give a little love

there are people on all of our lists that have everything they need and want. to which i say - give a donation! while some charity fans have their pet cause and support that on behalf of others, i think it is much more meaningful to find a cause that would be interesting to the recipient of that nice-if-generic notification card in the mail. some thoughts:

build a nest supports women artists and artisans in the developing world in helping them create sustainable businesses by providing loans to begin and/or maintain art or craft-based businesses.



stockings with care is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to making sure that families in need have everything they need to create the magic of Christmas morning for their kids.



crispaz: christians for peace is an organization dedicated to building bridges between the church of the poor communities in el salvador and communities in the u.s. and other countries, striving together for peace, justice, sustainability, and human liberation.



since 1886, the aspca has existed to alleviate the injustices and cruelty to animals.



meals on wheels provides home-delivered meals to new york’s homebound elderly.

stocking suffins'

now, some of those expensive earrings and tickets can certainly fit into a stocking, but, in our house, stockings were always for little less-expensive suprises. my mom would sometimes cheat and fill up part of our stocking with boring toiletries (yawn, just give me good chocolate) because it's hard to be inspired given both budgetary and physical constraints. i hear ya, and here's my 2 cents:


kitchen gadgets from anthropologie. how cute is this chicken timer? how groovy are these spoons?

the pigs in a blanket shakers? get it? pigs in a blanket?

points for creativity, it's a bottle opener from 3 potato 4!


i know i am contradicting myself about budget here. that said, if you order any ipod nano online, you get freen engraving on it's little tiny backside. so my nephews will be embarrassed by theirs that read "i loooove my aunt kitty".


i go through enough lipbalm to know what's good and i'm telling you, you don't have to spend $12 a pop at aveda for the perfect, minty lip-smacker. i discovered good witches brew lipbalm slopeside in telluride and order it by the box. (at $3.75 you can stock up).


thank you notes from sugarpaper



oh, it'll fit! a little olive dish from michael aram is only 4.5" long.


how can these not-quite-gems only be $15? red flower earrings from build a nest


this summer i left my passport in a cab on the way back from newark after a long-delayed, tedious flight from london. sad to lose my passport. sad to lose my lovely, travelled passport cover. j crew

all i want for christmas, part 2

my friend laura vinroot turned me onto irene neuwirth jewelry. i only have one necklace but, really, it always draws a compliment. love her use of unusual gems like my own peruvian opal.




a michael arran chip and dip platter for the classiest superbowl party ever.



opera tickets! so many new cool productions, including romeo + juliette and iphigenie.



tickets, take 2! broadway is back on and hopefully without interruption. good thing as i just booked both wicked and jersey boys for those family and friends coming into town. entertainment snob that i am, who doesn't (maybe secretly) love a show?



simple and stylish hugo guinness paintings and drawings.



it's a little wierd how much i love grapefruit, and indian river is the best.

all i want for christmas, part 1

1. hella jongerius bowl moss online
1a. if there's not enough hella j in your home (i certainly can't claim so...) then, by all means, get the tableware!!




2. jcrew coat in a nubby bright green looks much cuter on than in this so-catalog pic.


3. handmade leather bags by pivet. a woman carrying this style in orange walked into camp and i had to ask her about it. so nicely made and with a cute contrast interior fabric.


4.hamish bowles' vogue living. 400 pages of the homes and gardens of our dreams.



5.birdbath dish from apartment 48 'cause it's just so darn cute.

haute chocolate

one of the grooviest places to snack in the west village has to be chocolate bar on hudson and jane. as a fellow vintage rock fan, i have to admire how owner alison nelson twists retro-rock graphics and makes them work, with, of all things, chocolate. just note -LOVE!- the cbgb's/ramones style logo. and her full-on commitment to orange and brown as a color combo. nice.

apparently there's an outpost at bendel's uptown as there are some great pictures of the interior on her site, but really, you couldn't pay me to go to midtown, especially not at this time of year. suffice to say, another good stocking stuffer. i'm just feeling so gifty lately, right?

love that rock 'n roll

how cool are these silkscreened posters from etsy's hatin' on spiders? i particularly love the joan jett, since my 13 year old nephew is currently obsessed with playing "i love rock and roll" on his guitar/interactive video gadget. his jaw drops when i tell him that this is music i used to listen to, like, when it came out (!). more to my personal aesthetic style...




the genius behind hatin' on spiders on etsy, also designs non-rock posters found on the site strawberryluna.com a fantastic gift for a child/aspiring designer.

my favorite candles

I have this overhead track lighting in my apartment bequeathed to me by my predecessor. If you like A LOT of light (er, in an already light apartment), you would dig it . On occasion, someone walks in with me and helpfully reaches for that switch next to the door. I swear I recoil like something from a vampire film, shielding my eyes, lunging to turn them off. Someday I'll pull it all out, I just try not to obsess over it too much. (oh, contraire...) No suprise then: I have three-way bulbs in all my lamps, everything is frosted, soft, pink. And candles I love. Wasn't it just a few years ago when Dyptique was the only sophisticated scented candle? Now I walk into The Bathroom on Charles St and the selection is just overwhelming. And, as when one is at the department store fragrance section, they all start to blend. Votivo Red Currant was the rage for a while, Kai is still a fave with me. Now everyone is into soy. I have to plug for my pal, Sarah Tallman, as she has some really lovely scents to be showcased in her soon-to-open Grove on Hudson and Jane. But the prettiest candles to me are these from John Derian. They're as big as slightly oversized juice glasses with a tissue decoupage on the outside, enough to give the candlelight the most lovely glow. Ideally, they hold tea lights which (genius...) burn out on their own after a few hours so you don't waste a big, expensive candle or burn your house, with it's track lighting, down.