Show and Tell Friday

I can't believe how fast this week has flown by!!!  Friday's seem to sneak up on me so quickly lately!  This week I'm sharing a plant stand that I bought at Marshalls a couple years ago.  I'm not really sure how it was supposed to be used but I put moss around the bottom and sides and filled it with soil and plants...It's been in my backyard for awhile now and it's holding up well!These are

I'm going back to school!

I've decided to do something I should have done a long time ago... I'm going back to school to become an Interior Designer!  Lauren is now almost 18 so I thought it's time for me to do what I should have done when I was 18.  I remember looking into it back then but decided against it.  Over the years I've thought about doing it numerous times but with having a family and working full time, I just

Coconut Cupcakes!

We moved to a new building at work yesterday so for the last week I've been going through 8 years worth of stuff deciding what to keep and what to throw away.  It's so amazing how much junk and old paperwork, not to mention dust I have accumulated over that time!  It was worth it now that we are in our nice new office space!  You're probably wondering what the heck that has to do with cupcakes...

Celebrate Cinco De Mayo With A New Home In Las Vegas...Cha-Ching!

Party Cinco De Mayo Style!

You are invited to join the Shea Team at the Ardiente Clubhouse from 2-5pm for a Cinco De Mayo Celebration and be the first to see the newly framed model homes!

Ardiente is located in convenient and private North Las Vegas. These Las Vegas new homes inside the gated, active adult community share a private 20,000 sq. ft. club house featuring two resort-style pools, a state-of-the-art fitness center, group exercise room, basketball court, billiard room and a multi-purpose meeting facility. Additional outdoor recreational amenities include tennis and bocce courts, six parks interconnected by 2.5 miles of walking and fitness challenge trails, and a challenging putting green.

New Homes Builder Las Vegas

Floor plans include:

• Rome - 1,406 sq ft of beautifully, functional space. It’s grand enough for inviting 20 of your closest friends over for dinner and intimate enough to use as a hideout when you want to escape from the social whirl. Model highlights include a huge kitchen that opens into the dining area, a spacious living room, an office option, a master bedroom with plenty of personal space along with a guest room. It’s a compact, yet spacious design.
• Monaco - 1,583 sq ft offers a great room, huge kitchen with angular eating bar and centralized island, informal dining space and rear-oriented den/library. A sprawling interior space is magnified by an outdoor room.
• Nice - 1,928 sq ft boasts a broad boundary of glass that creates total transparency between a huge and delineated outdoor room and interior spaces. There is a feeling of openness between the great room, kitchen, large dining area and flexible den space. A sizable master bedroom is coupled with master bath which showcases split vanities, large shower, and an abundance of built-in linen storage. A large secondary bedroom is as large as a master suite.

Shea Green Certified new homes are built with numerous energy saving features that will save you money and start in the mid-$100s.

RSVP today for The Cinco De Mayo tour at 702-643-1916.

Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream

It was such a beautiful weekend in the San Francisco Bay Area!  Yesterday it was about 80 degrees!  Lauren and I went to the Farmer's Market and I came home with a lot of strawberries!  I froze some for smoothies, kept some to eat fresh and made homemade strawberry ice cream with the remainder!  I have a Donvier Ice Cream Maker. It's really easy to use because you don't have to mess with ice and

Show and Tell Friday

This week for Show and Tell, I'm going to share some beautiful gifts I received awhile back. 
These beautiful chintz plates were from M.~Tales from an O.C. Cottage.  I just need to rearrange things a little bit to make room for them in here...I think I may need a bigger cabinet to display them soon!
The next gift I receieved awhile back was from Elsie.  Elsie doesn't have a blog but she leaves

Napa Valley Part 3

This is part three and the final post of my day trip to the Napa Valley, scroll down to see part 1 and 2.
By late afternoon we were needing a cup of coffee to recharge and Dean & Deluca was the perfect place!More amazing pastries to temp us...



Later in the evening it was time for dinner.  When we pulled in the parking lot of the restaraunt this is what we saw...more beautiful vine covered

Napa Valley Part 2

This is Part 2 of my day trip to Napa Valley. If you missed Part 1 just scroll down to yesterday's post. 
After we left the Alpha Omega Winery we stopped at the V. Sattui Winery in St. Helena.  This is the most gorgeous place of all the wineries we visited!  My only regret is that we didn't do any wine tasting here. We arrived here at the end of the day and just stopped to look around but now

Napa Valley Part 1

Last Saturday, my friends and I went to Napa Valley for the day.  It's only about an hour and a half away from home which makes me wonder why it's been years since my last visit!  It's such a gorgeous place!  We met at my friend Kim's house at 9:00 am and headed up there.  First we did a little shopping at some outlet stores and then had some Mexican food and margaritas for lunch....


You need a

Increase in San Diego New Homes Sales - Precursor for Recovering Market?

New Homes San Diego

For the first time in five years, San Diego’s new-home industry showed increases in sales and median price, according to an industry report released last Thursday.

According to a report from the California Building Industry Association, new home sales in San Diego County rose 11.6 percent in February compared with February of last year, and the median price hit $531,945, up 11.8 percent from a year ago,

Why is this important? It may be a sign that new home sales will begin to take a turn for the better. After all, the National Homebuilders Association reported Friday that builders were feeling more confident about 2010 than they had in 2009.

As new home builders begin to see the market slowly recovering, coupled with the frustration that buyers are feeling with the foreclosure and short sale process, they are responding to the demand for new homes by providing more on the market. For example, Shea Homes San Diego opened a new development west of 4S Ranch in February.

According to Paul Barnes, president of Shea Homes San Diego, "Most of the increases have been along the North (County) coast - we saw it on the radar screen in late fall, and we continue to see it."

New home buyers in California are also being enticed by the $10,000 state tax credit. And, let’s not forget about the federal tax credit being offered as well.

If you are in the market for a home, or if you are frustrated with the foreclosure and short sale process, consider buying a brand new home. Shea Homes offers many new homes in various states. Browse their new home inventory at www.sheahomes.com.

I'm so honored!

Exciting news...My Romantic Home was mentioned in the magazine "At Home in Arkansas"!  I'm so honored to be included with some of my favorite blogs!   See the list below under "Click for Cottage".   They have a beautiful website and blog  that I thought you might enjoy. 
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I went to Napa Valley with my friends on Saturday and had a wonderful time!  It's such an

Show and Tell Friday!

Last night I was walking through my home, with my camera in hand, looking for something for this week's Show and Tell.  I realized that you've seen everything in my home...numerous times!  I'm not buying as many things as I used to which makes it harder to find things to blog about but I really can't justify buying things just for the purpose of blogging about them! Haha!  I thought I would share

Beach House Dreaming!

Source: Bountiful Home
If you read my blog regularly you know I'm always dreaming of having my own beach house.  I live 30 minutes from the beach now, which isn't bad but I would love to be walking distance away!  Here are some beautiful beach home inspiration photos...Source: Coastal Living
Source: Coastal Living
I found this photo below on another blog and they said it was from Coastal Living

Federal and State Tax Credit Eligible New Homes in Oxnard, CA

Act quickly and take advantage of both the federal and California state tax credit for you new home in Oxnard.

The dynamic new master-planned community of RiverPark in Oxnard is the setting for Reflections, a collection of uniquely designed single-level and two-story attached homes with two to four bedrooms, two to two and one-half baths and a two-car attached garage.

Varying plans feature a versatile loft or a gourmet kitchen island and every residence is enhanced by fine appointments.

New Homes Builder

The following 1,352 square foot new homes with 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths and 2-car garages are available and tax credit eligible:

• Homesite: 0027, Model: 002B, Elevation: C
• Homesite: 0029, Model: 02DR, Elevation: C
• Homesite: 0030, Model: 2A, Elevation: C

Buy now and move into your new home in June 2010!

Sunday Brunch

Last Sunday I hosted a Spring Brunch for my Supper Club.  Usually around this time of the year the weather is beautiful but we had a huge storm hit on Sunday with lots of wind and rain! I had visions of us having mimosas on the patio but that didn't happen! Oh well, we had a lovely time indoors!
I kept the table very simple.  Just an old canning jar with some cut flowers from my garden on top of

Happy Monday!

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Pretty in Pink (from my Flickr Favorites), originally uploaded by Romantic Home.I've been so busy lately! Yesterday I had one of my supper clubs over for brunch at my place but I haven't even had a chance to upload the

Show and Tell

Can I bring my dog to Show and Tell?  Funny...I still remember asking my teacher that when I was in elementary school!  I can't remember what I ate for dinner two days ago but I remember things like that!  I also remember the two different phone numbers we had when I was growing up! Why is that still stored in my brain taking up much needed space? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~This is the man of the house! 

For you...

Hop on over to my Product Review Blog for a wonderful giveaway!

Dreamin'

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Dreamin', originally uploaded by Romantic Home.Wouldn't it be wonderful to live in this dreamy mosaic? In my dream, it's close to the ocean, beautiful flowers are always blooming, it's always warm with a gentle breeze, the

New $10k California Tax Credit for New Home Purchase

New Homes – California

On March 25th, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into California law $100 million allocated for new home purchases becoming available May 1st. New homes must close escrow before December 31st of this year and the tax credit lasts only as long as the funds are available.

“We are urging prospective buyers that they should not wait until May to secure a home,” said Vanessa Linn, vice president of sales and marketing for Shea Homes. “Select your dream home today and reserve the tax credit starting May 1. Last year’s state tax credit lasted just a few months, so we are excited to start working with prospective buyers right away.”

Shea Homes, one of the biggest new homes builders in San Diego, offers new homes ranging from affordably priced condominiums and townhomes to traditional single-family detached homes and magnificent luxury residences.

New homes in San Diego are now selling at 11 neighborhoods throughout the county:

• Agave, Clover, Sapphire and Amber at Windingwalk in Chula Vista
• Estrella at San Miguel Ranch in Chula Vista
• Maravilla at San Miguel Ranch in Chula Vista
• Mosaic and Tapestry at Lomas Verdes in Chula Vista
• Chaparral Ridge in Escondido
• Maderia and Mandolin at Del Sur in San Diego

For more information, visit a Shea Homes neighborhood and talk to a sales representative.

Spring Cleaning!

I've got the spring-cleaning bug really bad!  I took a vacation day today so I could clean...how pathetic is that?  Who uses vacation days to clean?  I cleaned out all the cabinets in my bathroom which I haven't done in a long time.  I found medication that expired in 2004!!!  I even replaced all the old shelf paper with new. Ahhh...it felt so good to get that done!

I better go get busy....

Happy Easter!

Things are really starting to bloom in my little garden!  I love the English Cottage look of foxgloves and I'm really excited because it looks like it's going to be a great year for my roses!  They will be in full bloom soon...

I hope you all have a wonderful Easter!!!  

Show and Tell Friday!

Since Easter is this Sunday I thought I would share my faux chocolate Easter bunnies that I bought last year at Marshalls.  It's so funny, everyone that comes over thinks they are real chocolate!  Don't you just want to bite one of their ears off? I do!

Edited to add:  If you want to make your own faux chocolate bunnies there is a video on how to make them on Martha Stewart's website.  It's a