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Just in case you don't follow me on social media (where I've posted hundreds of pics), I just returned from a long awaited trip from Morocco. When I say long awaited, I mean LONG awaited. This was a group trip, scheduled pre shut down, and was rescheduled multiple times. But prior to that, Morocco was at the very top of my "must see" list from the time I was 15. Waiting that long to do anything puts a ton of expectations out there, but to say it met and exceeded my expectations is really any understatement. I'd be hard pressed to pick a favorite thing about it, but here are a few: The people. The ones I traveled with (who I did not really know before I went, but who were so absolutely fantastic they just made the trip exponentially better than I could have imagined.) Find you a group of people who cause you to push yourself, ask good questions, and make your muscles sore from all the belly laughs. 10/10 recommend. The locals. All of the people we met were really welcoming, kind, and helpful. Culturally, I think, just fantastic people. The food. Wow. I could go on and on about the food. Orange and olive trees everywhere, and so many wonderful spices and flavors. I'll definitely be replicating, exploring, and recreating Moroccan foods for years to come. (I'm including a great recipe for a delicious, traditional Moroccan Harira Soup HERE. Perfect for the winter, or any time, and easy to freeze for later. The colors. Rugs, baskets, pottery, brilliant tea glasses, mountains of olives and herbs, and so many wonderful, brightly colored doors (that blue!). So much natural beauty and vibrancy. I'm definitely bringing color back into my home as a result. The architecture. We stayed in Marrakech, in the heart of the Medina (the original, fortified city- founded just after the year 1000), characterized by winding, labyrinthine cobblestone streets filled with studded wooden or often blue doors. Some magnificent, and some very discreet and unassuming. Traditional homes are called riads, and are built around a center courtyard. There are often (certainly in the old city) no exterior windows, but rather windows opening to the center courtyard and some sort of outdoor space on the rooftop. Really magical, actually. Other notable elements- lots of nature (trees, plants, and fountains), natural wood elements, lots of color and texture, beautiful tiles and plasterwork. ( I could go on!) After almost a week in Marrakech, we moved on to Essaouira, which is another fortified city, on the Atlantic coast. We all fell in love with the slower pace, wider streets, and ocean views of Essaouira, and it's no wonder there were so many Europeans there on holiday, even in January. We did a lot of moving in Marrakech, too, with no "free day" (thanks for the delay, Delta), so getting to the sea was a great way to relax and slow down a bit before the journey home. Take a look at some of my photos, and if you're planning to head to Morocco, or even thinking of it, scroll down for a quick rating of the events and things we did! Yves Saint Laurent Museum and Jardin Majorelle 7/10- Beautiful gardens and a very interesting (though not terribly large) museum about YSL and his time in and inspiration from Morocco. 7/10 if it's slow with no line. If the line is around the block like it was when we left, I think we'd all agree it would have been a 3/10. Souk shopping with a guide. 10/10- I highly recommend having a guide to give you the lay of the land, help with finding the "good stuff," and if needed, help with pricing/negotiating. Honestly, I feel like I'm a top notch negotiator (I'm in real estate, after all!), but I 100% know I paid more than I needed to for a few things. For example, one of our group paid ~$28 for a tagine cooking pot, and we all thought that was a great deal. On our last night, the Abdou, our cooking instructor, informed us we should not pay more than ~$5 for one. Our collective jaws dropped, and another gal promptly went out and purchased 2 for $5. (I've done the conversions here) Visit to the Ourika Valley and the Atlas Mountains. 10/10- Absolutely stunning vistas of the mountains, and so striking to see snow atop some of them. We hiked up the mountain to the waterfalls with a wonderful guide (@ourikatours on Instagram), but we were not well prepared for the rigor of the hike. (I had a handbag and a bottle of water, and was wearing athleisure. I could not have felt more ridiculous immediately.) Aside from that, learning the history and culture of the more rural area at Setti Fatma, eating lunch right on the rushing river, and catching the views? Definitely a 10/10 experience. We had dinner at Kasbah Bar Ourika, a luxury resort in the valley, and it was the perfect, luxurious end to our energetic day. Visit to the Berber EcoMuseum. They don't have a website, but if you're in the area, it's definitely a great learning experience- info about the Amazigh people (the indigenous people of Morocco, often referred to as Berber), how they used to live, how they live now, stories of how rugs are made and why. (Watch out to get bombarded with requests for money by teeming hordes of children. They can spot a tourist at 40 paces.) Agafay Desert. 8/10- We visited Be Agafay, a new luxury clamping resort, and had lunch there. It's very beautiful, and the drive there is fantastic. It would be an interesting place to stay for the night, although it's not inexpensive (~$300/night) Lunch was delicious, but it appeared they were working out the kinks, because it took forever. Camel ride. 0/10- (This would be lower, but I wanted to make it visually clear that we universally hated this.) It seems like this is something you'd have on the "must do" list, but trust me- if you have any heart for animals, do so at your own risk. There may be places that care for their animals well, but we did not feel like that was the case at the place we stopped. They were chained to the ground, seemed very stressed, and it felt terrible. We actually cut the hour down to maybe 20 minutes, and it was only that long because we could not get the man leading the camels to understand we wanted off. Essaouira. 10/10- Take a walk to the ocean, the blue boats, wander the the shops, and have some seafood tagine. Definitely catch the sunset over the Atlantic. We booked a cooking class through Airbnb experiences, and it was absolutely fantastic. Unfussy, laid back, and so much fun, with great hosts. (@weloveessouira on Instagram.) Are you thinking of planning a trip? Ask me questions! Want to know if you should go? You should!

It's January 2023 and I'm here to give you the scoop on the Richmond area real estate market for this coming year. Have questions? DM me on Instagram @cindybennettrealestate or at my website at cindybennett.net

You want to buy in Richmond, who are you going to call? The obvious answer is me. But if you're buying a home in New Jersey, California, Florida... or anywhere else? How do you even know where to start? Have questions? Reach out. I'd love to help. Find me on Instagram @cindybennettrealestate or at cindybennett.net.

You've been thinking about buying a house for the last few years - perhaps waiting for the market to crash. Our market is definitely shifting. Is it better to buy houses priced on the high end and interest rates low OR flip that - interest rates high and housing prices coming down? Let's talk about it. Can I answer your real estate questions? Reach out, I'd love to talk. You can find me on instagram @cindybennettrealestate.

Thinking that you have to wait until Spring to sell your home? You may want to consider selling your home this winter. I explain why in my latest Real Talk with Cindy. Have questions? Reach out to me, I'd love to help. Find me on Instagram @cindybennettrealestate.

Whether or not you're thinking of selling your house this Spring, this Fall, or Winter - or you just want to freshen up - I've got the Top 10 updates you can do while you're stuck in the house & it's cold outside. Want more tips? Reach out, I'd love to talk. Find me on Instagram @Cindybennettrealestate

Are you thinking about buying a home in the Spring and wondering what you can do now to get started? I've got 5 things you can & should do now so you're ready to buy a home this coming Spring. Still have questions? I'd love to set up a time to talk and get you on the way to buying a home. Reach out to me on Instagram @cindybennettrealestate

In my latest Real Talk with Cindy, I sit down with Josh Crowley at Liberty Mortgage. We discuss mortgage options in today's changing market, pre-approvals, seller concessions, and first-time buyer tips. It's a conversation you don't want to miss. Have more questions? We'd love to help. Reach out to me on Instagram @cindybenettrealestate or via my website at cindybennett.net or Josh at Liberty Mortgage at 757-784-7269.

My favorite *home* items right now (that just might help you with those resolutions)... Sleep better- Linen sheets from OneQuince.com. I seriously sound like a commercial for these sheets, I love them so much. The perfect weight, soft without feeling heavy, breathable, but warm...I'm convinced they're perfect. Oh, and the price is great for the material and the quality, too. I swear I sleep better since I've had these, and that's definitely worth it! Save money- Ecobee thermostat. The ability to set this thermometer to your patterns is fantastic, and the ease with which you can change, from home or away (with the app) is fantastic. Set your perfect sleep temp, "at home" temp, and have it drop when you're away. The bonus? You'll save money, and you can get credits/rebates from Dominion Power! Be more environmentally conscious- BagUps. These garbage bags (yes, garbage bags are on my favorite things list!) are not only a small start up, but the company is veteran owned, AND, best of all, these bags are totally biodegradable. Additionally, the box is sort of like tissues, so the back up bags are always there for you. There's plenty we have to throw away, but I love that the bags, and therefore, much of the contents, break down over time. Get organized- This eyeglass organizer was a game changer for me. A person of a certain age, I use reading glasses. I don't like wearing the same ones all the time, and I had them everywhere. This corrals them all in one place- keeps them from getting scuffed, getting lost, and obviously, from the clutches of my little dog. Great for sunglasses too, perfect for your walk in closet, and good looking enough for your dresser! (and under $30!)  

Yep, I'm one of "those people." I love a goal. A plan. A resolution, if you will. So despite the cold, and the post holiday funk that many folks have, I am pretty energized at this time of the year. Reflecting and reviewing the past year and crafting a plan for what I want the next year to look like really is one of my favorite things to do. I've always done resolutions- for as long as I can remember, really, but I've definitely gotten better at making them work for me over the last ten years or so. That means gone are the days where I just say, "I'm going to.... this year" and hope that I can make it stick. I have a system, and a plan, for making those plans, and for sure, for making them come to fruition. So what is this special sauce, you ask? (At least I hope you ask if you've found yourself discouraged by resolution fatigue in the past!) First, take a look at your life now. Your WHOLE life- not just your appearance, your business, or your bank account. That means doing an assessment on your relationships with friends and family, your business, your money, your spirituality, your health, etc. You get the picture. Give them each a rating 1-10, even. That's always a great starting point. Jot down some notes about the good points and the areas of improvement you see. Likely a few things will start to reveal themselves, and more often than not, these are the areas you'll want to work on. I work on paper, but wherever and however works for you- once you get clear on those things you want to improve, get really clear on HOW to do that. If your goal is to grow your business, you need to get SPECIFIC on how much you want to grow, and how. For me at least, that specificity is the difference in getting to my goals, or falling off by February. I'm sure you've heard of SMART goals. If not, this stands for Specific - (Don't just say, "grow business." Say "Grow by 30%) Measurable - (Know your numbers, whether it's your weight or your biz growth) Achievable - (Make your goals ambitious, but attainable.) Relevant - (Does the goal actually make sense and work towards a greater goal?) Time Bound - (Set a realistic deadline, and progress points) I find when I chunk my goals into smaller pieces to achieve monthly, weekly, and daily, they are all much easier to manage than just creating a huge goal with no smaller steps. Creating a plan that you can work a bit on every day to get to where you want to be can make a world of difference in making those incremental changes that will, in time, lead you to achieving that goal- whatever it is. Whatever your goals are, or are not, I'm wishing you a happy, successful, and healthy 2023!