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Oakley’s Out & About
Darlings, I didn’t get to wish you Happy New Year because I was a slacker last month, but now I’m back, and my magnanimous editor, Paul Weideman, didn’t even spank me for going AWOL. (Kittens, I must admit I’m a little disappointed about that.) [Editor’s note: What?] This month, it’s Valentine’s Day. Here’s an idea for you and your sweetheart (which I personally don’t have, by the way, but I’m okay with that... I think). I’m sure it’ll be warmer by the 14th, and you’ll be ready to get outside and remind yourself why you live in Santa Fe, but you may not want to ski or hike. Instead, pick up a copy of Josh Gonze’s book, The Streets of Santa Fe: a Walking Tour from 1880 to the Present. Use it to take a self-guided (and romantic) tour down memory lane, when the Plaza was the place where people went to get everything from PJs to shoes, where they got haircuts and met up with friends for a Coke at the drugstore. Then stroll up Canyon Road and imagine it when family homes and farms flourished, and neighborhood grocers were within walking distance.
Josh moved here from New York in 1999 because he had a job with Thornburg Investment Management. (Imagine that, Chocolate Drops, someonewho actually came here for a j-o-b!) His fascination and love for his exotic new environs led him to become a history chronicler and preservationist. (He’s still at Thornburg, too.) We love it when people come here and fall in love. How romantic.
Speaking of street scenes, I was thrilled to see Anna Marie Baca (Keller Williams) back on the local real-estate scene. From office manager for Trails West Realty on Don Gaspar many years ago, to successful Realtor at French & French formore than 10 years, to successful Realtor at Keller Williams in Albuquerque, to successful music teacher in public and private schools in Albuquerque (she saw one of her young students, a 10-year-old girl, make it to Carnegie Hall), and now back to successful Realtor, this time at Keller Williams Santa Fe! In her off hours (as if Realtors have off hours), she’s completing her master’s in musicology at UNM. Unlike me, puppies, Anna Marie has never been a slacker. Welcome back, AMB.
Home again, home again, that’s what David Woodard (formerly SF Props) said when he walked through the doors to his old office at Sotheby’s on Washington Ave. last month. Funny thing, Cupcakes, David was actually with Jim Cartwright when Jim opened the first Sotheby’s office in Sena Plaza way back in the industrial age. Linda Varela and Dana Pineda (the “no problem” girls at 231Washington Ave.) are thrilled to see him again, because he keeps them entertained with his antics. And his wife, Lynn, keeps him working so she can spend his money on airline tickets to Oxford, England, where their daughter, Megan, lives with her husband and two very young children, who need babysitting grandparents. Whew, all these women need David. So many women and so little time, huh, David Darling?
Matt Sargent (formerly SF Props) also relocated to Sotheby’s, and he’s in the Palace Ave. office. Growing up in Santa Fe, Matt’s appreciation for service and style were learned in his careers prior to real estate. As a waiter at the Coyote Cafe and Santacafé, he learned the rewards of providing excellent service (bigger tips). As an accomplished silver and goldsmith (he got to attend the Institute of American Indian Arts through his Osage ancestry on his mother Aleise’s side), he developed an eye for beauty and good design. These skills blended perfectly for his real estate career (17 years in the biz), and real estate led him to a romance and ultimate marriage eight years ago to Michaelene Madrid, his closing agent at First American. Sweetpeas, didn’t I say he had an eye for beauty? Today, Michaelene is also a Realtor with Sotheby’s (part of the Neil Lyon Group). And now you know the rest of the story. Romance and real estate, Gumdrops: an exciting combo.
Another welcome addition to Sotheby’s is Linda Bissonnette (formerly Keller Williams Santa Fe), who is also in the Palace Ave. office. In her 25 years in Santa Fe, Linda’s life has revolved around all aspects of real estate: buying and selling, redesigning and remodeling a number of homes, and owning/managing rental properties. A travel enthusiast, she’s the one who introduced me to Ajijic, Mexico. Possums, here’s a secret I’ll share with you: Linda is a master at cutting hair. I’ll probably regret telling you this, because when everyone finds out, she’ll be in such demand that I’ll never be able to get another haircut. She might be so busy selling real estate that she won’t have time, anyway. I must remind her that my hair can’t take more than 7 minutes. Good god, she can do it while her car’s warming up.
Dear Hearts, I’m so glad to see people changing offices again, aren’t you? For a while, there was so little movement that I was getting worried. I was afraid I’d have to start talking about something serious, like politics or global warming or electric cars. That’s just not me, Butter Beans, not me at all. Have a hearts and flowers Valentine’s Day. So long, Sweetpeas. Until next time... Oakley