Show and Tell Friday!

Hi everyone!  I have something exciting to share this week for Show and Tell! I mentioned this before but now the magazine is out (or should be soon)!  In the August 2011 issue of Woman's Day magazine you will find a tutorial for my seashell wreath I did on my blog a few years ago! 

I can't tell you how exciting it is to see my name and blog mentioned in such a widely published magazine!

I just got my copy this morning and I was fluttering around the office showing everyone!

Check out pg. 24 to see the seashell wreath tutorial!

Actually, what I had planned to share this week is my beautiful diamond ring that you can see in the photo above (at the bottom of the magazine) . This ring belonged to my mom and my dad passed it down to me on Father's Day. She got this ring in 1975 for her 30th wedding anniversary and she loved this ring so much!  I've been wearing it every day and I think of her every time I see it. I think my mom would be so happy that I am enjoying it as much as she did and I know she would be so thrilled to see my name in Woman's Day magazine! 

If you are joining in on Show and Tell Friday, please remember that your Show and Tell needs to be something from your home or garden. Please read the Show and Tell Guidelines for step-by-step instructions on how to participate. If you would like to join in, please enter your name and leave your exact Show and Tell blog post link, not just your blog link and as a common courtesy link back to my blog. If your link has been removed, please re-read over the guidelines before re-posting, or e-mail me with any questions.

Thank to all of you that join in every week!



I'm linking into Pink Saturday this week since the magazine is Pink!!



A Day in Santa Cruz

Last Saturday was the annual "Woodies on the Wharf" in Santa Cruz, California.  I live close by so I've gone to this a couple of times in the past.  Santa Cruz is the perfect spot for this car show!  Santa Cruz and Woodies are the perfect pair...Woodies were big with the surfers in the 50s and 60s and Santa Cruz is a big surfing town!

"My Guy" and I met my dad, my brother & his girlfriend, and my nephew & his girlfriend there.

These cars are huge collector items now. There were a couple of fully restored ones for sale there for $100,000!

After our first walk around the show, My Guy and I decided to stop in and get one of these...

It was so good we each had another one!   hiccup

I know I may have lost some of you with this cars and cocktails post so here are some beautiful homes with ocean views!

This one above overlooks Santa Cruz

I love this home...except for one thing....

I hate palm trees! I know it's a big California thing but I think they are ugly!

This is a beautiful inn across the street from the ocean.  I went in here once and took photos for my blog and then realized later that I didn't have the memory card in my camera! If I would have had my reading glasses on I would have seen a message popping up on the camera screen but I didn't! Oh well! Trust me, it was beautiful!

There are lots of these beautiful old ocean-front homes!

This one below is in the middle of major remodeling, it is gutted on the inside...

As we walked back to the car we watched a surf lesson going on but there weren't many waves...

Here is the view from where we parked the car looking back towards the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. I grew up going to this amuzement park and have so many fond memories of warm summer days riding the ferris wheel and the roller coaster!

I hope you enjoyed your visit to Santa Cruz!

Belle Inspiration!

Have you heard of Belle Inspiration? It's a beautiful bi-monthly online magazine.

They are based in Paris so there are many beautiful inspiring photos from Europe!

The photography is outstanding!!  So much eye-candy!

I need to copy this idea, blue and white M & Ms would be perfect in my home!

Reading Bella Inspiration is like taking a vacation...

...you will be transported away to some really beautiful places!

I really love how the Internet has brought so many like-minded women (and a few men) together.  I'm amazed that I have friends from all over the world who love decorating and appreciate beautiful things. This magazine is something that I would have never known about if it weren't for the Internet. I wanted to let all you know about it too!  I know you will love it as much as I do!!!

The next issue comes out on July 15th and it's all about Italy!

If you would like more info on Belle Inspiration, please visit their website here:

Bella Inspiration

I Love Summer!!!

My hydrangeas are in full bloom right now!

They are my favorite flower! If I had room in my garden I would plant a lot more of these! I  love cutting them for bouquets!   

 Hydrangeas and shells....that's the ultimate beach cottage look to me!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! I went to Santa Cruz and I'll have some pics of that later in the week to share with you! Pics of old homes and old cars...

I'm really looking forward to the long 4th of July weekend coming up! Don't you just love summer? Ahhh...I do!

Show and Tell Friday!

Welcome to Show and Tell Friday! 

Wow! I took a vacation day today to do some things around my home and I figured I would get this post together some time today and then I got so busy I completely forgot about it! Sorry I'm late getting this up...I usually try to get my Show and Tell posts up by Thursday evening at 6:30 but here it is after 8pm and I just thought about it!!! So sorry to those of you that came by early to link up!

I planned to share something else for Show and Tell today but even forgot to take the photos! Ugh!  So you will have to see a repeat! This is my patio umbrella cover I made 2 years ago. You can read more about it, just click here.  

If you are joining in on Show and Tell Friday, please remember that your Show and Tell needs to be something from your home or garden. Please read the Show and Tell Guidelines for step-by-step instructions on how to participate. If you would like to join in, please enter your name and leave your exact Show and Tell blog post link, not just your blog link and as a common courtesy link back to my blog. If your link has been removed, please re-read over the guidelines before re-posting, or e-mail me with any questions.

Thank to all of you that join in every week!

Happy Father's Day

I'm late getting this post up but I had to say Happy Father's Day to my dad on my blog...after all he is  my biggest fan! 

I drove up to visit him yesterday (he lives 2 1/2 hours away from me) and he gave me a stack of old photos and this one of the two of us in our backyard was in there. I think I must have been about 12-14 years old here which means it was taken around 1972-74.  Usually I can figure out my age by what I'm wearing but i don't remember that outfit at all!

Love you Dad!  I'll see you next weekend at the beach!

Show and Tell Friday!

I really think the weeks go by faster since I took over Show and Tell Fridays!  It sort of feels like my life is on fast-forward these days!  I remember my mom always saying that time goes faster the older you get and I believe her now! I wish I could slow it down a bit. The positive thing (and there always is a positive) is that the weekends come quickly! I love the weekends!!!

It's getting harder to come up with new things to share each week. It was easy when I was buying new things all the time but I haven't been doing that lately (and that's a positive thing because I admit I was buying too much). Now I have a home full of beautiful things...too many things but I have a hard time getting rid of it because I love it all!  I'm sure many of you can relate to that!

Anyway...this week I decided to share some white around my home so I made the photo mosaic above. After I made it I realized I had a theme of not only white but also, shells, candles, birdcages and vintage lace!  ...just a few of my favorite things!

(sorry about the delay in getting this post up. I try to have it up by 6:00 pm Pacific Time on Thursdays. I had it set to post at that time but for some reason it didn't work this week. )

If you are joining in on Show and Tell Friday, please remember that your Show and Tell needs to be something from your home or garden. Please read the Show and Tell Guidelines for step-by-step instructions on how to participate. If you would like to join in, please enter your name and leave your exact Show and Tell blog post link, not just your blog link and as a common courtesy link back to my blog. If your link has been removed, please re-read over the guidelines before re-posting, or e-mail me with any questions.

Thank to all of you that join in every week!

I've Lost My Followers

Through the years ~ My Romantic Home

Like so many other bloggers, I've lost all my Followers on my sidebar due to a problem with Blogger! It's a little scary to think that what took me years to build is now gone but I have faith that Blogger will find the problem and all my Followers will be returned to my sidebar! I like looking at your pretty faces over there...peeking at me through my monitor!

If you are having the same problems with your blog, please let them know and fill out the Missing Followers Report.  Let's get this fixed!!!

UPDATE: It seems to be an Internet Explorer issue because they are there when I use Mozilla Firefox and on my Mac with Safari! I'm so happy I didn't lose them all! It took years to get 4778 Followers!  This is probably a good time to say Thank you all who follow my blog! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!!

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This past weekend I rode in the Tour de Cure!  It's a bike ride for the American Diabetes Association.

My guy and his friend rode with me which made it so much more fun! Great company, wonderful weather and  I even got the T-Shirt....

Show and Tell Friday

 Welcome to Show and Tell Friday!  This week I'm sharing my new orchids!  The white one was a gift from "a certain someone"... he bought it for me one morning while we were strolling through the Los Gatos Farmer's Market.  Then the next weekend I bought the one below.  They are only about $8 each which makes me want to buy a new one every weekend! 

If you are joining in on Show and Tell Friday, please remember that your Show and Tell needs to be something from your home or garden. Please read the Show and Tell Guidelines for step-by-step instructions on how to participate. If you would like to join in, please enter your name and leave your exact Show and Tell blog post link, not just your blog link and as a common courtesy link back to my blog. If your link has been removed, please re-read over the guidelines before re-posting, or e-mail me with any questions.

Thank to all of you that join in every week!

Some new dinnerware!

I got some new dishes!  I love them! You have to visit my Product Review Page to see!

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Exciting news! I'm about to hit 3 MILLION visitors to my blog! I think it may happen sometime today! I have a counter on the bottom of my right sidebar in case you want to see if you are my 3 millionth visitor!!!!

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Also...This month is my 6 year anniversary blogging and I plan on doing a great giveaway later in the month!