DK and The J Fangirling: Who Knew It Would Last This Long?

[IssieCol]

January Jones got followed out to Topanga or maybe she had the paps follow her out there, but either way, they got pics of her and the kiddo at the skinny dipping love nest. If she's dragging photographers out there with her, that's worthy of some side eye. Maybe she thinks they won't care since they get papped a whole bunch anyway, but these pics are like right on top of their driveway.

Link

[LaaLaa]

I'm always surprised that they're buds with her because 99% of January Jones' red carpet choices baffle me. I keep hoping DK will fix her.

[IssieCol]

I think one of the differences between JJones and DK on the red carpet is that it always feels like JJ is trying to prove a point about how avant garde, weird, edgy she is instead of actually having a sense of style. Like she doesn't care if she looks cracked out in something as long as people talk about her wearing some that is not Betty Draperish pretty princess floof. With DK, even if I don't like what she's wearing, I always believe that she likes it on herself and it goes a long way to selling her whole look to me.

[LaaLaa]

That's it exactly. January values un-Bettying herself over all else.

[isadora]

Is that the house currently on the market?

[IssieCol]

No, they're selling the Hollywood Hills house. I'm pretty sure it's already sold actually. Someone on FF said it's not coming up in any real estate listings anymore. This is the Topanga dragon house and The J would NEVER.

[isadora]

The creepy childhood house?!

[IssieCol]

LOL, yup. This is the house that they've done all the renovation work on, it's the one where they got papped having a pool party where The J played with JJones' kid in his pool, it's where they skinny dip, and have their garden. DK said in a recent interview that they use it as a weekend house these days. The new house they bought hasn't been smoked out by the paps yet and it wouldn't surprise me if it was in a gated neighborhood.

[LaaLaa]

That'd be wise since they're not so big that tabz would send a helicopter over the new one or anything. Going back and forth between two houses within a week sounds convenient yet exhausting. No wonder they're grocery shopping all the time!

[isadora]

I would hate it. It would make me insane.

I knew some people in Michigan who had weekend houses on the lake and I was like: Um, it's Michigan. There's zero traffic and your weekend house is 30 minutes away. Maybe you should just LIVE THERE.

GOD, can you imagine having to constantly keep track of inventories at TWO houses (and I don't mean a vacation home that is farther away)? It sounds like a misery but I guess if you have "people" who do that shit for you it's a lot easier?

[ophy]

It is annoying!

I have the devil of a time keeping up with whether or not there are enough coffee mugs or whatever in the vaca rental we bought, which is roughly 30 mins away. The management co that rents it out for us is pretty good about keeping it clean and stocking the toilet paper and consumables, but my MIL has to go out there periodically to check on the other kinds of stuff. Plates and bowls and glasses are constantly getting broken and thrown away, without the renters bothering to tell us. It sleeps fourteen, so we need a ton of kitchen crap.

The other houses we rent out are much easier, since people live in them all year 'round and have to provide their own everything. The only areas we have to stay on top of with those are lawn care, pest control, appliance maintenance, etc.

Our neighbors own seven houses in the US, which is cray (says the person who only owns five), but they only rent out one or two of them. The others are for them to stay in . . . they migrate to different parts of the country depending on the season. Ski season, beach season, leaf changing season, etc. Must be nice to be retired with no kids! And yes, I imagine keeping up with what is in what house is exhausting. My heart bleeds for them.

I knew some people in Michigan who had weekend houses on the lake and I was like: Um, it's Michigan. There's zero traffic and your weekend house is 30 minutes away. Maybe you should just LIVE THERE.

I hear you, but it's probably a money management/investment thing. Buying real estate is just a good way to diversify your portfolio overall, so not everything is tied into the stock and bond markets. It's just an added bonus if they also get to use the place themselves now and then.

[isadora]

I didn't think of it like that. In my mind I divide rental properties from having a bunch of houses you have to keep stocked with toilet paper for your own use.

But I hate domestic shit but that's probably why I think it sounds like torture to have to deal with it times two!

[IssieCol]

And in DK and The J's case, they go grocery shopping enough that if they need something, it's no big. The Topanga house is basically in Malibu so it's probs a good hour or so away from where their hills house is. My folks have a lake house that everyone in the family uses a lot so if they treat it like we treat that house, we just assume that we have to bring new disposables/consumables every time we go. And since they don't rent it out, if we end up with too much of something, we just leave it there and it's no big. Mr. Issie's parents have a beach house that they do rent out so when we use it, we clear out everything before we go and then the property managers just refill it when we go again.

[isadora]

What I've learned from this thread is that I need an investment property.

[ophy]

I don't know anybody who has money who doesn't also have multiple properties! It's one of the first things you are recommended to do, depending on the current real estate market in your area. There's very little day-to-day that you have to do once a place is rented out. Our town has a really hot rental market, so buying and then renting out is easy here. Some places don't, though.

When folks ask me what I do now that I'm not working in an office, I generally say 'stay-at-home mom', completely forgetting that duh, I'm also a landlady.

(But in other words, yes. At least think about it!)