Has anyone ever watched the HGTV channel? I have recently become hooked on it! A friend's 6 year old daughter is the one who got me to watch a design show with her one night and it was love at first sight. Now why she chose to watch an HG show over Hannah Montana I don't know, but I was thanking my lucky stars that she did.

Now keep in mind that I do not have a single creative bone in my body. I can not choose colors, or visual how a room would look with various furniture, or be bold and mix and match prints and solids. I just don't have that in me. So therefore I am even more impressed at what the designers on the shows can do. They turn houses that are small and cramped, into beautiful, open and airy spaces.

The first show I ever saw was House Hunters. This is a show about people looking to buy a house or condo. Each episode focuses on a different town and a different buyer. The realtor shows the buyers three different houses in or around the price range the buyer has set, with different features they have specified they are looking for and then the buyers pick the one they like the best. I have noticed that most people are looking for a larger kitchen and a larger backyard. And I have to know... Who doesn't want a bigger kitchen and backyard?! The buyers view each house and say positive and negative things about it. Things they like, things they hate and things they would change. I have found it interesting that its about a 50/50 spilt of people who want to buy a house where they don't have to change a thing. Not even the wall color. Then there is the other half that goes into the buying process knowing that they will want to make little changes to make the house feel more like them. I'm not sure which side I would be on when I buy a house. Probably the side where I can move in and not have to change anything. Remember I have no design sense. LOL. I have found this show totally cool to watch because it shows houses in different cities all over the US. I have seen home in Florida, Colorado, Texas, California, Tennessee etc. And the best part is they tell you the price of each home. Now I am born and raised a California girl, so I am use to very high home prices. It amazing me the type of house and land you can get once you move out of California. One couple in Tennessee got over 5 acres of land for only $315,000. And the house was beautiful!!! Oh the dream of moving away!!!! And yes I know the income level is lower in other parts of the US, but still!!!

A great thing that HGTV has done is make the show House Hunters Internationl. This show is awesome because it is the exact same format as the regular House Hunters, but it is in locations all over the world! I love seeing all the different types of houses and how different they are from US homes.

Another show I watch constantly on HGTV is Bang for your Buck. This show is about showing homeowners what type of return they will get now that they have made an upgrade to a room or area of the house. The concept around this show is that the homeowners has spent say $20,000 on a new kitchen and they live in Denver, Colorado. Bang for your Buck shows 3 different homeowners in the same city who have all recently remodeled the same area of the house for the same price. A realtor from the city the house resides in and a design expert for HGTV tour and view the remodeled area and make comments that are good and bad about the space that was redone. While the realtor and design expect are view the space, the homeowners are watching on tv from a different location what they are saying. This is the fun part because some homeowners get very offended when the design expect points out something that they don't like or the realtor points out something that might not make the house sell as easily. At the end of the show the realtor and the design expect sit down and go over what would help the house sell and what would make the price fall. Everyone person who remodeled helps their bottom line, its just a matter of how much. :)

Every time I watch one of these shows it makes me want to remodel my entire house! But I will stick with letting the expects do that and I will just enjoy the shows for now.

Entourage - Season 1

I have found a new show that I love!!! Entourage on HBO. Yes I know that it is like 7 or 8 season into the series but I don't get HBO so I've never had a change to watch it. With summer starting and all the regular shows going on hiatus, I needed to find something to watch. I decided that a new summer tradition of mine is to Netflix an entire series during the summer and find something new and exciting to watch. I did this last year with Ugly Betty. And I fell in love with the show. Only to have it be canceled on me this season :(

So I chose Entourage to watch this summer. The show is loosely based on the early stages of Mark Wahlberg career and he is one of the Executive Producers. The show focuses on Vincent Chase this new up and coming actor and his childhood friends taking advantage of the new life Vince is leading.

There is his brother, Johnny "Drama" Chase who is kind of a washed up actor at this point. He use to be a pretty big star. Matt Dillion plays this character.

Eric Murphy, his best friend and "manager". He picks the movies Vince is going to be in, deals with his agent and his publicist. Kevin Connelly plays Eric, who reminds me of a young Michael J. Fox.

Turtle, Vince's trusty side kick. He is defiantly loving Vince's popularity. Played by Jerry Ferrara.

And then there is Vince's agent, Ari Gold who is played by Jeremy Pivan. Ari is an asshole but a really good agent.

The dynamics of the 5 characters is amazing. Each one brings something different to the show and I love it! Eric is the serious one, Drama and Turtle are always trying to network and get something which usually lands them in trouble, and Vince is just going with the flow.

After his first movie, Head On was a hit, he needs to pick a new project. Ari wants him to do another big screen blockbuster, but Eric thinks the movie is crap and instead has him read an independent screenplay called Queens Blvd. Vince loves Queen's Blvd, and trusts Eric's opinion. Also it doesn't hurt that they all grew up in Queens, NY. Ari is very hesitant to let him do the movie, but finally gives in. The 1st season ends with Vince, Drama, and Turtle boarding a plane to NY for a couple months to film the movie. Eric is on the outs because he has demanded that he become Vince's manager for real. Get paid a percentage and everything. Vince just wants things to stay the same. But the show ends with Vince and Eric coming to an agreement and Eric hoping on the play with the rest of the guys.

I can't wait to get Season 2 in the mail. This show is a must see!!!