Mid-Century Party Home in Berkeley

Are you yearning for a swanky mid-century home, with expansive panoramic views, perfect for a shindig? This home on Keith Avenue in Berkeley is just perfect for a cool new owner. This is my favorite home from last Thursday's Broker's Tour.

I LOVE the original turquoise pedestal sink and hung toilet, and lemon yellow kitchen appliances. Have you ever seen hanging refrigerators? ...and you have to love the floor to ceiling windows.

If you would like a private showing of this piece of art property, send me an email.

Cheers!

The Art of Home Accessories and Ice Cream in Berkeley

There is new life on the corner of College and Ashby in Berkeley. LolaHome at 2950 College Avenue is a global home store that will inspire you. From one of a kind, handmade tables to original art to letterpress stationary, everything in here is unique and full of texture. It is hard to browse at this store, as an item or two will scream at you, "buy me"! www.LolaHome.com

Next door is Ici, a boutique ice cream store created by a Chez Panise alum, Mary Canales. This is the Candyland for adults, housemade candies, cookies, and micro-crafted ice cream and sorbets. Come for free samples, REAL flavor, real toppings and bio-degradable bowls and spoons. Ici is located at 2948 College Avenue. Try the brown sugar granola on top of a scoop of sorbet and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. www.ici-icecream.com

P.S. My kids love the ice cream too!

Ohmega Salvage, Berkeley Lighting and Cafe Fanny...

Where can I put this fantastic counter top? Ohmega Salvage located at 2407 San Pablo Avenue www.OhmegaSalvage.com

Cafe Fanny 1603 San Pablo Avenue in Berkeley.www.CafeFanny.com

One of the many tasks that I take on as your Oakland and Berkeley Realtor is shopping! Maybe it is picking up paint at Kelly Moore or selecting light fixtures at Berkeley Lighting, or looking for vintage towel racks at Ohmega Salvage, this is all part of my full service. (By the way several businesses give me a discount, which I pass on to my clients!) My job is to help my clients spend the least amount of money possible, while giving their house the WOW factor. (...and aesthetically keeping with the period of the house.) Last week I was helping two of my clients select various finishes for their homes. As I was driving up to Berkeley Lighting on San Pablo, I decided to make a pit stop at Cafe Fanny. Cafe Fanny is an Alice Waters of Chez Pannise creation, a place to sit and have a latte and poached eggs, or grab a cookie and go. As soon as I popped in, I saw a Salty Chocolate cookie! No need to read the menu, that was what I needed to get me through the afternoon. I am crazy about salt and sweet combinations, especially in chocolate. If I would have had the time, I would have enjoyed a freshly brewed latte served in a latte bowl, but I settled for artisan water.

Whether you are looking for inspiration for your home, or have a project, San Pablo Avenue in Berkeley is a great resource. Don't miss Baldwin Brass at 2119 San Pablo Ave., Ohmega Too at 2204 San Pablo Ave and East Bay Nursery at 2332 San Pablo Ave.

Photo of Countertop from OhmegaSalvage.com, photo of Berkeley Lighting store front from ShopinBerkeley.com, and photo of Cafe Fanny window from CafeFanny.com.

Silky, Creamy, House made Ice Cream in Berkeley

It has been a while since I stepped foot into Sketch Ice Cream on Fourth Street in Berkeley. Yesterday I had a craving for a fish taco at Tacubaya and I took a few moments to give Sketch a visit. Being a soft-serve ice cream junkie, I was ecstatic to see that their house made seasonal ice cream is now dispensed out of soft serve machines. Yesterday, I experienced lemon verbena and vanilla bean soft serve. While I was devouring my delicious dessert I had a chance to chit chat with the owners Ruthie and Eric who are friendly, foodies, and extremely conscientious. As we were talking Ruthie was simmering a pot of pear sorbet and Eric was available to help customers. If you have not been in Sketch for a while, this boutique ice cream store has a new look and now serves their ice cream in biodegradable cups.

Sketch Ice Cream is for people who enjoy flavor and quality and local ingredients. Be prepared for small full flavor portions, and tell Ruthie and Eric hello.

Deidre's Bay Area Travels

This year take the time to explore the Oakland and Berkeley area. When you purchase a home, you are not only buying the house, you are also buying the neighborhood and city. Making my Bay Area destination list is Indian Rock Park in Berkeley. This was actually donated to the City of Berkeley by Mason McDuffie in 1917. Whether you want to rock climb or watch unparalleled views of the San Francisco Bay this is a must see.

This beautiful photo is from Catherine who posted this on the Yelp website.

On the ninth and tenth day of Christmas...

Go to Vessel and Susan Gildea's Personalized Stationary on Ashby Avenue in Berkeley near the Claremont Hotel. At Vessel you can find hand crafted uber-luxe jewelry, original art, home accessories and more. Tell owner Lonnie Lee, hello!

At Susan Gildea you can order personalized stationary, labels, stickers, notepads, jewelery and more. Susan is super friendly and you will be surprised how affordable personalized stationary can be.

The Paper Source on Fourth Street Offers Classes

One of Berkeley's most popular shopping districts is Fourth Street. On Fourth Street in Berkeley you will find many independent stores, chain stores such as Restoration Hardware and Sur La Table, and a good mix of restaurants. The Paper Source, on the corner of Hearst and Fourth Street is an incredible store for cards, wrapping supplies and crafts. They also offer craft classes in the store. For more info, click here.

October 24th 6-9 pm

Impress your friends and yourself by learning how to make a traditional drop spine box. You'll learn to craft a box from scratch using archival bookboard and then cover it with precut decorative papers and bookcloth. By the end of this workshop, you'll have a multipurpose 5" x 7" box, perfect for photos, recipes & more.

Prior experience with basic tools such as a cutting knife and ruler is desirable.

Instructor - PS Staff

Location - Berkeley

This image represents samples made in this workshop conducted around the country. Please visit your local store for current class samples.

Oakland and Berkeley Area Farmer's Markets

I love to take my children to the farmer's market. While my kids great some fresh air they also sharpen their math skills.

They weigh, pay and make sure they received the proper change back.

The Bay Area has so many here are a few :

Grand Lake Farmer’s Market

9:00am-2:00pm every Saturday on the corner of Grand Avenue and Lakeside

Old Oakland Farmer’s Market

8:00am-2:00pm, Friday @ 9th St. between Broadway and Clay.

Jack London Farmer’s Market

10:00am-2:00pm, every Sunday

10:00am-2:00pm on Wednesday from May 10th - September 27th

Berkeley Farmer’s Market

2:00pm-7:00pm every Tuesday@ Derby and MLK Jr. Way

North Berkeley Farmer’s Market

3:00pm-7:00pm every Thursday @ Rose and Shattuck

Emeryville Farmer’s Market

10;00 am – 2:00 pm every Sat. Christie and Shellmound

Alameda Farmer’s Market

9:30am-10:00pm every Tuesday @ Taylor and Webster

San Leandro Farmer’s Market

9:00pm-1:00pm every Saturday @ Fairmont and E.14th

Vessel in Berkeley

If your day needs some inspiration, or if you need an object to "jones" over, Vessel is the store. Lonnie Lee is an artist and the owner of Vessel. She strives to provide well designed jewelery, home accessories, furniture and personal items. Many items in her boutique are handmade by local artists.

Vessel for Home and You is located at 3026 Ashby Ave in Berkeley;(across the street from my office, Prudential Claremont) I often walk over to visit Lonnie and her shop full of fabulous wares. Click here for Vessel Online.

* Vessel is also an art gallery the photo of "Two Hearts", an acrylic I purchased at Vessel.