Meet Lulu, Tysons’ latest Pet of the Week. Lulu is a smiley lab/beagle mix who loves belly rubs.

Lulu’s friends at Traveling Tails Dog Rescue shared a message on her behalf:

Hi! I’m Lulu. I’m a sweet 60-pound girl who loves snuggles and belly rubs. I’m approximately 4 years old and found myself in a sad situation in a shelter in Tennessee after my family lost their home. Luckily, I was pulled by a rescue group, and I’m now getting a ton of love and attention from my foster family!

I have a gorgeous, happy smile and love everyone I meet! I’m up to date on vaccines, spayed and microchipped. My ideal family will be someone who will want to cuddle with me on the couch and enjoy my company. I hope to meet you soon!

Are you and Lulu the perfect match?

Laura Schwartz is a licensed Realtor in VA, D.C. and MD with McEnearney Associates in Vienna. You can follow Laura on Instagram at @LauraSchwartzRealtor or her Facebook page. Laura can be reached at 703-283-6120 or [email protected].

Coming up, we have Teacher Appreciation Week (May 3-7), end-of-year gifts for staff and teachers, and there are always house-warming gifts or birthdays.

If you need ANYTHING custom made, Lauren Brownlee, the owner of Holly + Clove is your girl. A Vienna native, she’s a solo entrepreneur, woman-owned business and creative magician.

My background is in statistics and economics, so my brain doesn’t work the way hers does. I recently came up with a concept I wanted to get made for my husband’s birthday — a “house divided” shirt with his long-time favorite Eagles and my youngest son’s oppositional favorite, the Patriots. All I did was tell Lauren what I wanted, and she created the entire thing. I didn’t even pick the shirt color because I just don’t work that way.

She’s made custom wood signs for people, lots of apparel, tumblers, blankets, koozies — literally anything you can dream up, she can make it.

Find her on Instagram at @HollyandClove, on Facebook at Facebook.com/HollyandClove or on her website, HollyandClove.com.

If you’re in the market to buy a house in the Tysons, McLean and Vienna areas, you’ve got options to explore.

According to Homesnap, there are 98 homes for sale, with a median list price of $475,000.

Here are a few open houses taking place this weekend:

1430 Waggaman Circle, McLean
7 BD/7.5 BA single-family home
Listed: $2,795,000
Open: Saturday and Sunday, 2-4 p.m.

1505 Highwood Drive, McLean
6 BD/4.5 BA single-family home
Listed: $1,550,000
Open: Sunday, 1-4 p.m.

1508 Forest Lane, McLean
3 BD/3.5 BA single-family home
Listed: $1,249,000
Open: Sunday, 2-4 p.m.

6674 Midhill Place, Falls Church
3 BD/2.5+ BA townhome
Listed: $825,000
Open: Saturday and Sunday, 2-4 p.m.

1522 Westmoreland Street, McLean
3 BD/2.5 BA townhome
Listed: $740,000
Open: Saturday and Sunday, 1-3 p.m.

Photo via Tim Mossholder/Unsplash

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This past week, 26 properties were sold in Tysons Corner, McLean and Vienna, according to Homesnap. These ranged from a $1.9 million 5 BD/5.5 BA home in Chesterbrook Manor to a one-bedroom condo that sold for $233,000.

The recently sold properties include:

• 1660 Perlich Street, McLean — 5 BD/5.5 BA single-family home — $1,875,000
• 9293 Ivy Tree Lane, Great Falls — 4 BD/2.5 BA single-family home — $1,208,010
• 1009 Rachel Lane SW, Vienna — 4 BD/3 BA single-family home — $945,000
• 1108 Moorefield Creek Road SW, Vienna — 3 BD/3.5 BA townhome — $680,000
• 1530 Spring Gate Drive #9201, McLean — 2 BD/2 BA condo — $465,000
• 1504 Lincoln Way #222, McLean — 1 BD/1 BA condo — $233,000

In the market? Check out the latest in Tysons area real estate.

Tysons’ Pet of the Week is Odelia and Oprah, a bonded mother-daughter duo.

Here’s what their friends at 4Paws Rescue Team had to say about them:

Odelia is a quiet, unassuming little tortie mama who is quite happy to watch you go about your day as she confidently observes from her napping spot. Odelia has such a loving, gentle soul. She will greet you affectionately when you get home and purrs sweetly as you give her gentle pets and ear rubs.

A nice, comfortable perch with a good view is Odelia’s favorite spot in the house. She has a healthy appetite for wet and dry food, along with perfect litter box manners. Odelia is very easy-going and will happily play with toys. She is good with other cats.

Oprah, Odelia’s daughter, is a fluffy little princess who wants all the attention! When you come home, Oprah is always happy to greet you with little chirps. She is outgoing, adventurous and full of curiosity. She has an abundance of energy and loves to play. Oprah’s favorite spot is near a window with a nice view, as she is an avid bird and squirrel watcher. This petite girl is always ready to explore!

Oprah is tidy with the litter box and enjoys both wet and dry food. She really loves her mom, but is fine with other cats, too.

Odelia and Oprah love to snuggle and play and have a tight mother-daughter bond, so they must be adopted together.

Odelia and Oprah came to 4Paws from Wise County Humane Society in southwestern Virginia. Odelia’s estimated birthdate is January 2017 and Oprah’s is July 2019. They have both been spayed, are current on vaccinations, have tested negative for FIV and Feline Leukemia, and are microchipped.

Are Odelia and Oprah your perfect match?

Laura Schwartz is a licensed Realtor in VA, D.C. and MD with McEnearney Associates in Vienna. You can follow Laura on Instagram at @LauraSchwartzRealtor or her Facebook page. Laura can be reached at 703-283-6120 or [email protected].

If you’ve been reading these for a while, many of you know I’m a Vienna-based Realtor® and mom, and I’m also married to a public school educator. My perspective of schools around the area is influenced by so many different factors.

I have a lot of homebuyers right now who don’t have kids (yet) and are going strictly off school ratings when deciding where they should live. However, school ratings are not the be-all and end-all of how to pick a school system for a child.

Here’s what I wish I had known before I had kids, before I moved to Vienna, and before I bought a house tied to a school.

You have no idea what raising kids will be like until you have them. Will both parents work? Will one stay home? Will one job be flexible enough to drop off/pick up? For example…

• School hours vary by individual school. Some elementary schools start at 8:30 and others start at 9:15. Will you need before and/or after-school care? Not every school has that on site (it’s called SACC). For instance, Louise Archer buses kids to Flint Hill ES or Vienna ES. Marshall Road has a long waitlist, and some kids get bussed to the rec center.
• Maybe you don’t need full-time after-school care, but an extra day or two a week for the kid(s) to stay late at school to socialize won’t hurt. Did you know some schools bring in awesome organizations to run after-school activities? Some others don’t.

Do you have a set idea of what kind of education you want your child to have?

Here’s an example: Not every school offers a second language. (This one really blows my mind.) Wolftrap offers Mandarin. Colvin Run, Cunningham Park, Flint Hill, Franklin Sherman, Haycock, Churchill Road all do, too. Kent Gardens offers French. Archer and Vienna Elementary? No second language at all.

What about the gifted and talented program? Do you know what the Advanced Academic Program is?

In the second grade, all of the students take a standardized test, along with an application to the AAP program (which is really the gifted and talented program). Many of the kids who get in will go, which will make the home school classes smaller. For others, they may choose to stay at their home school because some have a level IV center on site. (Cunningham Park, Chesterbrook, Franklin Sherman, Marshall Road, Wolftrap, etc.) Otherwise, you’re really relying on the “Gifted Education Teacher” at the school to give advanced opportunities to your child.

What is the school community like?

This one is hard because I don’t think many people talk about the social dynamics in the parent scene at schools. Is it cliquey? Is there a large engagement with the PTA? Are there opportunities to meet other parents?

I have found even at a small elementary school, the best opportunity to meet other parents is at the playground after school. If you’re a working parent and can’t do that, you’re toast. The next best thing is through sports (VYI, VLL, etc.), but they don’t always group the kids by school, so you’re not guaranteed to be on a team with your neighborhood school kids. Ask around on this one. Check the PTA social pages for engagement.

As a Realtor® there’s only so much I can share about schools, demographics, etc. so some of this you do have to research on your own. But if you’re thinking of moving and have specific questions, please know you can always email me at [email protected].

If you’re in the market to buy a house in the Tysons, McLean and Vienna areas, you’ve got options to explore.

According to Homesnap, there are 110 homes for sale, with a median list price of $$479,900.

Here are a few open houses taking place this weekend:

7302 Peter Place, McLean
4 BD/4.5+ BA single-family home
Listed: $2,100,000
Open: Sunday, 1-4 p.m.

1848 Macarthur Drive, McLean
4 BD/4.5 BA single-family home
Listed: $1,499,900
Open: Sunday, 2-4 p.m.

1437 Brookhaven Drive, McLean
4 BD/3 BA single-family home
Listed: $1,099,000
Open: 2-4 p.m.

308 Valeview Court NW, Vienna
4 BD/2.5 BA single-family home
Listed: $850,000
Open: Saturday, 1-3 p.m.

1123 Moorefield Hill Court SW, Vienna
3 BD/3.5 BA townhome
Listed: $580,000
Open: Sunday, 2-4 p.m.

Photo via Tim Mossholder/Unsplash

Thank you for following us on Facebook and Twitter.

If you want more local news, join the 5,400+ people who have already signed up for the Tysons Reporter daily newsletter.

When you subscribe, you’ll get the latest headlines delivered to your inbox each afternoon. Think of it as your free digital newspaper. You’ll never miss out on local happenings.

It takes seconds to sign up.

And we know your inbox is sacred territory. You may get an occasional email on behalf of an awesome local sponsor, but we’ll never spam you with obnoxious emails.

Thank you for subscribing and your continued support of local news.

This past week, 29 properties were sold in Tysons Corner, McLean and Vienna, according to Homesnap.

These ranged from a $4 million European-style McLean home to a $312,000 2 BD/2 BA corner condo unit.

The recently sold properties include:

• 8417 Brookewood Court, McLean — 5 BD/5.5+ BA single-family home — $3,950,000
• 6929 River Oaks Drive, McLean — 7 BD/6.5+ BA single-family home — $2,350,000
• 805 Cottage Street SW, Vienna — 6 BD/6.5 BA single-family home — $1,535,000
• 8896 Ashgrove House Lane, Vienna — 3 BD/3.5 BA townhome — $781,000
• 7651 Tremayne Place #202, McLean — 2 BD/2 BA condo — $312,000

In the market? Check out the latest in Tysons area real estate.