Feb
20
Super Fan Talks to Monica Pedersen
Today, Super Fan chats with Monica Pederson, host of the the HGTV Dream Home 2009 special and designer of the amazing tablescapes you voted on not too many months ago. Monica shares her inspiration for each setting and shares tips on how to create your own cheap-chic tablescapes with items you already have around the house.
Don’t forget to tune into the HGTV Dream Home Giveaway 2009 special. Get show details here.
Hey Deryck: Been wondering where you have been as I enjoy your posts sooooo much! And, I certainly hope your wife does sign that permission slip….we would all like to see you boggie at the SISBP! We’ll roll out the carpet and put the spot light on you…maybe see you as the Disco King I’m sure you are..much like John Travolta’s sensational dancing in “Saturday Night Fever!!” Since you are an outside kindda guy, maybe we could have your dancing debute outside the DH2009..close off the whole street for a huge dance party!! What fun! Better than Dance Party of the mid-60′s!!
Glad you agree with me about the location of the DH2010…it’s probable, don’t you think?
Jenny D: WONDERFUL PHOTO!! Just love seeing all seven of you together & nice photo in the kitchen with Jorge! Thank you so much for sharing!! I actually have photos to share, but for some reason cannot import them into this post…what is your process? Please explain!! Thank you!!
Marie Miller- Thank you for that. Here is a link to Fotki.
You can upload as many pics as you want to the blog. Just follow the instructions, upload your pics from a file on your computer and you can resize them if you wish, after it has uploaded, a page will open up and go to the bottom, you will see, Direct Link To Photo, copy that and paste it to your blog or email. Hope this helps.
Jenny D
Oops, forgot the link. Here ya go.
Jenny D
http://host.fotki.com
JennyD: Thank you ever so much…I’ll try & see what happens!!
Happy Sunday Bloggers,
I had great fun reading all of your posts, viewing your pics, and wishing I was able to tour the dream home with some of you. Brenda you are beautiful! What lovely pics of you and LovelyKitty, Ingrid, JandV, BonnieB, and JennyD. It was nice seeing the faces of some of the lovely people I’ve been dreaming with. Brenda thanks for the update on the dream home. I am glad that it is even more amazing in person. I went to church this morning and again thanked God for all my blessings. I left feeled up with his love. I really hope I do win that home in Sonoma so I can get to meet all of you! Well, it is snowing like Christmas again here in Cleveland so I think I’ll just close my eyes, click my heals together, and recite three times, I’m going to Sonoma, I’m going to Sonoma, I’m going to Sonoma! Oh well, I just opened my eyes and it didn’t work yet but I admit I would be surely surprised to see the HGTZ crew pulling up at my house on March 15, 2009 to make my dream come true. Keeping on hoping and wishing. May God bless all of you!
Jenny D. and mom Betty, thank you for letting me join you for lunch yesterday at La Salette. I had a good time comparing notes with you on the DH and then, what excitement as one after another of the bloggers arrived at the Ledson Hotel lobby! It was so much fun finally seeing all the people we’ve been blogging with. I just wish we’d had more time together, but then there is the SISBP yet to come and then we will have time to get to know each other better. Lovely Kitty, JandV’s Mom, Brenda, Ingrid and Bobo, so nice to get to meet you up close and personal, just like it was to see the DH up close and personal! I look forward to the SISBP so that we can meet many more of the bloggers and share in the winner’s great joy.
Hi everyone,
Apparently, I am so filled up with God’s spirit on this Sunday afternoon that I can’t even think or type! Sorry about the typos. I am looking forward to meeting all of you in Sonoma so I wish the HGTV crew would hurry up and get to my house! I know it’s cold here, but they will only have to stay long enough to pick me up! I’m looking forward to seeing you all at Shelley’s big blogger party. We’ll be SIS soon, see you then. Shelley, Cleveland, OH.
Hey DH2009Bloggers! Thanks for sharing the pics of your tour — what a great bunch! Seeing these pictures of you all sure makes my dreams become more realized — it’s nice to put a face to the bloggers that I correspond daily with. I am literally 6 – 7 hours away via car because we were there approximately a year ago when we took a road trip to Napa. We then venture to Sonoma and purchased a set of pears from a local artist – such a beautiful reminder of this beautiful place — Okay, I need to go back to my Dreaming.
MM….you have such an imagination!
I wish I had the “Travolta” Dance moves…..Disco King! LOL!….I’ll have to be in better shape to pull that off. “Dancing in the Streets”…. that does sound fun, and from the number of potential guests at SISBP, we may need the intersection of 5th & Patten for boogie time! My fingers are crossed that Gail will accept my “as friends” dance offer. I don’t want to encourage the wrong ideas, but I feel we have a wonderful group of people here.
BTW Yes 100%….”The Mecca” aka Richmond, James River Plantations, Jamestown, or Williamsburg, I think are very probable locations. (Here I am getting on the soap-box again). After watching the DH 2009 Video with Super Fan Gail & JT, we were able to learn about the thought process that goes into the selection of the DH (past, present & future)….so with Community, Culture, Recreation, Style, etc., ..it appears to be a strong contender.
Sunday Dreaming at its best!
GLTA (Good Luck To All)
Good Morning All,
WOW, What a fun day! Little Bits is still sick and on my lap, so I’m gonna make this a quick one. I did ask a lot of questions and have a lot of fun things to write about the tour once she falls asleep.
Lovelykitty,Thank you so much for originally letting me tag along and starting up what turned out to be a PARTY! I had the best “mom’s day out” ever! Hanging out with you and your husband was so much fun, I hope we can do it again soon,
It only took me a little over half an hour to get home, I blinked and I was in Santa Rosa. Map quest messed me up getting there. Now I know the quckest way there – without back tracking 15 miles:(
Thank you again,
Brenda, It was such a pleasure taking taking the tour with you, it was so nice having you there, it wouldn’t have been the same if I had gone alone. I look forward to hearing the rest of your love story, You can email it to me when you’re back from church. I know my daughter would love to hear it too, she’s such a little romantic. I am so happy you were able to make it there, I hope your ride home was an easy one, And now that you know how to get there I hope we can do it again soon,
Jenny D, It was so nice to be able to sit in front of the bakery down town, Sipp’in coffee and getting a feel for the area with you and your mom, the whole day was just delightful. I hope you were able to get pictures of the park, And you had mentioned a site that you can RSVP to.. I hope you can post that so we can get a head count for the party. It’s so reassuring to know that you are so committed to making this party happen. I look forward to hearing your post about your day and your tour, I hope you got some great pics. Thank you for coming to the pre-SiSBP I have about an hour a day I can devote to the party, so let me know if there is anything I can contribute to making this happen.
Bonnie B We didn’t have much time to talk but it was truly a pleasure to have meant you, I hope to see you again soon and hopefully spend more time hanging out. I know you just came up to meet with us before you had to go to work, I am so glad that you were able to come..You have taken the tour before…? Yes…?
Lily-Beth Reilly and fellow bloggers, I have all kinds of things to add about the tour but my daughter is still on my lap and I have to go take care of her, I will definitely have a long and detailed description of the tour, and I asked a lot of the questioned that I hadn’t heard answered yet, some, the tour guide didn’t know and others we just deduced. Real quick, the house is NOT wired for sound…no speakers in the rooms or on the patio
No sink or water in the garage…The kitchen table was actually larger than I had expected, it could easily sit 6, the dining room says it can sit 10 but there are only the 8 chairs, none stored anywhere, you bring over the ones from the sitting area, In the garden, the swiss chard has taken off! but the other plants are looking a little sad, in need of some love. There are rose bushes planted all along the side of the fence by the grill, but are still in their dormant -cut back mode so I couldn’t tell their variety or color. The grapes are tiny little sprouts, and the guide said about three years till they bare enough fruit to make wine. (I still want to go and negotiate about those abandoned OLD Zins I pass every day. I wonder if they transplant well.) There were a lot of gardening books on the Master Bedrooms sitting area table, But I didn’t get a chance to see if there were any about taking care of a vineyard. When I asked the guide about tending to them her response was that “there will be a lot of help from people involved with the building of the house”…That left me with so many new questions to ask, but she had already moved on to the garage.
I have a few really funny stories about the day and the tour but I have to go now, Hopefully Bitts will fall asleep after I read her a few books and give her some cuddles.
If there’s any one within 2 hours of there, and hasn’t gone yet and wants to,( I don’t know when the last day is to tour) I would so encourage everyone who could go, to do it, And be sure to post the time and days and make a party of it. It makes it so much more real, and just meeting the other bloggers is worth this whole experience, whether we win the home or not, I feel that I have already been so blessed to have been a part of this whole adventure.
Marie M, Lovelykitty posted a week or so ago that she was going again and I just asked to tag along, and it turned out to be the pre SiSBP, but there is no limit to how many of those we can have, even after the touring has stopped, Bonnie B just came for the day, If you are in driving range, I would LOVE to go with you. It is so much fun to meet the people we blog with and hang out downtown.
Again, gotta go
If anyone is thinking of going…DO It! Gotta go Bitts is getting cranky, I have been ripping this out with her squiggling on my lap the whole time Lots of typos I’m sure but I had to talk about how much fun I had,
OH,
And Ingrid and BoBo, Thank you for coming over to meet up with us, that was so nice to meet the 2 of you! I hope to see you again soon, (Hopefully as your neighbor, but I’m actually so close to Sonoma that we already are
Dear JennyD: Thank you for giving the site you use for uploading photos! I created an album at that site, but when it comes to sharing it to this site, I’m missing something. I can cut and paste a link, like: http://public.fotki.com/boltfans/dreamhome/2009013001.html
But, once it is copied here, I notice it is not underlined & you cannot just click on it to access that photo like you have done.
WHAT AM I DOING WRONG.
SIGNED: DUMMY IN BROOKINGS
JennyD: Okay…right on! I just noticed that all you have to do is double click on website I provided. WOW! I am exposed now or what…oops! This photo was taken back in June when I visited with my family in Santa Rosa. What a thrill! Back in June, the landscaping was not finished at the DH2009! I cannot begin to tell you what a special day that was!! Just seeing the DH2009 in person was a thrill…as I am sure you know! I thought if I grabbed the door knob, my DNA would give good karma!! I made a wish that day, that my DREAM might come true & the next time I touched it, I would have the keys in my hand!!!
Anyway, thank you again for your help…Coop, might recognize the fact that I do really love Hawaii just by the shirt I’m wearing…I’m thinking it might look really good with a grass skirt…this might become a great theme for our SISBP..what do you think?
Hmmm, I am not sure, maybe there is a link specific for album sharing. I hope lovely kitty gets on soon, I think she would know because she has done it before too.
We will figure it out I’m sure.
Jenny D
Marie Miller- I see ya! Great pic. You did it and no you are NO dummy.
Jenny D
Thank you so much Jenny D!!!
JandVs mom: If not before, I know for sure that I will be in driving range in September! My nephew is getting married in Santa Rosa at that time! I know we have big plans for one of us to win the DH2009, but if we don’t win, I would still love to meet some of the people we blog with and hang out in Sonoma..that would be fantastic!! I’m telling you, I have such fond memories of cutting school (don’t tell mom) & driving over to hang out in downtown Sonoma!! Sonoma and Sonoma Valley offer so many wonderful attractions, like shopping in the historic plaza (my favorite), wine tasting (definitely another favorite), spas, hiking and more. Not to speak of all the dining choices! I would love to make a day of it…heck, I would love to make a whole week of it!!
Thank you HGTV for opening up a whole new chapter for the life and times in the Valley of the Moon!!
Yep Deryck: We do have a bunch of great people gearing up for something historical to happen in Sonoma, California!! As the World Turns, HGTV is spinning that wheel for our destiny!! Round and round she goes, where she stops no one knows? Which of the SISBP contestants will win? I make a motion right here and now…that whoever wins, it becomes their honorable responsibility to host the SIS blogger’s party!!! After all, I think Mr. Ledson might even open his home and/or Hotel to accomodate many of us that get left out of the DH2009!
You’re right, I do have an imagination, and it does go wild sometimes!! Just doing that magical thing again…DREAMING!!!
Oh, P.S. Well now, if the “Travolta” Dance moves aren’t your style, maybe a little Elvis shaking might just be the right moves!!
Oh my goodness!I’m already missing entering the contest while drinking my morning cup of tea.I will be soooo envious of the person that wins.Living in Sonoma would be a dream come true.I retired to Oregon from CA in 2004,since it became so expensive to live in CA.Although I love Oregon,I miss CA terribly.I can just imagine going out to pick my own grapes–perhaps even making a bit of home-made wine for fun,then sitting on the patio at that beautiful tablescape and drinking it.What will property taxes be?
You did it, Marie Miller! And if grass skirts are going to be “de rigueur” at the SISBP, I hope there is a strict non-smoking policy to avoid any untoward incidents.
Good evening. Thank you for the pictures. You all are lovely ladies and so young looking. Must be you positive outlook on life. Bobo looks like he had a great time as well. Glad to see he was accepted at the hotel. Bakery in town hummm. so may fun eating places. Are there any local korean and chinese without having to get in much traffic? I know there must be oodles in San fran, was wondering if any closer. Also Japanese. If I won I was thinking about buying an electric mover, so good to hear there are outlets on the grill. I am soo happy to hear that there are rose bushes.
Jenny D. Did you read my post on the other page about your question about my animals?
I didn’t want you to think I ignored you. My internet went down for some reason so my post didn’t get on. I have 4 animals 2 of which are dogs and 1 cat and one senegal parrot. Emma the cat is a rescue. Poor baby was abandoned twice in an apt complex in western Mass. When she came to me she would watch out the window to make sure that I and the dogs were coming home again. She is fine now but still likes to window sit. I love that you are able to help our animal friends to provide them with love and shelter. JandVs, sorry to hear that your little one is still sick. Give her a great big hug for me.
Marie, You make a strong case as does DBCoop for contenders for DH10. Living in new england, I can identify with the house types.
I was born in KY so I can identify with that as well. I have to admit though that the north west part of Michigan has some beautiful country as well. If HGTV is looking for ski country as well as swimming, boating and fishing Michigan has it all. I was raised in Michigan and went to college in the northwest part. The great lakes are truly awesome. I know that Jack will find us a wonderful location. Always fun to see his travel pics. HGTV has truly enriched our lives with all of there shows and inspirations. We get to dream and get to know places that we may never have been to travel to before. With this blog we have been enriched by so many wonderful caring people. Thank you ladies for taking the time to share your tour and day with us.
Have a good evening everyone. the best of luck to everyone.
Cynthia Newland
Marie Miller, you are so cute. I had to get the original pocture to get a close up if you.
Trust me ladies, I am no expert at posting these pictures. I just copy, paste and post. Some how it works for me :confused:
Here are some pictures from Brenda’s camera (I can’t beleive you are a grandmother).
http://images45.fotki.com/v1450/photos/7/1239747/7265803/P2211164-vi.jpg
So many typo’s
. I really need to reread my post before hitting tHe button. 
Here are the pictures my friend Lindi took. She is from the message board and it was my first time meeting her too, but have talked together for almost a year. This was her third tome tsking the tour
Oopps…forgot the link
.
http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/album/570216449RZLHNU
For those of you that have not been here on the Blogs when more pictures of bloggers tours were posted, here is Gloryah’s pictures of her tour (I hope she doesn’t mind).
http://public.fotki.com/caligirl2/dream-home-2009/
WOW: This is like a mystery….. continued next week. Thanks Jenny D for helping Marie to be able to post pictures. OK, where are they?…can’t wait to see them because I know she has some great ones to post.
And speaking of pictures, thank you so much, lovelykitty, for such a clear picture of the four of you (well five, counting BoBo).
Sounds like you all had such a good time getting to know each other and seeing the DH.
BRENDA: I would have LOVED to join you gals, but it would have been a long trip from Michigan. Please tell me your where you plan to put your piano (when you win, of course)? I imagine everything about the Dream Home. Sorry to hear the home is not wired for sound. I’ll have to pack a player along with my collection, so lovelykitty and JandVsMom can listen to soft jazz with me. How old is Bitts? I never pray that I will win or that anybody else will, but I do pray for the children.
Coop: Camera shy are you? You are a scamp and a charmer and we are soooo lucky to have you on this blog.
Marie Miller: It is so nice to have you in charge of SISP and I’m so grateful for all the other bloggers offering to help. Enjoy the DREAM. Thank you HGTV for all the fun we’ve had.
As you all can tell, I am still very excited fom yesterday!
Good Day All,
If you can’t come because of the drive, maybe we should all start another 5 spot pot, one for the winner’s t..(what day is it 
and another to get you a ticket. Seriously, I do hope that you are coming if there is a party, whether one of us wins or not, I hope the party is for real. After meeting with the ladies, I can’t even put into words how wonderful it was. How much more fun to have everyone else from the blog who could make their way there, there. Does that sentence make sence, I’m tired, I hope everyone who can come does. Besides actually winning the home, it would be the next best thing.
What was meant to have been a quick note this morning turned out to be one of my longer posts, My poor little bitts, she knows all the names of the ladies I meant up with and now she got to see a pic of them all, very cute!
Marie, Sept it is, but does that mean that you would not come to the SiSBP…? I think a lot of people would miss you if you weren’t there, (and your menu
I don’t have much time so, I’ve covered the basic questions that I was curious about in my earlier post, so I’ll start with my experience of the tour. I meet up with Brenda (and I could write a foot and a half about how wonderful that was – but the tour)
You start off at the beautiful Ledson Hotel in the lobby, check in and sit near the roaring fireplace. You get a chance to see the other people you will be touring with, and I’m a natural people watcher, so that was very interesting to me. Then Ken, the tour bus driver comes in and escorts you to the van. every one boards and we’re off. It’s only half a mile away but it seemed a lot longer, no one was talking on the ride over (except us) It was a little to quiet for me so I had to blurt out “Is anyone excited!” Maybe a shy group, no real complainer, just quiet..? Ken told us about how the A
Hi Gail,
Just finished watching your 15 videos. Some I had seen and others I hadn’t. You’ve done an excellent job!
Wish there was more of the Monica Pedersen interview. I would have loved to hear her share more.
Since I’ve been away for a couple of days, I’ve got to catch up on the blogs.
MM…..I wouldn’t dare refuse any dance with our Super-fan Gail.
Disco, Elvis, Ballroom, “The Hustle”, “The Car Wash”, etc. No matter what the calling may be, I’ve got to be ready.
It is unfortunate though, as a “generation Y”, we really haven’t any particular dance to claim “generation” style points …….oh wait! The “Cha-Cha Slide Song”…remember?
“To the left…take it back now y’all….One hop this time…right foot let’s stomp…left foot let’s stomp….Cha cha real smooth”
LOL!
I’ll definitely need to bring my camera!
Ciao!
To Brenda(of Ledson Hotel fame!)…Bo and I met you in person and there is NO WAY that you are old enough to be a GRANDMOTHER ! OK…maybe if you had your first child at 18,
and then…Never mind…I simply can’t figure
it out…how can someone who looks 32 be a grandmother? I myself am a grandmother of two. I need to start drinking what you’re drinking! Ingrid from Sonoma
PS…Deryck; I always enjoy your blogs. Please keep them coming. And JandVs Mom;
your long hair is amazing. Ingrid from Sonoma
Hit the wrong button again… Anyway, Ken was telling us about how the Armstrong family had sold the home to the Ledson family and all the homes around the original have been built since 1995, but they all have the feel of homes built in the era of the original home.I think he said 1910 but they looked far more Victorian than Edwardian (forgive me history buffs if that is a mistake) He’s telling the stories and then cleverly stops and tells us we’re home. Very nicely done. We get out of the van and I was overcome with how beautiful the home was. I knew it was a corner lot but seeing it really brought forth how big the lot actually is, Brenda and I hung back to take it all in, as others raced to the front door, again, people are so interesting. We had to take off our shoes and put on the blue booties first and then the slippers, not everyone did it the same way LOL There were a few blue booties over the slippers, when inside they split the group into 2 and the first group had a woman tour guide and the second, ours, had the now famous Jorge, He’s in so many posts of the house, He was so sweet, He started with the beveled glass windows at the front door and explained why there were no coverings on them,for sun and to show there grandeur. And then without skipping a beat or taking a breath he told us about all the sponsoring company’s, windows, paint, furnishing and designers, Brenda was loving the curtains in person, I was surprised at how small the entry was, there is no real room for any real kind of armorer or coat closet, My Grandfather Clock would just fit on the right and the painting of Muir woods across on the left, but not room for the chest I had envisioned under it. Maybe Marie’s coat rack (i hope got that right) and again it would have to be very small. I kept waiting for him to pause, not wanting to interupt his flow and finally I got to ask
1. Any of the couches sofa beds – No..(And he looked a little perplexed at the (?), Doesn’t anyone else have family that would want to come and stay if your own family has already claimed the guest room?
2. Dining room can set 10 , are there other matching chairs some where? – No. Bring over the 2 from the tea/sitting area
3. Brenda’s question – Where is the hanging light fixture – It’s down right now and will be put back up before the winner moves in.
4. Why – Didn’t know both rooms were completely roped off and you could only see as far as you could stretch over the red rope.
5, Central stereo,- rooms have speakers in them – No (and I really don’t get that, It’s so much easier to install the wiring as your building that after. Maybe because both the living room and the family room have TV’s that surely have the ability to play Cd’s but you will have to have the door opened from the family room to hear music outside on the patio, (and thank you Jenny for looking for outlets outside for me:)
We then went into the living room and the kitchen and got to look around a bit. He told us about the 3 other designs for the living room (and they are whats in the little closet in the study) He gave us all the info about the appliances in the kitchen, and we had a chance to look in the pantries, They are not very deep, but the first one from the fridge has plate racks w/plates and serving ware all in pretty colors of purple, light green, yellow, and I think orange,I would go back and look at the pics of them to be sure and I’m running out of time, Bitts is stirring. Is this to much information, I read a few people wanting to “feel” like they were there with great detail, I gotta go I’ll finish the rest of the tour if anyone still wants to hear.
Lovelykitten, email me so I can send the pics they took with my camera at the hotel
Brenda, please email me too I really do want to hear the rest of your love story and I wanted to ask your opinion about telling one of the stories about what happened before our tour
Jenny D I hope we can continue to brain storm about the party, I’ve been typing a long time now and Marie M might have responded about coming to the SiSBP but please ask her too if she’s coming, IF she’s not we really need to get that invite sight you were talking about up and running, I would not like to have done all this prep for a pipe dream.
Bonnie B I think I heard you had mentioned a town near me RN and knew where I was, but I didn’t hear what you had said about it, I would really like you to email me also, I don’t want to talk about my exact location, but I would love to know if you have family or people in the neighborhood.
I look forward to reading all the blogging that has been going on while I have been writing a mini novel about my tour and I haven’t even gone upstairs yet or outside, or the funny story about the people who (possibly) crashed the tour and left Brenda and I holding up the tour van for sometime Gotta go
Thank you Ingrid, I think its a similar color to BoBo’s:) I am going to somehow figure out how to get the 2 pics they took of us at the hotel up on here too, I plan on going back very soon with my daughter and possibly hubby too, not for the tour but to see more of the town, I want to find the street where the Dairy Queen use to be because my grandpa’s brother Harry and his wife Elenor lived 2 or 3 houses down from there and I am curious how well my 4 year old memory is. I hope to see you soon, Bitts has to get well first
JandV- I cam put together an invite. All of you great ladies have my business card and on the back is my personal email address. In order to get a evite together we will need email addresses. If you want to just do it over the blog then we can put together an invite with date, time and location and anyone who wants to come can rsvp over the blog. Let me know how you would like to do it by emailing my personal email address.
I do hope Bitts is feeling better soon. Take care.
Jenny D
Hey Bloggers and other California Dreamers. I’m just blogging to say “good-night”. I usually don’t blog on Sunday and now I’ve done it twice. Now that my picture has been infamously posted, I can no longer remain as elusive as our resident blogger/writer DBCoop.
Thanks for all the compliments – now, let’s all FORGET that I am a grandmother, as I am very young in mind, spirit and energy.
Marie Miller, your link worked just fine. Unfortunately, the image I got cast a shadow on you, so I couldn’t see you very well. Please add more pictures (of you) to your site. I didn’t realize that you’d already had a chance to visit the 09DH, you sly fox.
Deryck, so you can do the “Cha Cha Slide”. What a perfect dance to start and end the SISBP with! We now know that we have a dedicated group who will make sure that this happens. I don’t want the winner bogged down independently with this responsibility, though I promise when I win, I WILL make this happen.
I am still on my “high” from yesterday. Lovelykitty, Jenny D, Bonnie, JandVsmom, and Ingrid), you ladies will remain “my girls”. You ladies are wonderful. I got a kick out of Jenny D’s mom thinking that I told her that I was from Indonesia. I’ll contact you guys via your private e-mail addresses tomorrow. JandVsmom, I will let you know the rest of my love story.
Ladies, perhaps our next venture could just be meeting for lunch sans the tour. I passed the Domaine Carneros on the drive up and it looked like an interesting place (even hubbies could come), or a ferry luncheon wine cruise, or a tour through one of the more elegant wineries, or a ladies spa day…..I know, I’m dreaming, but then again, I dream BIG!!! Good night and good luck to us all.
Hey Brenda: I guess you missed my bloggs from way back when I had the opportunity to visit the DH2009. I was in Santa Rosa visiting with my children from the end of May to the first week of June. I do have other photos taken the day that we were there & have been methodically trying upload them. I’ll give it a shot & if they don’t come up…HELP!!
http://public.fotki.com/boltfans/dh2009/
Thank you for helping! Have a nice evening.
Okay…that was weird..it comes up as restricted…what have I done my dear friend?
Here we go again Brenda!! Maybe in my greatest wisdom will figure out what I am doing. Let’s see if the photos fly this time!!
http://public.fotki.com/boltfans/dh2009/2009022205.html
My goodness!! I think that worked!! As you can see, the photos show the Dream Home in progress! Since I was taking most of the photos, I ended up not having too many of myself…I did want a photo of myself at the front door…hopefully there might be more!? Anyway, have sweet dreams…thanks again for your help. Oh, by the way, I did see your post at Fotki in “My Guestbook!” This is a neat program…I’m just not use to it!!!
Brenda, and JandV’s mom, I agree we should all get together again to just play in the area and spend some time together.
Why don’t we try to get together to plan the SIS party, as far as location and the equipment we may need. Jenny D seems to have a lot of experiance with putting together events, so it would be really great if you could help with the plans…though you already have been helping.
I will email you ladies tomorrow.
Marie Miller, you are absolutely correct about the details of the movie. Just wanted to let you know when you watch “Born into Brothels” also watch the update of the kids 3 years later in the special features. Hope it touches you also.
JandV’s Mom, I hope little bit is feeling better. What a beautiful little girl she is. You have a beautiful family.
Email me your pictures and I will post it here.
Just love meeting all my new friends. This Dream House is really special for many reasons.
Marie Miller, when you sigh into your Fotki account and post your pictures there, then right click, copy the url link and then paste them here. That way, we don’t have to have your pass word to see the pictures.
I’m so appreciative of the Dream House blog community. I lurve all the warmth and positivity.
Lurve the videos. My favorite patio setting is the Paris setting. Ooo la la! So chic and elegant!
It’s been a wonderful journey entering the sweepstakes daily and imagining living in the Dream Home. I’ve enjoyed it immensely. Thanks for dreaming with me. Best of luck to those who entered the contest. Of course, I’ll be most grateful and immensely thankful if I’m so blessed to be picked in the drawing. If not, though, I wish the winner lots of positive vibes.
Great News! My husband and I agreed to adopt two boys and a dog if we win! I guess my dreaming and aspirations is rubbing off on him. BTW – did someone mention that they have a black Labador that needs adopting – I couldn't find the post – i think from one day of the blog that had over 500 posts. We are very interested! PLEASE WRITE BACK IF YOU'RE THE ONE WITH THE BLACK LAB!
Well, it seems like the SIS planning committee is up and running — Lovelykitty, JandV’s mom, Brenda, Bonnie, Jenny D, and Ingrid. The only other person I would include is the winner of the Dream Home, if they want to participate.
I like all your suggestions so far. My only input would be to get a temporary PO Box for attendees to “RSVP” to the SIS invitation. People may say they’re coming on the blog and then don’t attend. But if there’s more of a committment, taking the time to write and mail a response, they just may attend.
The temp cell number can be to contact those who RSVP by mail (since you have their contact info) to coordinate what everyone’s bringing.
Make this job as easy as possible on yourselves. Can you tell I don’t believe in stressing? Then plan according to your RSVP list and you should have a great party.
DBCoop,
For my benefit, can you please explain what it is that you do on a “Professional Travel for Dummies” level?
Marie Miller,
I can’t access all your pictures. The one where you’re at the door, is too far away for me to identify you.
When I visit the Dream Home, I’ll post my pictures for everyone to see.
Hi Everyone,
I am responding to the SISBP. I'd love to come. Some of you have really formed some great friendships that will seem to endure after the announcement is made, and maybe if none of us are the winner we can still stay in contact and look forward to next year. I can't wait to find out where the next DH will be? This has been so fun and exciting I don't want the dream to ever be over! Still dreaming,and waiting…. Shelley, Cleveland, OH.
I agree I love all the different ideas for the table arrangements but I agree with the above comments that Sippin in Sonoma was my favorite as well. Well, my 1st wedding anniversary is coming up on March 15th and since my husband lost his job last year we are mainly staying in. I told my husband that we don’t need to exchange gifts this year because money is so tight but if I win the dream home that would be a REALLY GOOD anniversary gift.
Well, I couldn’t have been more excited when I walked into my office this morning and the whole crew from HGTV were there waiting for me!! I knew the house was mine before they even told me!! I was squealing like a little girl!! Even after I woke up. LOL! Anyways, Good luck to all as the day grows closer!! Even though my dream tells me the house is mine. Haha!
ALL YOU LADIES on the PLANNING COMMITTEE for the SISBP are absolutely AWESOME!!!
BrendaLou: Thank you for the heads up on the update to “Born into Brothels!” It will be interesting to see the kids three years later..is there a special title for the update?
LovelyKitty: Thank you for the advice..I seem to have lost my mind somewhere along the way…actually, I did finally figure it out..I think!? I’m use to HP Photosmart Essentials for making movies, etc. But anyway, thank you again!! RTS (read the screen), huh?
Lessie: My far away photo at the door keeps me a mystery don’t you think? No, really I just didn’t have a good photo of me from that day! And, you might try my later post to access the rest of the photos of the DH2009! I’m new at this site, so it will give me a challenge..of course, I am only a visitor to that site as I have not joined it. They will probably kick me off after 48 hours!!