Your Custom Text Here
Maribel is a great new and gently used clothing and accessories boutique on Lakeshore Avenue. Owner, Ann brings in great contemporary finds from designer jeans and shoes to hats and jewelry. Ann sells Viv and Ingrid Jewelry, fun jewelry created by two local girls who met at Cal and started a highly success jewelry business.
Visit Maribel at 3251 Lakeshore Ave and mention Oakland Realtor Deidre Joyner to receive 10% off your jewelry purchase!
Cracker Jacks is a fabulous resale and new clothing store for kids. Owner Elizabeth Helm has created a hip store full of carefully selected new and gently used toys, clothes and shoes for children. For the baby or toddler pick one of Crackerjack's cool tee shirts. Mention Oakland Realtor, Deidre Joyner and receive 10% off! Visit Elizabeth at 14 Glen Street off of Piedmont Avenue and tell her Deidre said hello. CrackerJacksKids.com
Here is a great Christmas tip! Philippa Roberts on Piedmont Avenue is a wonderful newly added boutique. Here you can buy jewelry by several artists (including Philippa), candles, home accessories and more. Mention me, (Oakland Realtor, Deidre Joyner) and receive 10% off your purchase! Go out and support our local businesses in Oakland while buying great gifts! The earrings pictured above are a Philippa Roberts design! Visit Philippa's website, www.philipparoberts.com
This is the perfect gift to give a couple or a baby. Seriously, a baby does NOT need another stuffed animal or piggie bank! Give a gift certificate for Oakland photographer, Karlya Benjamin. A $100 gift certificate gets a mini photo session in the Oakland area, 20 custom-made notecards and a life long memory. Karlya specializes in capturing special moments in a natural setting. I have had photos taken in the Redwoods up at Roberts Park and Lake Merritt. Call Karlya at 510-388-2945 or visit her website, www.Karlya.com.
My children Nia and Miles photoed by Karlya above.
Do you have someone on your list who has everything? Buy them a GuavaPeel candle by Bluewick. The smell is heavenly! (I burn them at my open houses and in my house.) Rockridge Home on College Avenue sells these amazing candles and if you mention me, you will receive 20% off!!!
The Piedmont Cinema opened it's doors in 1917 and is the oldest operating movie theatre in the city of Oakland. Now with Piedmont Ave's thriving restaurant scene you should take date night,(or girls night out) to the Avenue.
Be sure to drop by on a Saturday night when prizes from local merchants and film-related memorabilia are given away before each screening.
Tonight at midnight they are playing Scarface, click here for movies and showtimes.
Your Oakland Realtor says, Shop Oakland!
Michele Carlson is an Oakland-based artist whose ink drawings and collages investigate the intersections of history, memory and popular culture. Her work adorns 8 pieces of Burnt Caramel chocolate and is the latest addition to the ongoing Artisan Series. To learn more about the artist, visit www.MicheleCarlson.com.
It is true, a picture is worth a thousand words. Click here to see the construction of the new Whole Foods Oakland.
Once the Bill Cox Cadillac Dealership- Now the New Whole Foods
For the last two years I have been patiently waiting for Whole Foods Oakland...and drum roll please, it has arrived! Last Sunday morning I headed over for the grand tour.
I skipped the downstairs parking lot and parked in the upstairs lot where I immediately found a great park and stepped in to heaven. (If you didn't know, I am a big foodie, I graduated from the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco)
This is the best looking Whole Foods I've seen. It mimics a French marketplace with many specialty shops within the grocery store; cheese, meat, seafood, produce, chocolate, coffee and espresso, extensive beauty products, gelato, hot prepared foods and a Bistro.
So the bottom line is this, Whole Foods Oakland will increase the value of residential property surrounding it. Now all of the homes below Piedmont Avenue and around Lake Merritt will have a full service grocery store within walking distance. Prior to Whole Foods Oakland, homeowners had to drive to the Grand Ave. Safeway,(a store that borders the City of Piedmont) or the Safeway on 51st Street in Oakland for the closest stores. One of the biggest draws of living by Lake Merritt is the its easy access to downtown, BART and transportation. Now homeowners can actually live car-free.
My hope is that Whole Foods Oakland will be a huge economic success, enticing other big businesses to follow suit and set up shop here in Oakland.
With all of the residential and condo growth, Oakland needs the retail presence to balance.
Shop in a spacious and clean store
Bring home hot and healthy prepared foods
Don't forget dessert.
Cafe Allegro
Extensive meat department, featuring beef from "green" ranchers
Handmade Chocolates both local and imported
Irresistible
Two Doors down from La Farine is a sparkling clean, extra large Peet's Coffee
Visit La Farine Bakery at 3411 Fruitvale Avenue
La Farine, a staple in the Rockridge District of Oakland for 25 years, now has a second location on Fruitvale Avenue.
Fortunately (and unfortunately for my hips), La Farine and Peet's Coffee neighbor each other on Fruitvale Avenue. With a quick five minute drive I can step into LaFarine Bakery, a Bay Area staple known for fresh french pastries, desserts and breads. You must try the Swiss Twinkie or the Morning Bun, they are perfect! La Farine never sells their products to grocery or specialty shops, so to sample their highly acclaimed morsels you must visit their locations on College Ave. or Fruitvale Ave. La Farine also donates there leftover product to local organizations that feed people in need.
For many of us Bay Area residents there is no place like Peet's. Forty years ago, Alfred Peet started the very first Peet's Coffee in North Berkeley on Vine Street. The Peet's on Fruitvale is clean, large and has a friendly staff, and currently it is less crowded than the Lakeshore and Montclair locations.
Mingling and Dancing on Washington Street
Drift Denim, a hip place to find denim for all occasions – People dining outdoors at Levende East
B Restaurant, Fresh Food, featuring a wood burning oven! – Jesso's Seafood, try the fried prawns and enjoy the live music
Air Lounge, the place to go for drinks and music. (I love the exposed brick walls.)
Last night the proprietors of Tamarindo, B Restaurant, Air, Jessos, Levande East, Drift, Mignonne closed the streets between 8th and 10th on Washington. They celebrated the NEW Old Oakland! This area is now becoming the second "Gourmet Ghetto" of Oakland. As a foodie and Oakland girl I am thrilled to see quality restaurants and shops take root. Last night folks came to honor the neighborhood, enjoy food, drinks and live Cuban music.
A fact about Oakland
The Oakland Larks were members of the short-lived West Coast Negro Baseball League in 1946, representing Oakland, CA
Among the Larks players was future Oakland Mayor Lionel Wilson, who became the city's first African-American chief executive.
Retrieved from "http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Oakland_Larks"
Mignonne Oakland is having a Labor Day Sale!
The entire inventory is 20% off until September 8th! Shop Oakland!
1000 Jefferson Street
Oakland CA 94607
5 1 0 . 4 4 4 . 5 2 8 8
mignonnedecor.com
I love a home that smells good. Whether it is garlic and onions sautéing or cookies baking, nothing is as inviting as a heavenly scent. Sometimes when I visit open houses in the area, (Oakland and Berkeley), I see Realtors burning fragrant candles or simmering mulling spices on the stove. The purpose is to draw people in, and have them linger.
I am a candle addict and it is amazing how expensive candles are!!! Diptyque Candles are $80, imported from France and have a cult following. Is it worth spending so much money on something that will last 60-100 hours? We live in a society where luxury goods are in high demand. We really can't afford it, but we want it, so we charge it. My grandmother, who lived through the depression, had tapered unscented candles for special occasions only. Perhaps she had a few pillar candles for emergency purposes, but she would never burn candles while she was enjoying an evening at home! To burn candles essentially is like burning money.
So let me get back on track, I indulge in candle. I have tried dozens of brands and fragrances and I have two favorites. Slatkin Pamplemousse (grapefruit) for $28.00 and Bluewick GuavaPeel for $32.00.
These two candles give you the biggest bang for your buck, as their delectable aroma will fill more than a room.
If you live in the Oakland/Berkeley area take a trip to Rockridge Home on College Avenue. This is a fun and independently owned home furnishing shop. When you walk into Rockridge Home, the aroma of Bluewick’s GuavaPeel candle will draw you in. (They always burn this candle during store hours.)
At Rockridge Home you can buy several sizes of this amazing candle and you have the benefit of smelling it before you buy it. (Shop at Rockridge Home for wedding gifts, candles, sofas, coffee tables and more.)
Johnelle Mancha, Proprietor of Mignonne (Johnelle and her mother, Kimberlee are a mother-daughter team that love everything French) Also pictured is Johnelle's brother.
Alfonso Dominguez, (Johnelle's fiancee and business partner, they own Drift)
Mignonne Decor is a boutique in Old Oakland offering new modern and quality vintage objects in an inspiring environment. This is the place to go for hostess gifts, a unique treasure, or inspiration.
For Mignonne's first birthday party champagne and refreshments were served, bistro tables surrounded the boutique, and a DJ played an eclectic arrangement as people mingled and shopped.
As an Oakland Realtor and resident I want to shop in Oakland and this is the exact type of business Oaklanders have been craving. You would see a boutique like Mignonne on Union Street in S.F or Fourth Street in Berkeley, but being that Johnelle is an Oakland native, we are privileged to have her on our turf! Please take the time to visit Mignonne and support one of Oakland's own!
As your Oakland Realtor, I want to support our city and our businesses. I love the paper goods that Carrot and Stick Press creates. (In Oakland) Their designs have a timeless feel with a bit of whimsy. View the imaginative designs at, www.carrotandstickpress.com
Here is statement from the owners/artists of Carrot & Stick's:
Carrot & Stick's work is a partnership between form and function, old-fashioned sensibility and newfangled design. Susie and Julie design stationery and products that they want to use: cheerful note books to throw in a purse or to keep by the phone; paper place mats to dress up outdoor dining or to use for dinner in front of the TV; place cards that inspire the hostess to pull out her “good” china and play matchmaker with the seating chart; gift cards which really do make it better to give than to receive; and finally, folded notes, because a handwritten note is always appreciated.
Carrot & Stick's work has been featured in many national publications including Vogue, Martha Stewart Living, Harper's Bazaar, and The New York Times.
San Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge, 1936
Ambitious taxpayer-financed public-works projects helped to put people back to work. Once such project, the construction of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, would alter Oakland's regional position forever. Since travelers no longer had to board ferries to reach San Francisco, Oakland became a city that too many people knew only as the place they drove through on their way across the bay.
Currently Oakland's location is amongst the best in the Bay Area. Some Oaklanders get to work in downtown San Francisco faster than San Francisco residents who have to wind through the streets.
Of course as an enthusiastic Oaklander I can talk all day about the many benefits of living in Oakland.
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
Coming Soon! The Dimond District is getting Polished!
La Farine and Peets Coffee are coming to the Dimond District! The Bay Area's own Peet's Coffee will open soon in the Dimond District, across the street from Farmer Joe's, applications are being accepted now.
I just corresponded with La Farine Bakery on College Avenue, and they are set to start construction for their new location in the Dimond District next week! La Farine is a French Bakery that has been an Oakland and Berkeley area favorite for 29 years. La Farine is famous for fine cakes, tarts and wedding cakes. Visit La Farine at www.LaFarine.com
Realtor, CA DRE #01451749 – Red Oak Realty
510 693 4253 / deidre@redoakrealty.com / 6450 Moraga Avenue, Oakland CA 94611
©2024