Just a little treat...

When I was little I was always out shopping with my mom and grandma and would always ask if I could just get "a little something, just a little treat..."

Well, this was the little treat I picked up at HomeGoods on Sunday while shopping with my mom. She is the best shopping partner! I swear I always find the best stuff when I'm with her.




I realized that I needed to bring a little color into my neutral living room (it's brown, cream, and robin's egg blue). This little orange mirrored box was perfect, especially at $10! Now it's sitting on its own little shelf in the living room. Love it.

It's the kind of accessory I would imagine Kelly Wearstler choosing for one of her fab Hollywood Regency-styled rooms. (I just read her book HUE, this weekend...amazing, amazing photos. More on that later this week...).

Isn't it so fun when you find the perfect little treat?

A Country Shop Grows in Brooklyn

Brooklyn, N.Y. has never really been considered a hotspot for shopping. Well, maybe for Italian pastries. However, in the last decade or so, it’s really upped its “cool” quotient with lots of hip, new design shops opening up, especially in Williamsburg.

Brook Farm General Store is one of the latest. I just read about it over at Daily Candy this morning and I’m hooked. Located just under the Williamsburg bridge, this adorable shop offers city-dwellers a little bit of country goodness for the home. I haven’t been able to visit it yet, but you can check out amazing images from inside the store over at the Apartment 132 blog. Blogger (and Brooklynite) Cristina Ramirez did a fantastic job taking lovely photos and describing her trip.

Good news for the rest of us, they also offer online shopping! As I was checking out their offerings, my wishlist became so long, I decided I must take a trip to the store in-person. Here are a few of the fabulous goodies they’re selling:

Eggs Cups and Spoons. This set of four porcelain chicken-design egg cups and spoons are a must-have for any country kitchen.

Antique silverware. The presentation alone had me drooling over this set of vintage silverware for six (circa the 1930s). Awesome.

Set of six Morrocan tea glasses. Ok, a little bit more “bazaar-style” than country, but I am obsessed with these glasses. Don’t you just love the colorful sleeves?

Sidewalk Chalk. This would make a perfect present for my two little twin cousins who currently enjoy spending afternoons covering themselves in chalk as they play outside :)

All photos via brookfarmgeneralstore.com

Has anyone checked out this store yet? Let me know!

Why I Heart Kate Spade

My obsession with Kate Spade goes back to about 1999, the year I made my first KS purchase, a classic microfiber silver-grey handbag (at a NYC sample sale, of course!). My collection slowly grew thanks to sample sales and outlet shops. Many of her home designs even appeared on my wedding registry (the Library Stripe and Larabee Dot vases to name a few).

I love her ads, her website, her books, her humorous approach to American glamour. And now today, she gave me one more reason to heart her: the Mariachi Ric Rac jewelry collection.













These affordable, colorful, perfect-for-summer bangles, earrings and rings (above) are so refreshing. I'm not usually a fan of gold jewelery but I love the bold pops of colored enamel against the gold. I think the earrings are my favorite. They'd be perfect this summer, paired with a pair of white jeans, a flowy top and of course, a cocktail in hand.

Gotta have it? Maybe not.

I just finished reading this clever article over at HouseBeautiful.com: Home Accessories You Don't Need. In it, nine well-known designers talk about the home products they had to have but then realized they really didn't need. Brilliant.

Dransfield & Ross Linen napkin from ThePicketFence.com

It was so refreshing to hear entertaining guru Colin Cowie talk about how the vodka shot set he thought was so great, really wasn't or how designer Victoria Neal refuses to buy linen napkins no matter how gorgeous they are because she just can't bare to iron them all the time. I completely agree!

How about you? What are some of the "gotta-have-it" home accessories you thought you needed but really could have lived without?

Here's my top three:

1. Sushi for two dining set. I'm not brave enough to make sushi at home (or order it in...I can only eat it when I'm dining out!)

2. Faux Fur throw and pillows. When they started to shed I just had to toss them.

3. Ice Cream Maker. Who has the time or energy when there's a Cold Stone Creamery nearby.