A few weeks ago, my friend Maia and I decided to meet for lunch at one of our favorite spots, Torrisi.  After devouring our turkey sandwiches, we strolled through Nolita and she took me to the shop of Erica Weiner. Inspired by a collection of curiosities from various treasure hunts, Erica creates this amazing vintage-inspired jewelry.  I picked up the Kyanite Spike Necklace.  I love the blue Kyanite with the single metal spike.  You can see more of her work here or visit her studio and store front at 173 Elizabeth Street, NYC.

While visiting one of my favorite local spots Marlow and Sons, this beautiful packaging caught my eye.  Created by Diana Mercer, (who runs an art studio in Boulder, Colorado) Clementine Art is a line of art supplies that contains only natural ingredients and are all certified non-toxic.  I love the fact that her modeling dough is colored by turmeric, spinach and carmine and her crayons are made up of a combination of beeswax and kosher soy wax.  To top it off, the packaging is composed of 80% post consumer recycled and reusable materials.

I’m loving these colorful wooden blocks. Inspired by the art of rock balancing, each set contains ten blocks that are handmade in Brooklyn, NY from repurposed hardwood  that has been collected from local furniture shops.

Available from Poketo

via Swiss Miss

I recently picked up this sugar bowl and creamer from The Future Perfect and after seeing them in action over the weekend, it’s official, I’m in love.

Inspired by patterns found on dish cloths and tea towels, designer Gry Fage created the collection for Normann Copenhagen, which includes various plates, bowls, buttering boards, eggcups, a milk jug and a decanter.  If you aren’t lucky enough to live close enough to The Future Perfect, you can purchase them online here.

You can see their list of stockists here.

I have a crush.  The sort of crush you just can’t stop talking and thinking about.  Yes, I have a crush on the whole Marlow and Sons, Diner, Marlow and Daughters, Romans empire.

We’ve been spending a lot of time out in Williamsburg enjoying the excitement that comes with exploring new neighborhoods.  Along the way, we’ve made it a point to acquaint ourselves with other local shops and restaurants.  And while all the discoveries have left us gitty with excitement and very full bellies, our trip to Marlow and Daughters was made extra special thanks to two amazing friends that gave us a gift certificate for our birthdays.

We were torn about whether to be practical or extravagant (ground beef or steaks).  The butcher’s consensus was “buy things for yourself that you would normally buy,” so we went for two beautiful filet mignons, fresh ricotta, house made pate, smoked goat cheese, fancy fig crackers and a few other odds and ends to round out what was the perfect Sunday night dinner.

Nearly a year ago, I wrote about my love for terrariums, these magical little contained environments.  This year for my birthday Dan gave me a certificate to go and build my very own terrarium at Sprout Home in Williamsburg.

There seem to be two main types of terrariums, one that is fern and moss based and one that is cacti based.  I went for the latter since they are supposedly a bit easier to care for and because I liked the variety of plants that Sprout had to choose from. Sprout carries a number of different vessels to house the terrariums.  I picked this one by a company called Roost which takes recycled glass and hand blows it without a mold. After layering some lava rocks for drainage, charcoal to prevent mold and a top layer of soil,  I picked out about six different types of cactus for mine.  I also brought some coral and a sea urchin shell that I collected from our various trips to add to the mix.  I am absolutely in love with it and think this might just be my favorite birthday present ever.  Big thanks to Leah, the terrarium expert at Sprout, for all the guidance in building this beauty!

Some of you may remember this post I did a while back with the amazing photos that The Selby took as part of the advertising campaign for Cole, Rodd and Haan. Well folks, he has gone and done it again.  This time, The Selby takes us on a beautiful tour of one of my all time favorite chocolate houses, Mast Brothers Chocolate.  Rick and Michael Mast are the handsome duo behind these delicious chocolates that are handmade in Brooklyn .   These boys are true artisans and are one of the few “bean-to-bar” chocolatiers, which means they own the entire process of making their chocolate from sourcing the cocoa beans from Venezuela, Ecuador and Madagascar to roasting, grinding, molding and eventually packaging it all up.  The Selby does a wonderful job of illustrating the whole process from start to finish, so please check out the whole series here.

Not only is this some seriously delicious chocolate (my favorite is the Dark Chocolate with Almonds and Sea Salt), but every bar comes beautifully packaged in Italian wrapping paper; it’s like unwrapping a gift each time.

You can find their chocolate at any of these amazing little shops:

A Little of What You Fancy 19 Newtown Lane, East Hampton, NY 11937
Bedford Cheese Shop 229 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11211
Bierkraft 191 Fifth Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11217
Branford Green Grocer 1036 Main Street, Branford, CT 06405
Brooklyn Larder 228 Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11217
Dean & Deluca 560 Broadway, Manhattan, NY 10012
France 44 4351 France Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55410
Grab 438 7th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11215
Marlow & Sons 81 Broadway, Brooklyn, NY 11211
Miette Confiserie 449 Octavia Boulevard, San Francisco, CA 94102
Murray’s Cheese 254 Bleecker Street, Manhattan, NY 10014
Park Slope Food Coop 782 Union Street, Brooklyn, NY 11215
Provisions 150 Beekman Street, Manhattan, NY 10038
Rubiner’s Cheesemongers    264 Main Road, Great Barrington, MA 01230
Spuyten Duyvil Grocery 218 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11211
Stinky Bklyn 261 Smith Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231
Stone Barns 630 Bedford Road, Pocantico Hills, NY 10591
Urban Rustic 236 North 12th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11211