Favorite Things Friday

KMH can breathe easy now, I'm finally blogging. Ever since TLS and I found out that we'd be moving to Germany and I would have a house to decorate, I've been nesting hard core. I signed up for every home accessories catalog available, have created wishlists on several sites, and have started flagging/clipping pictures of things I like. At the Barbara Barry sale on Rue La La a while back, we bought an adorable set of four rocks glasses with chairs on them, and are keeping them in the box so that they are the first thing that we bought together for our new house.

I have quite a lot of things on my wishlists, so this is the condensed version, in no particular order:

I absolutely love this set of tea cup hooks from Uncommon Goods. I think that they're both quirky and practical at the same time. ($28 each)

It doesn't actually get much quirkier than this "You are Here" Doormat, also from Uncommon Goods, $24. When I showed this to TLS, his response was "I don't get it- are we planning on having a round door?" Way to not have a sense of humor about things.

I realize that I have already posted this once before, but there is absolutely no way that this print will not make it into our kitchen. Everything about it screams MRM from a mile away. $26 from Etsy seller jennysbakeshop.

I love entertaining guests, and since TLS and I are both big iced green tea drinkers, this wonderful pitcher from Tiffany ($165) is on our list of things we need, not want.

My friend JMK received this beautiful Acacia Salad Bowl set from Bed, Bath, and Beyond ($30) at her bridal shower, and I loved it so much that I had to register us for one as well. I love wood salad bowls, and the picture does not do this one justice.

Since TLS knows my love of pretty, fun coffee mugs, he agreed that when we finally get our own house, we can get a full set of the Lilly Pulitzer mugs. Wee. Where else would we buy them from but my favorite store, the Preppy Princess? $14.50 each.

I'm going to end this post here to prevent myself from going overboard and clogging up anyone's screen. If you see something that you think I just need to have for our house, please email me. Have a fabulous weekend to all, and if you are Jewish, Shana Tova u Metukah!!!

a really weird gift idea

A couple of nights ago, I was on the phone with TLS flipping through catalogs for two of my favorite stores- Tiffany and Uncommon Goods. (An easy way to freak a boy out- when he asks what you're doing, tell him you're looking through the Tiffany catalog...) Uncommon Goods is one of my favorite places to buy quirky out of the ordinary gifts, and I have found some great gifts for my friends there. One item in the current catalog, however, made me shake my head.

These are roses which are made out of paper and actually look quite nice. So what is so weird about them? The paper is actually made of recycled Elephant poo. Dead serious. Not sure why anyone would want that, I certainly hope that no one gets them for me (ahem TLS). I think this may be a fine example of being *too* green. What are your thoughts on them? Would you get them for anyone? Would you want someone to get them for you?

This made me think of the controversy at the BAM a couple of years ago when Giuliani was still mayor and tried to shut down an exhibit containing an image of the Virgin Mary smeared in Elephant poo.

favorite things

It's Friday, it's gorgeous out, and due to the fact that I handed in my report four days early, I have literally no work to do today. That means it's time for my weekly favorite things post. This week, in honor of my charity giveaway, I will be showcasing items that donate back to a non-profit organization. (If you haven't entered my giveaway yet, please do so. I want a lot of entries for this one.)

First up is this lovely necklace from Jewelry Without Jewels, $15 from her Etsy shop.

The color is pretty darn close to Tiffany Blue (yes, I'm a creature of habit), it's cute, perfect for summer, and makes a great gift. Also, 10% of it goes to the Save the Music Foundation which helps fund instrumental music education in public schools.

Since I can only go for, oh, 5 minutes without gushing about Lilly (I'm pretty sure it's 5 minutes, KMH you've been timing me- what's the official time?) here is a piece from their celebrity designed Jubilee Collection- A Colorful Cause.

The Shields Bikini, $178. I am in love with this print. Unfortunatly, I am one of those people who is two different sizes on the top and the bottom so I cannot buy a bikini that's sold as a set as opposed to two separate pieces. If you can buy it, do so, it's gorgeous and 15% of the sale of it goes to The Epidermolysis Bullosa Medical Research Foundation.

Moving on to more Lilly, another thing that I have been buying a lot of is pretty stationary. I am absolutely in love with the idea of personalized stationary and hope to acquire some soon.

I am absolutely head over heels in love with these Winter Playground Pink Foldover Cards from The Preppy Princess. $75 for a set of $25, with 5% of the profits going to the Fisher House.

As I have mentioned on here before, I am really into ladybugs. Partly because they are my sorority's symbol, partly because I adore polka dots, and partly because they are too darn cute. When I found this serving platter from Uncommon Goods, my fingers could not type in my credit card number fast enough!

I always serve cookies on this platter when guests come over, and it's fun when I have sisters over for dinner and they see the ladybug and start to squeal. $40 with 10% going to the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation. (KMH, are you shrieking yet?)

For a long time, I was very fascinated by the Clarisonic Brush at Sephora, but could not justify the hefty $195 price tag. I just knew that if I bought it, I would only use it a couple of times and then it would sit there. Boy I was wrong. One day, I had a $165 gift card burning a hole in my pocket, so I decided that I would buy one. Since then, I have used it almost every day, and my face seriously feels dirty if I go for a few days without using it. When I got mine, there was only the plain white version available, but since then Clarisonic has created the pink version as well. Not only is it cuter, but the proceeds from this one go towards funding breast cancer research.

Since Passover has finally ended and I have survived another year, I can now talk about baked goods without turning into something resembling a drunk Cookie Monster on crack with slightly less fur. Therefore, I bring you to my final item on this week's list, something that we are all familiar with and that many of us hold near and dear to our hearts: Girl Scout Cookies.

At around $4 a box, these are the cheapest item on this week's list. They come in many varieties, my favorite being the Samoa, above. (Does anyone find it coincidental that my favorite cookie just happens to be the most fattening one? I sure as heck don't.) What could be better than knowing that while I'm sitting on my couch watching Phantom of the Opera on dvd, I'm actually helping girls become better and stronger leaders? You tell me.

Raindrops on Roses and whiskers on kittens

As promised, I will do a weekly "my favorite things" post to highlight my current obsessions and new finds. I will do these posts every Friday to guarantee that I update the blog on a regular basis. Each week, there will be a different theme to the list. The themese, like myself, will be completely random and arbitrary. Since all of the stores are starting to put out their Spring collections, I will make this week's list dedicated to Spring things.

This week's post is brought to you by the letter A, for Accessories:

First off, let's talk hair accessories. For those of you who don't know, I have major issues when it comes to my hair. No matter how good it may look, I am never satisfied. I am always looking for new headbands and pins to pull my hair back. I discovered these lovely pins from Calista Cove:

I think that the Daisies are absolutely adorable and can be either dressy or casual, depending on what you wear them with. In addition to having tons of adorable stuff, the website is having a sale this weekend, and you get free items with your purchase. How's that for an incentive? I placed an order from there this morning and you can bet that those daisies were in there. Along with three headbands!

Now that we've gotten hair accessories out of the way, let's move on to jewelry. First on the list is bracelets. I have been a fan of A. Tierney ever since the company donated several items to an auction for a fundraising event at my job. I am drooling over these bracelets that they have on their home page.

I really want the Bee and Flamingo bracelets which are currently not on their website. I think that they would be a fun way to dress up a solid outfit. I wear a lot of dark jeans and solid color tops. I called the company to ask about them and the woman that I spoke with said that they are available for sale, but they do not put all of their merchandise on the website at once. They have a Manhattan showroom, and I will try to stop by there this week to pick them up. My one concern about them is that I have small wrists and bangles tend to look really weird on me, in fact I have yet to own a bangle bracelet, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

The next item that I am obsessing over is a pair of stud earrings from Uncommon Goods. Uncommon Goods in general is my newest obsession, and I have picked up a ton of great presents for people from there. Of course, while I was doing that, I had to shop for myself! I love stud earrings, and I could not resist getting these. They are sterling silver which is important for my uber- sensitive ears, plain enough to be worn every day, and have that quirk factor that I love. I could not get a bigger picture, but the studs are cut to look like screws!

Finally, the last item that I am lusting over is the 14K Gold Akasha Cup Diamond Ring from Wendy Culpepper. Sadly, I could not post a picture of it, and it is rather out of my price range, but a girl can dream!

So, I've shown you mine, now show me yours. What are your must have accessories for spring?