Things I Loved

I brought home this Illume candle from a quick visit to the Mission on Monday night. The gardenia scent is more pepper-y than floral, I like it quite a bit.

These adorable potted pansies were given as favors at Sunday’s bridal show. They’re a perfect addition to my little garden-in-progress.

Working 13 hour days at a conference in four inch heels…not so great. Day dreaming about Hawaii…excellent! At least when I’m getting up pre-dawn, I have coconut shampoo to help me prepare for a couple relaxing days. Can’t wait for friends, fruity drinks and flip flops starting tomorrow!

I’ve got a thing for old-fashioned, paper-wrapped grease pencils today. You can use them to write on glass and metal, or just to accessorize a perfect tweed pencil skirt. It must be the combination of back-to-school season and watching too much Nova. Take a look at sugaroni’s entire photo series on art and office supplies…

I am up to my eyeballs in craft projects this week. The whole dining room looks like the intern quarters at Martha Stewart – glue, silk screens, paper scraps, ink, scissors, thread…it’s madness. One of my new favorite finds amidst all this creativity is Semikolon. They make excellent albums in a rainbow of colors, all…

I love Ikea. We had such a great shopping trip there last weekend. I picked up dishtowels, napkins, lunch containers, twine and a potted plant for my new desk. Plus, my new favorite throw pillow: KETTY VÄRLD. It’s a hand-embroidered world map on soft blue fabric and signed by the artist. Also available in red…

There are few things quite as satisfying as preparing a big stack of letters for the mail. I’m working on a special project and it involves loads of stamps. Photo from Ankou.

My new beach umbrella! The Ramso comes in four different colors for $15 each. The red version is SPF 25. I can’t wait to try it out. Hmmm. I really might need that new bikini to match. Add a chair, a New Yorker and a nice sunny day…

I love polishing silver! Last night, I scrubbed a stack of platters, vases, spoons and silver Easter baskets with good old Wright’s polish for an hour. It’s such a satisfying, easy chore. Napkin ironing is another great one in the same category. Maybe I could have a job in Martha’s prop room?

Have you seen how cheap tickets to Hawaii are these days? Dangerous, especially when adorable frenchie-striped bikinis are available from Boden. This bikini, plus a big umbrella and a sand-logged New Yorker….bliss!