The Happy Boolo Project began in 1994 when Amy asked me that question.

Our first official date was driving 45 miles from Chesapeake, Virginia to Williamsburg for one of Amy’s favorite snacks from her college days: broccoli cheese bites at the former Polo Club.  

Our passion for good food was fully sated at many Norfolk fine dining establishments where we indulged in creative and budget-blowing dishes:  rabbit pappardelle at The Dumbwaiter, coquilles St. Jacques at Three Ship's Inn, and elk steak at Ship's Cabin.

But our tastes weren't limited to Norfolk's haute cuisine — we enjoyed chilling out in Virginia Beach as well, whether sharing piles of steamed shrimp with Old Bay seasoning at Chick's Oyster Bar, fresh flounder at Sunset Grille, she-crab soup at Lynnhaven Fish House, or fried oysters at Sandbridge.  

In December 1994, Amy and I, with the help of our good friend Liz, hosted our first Christmas dinner party. We cooked all day to produce an undercooked crown roast of pork with unfinished, nearly raw stuffing and rock-hard "puffed" potato appetizers that became known as "potato pucks" — a culinary disaster! — but the fun we three shared was the first time Amy and I realized that we simply loved creating and sharing happy moments with others by entertaining with food.

The notion of "giving a good time versus getting a good time" became a core belief and, though we didn't realize it, we had established the foundational pillar of our Happy Boolo Project philosophy: Community.

But within days, we'd lost the house. The sellers pulled out of the deal for unexplained reasons. Despite this shock, we kept looking on and off for a couple more years. 

However, Amy and I started to realize that the universe was telling us to stay at 631 North Drury Lane in a community that lives up to the motto of Arlington Heights – The City of Good Neighbors.

An already fabulous street where neighbors truly know one another, help one another out regularly and socialize together was becoming even more so as regular social traditions took root, such as our annual 1/2-mile long block party, weekly Happy Hours, monthly book club, and holiday gatherings.

We already had everything we wanted right here at home in the town and on the street that we love.  We also realized that by staying we would continue to benefit from the years of cultivating highly productive soil through our natural gardening practices. We weren’t going anywhere!  

This gave birth to the unique and fun challenge that is the core of the Happy Boolo Project:  

What can we do to renovate our 1964 split-level home — one of the most challenging floor plans to modernize — so that it fits the way we want to live, celebrates the community we love to live in, and is expanded in a way that is in harmony with the planet? 

We agreed the home needs to:

• Make it even easier and more inviting to share those moments of breaking bread with people in our various communities. 

• Support our own community of two and enable our healthiest living habits with high functionality.

• Role model our passion for sustainable living practices.

Realizing this is what’s most important to us in life, we committed to renovate with a philosophy grounded in these three pillars:  

• Community

• Functionality 

• Sustainability

From the inception of the design process in 2018 up until the moment we are writing this copy in the spring of 2020, we have grounded all project activities in this philosophy and used it to make all our key decisions.    

By the end of this project, our vision is to contribute the first LEED-certified home to our town of Arlington Heights and one of the few LEED Platinum renovations in the entire Chicagoland region that is a highly functional space for two and a gathering space for our community.   

As others have been inspired by our project, people in our various communities have encouraged us to share our story.  With both of us being somewhat in the Dark Ages when it comes to mastery of online platforms, we were hesitant at first to share beyond our beloved Drury Lane community.  But as more and more people expressed interest, we realized there were aspects about this project that genuinely interest others.

So we have come to terms with our reservations with the online world and are excited to share the project.