gifting sensibilities

Shopping in Montclair: Fourth & Final Stop

2009-06-04T20:45:00.019-04:00

The final leg of our day in Montclair is where the anniversary gift quest came to an end. We hit another favorite spot - American Sampler @ 26 Church Street. This antique store sells the best picture frames!

These picture frames are made out of old boats, houses, schools, and buildings. Each frame is a handmade, one of a kind, piece of history.

Love this one.

Love these two too!

There is more than frames to be sampled...

Mark and Liz gave us two beehives like this one - we displayed the hives at our wedding reception - a miniature beehive kept us company at the sweetheart table. Truly one of the most thoughtful gifts we've ever received. We found out later that the purpose of these mock hives is to attract bees. We're happy to report that no one was stung at the wedding ;)

American Sampler earns a 5 star rating because this is where my hunt for the leather gift ended!

Luke was very excited that the search was over. He sure knows how to share in the joy of special moment (although his mere presence is often the reason that I'm joyful or experiencing a special moment).

But the celebrating was short-lived because we were all pretty tired and ready to head home for dinner with Dad and Uncle Mike. Farewell Montclair; you've been real good to us, once again!

Oh, and the leather anniversary gift. A chocolate brown (wedding color) frame in which I put one of Mike's favorite inspirational quotes, and one of those beloved recycled frames with a wedding pic in it (for his desk at work). Thanks for the faithfulness, forgiveness and fun of the first three years my Love.

"A happy marriage is the union of two good forgivers."

~Ruth Bell Graham

Shopping in Montclair: Third Stop

2009-06-02T22:52:00.010-04:00

I know I promised you Church Street today, but I'm hoping you'll forgive me and permit a detour down Bloomfield Avenue instead. We stopped in at Parcel and literally stepped back in time. I think it's safe to call it a stationery store -with a vintage flair. The owner Nancy Laboz describes her shop in this way, "The things in my store tell a story."

Although stationery, wrapping paper, and custom invitations abound, the story-telling aspect to Parcel can be found in the bins of antique embellishments that one adds to projects, packages, or parcels. It's a treasure trove of grandma's attic - holding everything from animal shaped buttons to antique letter tiles.

Wonderful Wall of Wrappings

Invitation central (and they offer letterpress - my favorite)

Did I mention they sell dime store candy too?

It's difficult to leave this store without some delightful find. This time I found something else to help us celebrate our anniversary. A blue and white daisy truffle box (which I tied with a brown ribbon taken from our wedding program) filled with...

...chocolate bees and daisies. Just a little treat to pop into his lunch bag and hopefully a sweet reminder of our wedding day!

-Church street tomorrow friends and the final leg of our Montclair tour-

Shopping in Montclair: Second Stop

2009-06-01T19:57:00.017-04:00

Lizzy needed to buy a gift for her cutting-edge cousin's kid, so we moved one door down from the tea house to a children's boutique called minnow. With a name this endearing, how could we not go in? Their mission statement: "We strive to bring hip, urban and funky goods for kids to the suburbs." I am happy to report - mission accomplished!

minnow logo

This photo doesn't do it justice, but take my word for it when I tell you that this is simply the most gorgeous little girl's outfit ever. A linen-like fabric, three piece ensemble (skirt, blazer, tank) in my favorite color scheme (pale blue, cream, and chocolate brown). I walked in the front door and I was hooked on minnow instantly ;)

LOVE the Johnny Cash onesie -(would of picked up one for Luke if he wasn't watching me so closely)

Speaking of Luke, here he is, trying on a hat. His mama finds the sweetest hats for his darling head.

This is the outfit that I wanted my sister-in-law to buy for her trend-setting relative, but Lizzy (a woman who is wise with her wallet) determined this one too costly (and she was right of course). But excuse me while I reminisce about the one that got away ;) Sigh.

Cool store has cool play area for kids; makes sense.

Outfits we almost bought for Luke, but once again my wise sister decided we should stick to the plan and just get the item she came in for. Isn't she super smart and disciplined? She's the best really.

TAH-DAH! This is the dress Lizzy went with. Cheaper than my original pick and oh so sweet! It's made by tea. If you can't make it to Montclair, you can still get your hands on these fun threads, since tea has an on-line catalog. Just click here to check them out on the web.

And if you do decide to to venture into Montclair, soon you'll need to look for minnow on Church Street - cuz they're moving. Did I mention everything in the store is 30% off due to the moving sale? Good time to go fishing I would say ;)

And hey, Church Street is where I pick up tomorrow - a happening avenue - and a great spot to find an anniversary gift!

Shopping in Montclair: First Stop

2009-05-31T19:54:00.024-04:00

In order to find an anniversary gift (in leather) for my husband Mike, my sister-in-law Liz, Luke and I headed to our favorite town for gift buying: Montclair, New Jersey. First stop: fuel (aka tea) at Cha MA Gu Dao, and with over 170 teas to choose from and a baby-friendly atmosphere, we were blissfully content with our first visit.

We opted for ice tea and couldn't get over the clever liquid sugar that poured from a syrup container as well as the individual chic tea carafes. We skipped the Splenda and poured to our heart's content. Go Lizzy go!

The cookies were infused with tea flavors, such as lemongrass-ginger, green tea, black currant and earl grey tea. Delicate flavors - delicious treat!

Luke ate his giraffe instead of tea cookies, but he's a fan of the place none the less.

Behind Luke are pretty teapots, all in a row, for sale. Fun gift idea, but not quite what I needed for Mike's gift.

Many of the teas had these adorable names and because tea is a ritual in my marriage, I just had to pick Mike up some! Check out these little red hearts in the Sweetheart Tea. Too cute, right?

I ended up with three varieties: Sweetheart, Honey, & Best Friend. This will go nicely with the breakfast in bed I usually serve him on our anniversary morning (reminiscent of the bed & breakfast we stayed at during our honeymoon). I was happy about the tea, but my mind was still on the leather item I needed to find, On with the hunt...

In Favor of Favors

2009-05-16T21:29:00.014-04:00

Despite recent trends to the contrary, I remain staunchly in favor of wedding favors. Deciding on favors was one of my favorite planning items for my own wedding. I'm personally a fan of the edible favor; I think it's tasteful (no pun intended), as well as traditional, to give guests something sweet to take with.

We chose Katz & Company's BRANCHES HONEY as our favor for the following reasons: 1. who doesn't enjoy a yummy gourmet treat, 2. went splendidly with our bee theme (not to mention our wedding song How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You - pun intended this time), and 3. possibly most importantly, because it was packaged beautifully. me + great packaging = sheer delight.

We also bought honeybees for our guests. Truly we did. We made donations through Heifer International of bees in honor of the families who attended our wedding.

Check out the following info from HI:

Honeybees - The Buzz About Bees
From Uganda to El Salvador, bees from Heifer International help struggling families earn income through the sale of honey, beeswax and pollen. Beehives require almost no space and, once established, are inexpensive to maintain. As bees search for nectar, they pollinate plants. Placed strategically, beehives can as much as double some fruit and vegetable yields. In this way, a beehive can be a boost to a whole village. Although most Heifer partners keep bees as a supplement to family income, beekeeping can be a family's livelihood. Your gift can help Heifer provide a family with a package of bees, the box and hive, plus training in beekeeping - and this unique gift will be passed on to another family in need.

Long live the wedding favor!

"...be as the month of May"

2009-05-11T10:08:00.027-04:00

Let all thy joys be as the month of May,
And all thy days be as a marriage day:
Let sorrow, sickness and a troubled mind
Be stranger to thee.
Francis Quarles

Now that May has arrived I find myself reminiscing about my wedding. It seems only yesterday I married my best friend and knight in shining armor, but the 27th of this month marks three years for me and Michael. Thus far I've taken my cues for my husband's anniversary gifts from the traditional list.

Since first year is paper, I chose personalized everyday writing paper with a honeybee (our wedding theme) from my favorite stationery source - Felix Doolittle. If you haven't seen Doolittle's work, please click here to peruse his storytelling art. Almost everyone in my life has received something of his from me. I adore his bookplates, address labels, memo paper, and personalized stationery. The stationery is exquisite, and even though he had me at hello, the gorgeous packaging makes it all the more enchanting (I'm a fool for great packaging).

Second year is cotton, so for the man who has not bought himself clothes in ten years and who loves a practical gift, I gave a sweater, shirt, and pants- all 100% cotton of course. And to tie in the wedding day remembrance, all articles were blue and brown (our wedding colors). He sweetly refers to it as his "wedding outfit."

Currently I'm contemplating year three and the how to incorporate the traditional gift of leather. I haven't decided on anything just yet, but I'll keep you posted (literally).

Picture Perfect Home

2009-05-09T21:13:00.009-04:00

Today I learned about a gift my brother Mark received when his son Luke was born. His father-in-law gave them a session with a local photographer. Mark and his wife Liz recently had an opportunity to use the gift. Not only is it a great idea to support local artists, but how convenient and endearing to have their little guy photographed at home. It is sweet to see their own yard and home as the backdrop to the photographs; it just makes preserving the memories all the more special! To check out Luke's session at home click on the following link for Stacey Mae's photography: http://www.stacymaephotography.com/little-man/.

Tea for One (or two or three or four)

2009-04-26T22:23:00.011-04:00

My search for the perfect gift for family and friends usually culminates with something uniquely suited to each person, but sometimes I stumble upon a sweet find that's suitable for all sorts of folks I know. This spring it was an adorable and affordable stacking teapot and cup from Crate and Barrel. This floral ceramic (aka "tea for one") showed up at birthdays for my sister-in-law, niece, co-worker, boss and best friend. And I keep thinking, I should go back and get another...just in case.

Although I think this gift stands alone nicely, I also added to it as well. For my sister-in-law: an outing to a favorite tea room. And for my co-worker: something more simple - some sachets of new tea to try. Because this teapot is inexpensive it would make a great favor for a tea party or prize for a game at a tea-themed shower. And now that I'm thinking about it - a good Mother's Day present for friends that are new mommies this year. Yeah; I'm definitely going back for another one (or two).