Welcome to our new neighbors

By: Barbara Lipkin

Our new neighbors, Rosti in Calabasas opened on November 10th in The Courtyard at the Commons in the space that was once Cosmos. Known for an extensive Tuscan menu ranging from small bites like a classic Minestrone to traditional style entrees like Penne All’Arrabbiata and Linguini Vongole, Rosti seems to fill a need in the Calabasas restaurant scene.

Every time I walk by the restaurant it seems to be bustling. Some friends of mine have mentioned that service is slow, but the management assures this will not remain the case as they are still working out the kinks. The servers are professional and friendly and I proudly welcome them to the community.

The Rosti Tuscan Kitchen has three locations; Calabasas, Encino and Santa Monica.

Barbara Lipkin

Knowledgeable, caring and successful are words that best describe Barbara Lipkin, a Hidden Hills resident and top producing realtor with over 28 years experience. Barbara combines personal concern for her clients with professional expertise to achieve outstanding results in her field.

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Can you believe this?

By: Barbara Lipkin

There are so many ways that companies try to sell their products to us – cookies on our computer, commercials on TV and the internet; even sponsors for blogs. Now they are after our dogs. My dogs, Charly & Teddy, do seem interested when they see other dogs on TV. But this is above and beyond. Nestle has designed a TV ad for dogs. They are one of the world’s biggest makers of pet food. They have launched the 1st TV commercial designed especially for dogs using a high-frequency tone to grab their attention. Dog’s hearing is twice as sharp as humans.

The commercial will be screened on Austrian TV this week & features a tone similar to a dog whistle that humans can barely hear as well as an audible squeak like a dog’s toy including a high pitched pink. The dog is shown pricking his ears. Next thing you know your dog will tear out a page from you magazine that shows a dog food that smells like steak so you buy him what he smells.

Barbara Lipkin

Knowledgeable, caring and successful are words that best describe Barbara Lipkin, a Hidden Hills resident and top producing realtor with over 28 years experience. Barbara combines personal concern for her clients with professional expertise to achieve outstanding results in her field.

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The Santa Barbara Zoo

By: Barbara Lipkin

Just one hour away is the delightful Santa Barbara Zoo, formerly A Child’s Estate.

Compact & easy to get around, it is the perfect place to take young children or just stroll around & enjoy the grounds & the animals. When you enter, the baby otters are delightful.
They are playing & tumbling. My little granddaughter, Emma, could not get over their antics. On our way out, they had crashed & were sleeping in a ball of fur.  The giraffes are fun to feed as you watch their long tongues grap the lettuce. The grounds are beautiful & well maintained & a train takes you on a short ride.  In addition, the weather is perfect – our own Riviera. There are special events on the weekends.  Sometimes we forget that such wonderful places are right in our backyard.

Barbara Lipkin

Knowledgeable, caring and successful are words that best describe Barbara Lipkin, a Hidden Hills resident and top producing realtor with over 28 years experience. Barbara combines personal concern for her clients with professional expertise to achieve outstanding results in her field.

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Hidden Hills is 50 years old!

By: Barbara Lipkin

The city of Hidden Hills celebrated its 50th anniversary as an incorporated city with its annual Fiesta. Beginning with an outside concert on Friday night, the celebration continued with the parade on Saturday morning.  Among the parade ‘s highlights were the firetrucks, marching bands from Calabasas H.S. & El Camino H. S. & the famous dog walkers headed ny Angel with their large assortment of Golden Retrievers,pugs, poodles & other assorted breeds. The day continued with games, pet contest, bake sale & Tommy’s hamburgers.  In the evening we had the big rides & barbecue. An art show, pancake breakfast & other events completed the weekend.

Barbara Lipkin

Knowledgeable, caring and successful are words that best describe Barbara Lipkin, a Hidden Hills resident and top producing realtor with over 28 years experience. Barbara combines personal concern for her clients with professional expertise to achieve outstanding results in her field.

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What not to do as a real estate agent!

By: Barbara Lipkin

A newby real estate agent, licensed for about two weeks, is in trouble in New Zealand because he was apparently too eager to get a listing.  He was fined the equivalent of $1100 by real estate licensing officials & ordered to extend an ethics course after he had put his own “for sale” sign directly in front of the owners “for sale by owner sign.” The family whose home is in Otaki near Wellington filed a complaint. They do not live on the property and thought it odd that they stopped get phone calls about the house. The then found the agent’s sign in the yard. The agent thought the homeowners had agreed to list with him but they neglected to sign the listing agreement.

EwingSIR does not guarantee information contained in this blog, readers are encouraged not to rely solely on this information and to do their own independent research of facts contained herein. Blog information was obtained from independent sources that we do not endorse, and we do not investigate this information for accuracy.

Barbara Lipkin

Knowledgeable, caring and successful are words that best describe Barbara Lipkin, a Hidden Hills resident and top producing realtor with over 28 years experience. Barbara combines personal concern for her clients with professional expertise to achieve outstanding results in her field.

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Another side effect of the depressed housing market

By: Barbara Lipkin

A lifelong criminal was ordered by an English court to sell his home to repay about $79,000 to his victims. He asked for an extension because the housing market has dropped so much he couldn’t sell his home for his judgment. He said his Manchester home had been worth about $151,000 a few years ago, but since he has tried selling his house, the offers have been for around $63,000. The judge gave him an extra 3 months and cut the judgment to $60,000 believing the real estate market may improve.”

EwingSIR does not guarantee information contained in this blog, readers are encouraged not to rely solely on this information and to do their own independent research of facts contained herein. Blog information was obtained from independent sources that we do not endorse, and we do not investigate this information for accuracy.

Barbara Lipkin

Knowledgeable, caring and successful are words that best describe Barbara Lipkin, a Hidden Hills resident and top producing realtor with over 28 years experience. Barbara combines personal concern for her clients with professional expertise to achieve outstanding results in her field.

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Peng Wenle Rescued

By: Barbra Lipkin

We are all aware of Facebook, Twitter, Linked & other sites.  Recently, they have come into play in dramatic ways. The Egyptian situation was begun by a Google executive and others using social networking. Recently, I came across an article regarding the use of microblogs in finding abducted children. In movies and on television, we have seen story lines where boy children have been kidnapped from their parents in China. With China still basically a one child society, this has dramatic repercussions. To lose a child is horrible. To make matters worse, it may not be possible to have another child. In March 2008, 3 year old Peng Wenle vanished into the night from outside the family’s small shop. The perpetrator was not able to be identified due to the grainy images and lack of clues.  An all-out campaign by Chinese microbloggers to circulate photographs of abducted children has led to the boy’s reunions with his family. A university student who has seen an Internet posting by the child’s father on sina.com which hosts a Chinese version of Twitter, thought the missing child looked a lot like a 66-year old boy he has seen in a village about 800 miles away. He em-mailed a photograph of the boy to the father who recognized the child as his son. DNA tests have confirmed the relationship.

Child abduction is a scourge for China’s poor. Thousands have disappeared with boys being the most common. They are sold for as much as $10,000 to families that are childless or without sons. What an amazing way to use social networking and microblogs. They have made it far easier to find children because of the speed with which information can be conveyed.

EwingSIR does not guarantee information contained in this blog, readers are encouraged not to rely solely on this information and to do their own independent research of facts contained herein. Blog information was obtained from independent sources that we do not endorse, and we do not investigate this information for accuracy.

Barbara Lipkin

Knowledgeable, caring and successful are words that best describe Barbara Lipkin, a Hidden Hills resident and top producing realtor with over 28 years experience. Barbara combines personal concern for her clients with professional expertise to achieve outstanding results in her field.

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Courtesy of Sharon Watterson

By: Barbara Lipkin

As many of you know, I enjoy knitting as a hobby-making gifts for babies especially my granddaughter, Emma, and for charity. This article impressed me. A dear friend grew up in England. Knitting was part of their curriculum. What a valuable addition this would be to our curriculum! There would be many who would volunteer their time in the schools if this were an option. Check it out below:

http://www.examiner.com/knitting-in-providence/knitting-inspires-learning-throughout-curriculum

EwingSIR does not guarantee information contained in this blog, readers are encouraged not to rely solely on this information and to do their own independent research of facts contained herein. Blog information was obtained from independent sources that we do not endorse, and we do not investigate this information for accuracy.

Barbara Lipkin

Knowledgeable, caring and successful are words that best describe Barbara Lipkin, a Hidden Hills resident and top producing realtor with over 28 years experience. Barbara combines personal concern for her clients with professional expertise to achieve outstanding results in her field.

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Don’t let potholes in Calabasas go unnoticed

By: Barbara Lipkin

“Ever ruined a tire on a pothole?  Reporting a pothole in Los Angeles by calling 311 is easy but not always successful. You get to hear Mayor Villaraigosa’s voice but then you are on hold for at least 10 minutes. Now you can report a pothole in Calabasas. Go to the Calabasas city website http://www.cityofcalabasas.com/pwrequest.html and fill out the report. It’s much more efficient than the city of Los Angeles.”

EwingSIR does not guarantee information contained in this blog, readers are encouraged not to rely solely on this information and to do their own independent research of facts contained herein. Blog information was obtained from independent sources that we do not endorse, and we do not investigate this information for accuracy.

Barbara Lipkin

Knowledgeable, caring and successful are words that best describe Barbara Lipkin, a Hidden Hills resident and top producing realtor with over 28 years experience. Barbara combines personal concern for her clients with professional expertise to achieve outstanding results in her field.

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By: Barbara Lipkin

With the emphasis on saving money and protecting the economy, I am always on the lookout for new uses for old products.  I came across some secret uses for vinegar.  I have not tried them yet, but I thought they were of interest to share.  They are:

• Spray full strength on weeds until they starve.
• Clean pots with white vinegar before re-potting to remove excess lime.
• Remove skunk odor from a dog by rubbing his fur with full strength vinegar. Don’t forget to rinse.
• Soothe a bee or jellyfish sting by dousing the area with vinegar.
• Relieve itching by using a cotton ball to dab mosquito and other bug bites.
• Use white vinegar to rinse your hair to remove residue and leaves it shiny.
• Make clothes smell fresh by adding vinegar to the rinse cycle instead of fabric softener.
• Immerse T-shirts in white vinegar to get rid of the yellow armpit stains (that is yucky).
• Clean your irons and steam irons with vinegar to avoid build up.
• Clean china with vinegar to remove coffee & tea stains.
• Deodorize the following: kitchen drain & sink, smelly lunch box
• Add a couple of tablespoons to a bowl and leave it on the kitchen counter. Supposed to get rid of food odors such as fish.
• Clean the microwave by boiling a 1/4 cup of vinegar to loosen splattered food. Afterward use a cloth to wipe the microwave clean.
• Kill germs in the bathroom by wiping down fixtures with a rag damp with vinegar.
• Clean soap scum, mildew and grime from the bathtub, tile and curtains by wiping down with vinegar and rinsing with water.
• Clean your glasses by using a drop of vinegar and a lint-free cloth ( I liked this one-I can never find my eyeglass spray.  .
• Instead of using toner in your beauty routine, use vinegar to clean your face (seems sour).
• Relieve a sore throat by gargling with vinegar.
• Have itchy feet? Immerse your feet in vinegar to fight athlete’s foot.
• Toenails turning yellow? Fight nail fungus by saturating your nails with vinegar. Apparently, tea tree oil also helps.
• Eliminate animal urine stains and odor from carpet by wiping it clean with an old rag and vinegar.
• Unclog a shower head by immersing in vinegar.
• Remove decals, bumper stickers, or price tag by wiping down with vinegar. Alcohol also helps.
• Spray vinegar around doors and window frames, under appliances and along other known ant trails to repeal them.
• Add to water and food coloring to make dyed eggs even brighter.
• Rid your toilet bowl of rusty rings with a diluted vinegar solution.
• Rub on windows with newspaper or cloth to get a clearer view.
• Kill mold with vinegar instead of bleach ( I wonder if they mean mildew).
• Combine with lemons and baking soda for an all purpose cleaner.
• Mix with salt to form a paste. Apply to remove discoloration from copper-bottomed pots and pans. Let sit, then scrub with steel-wool.

EwingSIR does not guarantee information contained in this blog, readers are encouraged not to rely solely on this information and to do their own independent research of facts contained herein. Blog information was obtained from independent sources that we do not endorse, and we do not investigate this information for accuracy.

Barbara Lipkin

Knowledgeable, caring and successful are words that best describe Barbara Lipkin, a Hidden Hills resident and top producing realtor with over 28 years experience. Barbara combines personal concern for her clients with professional expertise to achieve outstanding results in her field.

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