Announcement!

I'll have a new feature here every Friday! Kelli at There is no place like home asked me if I would like to take over her "Show and Tell Fridays" she does every week! I was very honored to be asked and enthusiastically agreed! It will still be held every Friday and I will be using the same guidelines as Kelli which you can find at the bottom of this post. The only change will be that I will be using MckLinky in place of Mr. Linky.

I'm really looking forward to this but I know from past experience that there may be a lot of bloggers participating once this gets going. If you are joining in I really encourage you to visit the other participants and leave comments but I want to keep this fun and not become a chore so by no means is it necessary that you leave a comment on everyone's blog! We all need to show support but sometimes life outside of blogging gets in the way and there is no sense feeling guilty or judging others. Keep it fun...that's my motto!

I would like to thank Kelli for passing her baby over to me! It's so wonderful that her Show and Tell Fridays will live on in blogland!

We'll start this Friday! Please read the guidelines below if you plan on joining in.
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The Guidelines:

• What:For Show & Tell Friday, you show something to an audience, and then tell them about it. Your Show & Tell Friday item must be something that you own, and in your home or garden. Put thought and care into choosing your item. Is it something you would take to show a group of friends in real life?
  
  Why: Many of us have special things that we may have forgotten about over time. Show & Tell Friday is a great reason to look around your home or even dig through those boxes in your closet. Of course, it's always more fun to share our treasures with friends, and that is what Show & Tell Friday is all about!
  
  Here are a few ideas to get you started:
  -Family heirlooms
  -A special collection
  -A piece of jewelry
  -A new (or old!) gift
  -A project or craft you are working on
  -Decorative items
  
  What doesn't work well:
  -Posts with no photos: They have no "Show." Please don't use them.
  -Recipes or pictures of food
  -Photos of events (trips, vacations, celebrations, etc.)
  -Photos of things you are selling, planning to sell or that anyone else is selling.
  -Giveaway posts: The idea is to share something from your life, not something you are no longer keeping.
  -Photos found on the internet, graphics or screenshots: Please use only photos you take yourself.
  
  Where: My Romantic Home



• Do not host your own Show & Tell "Mr. Linky" on your blog. Readers use the list here at My Romantic Home to visit each blog that participates.

If you are participating in other themed blog carnivals or memes, do not sign Mr. Linky. Use a separate post to participate here.

When: Show & Tell Friday takes place each Friday. I usually post Mr. Linky at 12:00am PST.

How: It's easy as 1-2-3:

1. Publish your Show & Tell Friday post on your blog.

~Offer a link back to the main page of my blog. This is a courtesy to me, as well as your readers--they will know where to join in the fun, too.

~You are welcome to use my Show & Tell Friday picture. Just copy and paste it on to your blog.

2. Copy the "permalink" from from your Show & Tell Friday post, not the link to the front page of your blog.

~People will be looking through these links all week long. If you link to your main page, it will be harder to find your Show & Tell Friday post. For instructions on how to do this, go HERE.

3. Add your permalink to Mr. Linky.

~Do not sign Mr. Linky until you have your Show & Tell Friday post published on your blog. This is only fair to the other participants.

Inappropriate links will be removed at my discretion.

A New Project

I bet you never thought you would see these colors on my blog! ...or in my home!!! You'll be seeing more of this in the near future...Lauren and I are redoing her bedroom! I've always loved Rhoda's (Southern Hospitality) green and black office and laundry room. Luckily Lauren loves these colors too so that's what we're going with. We are also adding a very small touch of pink to the mix! The walls will be Behr Paint in Grass cloth (the second color from the top).

We had fun shopping for some new things last weekend. We went to HomeGoods and found the black and white quilt, the big picture frame which she is going to personalize with photos of her and her friends. Lauren also found this adorable crown plaque and knew she wanted that in her room. I don't like the colors on this so I'm going to paint it...probably black with a white crown....or maybe pink??? I figure I could use those paint pens to fill in the crown area.

What a perfect opportunity to show off Lauren's school picture that we just got last week! She's now a Junior in high school and I cannot believe she'll be 17 in just a little over 2 months! She's changed so much from her first day of high school! I'm so happy that she finally appreciates her auburn hair and stopped dying it! Isn't that an amazing color? Now...if I could only get her to appreciate her curls and not straighten it!

We'll be busy painting walls and furniture and shopping for accessories but I think it will be a lot of fun! I hope to have it all finished by the end of October if not sooner!

Topiaries

I LOVE topiaries! I have quite a few of them in all different shapes and sizes. I started them from small 4" pots of ivy many years ago. Here is a wreath shape one I made. I started this with just a couple cuttings of ivy from one of my other topiaries. I put the cuttings in water until the roots formed and then planted them in a pot with a wire hoop-shaped form. It's not a fast process...ivy really doesn't grow all that fast until it's about 2 or 3 years old.

I recently transplanted it in this beautiful urn. You'll never guess where I bought this! Walmart! It's just one of those lightweight faux concrete planters but I thought it looked really nice and pretty close to the real thing ...which I would love to have but can't afford! This one was only $20.

I love the handles on the sides! I added my little cherub with the cracked neck that I bought at the flea market awhile ago. He's so cute, even with a cracked neck!

My big HUGE begonias are blooming. It's still summer here in California. It was in the 90s this past weekend so you won't be seeing any Fall decor here until it cools down a bit a lot!

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!!!

Oh I'm just so excited to share this with you today!!! I'm finally the proud owner of one of Linda's (of Linda's Blue Gate) yard conservatories!!! I have wanted one of these since I first laid eyes on them! I kept telling her I was going to get a truck and drive to Texas to buy one!

When Linda told me she was going to make smaller ones which she calls "Apartment Conservatories" that could be shipped I was so excited! I didn't have to drive to Texas after all! She shipped it to me unassembled and it was so easy to put together. She even included a DVD of herself putting it together so I could just follow her directions. I had the DVD playing while I was assembling it in my living room. It was like I was working side by side with her! Both our power screwdrivers were humming in unison!

Isn't it gorgeous? I put it in the corner of my patio so when you walk through my front door you can see it through the sliding glass door that leads to my patio! I even put a spotlight on it to light it up at night!

My wonderful dad made the table that it's sitting on! I sent him a picture of conservatory and the dimensions and he made the perfect table for it! I LOVE you dad!!! I used the same paint color on the table that Linda used so it looks like all one piece!

The detail Linda puts into this is just amazing. The mosaic work is done with beautiful blue and pink china dishes. There is a beautiful glass door knob with an old key hanging from it. The front door even opens up. She has one of her signature fork chandeliers hanging in it. She made mine with a beautiful blue rhinestone piece of vintage jewelery because she knows I love blue! The conservatory itself is made from vintage windows. Mine even have the old wavy glass in them! With the table it's over 6' tall!

You can see more of her beautiful work on her website, Linda's Blue Gate, just click here.

Thank you all so much for the wonderful birthday wishes yesterday! Wow you really know how to make a person feel special!!!

49 and Happy!

Today I am 49 years old and I think I'm happier now than I've ever been in my life. Well, you know...except for those special days like the birth of my children, I was really happy then! I don't remember a time in my life when I was in an "up" mood for so long. I occasionally have a bad day but hardly ever. You know what changed? My attitude! I choose to be happy now!It's sounds so easy but changing the way you think about things isn't always easy...it takes time! I've been working on it and I'm proud to report that it does work! A positive attitude goes a long way!

I made myself a small 3-layer 6" birthday cake last night! Chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate! I brushed camellia leaves with melted chocolate and firmed them up in the fridge and then pulled off the leaf. I made about 12 of them and got 5 that didn't break! Five is all I really needed so it worked out perfectly!!! I can hardly wait to taste it tonight!

White Wednesday

Kathleen at Faded Charm is hosting White Wednesday once again so I'm joining in. There is a lot of white in my home...

Trash to Treasure!

Notice anything different? I added shutters to the side of my mirror...the mirror that my dad made me in 1992! I've been wanting to do this for a long time! I've been looking around at flea markets and thrift stores for shutters that would work but I couldn't find anything until just by chance I drove down a street and saw these on the curb with a "Free" sign posted on them.

I almost didn't stop for them because they were too big. In the photo above they've been cut in half. I forgot to take a picture before I cut them (actually my ex-husband cut them for me). They were door size and hinged together. I noticed that there was a divider between the slats and that's when I got the idea to cut them in half. The only problem is one end was too short and the other too long. I put the short ones up but they would look better if they were about 2 inches longer. I can live with it though...after all, they were FREE! I also lowered the mirror so I could put the plates above. Do you like the plates above or is it too much? It looked a little plain without them. If I take them down I'm going to have a lot of holes to patch. I think there are probably at least 2 nail holes under each plate because it was so hard to get them even. I first primed the shutters with spray primer and then I brushed on gray paint that was left over from my kitchen. It's gray but it looks like a soft blue. The color is Benjamin Moore "Feather Gray". I just love this color and I have my daughter Lauren to thank for picking it out! I nailed on some of those picture hangers on the back and just hung them on the wall. I also put a little piece of double-sided tape at the bottom to keep them in place. By the way in case some of you are wondering...I still love my Ikea slip covered sofa!

Below is the mirror before the shutters...
I'm so happy with how this totally-free project turned out!!! Now I need to think of a way to use the two larger halves I have left over!

Through the streets of Willow Glen

Last week on my way home from "Move it Elsewhere" I drove through the streets of Willow Glen to look at the homes. Willow Glen is an area in San Jose, California and it's full of older, very quaint homes. To add to the charm, most of the streets are lined with huge trees. I used to live there many years ago and I wish I still did! It's only about 5-10 minutes from where I live now so at least I can easily visit. At Christmas time it's especially beautiful. There are many blocks where everyone puts out a small lighted Christmas tree on their front lawn. I try to drive through every year to look at the lights, it's so beautiful!

I mentioned last week that I found something on the curb that I was going to work on this weekend. I actually found it in Willow Glen. I finished it this weekend and I'm really happy with how it turned out. I hope to share it with you tomorrow!!!

How I spent my Friday night

Last night I was playing around with iMovie on my MacBook and I made a little movie with some old photos from my blog along with some beach shots I've taken. Listen...you can hear the ocean!

(double click on the movie to get a larger view)

Giveaway winner!

The photo at the top has nothing to do with this post but I just felt the need to put something pretty up there. Drum roll please......The winner of the $20 Amazon gift card is Joy from Northwest Indiana! I used a random number generator to pick a number and Joy was #15! Congratulations Joy! I will be emailing your gift card to you today!

Have a great weekend everyone! I'm hoping to get time to work on a project from something I found on the curb last weekend! I'm also getting together with my supper club on Saturday night and I want to go shopping with Lauren to find a new comforter for her bed. Her room will be our next big project! It will be a busy weekend!

Tablescape Thursday

I'm joining in on Susan's (Between Naps on the Porch) Tablescape Thursday today.

I bought these large shell bowls at Move it Elsewhere last weekend. I got 10 of them for $15. Only $1.50 each...you can't beat that!
I know many of you are decorating for Fall now but I just can't get into that yet because it just doesn't feel like Autumn here in Northern California until about mid-October or later!

When I saw these bowls I fell in love with them and thought they would be perfect for my Shrimp Louie Salads that I love to make (and eat). Remember those? If not, click here. I had so much fun putting this table setting together! I used my little blue and white bone dishes. I thought those would be perfect for lemon wedges. I also put my glass fish plates under the shell bowl since they went well with the beachy theme. I used large napkins as placemats to add some color. I would have preferred to have some light blue dinner plates instead of the white ones but I don't have any...and I really don't have room to store any more dishes! Unfortunately!!!

When I first picked up one of these bowls it was a HUGE letdown! I thought they were glass or ceramic and they are melamine! I almost didn't buy them but I figured if they look like glass then why not! I'm glad I did now!

When I came home from buying these I got on the computer to see if I could find some on the Internet to get an idea how much they sell for. I found out they are sold through restaurant supply companies and they come in different sizes. I may buy some smaller ones to hold the Shrimp Louie dressing! If you are interested, click here to see one place that sells them, but there are many more...just do a google search on "shell bowls".

Oh, I almost forgot...did you notice I moved my dining room table around?

Stop by Susan's blog to see more Tablescapes!

Note: the pictures on my right sidebar can now be enlarged. I had a couple people ask me if I would do that so I put a link on those photos so when you click on them it takes you to that photo in Flickr.

White Wednesday

I'm joining in again on White Wednesday hosted by Kathleen of Faded Charm.

I just LOVE white and there is a lot of white inside my blue cabinet...

At least one person always asks what color blue I used on this cabinet...you can find the paint colors I used here.

See the little cherub in the middle (below) with his hand in the air? I bought a set of two of those at Move it Elsewhere last weekend. The set was marked $25 but they were 75% off so for $6.25 I brought them home to join my other little cherubs. I think most of these are from the 50s & 60s and made in Japan.

Just one of these cherubs alone would be lost in this big cabinet but when you group them all together in a collection it really makes a statement!

Move it Elsewhere!

Last weekend Move it Elsewhere in San Jose, California was open and I was there! They only open up for 3 days (Fri-Sun) every month. I hadn't been there for a few months and there was a lot of new things! Lauren and I went on Saturday and then I went back alone on Sunday to take pictures and do a little more shopping.

Move it Elsewhere is like a HUGE Estate Sale. They get items from people that are downsizing their homes. It's in a huge warehouse but it's all staged so beautifully.

Did you notice the sink in the photo above? I would love to have a bathroom large enough for a vanity like that!

That pheasant (or quail?) soup tureen above was so gorgeous! I know my mom is going to love that when she sees this photo! I like the one next to it too. Can you have too many tureens? Haha...I think I already do!

I bought something in this room. They are on the very bottom right-hand corner in that glass cupboard...I'll show you them on Thursday.

All the photos above were taken downstairs, now let's go upstairs. It's sort of like a grandmother's attic up here. This is my favorite part of the store. Everything up here was 75% off this weekend! I think I could spend hours up here looking through all this stuff, it's like a treasure hunt... There are long shelves over-flowing with dishes!

I almost bought this sugar bowl above, now I wish I would have!

Believe it or not, these photos only represent a small portion of what's in this store! I bought a few things which I'll show you in the next couple days.

If you are near Northern California, you should check this place out! It will be open on Oct. 10-12 next month. You can check out their website and get on their mailing list for monthly reminders. Just click on their name below:

Move it Elsewhere

350 Lincoln Ave (near San Carlos)

San Jose, CA

My Monthly Giveaway Party!

It's time once again for my monthly giveaway party! If you are a blogger and are hosting a giveaway on your blog, please add the hyperlink to your giveaway below and please make sure you link back to my blog! If you are here to enter my giveaway, scroll down to my previous post to enter. (I've turned off the comments on this post)

Please click on the links below to see what other bloggers are giving away this month!

My Giveaway for September

This month I'm giving away a $20 Amazon gift card! If you would like to be entered to win, please leave a comment below by Thursday, September 17th at midnight Pacific Time. I will send the gift card to the winner via email!

Please be sure to leave your email address if you don't have a blog!

It's Complicated

I cannot wait until this movie comes out! It looks so good! My girlfriends and I are already planning to see it together when it opens in December!

Thrift Store Finds!

I've been hitting A LOT of thrift stores lately looking for more silver trays to turn into chalk boards to sell but unfortunately I'm not finding trays but I am finding some other nice things for myself! Here I am...trying to make money and I end up spending money! Oh well!

I found this silver champagne bucket for $9.99. It was very tarnished but nothing a little Wrights Silver Cream couldn't handle. I already had a silver champagne bucket but it was very cheap-looking and plain so it's nice to upgrade to a nicer one with more ornate handles.

After I found the bucket I kept picturing it loaded with large shells but I didn't have enough big ones to make it look nice! I kept thinking how much I wanted a big conch shell...well you will never believe it, I walked into a thrift store on Monday and found this huge beautiful shell for $11.00!!! It's over 7" long! If that wasn't the law of attraction at work I don't know what is. (if you haven't read the book The Secret, you should...it works!)

So here it is all full of shells! For a different look I filled it with dried hydrangeas...
Of course I could always use it for what it was intended...

I also found this Pfaltzgraff sugar and creamer set. The sugar bowl was $1.50 and the creamer $1.00. I couldn't pass them up for that price! I used to have these many years ago, this my very first dish pattern when I was just 18 years old!

9/11/2001.....We will never forget!

More of Carmel, California

Here are the rest of the photos from my afternoon trip to Carmel-by-the-Sea. Let's start by walking down Ocean Ave. There are lots of nice shops, restaurants and art galleries here.

Some outdoor dining...

There is a long line at the candy shop...

I love this big Rolex clock in front of the Rolex shop...

This beautiful shop was already decorated for Halloween..

...and Christmas!

This is the entrance to the Thomas Kinkade Gallery...

and here is the gallery...

Now lets drive around and look at the cute cottages.

I loved this picket fence with the pink roses...

The late afternoon sun made taking pictures such a challenge so they aren't the best quality.

One last drive by the ocean and we are headed home...

Good bye for now Carmel. I'll be back in a month or so...

Carmel, California

Thank you all for your well wishes yesterday! Lauren and I are feeling better now, although we still aren't feeling 100%. I did call McDonalds and the County Health Department regarding the food poisoning but I guess I'll never know if it was really food poisoning or the flu. I still think it was food poisoning because I think it's odd that we would get sick within an hour of each other if it were the flu. I also heard that the only flu going around right now is the H1N1 (swine flu) and we had completely different symptoms from that.

I was really looking forward to this little day trip to Carmel but I didn't get to spend as much time there as I wanted. We got a late start, we didn't leave until 1:00 pm. It's only about 1 hour and 15 minutes away so I figured even leaving that late that we would be able to spend most of the afternoon and early evening there. I didn't anticipate that the traffic would be so bad...it took us 2 hours and 45 minutes to get there and then we couldn't find parking and had to drive around at least another 15 minutes!

The good thing is once you are there and walking around town you forget all that! Carmel is such a wonderful place! Just being there puts me in a good mood! It's my absolute favorite place in California! I think I'm going to take another trip down there in a month or so when it's not so crowded.

I'll have more Carmel pictures for you tomorrow!

Not good...

Lauren and I got food poising from eating at McDonald's on Sunday night. We're doing better now but we both still have fevers and body aches so we're staying home today. We were on our way back from Carmel when we decided to grab a hamburger around 7pm...big mistake!!!!

I took photos while in Carmel but I haven't felt well enough to upload them yet.

Cindy

Obsessed Blogger!

This person must really be obsessed with blogging! Haha....that's my car!

My friend and I were talking about personalized license plates a couple months ago and I joked that I should get "blogger" license plates. Just out of curiosity I went online to see if that was taken and of course it was but I♥2BLOG wasn't! Rather impulsively I ordered it and I just picked them up this week! I can't decide if I should get a license plate frame that says "Google My Romantic Home". I'm not sure if I want everyone looking at my blog though...like neighbors, co-workers, etc.

I guess I just committed myself to blogging for a long time now!

Update: Forgot to mention that California allows you to get symbols like the heart on just this one license plate style. We also are required to have both front and back plates here.

Palmier Cookies

When I saw the recipe for Palmier Cookies on Lidy's French Garden House blog last week I knew right away I wanted to make them! Then I saw that Andrea at Under a Blue Moon beat me to it! I guess this is going to be one of those things that sweeps through blogland like a virus...only it's a really good sweet and oh-so-yummy virus! These are so easy and so delicious! I took them to work earlier this week and quite a few people walked up and said "You MADE these?" Haha....little did they know that they were so easy! Impressive but easy...that's the kind of recipes I like! Thank you Lidy!

White Wednesday

Click on photo to enlarge

Last week I saw that Kathleen at Faded Charm hosts a White Wednesday every week and since I love white and have so much of it in my home I couldn't wait to join in!

I must say since I started this blog I really appreciate all the things I have even more than I did before. It's so easy to walk past these things in my home every day and not even notice half of them but when you take photographs of them, you see them in a whole different way! That's just one of the many great things about blogging!

Silver Tray Chalkboard- $28

I made one of these chalkboards for my kitchen awhile ago and I love it!

I decided to make this one to sell on my etsy shop. I'm selling it for $28 plus $5.00 for shipping. It has a black and white check ribbon but you can easily change it to match your decor. If you interested in purchasing it just click here.

I have mine hanging over my stove and it adds so much charm to my kitchen! If this ones sells I'll be making more!

UPDATE: SOLD ~ Thank you Kathleen!