Introducing: Pizza Saturdays

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One of the things that everyone looks for when they move are new restaurants – In my previous career, we moved a LOT and one of my favorite things to do with my husband Ryan was to find a new, local pizza place. Knowing that we always have clients at the Ryan Gillen Team that are moving into new areas, whether across the country or just down the street, we wanted to make sure that everyone knew the BEST places to get what I feel is nearly everyone’s favorite food – PIZZA!

At first, I brought this idea to my husband and naturally, he was on board, (because again, pizza is our love language) but he was not pleased with my lack of planning or criteria. So, we sat down, got serious and planned out the most in depth, creative way we could to rank the 30 local pizza places that made our list.

We will be spending the next 30 or so Saturday’s visiting these local pizza places for lunch to compile rankings and give honest, but always respectful and fair, feedback (Scoring of 1-10) on each of the following items:

  • Environment
  • Parking
  • Wait Time
  • Seating
  • Decor
  • Price
  • Selection/Menu
  • Service
  • Specials
  • Crust
  • Cheese
  • Overall Flavor
  • Sides
  • TV Access

After we finish reviewing every restaurant on our list, we will put together and reveal where each of the 30 places we visited rank! Don’t worry, we know our clients live all over the Dayton area – We made sure to choose restaurants from Franklin to Vandalia! Can’t wait to share our experiences with you!

Must Have Tools For Every Homeowner

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When you own your own home, things are going to break and unless you’d like to spend your money on visits from the neighborhood handyman, you’re going to need to be prepared to fix them yourself! Luckily, you don’t need an arsenal of tools or a $500 toolbox in your garage to handle most home maintenance fixes. These tools will cover most of your basic projects!

  1. Cordless drill. A cordless drill is a must-have for installing cabinets, drawer pulls, hinges, picture frames, shelves and hooks; frankly anything in your home that is too much for a simple screwdriver. Whether it’s for do-it-yourself projects or repairs, you’ll use your cordless drill just about every month. I’m fairly certain that ours is used at LEAST that often! We have a very simple drill, which conveniently has the same battery and charger as our leaf blower and weed eater! Buy it here for roughly $34.95!
  2. Basic Toolbox. Keeping your collection of drivers, screws, and bolts in a “one stop shop” keeps things organized and handy. These prepackaged boxes have a high storage capacity with single or double metal latch that closes securely. A removable tray is great for assorted fasteners, screws, nails and other small pieces. Be sure to keep it organized, rather than throwing things in without purpose, my husband can attest that an unorganized toolbox is worse than not having any tools at all! Find a “has it all” toolbox here for only $79! (This one even comes with the drill mentioned above!)
  3. Shop-vac. No matter how careful you are, spills and accidents will happen and there are some tasks that just can’t be handled with paper towels or a standard vacuum, like pet messes or broken glass. We personally found ours exceptionally helpful when cleaning out the garage (because I certainly don’t want spiders hiding in my broom after sweeping out there) and when we remodeled our bathroom, all the drywall dust would have been impossible to clean up without it! Here‘s our favorite shop-vac!
  4. All Purpose Glue. It’s no secret that some things break and they can’t exactly be put back together with staples, screws or nails. Loose baseboards, DIY projects, small household items, etc. need something a little more flexible but still strong – Having something like Gorilla Glue around the house is definitely necessary for those “just in case” situations. Here‘s our “go-to” adhesive that we keep in our toolbox!
  5. Flashlight. You’re going to want something a little more powerful than your iPhone when you’re experiencing a power outage! We realized a little too late that we needed one when our flame sensor was out in our furnace, having to turn off the power in the room where our mechanicals are, trying to watch a YouTube video AND see what you’re doing was nearly impossible. 10/10 I don’t recommend an iPhone flashlight in these scenarios. Get yourself a heavy duty flashlight here!