Bloggy News & Notes

Are you ready for another fabulous Fantasy Open House Week here at Hooked on Houses? Don’t forget–it starts Monday morning, bright and early!

Here’s a sneak peak at one of the kitchens we’ll get to see. Trust me when I say these houses are amazing, and you won’t want to miss a single one.

Each day you’ll get to take a tour of another show home from Homearama! Then we’ll take a vote to see which one everyone likes the best at the end of the week.

If you can’t wait until tomorrow, you can revisit our past Fantasy Open Houses in Hyde Park, Ohio and Birmingham, Alabama. (To see all of the open houses we’ve toured in the past, click here.)

If that’s not enough to keep you busy, then take a spin with me around the blogosphere. Our local news has a regular feature called “Around the World in 60 Seconds,” so this is my variation on that theme. Here’s what’s happening on some of the blogs I read today:

Around the Blogosphere in 60 Seconds (or slightly more):

• It’s a Weisenheimmer World posted photos of Cedar Rapids before and after the floods. The Red Cross is trying to help, but their resources are depleted after responding to so many tornadoes and floods this year. Click here if you’d like to make a donation and help them out!
• Angela at The Painted House announced that I won her “Do Gooder Challenge” this week. Sometimes it pays to do good! Thanks, Angela!
• Robin at A Bird in the Hand admits in today’s very funny post that she likes to sneak extra items onto other peoples’ grocery lists (”cigars and ice cream”) when they’re not looking.
• Pat at Back Porch Musings is talking about the Komen Race for the Cure in St. Louis that took place today.
• Mrs. Limestone at Adventures in Renovating a Brooklyn Limestone finally got some of her furniture and it looks fab!
• At Cote de Texas, Joni’s home was photographed for a national magazine and we get a first peek.
• Please Sir shows us some amazing “pegboard creations.”
• At Rehab or Die, they chose the exterior paint colors for their 1868 brick home in Covington, Kentucky.
• At Restyled Home, Linda shows us all the creative ways she decorates her mantel for the seasons.
• The Nester had what looks like a fun lunch with a group of bloggers you might recognize.
• At Watch the Wind Blow By, Marie shows us how she redecorated her mantel to make it lighter and brighter for summer.
• Mrs. French at Bliss introduces us to Cabbages & Roses.
• At Ramblings of a Renovating Couple, they tells us about a courageous friend.
• At Fifi Flowers, she wows us with paintings inspired by photos she saw on various blogs.
• At Nesting Instincts, Courtney has some pretty Fab Finds “inspired by java.”
• Kari & Kijsa show us Kijsa’s amazing garden.
• Maya at Springtree Road gives us the recipe for Seashell Soup.
• Rhoda at Southern Hospitality has photos of blackberries as big as your head.
• Liz at Mabel’s House admits she’s a jewelry junkie. She also links to Creative Little Daisy, which has a patio makeover I love!
• Melissa at Off the Wall dares us to Twitter.
• At Rabbit Run Cottage, Susie Q talks about the children’s book illustrator Tasha Tudor, who has died at the age of 92 (The Secret Garden, which Tudor illustrated, is one of my all-time favorites!).

Whew. Yes, I really did visit all those blogs in the last few days! And I wonder why I can’t get the laundry done?

Now that I’ve given you plenty to read today, I’d better get back to work on those Fantasy Open House posts. Don’t forget to come back Monday and play along with us, y’hear?

Tagged as: Cincinnati, homearama, kitchen, mansion, million-dollar homes, Ohio, open house