Cruising the aisles of your favorite home improvement store, you spot it. Its tall, curvy profile is unmistakable, the glamorous shine of its polished chrome beckons you. The enormous touchscreen asks you if you’d like to order groceries — wait a second…

If you’ve been paying any attention at all, you know that smart home devices are popping up everywhere. From smart refrigerators like the Samsung Family Hub line to connected electric toothbrushes, you can get just about anything you want in a version that’ll report back to your smartphone or network. Heck, there’s even a connected water bottle!

Smart Home Devices and the Internet of ThingsAll those items that live in your house and report back to your smartphone or your hub or maybe even work with your voice assistant, when you consider them together, they make up a part of the Internet of Things. Everything connected to the Internet one way or the other that’s not a desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone is part of the Internet of Things.
So, your swank SmartTV, your bluetooth-enabled dishwasher, that self-closing garage door, maybe even your security system, they’re all things that are part of the Internet of Things. It’s important to make this differentiation because unlike the other Internet, the Internet of Things has a big problem that is only just now emerging. Security has become a bit of an issue, with smart home devices turning into backdoors into home and business networks.
Older Internet of Things products are the most vulnerable, since it was uncommon for security to be considered in their design. After all, who’s going to hack a coffee maker? It’s not really the coffee pot that’s the end goal, as it turns out, it’s access. Access to a network that can be used against another entity, often without the owner’s knowledge at all. You could be happily percolating a pot of beans while your coffee pot is participating in a denial of service attack against AT&T and never be the wiser. It’s nefarious.

Is a Smart Home Worth the Risk?Just because your smart home may be at risk right now doesn’t mean it’s not worth having. That would be just like saying your car is at risk of being hit in a parking lot, so you should never go to the market or maybe even never own a car. Smart home technology can improve and enrich lives when applied strategically, but that’s kind of the crux of the issue here. Having a bluetooth-enabled coffee pot is maybe not a strategic smart home item (but then again, maybe it is, you do you).

When you’re looking at smart home devices, there are a few things you should consider:

What is the brand’s commitment to security? If your product is designed to automatically accept new software when it’s available and allows you to change the password at your leisure, these are good signs that the manufacturer is trying to keep their Internet of Things products secure. Since these updates will be one of your primary defenses, they should be given a high level of consideration during a purchase.

Is this a product that should be connected? Sometimes, brands connect items that maybe don’t need to be connected, like that smart toothbrush, or maybe you don’t need them connected, like the smart coffee pot. It’s ok to not buy a connected item when you have a smart home. In fact, if you strategically purchase bluetooth connected items, you’ll minimize your security risk.

Can I secure this device? This may sound silly, but you should take security of these items very seriously. If you don’t feel that you’re capable of securing your new connected products, then arrange for a tech-savvy person to configure your Internet of Things network before you even turn that new buy on.

Tips for Better Internet of Things Security
So, you have that shiny new connected refrigerator and you’re ready to hook it up to the world. Before you do, it’s time to brush up your Internet of Things security! Here are some tips...

1. Set up a separate network for your Internet of Things devices. Known as network segmentation, having a separate, dedicated network for your devices will shield your computers and other more traditional hardware from any risk that your smart home could create. It’s always a good move to have a secondary network, anyway, then when visitors come you can give them the password to your guest network instead of your main network.

2. Always, always use a firewall and WPA2 wireless security with your router. Together, the two will give you extra layers of padding from the outside world. If a hacker does get through, it’s not for lack of armor on your side.

3. Use good passwords. A good password is one that doesn’t relate to you in any way, it’s not your birthday or your kid’s name or your dog’s anniversary. It’s numbers, letters, special characters arranged in some way that you can remember, but not so obvious that someone else could guess. Also, make sure you choose a different password for each device on your network. A password vault can help to keep track of all of these names and numbers, in case you ever need to use them again.

When Your Home’s in the Cloud
Having a smart home means exposing yourself to a bit of risk from your Internet of Things devices, but there are plenty of things you can do to protect yourself. If you don’t feel like you’re ready to set up the right kind of security ahead of your new smart kitchen, you can contact an expert.

I recommend AMP Tech out of Suffield, CT.  
​Tell Andy, I sent you!  .

Last night was our regular monthly book discussion meeting at Blue Umbrella Books.   At our regular monthly meeting we cover lots of genres including but not limited to, popular contemporary fiction, classics, nonfiction, historical fiction and book to screen.  Last night's book was a favorite amongst fans of historical fiction.  We all read The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara.  I did not love this book, but one of the reasons I love our book discussion group is that I read this book.  I would have never picked it up on my own and even though I didn't love it, I'm glad to have read it.  I learned a lot about the Civil War and the Battle of Gettysburg, we had a very lively discussion and meeting and I stretched my legs a little as a reader.     

We rate our books on a 1-5 star system and you can see above we had a lot of history fans by the high scores given to The Killer Angels.  Donna, Margaret and Bill are our history buffs all giving the book a 5 star rating.  Joyce also loved it and has even visited Gettysburg herself.  Bill has also been to the battlefield and brought some of his pictures to share with the group. The discussion about the book, the war and the real life generals and soldiers who fought in it was enlightening and dare I say... fun.  My official review from Goodreads is below.  

Book discussions at Blue Umbrella Books are free and open to the public, find out what we're reading and join us! ​

Some of you may have noticed that I recently made a change in brokerages.  The obviously follow up question is why?  Why leave a big, well known brokerage like Century 21 to work for a much smaller office and a lesser known real estate brand?  Am I crazy?  Yes.  But that has nothing to do with this!  

In my life before real estate my entire career was in small business.  I worked for a small business owner as his second in command for almost two decades.  Together, we built one business, spun off another and did it all again, multiple times.  For me the most exciting part of my work was starting small and seeing how I could be a part of helping it grow.  As a realtor, I have the opportunity to apply this to myself as an agent and to see how I can grow in my own business, and now I also have the opportunity to see how far this smaller brokerage can grow with me and me with it.

I chose to make this move because the EXIT Above and Beyond franchise in Somers, CT is brand new.  The broker/owners have lots of combined experience and are excited start growing their brand in CT and MA.  The EXIT Realty philosophy is largely focused on customer service, and gives me the support I need to stay focused on and really connect with each and every client.  

I'm really looking forward to growing with EXIT and hope if you have any real estate questions or queries you'll give us a shout.  We're sincerely excited to help you!  

There is a good chance this is my best review yet!  It makes me so happy to know that my clients are pleased with my service.  Buying a home can be a big, stressful deal, so any time I feel like I made things easier, I feel awesome! 
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One of the great things about working in real estate is that sometimes you find yourself with a lunchtime sized gap in your schedule for the day.  Last Thursday, I happily filled aforementioned gap with a date with my friend Carol who also works hard to have some flexibility in her schedule.  We both love eating out and I've been following @bistroonmain867 on Instagram for awhile so I suggested we go try it for lunch.  

Bistro on Main is a social enterprise owned and operated by the Manchester Area Conference of Churches (MACC Charities).  As a social enterprise, their mission is twofold: (1)  delivering an exceptional dining experience for their guests, while (2) breaking cycles of poverty through transitional employment and work readiness training. Inspired by both classical and modern French bistros, they are a scratch kitchen focused on using high-quality local, seasonal, sustainable ingredients including farm-to-table poultry, dairy and produce; dock-to-chef sustainable seafood; and locally produced artisan products like cheeses, breads and charcuterie.

​I stole the above from their website because I obviously could not have explained it better myself.  A restaurant with a mission beyond serving up delicious dishes is a restaurant I want to support so I was delighted to have a wonderful lunch experience.     

Our service was excellent and started with a friendly greeting at the door.  It was a Thursday around 1pm and we were seated quickly in the bar area.  Our server was very friendly and knowledgable about the menu and was training someone new while taking care of us.  We ordered mini bottles of bubbly to start and while we reviewed the menu our server turned our muselets (that's the fancy word for cork cage, don't worry, I had to look it up.) into turtles!  What a fun trick!  Turns out he spent some time working in Hawaii and picked it up there.   

On to what we ate!  

We started with the Moules Frites, but opted to not have the Frites part of the dish.  So we can't tell you how the fries are, sorry!  The mussels were delicious though!  They use wild Chatham mussels and the broth is a red coconut curry with basil, mint and cilantro.  Carol said they were some of the best mussels she's ever eaten and I have to agree.  

We both had a salad with chicken for our main course, mine is picture above.  The Salade De Carrotes Roties which I'm going to say translates to "roasted carrot salad"  It was baby carrots, bitter greens, orange supremes, crumbled goat cheese, toasted pistachios and pomegranate vinaigrette.  It was very good and left me a proud member of the clean plate club.  Carol had the Salade Chassee "Cesar" or  the chicken caesar salad and was just as pleased as I was.  

We finished off with coffee and assorted macaroons, managing to just eat one each and take the rest home for Carol's kids.  The coffee comes to the table in a french press and was very good.  

Overall, we had a great first experience at Bistro on Main and I can't wait to return and try it again!  If you're in the Manchester area, put this place on your radar!   

Bistro on Main
867 Main St. 
Manchester, CT 06040
​860-432-5267

See what I did there?  I hope no one is shocked to find out that the Martin house isn't bursting with sports fans.  As non-fans of sports we made a very interesting discovery 5 or 6 years ago.  It was Super Bowl Sunday and just like every other day of the year, we were craving chicken wings.  Deciding where to go (assuming every wing serving bar would be packed for the occasion) was tricky.  We settled on a sports bar close to home and were shocked and delighted to find that it was practically empty on our arrival!  In honor of the football holiday, there were both food and drink specials plus raffle prizes and there was barely anyone there to take advantage of it all!  It turns out, a majority of football fans have a house party to host or attend on Super Bowl Sunday leaving the sports bars wide open for chicken wing lovers like us to swoop in and take over.  Since the year we made the discovery it is now our Super Bowl tradition to find a sports bar, eat & drink all their specials, win all their raffle prizes and be home in bed before the end of the 4th quarter.  

​This year we went to The Yard Tavern in Enfield.  We were excited to find the place pretty empty, but bummed to hear they weren't running any Super Bowl specials.  Since their wings are delicious we forgave them quickly and got our party started.  We ordered a plate of wings, half buffalo blue cheese and half honey hot.  They never disappoint me with their wings!  So good and so many flavors to choose from.  We also had a couple of cocktails and a huge pile of nachos with chili.  I enjoyed watching the first half of the game and I know Sean enjoyed that I kept asking him questions about what was happening on the field (sarcasm font).  It was another great Super Bowl date! 

How do you celebrate the Super Bowl?  
​Where should we go next year?

Can’t wait until spring to sell your home? Winter can be a tough time to attract buyers, particularly if you live in a region where there’s going to be ice and snow all around. Your home may not show as well in bad weather; however, it is possible. Here are some winter real estate facts to keep in mind:

People Like an Orderly Property 
In the winter, all visitors may see is a blanket of snow (depending on where you live). Do your best to keep the driveway and walkways neatly cleared and free of ice. Even if there’s just a light dusting of snow, sweep it away. Spread some sand over walkways to avoid slips and falls. Try to keep the roof clear of snow, as well, as a good roof is important to selling any home. You can always call in a roofing company if yours isn’t up to par.

Bright Light Is Cheery
There's nothing that makes a house more cheery than sunlight. Wash the windows inside and out so they sparkle. Pull up the blinds and throw back the drapes for some warming illumination. In darker corners and niches where the sun won’t reach, place a lamp and keep it on. You could also use spotlighting to illuminate major features of the kitchen, living room or bathroom.

Warmth Is Comfort
People coming in from the cold will be pleased to find your home is warm and toasty. As a retreat from winter cold, your buyers will have more of a reason to feel comfortable and take their time. You might consider lighting a small fire in the fireplace or wood stove to keep things toasty. Try to keep indoor humidity between 40-60 percent to avoid that dry, stuffy feeling.

Everyone Appreciates Mood
Create a cozy feel by adding extra pillows or afghans to the sofa and beds, or some plush throw rugs on the floor. Leave the dining room table set for dinner, along with a champagne bucket and a couple of glasses. Add some extra-fluffy towels or robes in the bathrooms. In short, make everything look comfortable and inviting.

​Winter Can Be the Ideal Season
You’re more likely to get bids faster in the wintertime because you’re dealing with motivated buyers. They need to move, and soon, or they’d be waiting for the balmier temperatures of spring. You may get fewer visitors, but they’ll be serious buyers, not just frivolous house-shoppers. Stage your home well for the season and you may very well sell faster, and for a higher price, than you expected.
You always want to keep your home clean and in good repair, but the trick to selling in winter is creating the effect of a warm, sunny retreat from the elements.
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Original article by Dixie Somers