Your Austin Holiday Gift Guide

With mere days before the big day we’ve amassed a shopper’s shortlist of our favorite local goodies to put more fa-la-la-la-la in your holaday gift giving. ❄️ ❄️❄️  These gift ideas are sure to delight the senses!

Owl bet you have someone on your list who would love one of these granite owls. Perfect for the garden! Available at Hill Country Water Gardens – our go-to place for inspiration for special things inside and especially outside the home!

Show them the love for your favorite state! These one-of-a-kind works of art are made from recycled wood. Gift cards, T-shirts and more available at Hemlock & Heather online.

Don’t just give them a present – give them an *experience* to remember! Boating Lake Travis is one of my family’s favorite things ever. Gift cards are available beginning at $60 at QuickGifts. Surf’s up!

Kiss goodbye to dry lips and give a hello kiss to a great smile, compliments of Austin-based Lizard Lips! This stuff heals, moisturizes, and protects for life’s greatest adventures (like when you’re enjoying the lake). Available online or at our favorite home away from home… Buc-ee’s! 

“Create world peace one backyard at at time!” Wind chimes from Music of the Spheres are tough as Texas nails but create etheral sounds that delight. You can purchase these online or swing by the East Cesar Chavez showroom to get yours. *And theirs!*

It may be local honey but you’ll send their taste buds into outer orbit with Round Rock Bourbon Barrel Honey. This stuff is the bomb diggity that’s fresh. Raw. And local. Score it online! Plus try our honey-roasted cashew recipe that was inspired by this tasty liquid gold.

What do super Texans drink? Super Texan wine, of course! This wine hails from Flat Creek Estate and it’s won several awards including “most romantic wine,” from the Home Style Austin Team. Available at select HEBs, online… or via short drive to the wine estate. From Cedar Park head west on 1431 for about 30 scenic minutes.

Gift them comfort food for the soul! Soul Popped is a small biz on the rise with Texas-sized flavors like Chicken ‘n Waffles, Banana Pudding, and Heavenly Macaroni & Cheese. Dash to Barton Creek Square or the Soul Popped website to get your groove on.

Dorothy won’t be the only one claiming “there’s no place like home” when your lucky gift recipient lights one of these “Home Sweet Home” soy candles! Vanilla bean, spice, juicy raisins, and oats will ignite the heart and home. We score ours regularly at Honey & Hay in Cedar Park.

They’ll always be able to find their way home with this Austin’s Neighborhood poster. Maybe it’s the Realtor in me but what a fun way to celebrate the neighborhoods that make Austin so great. Available on Etsy.

All the best for the happiest of holidays from us to you!

~ Joe Paul Reider

Home Style Austin Founder
Austin Realtor®
Keller Williams Realty

Email: JoePaul@KW.com
Mobile: 512-222-3302
Web: JoePaulReider.KW.com

Valentine’s Day The Home Style Way

❤  Valentine’s Day 2014 Featured Post  ❤

Our Heart’s At Home

Our finest suggestions follow for how to make your own bang-up Valentine’s Day evening for your special ones in your very own home sweet home! Plus, discover our picks for two “Best Romantic Wines” perfect for Valentine’s Day and beyond!

We’ve paired our favorite music, appetizer, main course, desserts and wines with some great “at-home” movie recommendations sure to melt hearts. Fun doesn’t start outside the home – it starts inside the home, with you! Let’s check out this year’s menu board:

Below are the easy-to-follow instructions for a great Valentine’s Day (click the links for the recipes):

1. Set the mood with some great music by legendary greats like Andrea Bocelli or Frank Sinatra. Need a little candlelight? This DIY project for some mercury glass candles will surely put some sparkle in their eyes.

2. Pour some red. We’re diehard fans of the two great lands of Texas and Tuscany so we’ve selected two great reds that perfectly embody the deep, bold romanticism ideally suited for Valentine’s Day: the Super Texan® from Flat Creek Estate and the Piccini Chianti DOCG from Tuscany, Italy. Both wines are tastefully affordable and available at fine wine and spirits retailers like Twin Liquors throughout the Austin area.

3. Tickle the tastebuds. For the antipasto, check out my favorite tomato bruschetta recipe which will surely impress. Take note: In the recipe I’ve included my special secret for how to serve this dish extra-special!

4. Make it movie time. Right about now it’s probably a good idea to turn down the music and pop-in a movie. The Home Style Austin team picked three movies sure to keep hearts happy – Lady and the Tramp, The Princess Bride and our personal all-time fave Under The Tuscan Sun. Why not make it a triple feature and make it a night to remember?

5. Make it red. We bring on the main course with my delicious red sauce atop spaghetti. If you’re watching Lady And The Tramp, you’re probably feeling pretty awesome right about now. Pssst! Cupid’s Secret ~ If you’re one of the first 10 Texans who promise to send me a pic of your own Valentine’s Day meal, I’ll send you a heart-shaped cookie cutter used to make my spaghetti dish and our rice krispies treats! Pinky swear. Here’s how. 

6. Score sugar points! Perform the evening’s perfect touch with some super easy-to-make sweets including Valentine’s Day Rice Krispies Treats or our signature Cupid Cups. Treats made from the heart? Pure gold!

Until the big day, keep your heart in check – visit our Pinterest “Holidazed” pinboard with some Valentine’s Day inspiration for you and yours … we’re adding new pins until the big day!

“Home” truly can be found wherever we hang our hearts and we hope these tips make your Valentine’s Day 2014 the very best ever!

Happiest Valentine’s Day from your friends at Home Style Austin,

~ Joe Paul Reider

Home Style Austin Founder
Austin Realtor®
Keller Williams Realty, Inc.