with the berries had a wonderful contrast of flavours, and the shell was again a dense pastry that complimented, yet contrasted the sweetness of the filling, with a rich buttery overtone. Est Magnifique.

Everything we tried was so wonderful, I can’t see us ever going back to grocery store bakeries again. If you are looking for other recommendations in the Cary area, please feel free to contact us.

That is the question that KB Home, inc. seems to have asked themselves a few years ago, and is banking their financial future on. As the champagne goes flat all over the country, KB has something to toast to.

KB homes partnered with omnipresent Domestic Diva Martha Stewart to build homes with KB know-how, and Martha’s design style, which coupled into a Midas Touch. The development in North Cary has seen rocketing real-estate sales, even as other markets as at a virtual stand still. Twin Lakes has generated buyer interest since it was announced, and it got a kick-start when Stewart made a personal appearance. Sales began in March 2006, and about half the planned 767 homes and townhomes have been sold.

Sales at Twin Lakes have been so good that a second Martha Stewart community in North Raleigh will have its grand opening this year. There are nine other Stewart communities in six states.

The Town of Cary will soon start construction on a new town park that will open in the Fall of 2007. We recently moved to Cary from Hilton Head Island, SC. We are so thrilled that you can actually enjoy the outdoor amenities here. At the coast we could never sit outside and enjoy the beautiful surroundings, because you would be eaten alive by the noseeums.

The Town has recently announced it has approved a new park at Walnut Street and Lawrence Road, in the heart of Cary. Designed by Raleigh-based OBS Landscape Architects, the park will include nature trails, two playgrounds, one for toddlers, and the other for kids ages 5-12, picnic shelters, restroom facilities, a boardwalk over a small stream. An 800-foot brick promenade, designed by Arizona-based public artist Barbara Grygudis.

From looking at the conceptual drawings, this park looks like an ideal place to kick back and get away from the stresses of real life. With lots of walking trails and open space, I can’t wait to take my kids to ride bikes and fly kites. The lost art of spending quality time with the family.

Twin Lakes KB development by Martha Stewart and KB Homes