Big bottoms

Nope, I am not talking about ladies (or gents) here, folks. I am talking about the bottom bits of American houses (yes, the basements), particularly in the area in which I live (sometimes called McMansionville, I hear…)

I went to a house the other day on an estate (do not think of this like we think of estates in the UK – this is like a posh, luxurious complex with MANSION type houses on acres of land).

A gurt big house like this on a sprawling estate

Not a London estate like this….

Anyway, so I was in this house and it was GINORMOUS and luxurious and I wanted to slide down the staircase and totter about in heels with a gin and tonic in my hand, but I did not do either of these things, sadly.

But I did sit in the basement and oggle it. Basements in the USA (well, this part of the USA) are very different from how we use or view our basements in the UK.

It looked at bit like this…

Fabulous!

And nothing like this…

A grotty old basement 😉

I have friends (the #hocohomos) who have the most fabulous basement EVER and I love being at their house, and to honest, I could just move in there because it has everything I need – like TWO BARS and A WINE CELLAR and a POOL TABLE and FLAT SCREEN TVS and JUKE BOXES and GAMES MACHINES and a large open space to dance.

Anyhow, the thing that really struck me as I sat in this large underground space was this: my entire house back in the UK could fit in this space. It really could. Fancy that!

American Realtors

One of my favourite American stories this week is about a guy called Phil Jones who, for the last few months, has been recreating the ads from local realtors and then taping over them with his own version.

Like these:

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🙂 🙂

Phil told BuzzFeed that he’s a pretty big fan of the way realtors tend to advertise themselves and he thought the best way to honor their awesome/awkward look was to try it out himself.

I’m totally with Phil on this. I often titter (laugh) away as I drive past realtor signage with their faces smiling out at you to TRY AND SELL A HOUSE. We don’t get that in the UK at all. There are logos and names of the ‘estate agents’ and maybe a small, recognisable design or emblem, but not your FACE.

UK estate agents

And, to be honest, we don’t really have ‘realtors’ anyway, so this whole thing is completely different! My favourites, as I have mentioned early on in this blog, are Bob and Ronna 🙂

But I often pass the signage for this chap, and can’t help thinking to myself how much he looks like my friend’s husband back in the UK.

Creig Northrop or Rich Hunt…? 🙂

Perhaps he’s his doppleganger…….

Anyway, American realtors (can’t get used to that word; it’s like there is a syllable missing….), all I can say is this: what a jammy job looking round big houses and wot not! 😉 Where do I sign up…..? 🙂