Living in A Healthy Location Combined With a Few Helpful Devices Will Make Your Life a Little Easier
Experts will tell you a significant key to healthy living is residing in a healthy community. Those of us who are lucky enough to call Santa Barbara home have that in spades. In a previous blog, I shared the reasons livability.com named the American Rivera one of the best places to live.
Cities have to get the basics right in order to be a great place to live. That’s both common sense and something you can see clearly in the American Livability Survey data that supports the “Best Places to Live” list. A city and its residents need those things to feel safe and secure. It boils down to wants and needs.
According to the survey, Santa Barbara is among the top 100 best places to live. To see why, begin with our amazing views of the Santa Ynez Mountains, miles of breathtaking shoreline and perfect Mediterranean weather. Our social and recreational activities along with our cultural attractions are also real benefits to living the Santa Barbara lifestyle.
These days, it seems like we are all looking for ways to live a stress-free, simpler life. Besides living in a healthy location, there are some other simple things you can do to relieve stress: like meditation and Yoga. But don’t stop there. if you want to get your life to a more manageable level, there are also many gadgets you can buy designed to make life a little easier at home. Here are seven of my favorites:
A Broom That’s Also A Vacuum
Have you heard about the EyeVac Home Touchless Sensor Activated Vacuum? If you’re looking for something that will pick up everything from crumbs to dog hair, this is the tool for you. Using infrared technology, this little smarty actually senses when dirt, dust, and crumbs are in front of it and automatically pulls them into an easy-to-clean bin. All you have to do is sweep your floors with the broom that comes with the unit and bring those dirt piles to your EyeVac. It’ll do the rest. Leave your big vacuum in the closet when you need a tool that’s perfect for quick cleanups.
Cleaner Air Thanks To The Airmega 400S By now, we all know the importance of quality indoor air in our homes. Whether you’re a pet owner like me looking to rid your home space of pet dander and odor, or you suffer from allergies or asthma, the Airmega 400s Smart Air Purifier by Conway is the air purifier for you. Because the unit is equipped with Wi-Fi integration, you’ll have total control of the unit from anywhere on your smartphone or tablet, Airmega’s app or by Amazon’s Alexa. Technological advancements, including the 2-stage filtration, automatic operation, and 4 air changes per hour, make it easy to effortlessly and efficiently clean an area of about 1,560 square feet with 410 cubic feet per minute (CFM).
An Impenetrable Trash Can Ever get home from a long work day only to find that your dogs have gotten into your trash? If you’re sick of picking up half-eaten trash strewn about your home, then this trash can was made for you. Not only does it look elegant (yes, an elegant looking trash can!) but it hides your trash so your pets can’t get to it. I recommend the tilt-out version because they’re super easy to empty.
Lost and Found With Tile Are you the type of person who misplaces your keys or other important items? Then Tile is for you. “Tile is one of the most popular lost item trackers on the market,” according to Tech Crunch. “The company, to date, has now sold over 10 million of its Bluetooth-connected dongles that work with an app on your phone to help you find misplaced items, like your keys, purse, wallet, tablets, laptops, luggage and more. And because of the way its app works, Tile can leverage its community of millions of app users to help you find your device, even when you’re out of range. That is, if another Tile user is near your missing device, an alert with the location attached is sent to your phone.”
A Futuristic Keychain If misplacing your keys is a major problem, you might need to call out the big guns and try the futuristic keychain called KeySmart. This little gadget can both organize and protect your keys from damage while allowing you to track them using a map on the free Tile app on your phone. The aluminum protective casing is made from the same material used in aircraft and Includes a built-in LED light, bottle opener and a loop piece to attach your car key fob. And it fits up to 10 keys.
Dash Deluxe Rapid Egg Cooker Eating the right amount of protein is important to healthy living. One way to get your protein is with eggs. This machine can “perfectly cook 12 eggs in less time than it takes to boil water,” reports Dash, making “omelets, hard-boiled, soft-boiled, and poached eggs.” But that’s not all. The cooker can also “steam vegetables, seafood, dumplings, warm tortillas, and more.”
The Snap SmartCam for home security I’ve blogged before about smart home security solutions but I didn’t include the Snap SmartCam. According to Money Inc., “This is one of the most perfect gadgets you could want for home security.” It looks like a USB charger, but it’s much more than that. This security camera will keep watch on your home while you’re away. You don’t need batteries to continuously record the activities inside your home with this smart gadget. When the device’s maximum recording capacity is reached, it will continue to record by overwriting the earliest videos. Downloading recorded videos to retain them for your records is easy too. And the USB appearance not only conceals the security camera, but it actually does function as a charger.
No one’s life will ever be completely stress-free, which is actually a good thing because stress is something that challenges us and helps us grow…at a reasonable level. When stress gets too high, it can make even the healthiest among us unhappy and unhealthy.
If you’re ready to maximize your healthy living, having a home or home away from home in Montecito, Hope Ranch or any of Santa Barbara’s upscale communities is definitely something to consider. If you already live here, you know what I mean. Either way, I’m always available to answer any questions or concerns you have about buying or selling distinctive property in one of the “Best Places to Live” in the US. Just give me a call at +1-805-886-9378 or email me at Cristal@montecito-estate.com.
“Cristal Clarke has conducted numerous real estate transactions for me beginning 13 years ago with the purchase of a Lemon Ranch. She has handled both large and small purchases and sales with equal dedication. As a negotiator, you can’t find anyone better. Her transactions are always conducted in the most appropriate and professional manner. Cristal has considerable knowledge of the Santa Barbara market.”
- S.N. Decker Ph.D.
“Living in Europe, we were to say the least, unaccustomed to the nuances of Real Estate acquisition in California and Cristal steered us through the process with absolute professionalism and personal attention to detail at every turn. Her in-depth knowledge of the market place combined with enthusiasm and drive was the only reason we secured the property of our dreams and will be forever grateful. If you are looking for personal discrete and private representation of the highest quality we suggest you look no further than Cristal Clarke.”
- Johan and Paula van den Berg
“Cristal is very straightforward, cheerful, helpful, professional and trustworthy….we felt very lucky to work with her.”
- John and Lacey Williams
“After considering our many choices, we are grateful it was Cristal Clarke of Sotheby’s International who represented the sale of our Montecito cottage. We are familiar with Cristal’s reputation of hard work and dedication to clients, but it was her attention to detail that made our experience so positive. She offered suggestions for staging the property, worked in harmony with potential buyers and was even able to secure back up offers. The sale of our cottage was completed much sooner than we expected, due in great part to Cristal’s professional skills and support. We highly recommend Cristal as a first choice for anyone needing representation with real estate.”
- Michael & Nancy Lee
“Our experience in working with Cristal Clarke resulted in the successful and discrete acquisition of a property which was not yet on the open market. Her knowledge of the Montecito/Santa Barbara area and vast expertise blended with her passion for real estate and architecture, provided us with the very highest level of professionalism and personalized services. Cristal exhibited a rare combination of excellent communications, attention to detail, creativity and patience.”
- Richard and Catherine Frinier
“Cristal really breaks the mold. She knows every nook and cranny of this real estate market, understands value, and follows up on everything, all the time. She was incredibly patient with our two year quest to find the perfect house. Every house hunting trip from across the country was well planned, and our time was never wasted. On top of her professionalism and expertise, she is delightful to spend time with. We are thrilled with the home we purchased, and grateful to Cristal for so wisely advising us through this process, right through to the close and beyond.”
- Laurie Siegel
“We met Cristal first in the course of renting a winter home (for three years), then buying a house using her as our agent. She was amazingly good at listening to our wants and showing us homes that fit our needs. Her mastery of the paperwork was perfect. Most importantly, there was never a situation where we doubted her straightforwardness or integrity. If we do another real estate transaction in Montecito (which I doubt, we’re happy with what we purchased), without question we’d use Cristal again.”
- Ken Saffir
“Susan and I just want to thank you for your efforts in the sale of our home. You are really quite amazing. Your competence, persistence, optimism and humor made the entire process effortless. Every problem that arose, you somehow fixed; any obstacle, you overcame. We have bought and sold many homes. It has never been such a painless and enjoyable process!”
- Michael & Susan Marquart
“A little something about “our” realtor, Cristal Clarke. My wife and I came to Santa Barbara about fifteen years ago looking for a seasonal home from which to enjoy the weather and amenities of the central coast. Being in the real estate business myself I was familiar with agents and brokers so entered the market with open eyes. We “flipped” a few houses in the early years, dealing with various agents and finally ended up in Montecito. That’s when good fortune put us together with Cristal. To say we were impressed is to put it mildly. Cristal really knows the market. She is familiar with the area, its history and trends. When we have questions about a particular property she either has the answers immediately or gets back to us by phone or email. There is no waiting or wondering with Cristal. She is an agent who is “on top of it.” Her recommendations as to price points, contractors, inspectors and title agents have proven to be exceptional, showing great insight and the highest professional standards. We consider ourselves exceedingly fortunate to say that Cristal Clarke is our realtor and would recommend her services to any serious buyer or seller.”
An Impenetrable Trash Can
Dash Deluxe Rapid Egg Cooker