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On Saturday February 9th, my friend Jen and I met in Salem, MA to shop around at the town's "Salem's So Sweet" promotional day (running for a week)! See photos here.

What I'm reading...

Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
I loved his book The Tipping Point so much -- to me, it was so revelatory, and it was a catalyst for big shifts in my viewpoints, on so many things. When I first heard about his book Blink, I was so excited I was jumping out of my skin. But, when it comes to new releases, I'm really patient, since I'd rather read a paperback. I knew I was in for a wait. I don't know when it finally came out in paperback, but I just recently picked it up, and am reading it now.



I also just purchased Golden Legacy, which is a beautiful big book covering the history of Little Golden Books. It's gorgeous, filled with lovely artwork from Little Golden Books, and also shows some other art from the time period when the LGB series was first hatched. I may do a more in-depth post on this book once I start reading it.




What I'm listening to...
I've been in retro-land lately, revisiting old favorites The Sundays , The Clash and The Smiths. On a more contemporary note, I can't seem to get M.I.A.'s newest record out of heavy rotation, and I always seem to end up listening to part of her first record too, while I'm in the M's.


Back to that 'retro-land' note... This morning, I couldn't get the Violent Femme's first record out of my head (oh, so catchy!), so I went to purchase it on iTunes. My mission was aborted though because iTunes doesn't *have* the Violent Femme's first album (hmm... yet, I'm sure). I might just look through my CD's and - surprise! - actually find it hiding away in there...

What are you reading and listening to?

This weekend I went baby shower shopping with my friend Steph, (the glowing mom-to-be)! We are designing her baby shower so we visited our local Paper Source for some creative inspiration. I had been toying with the idea of a Tea Party theme on and off - - the idea had been brewing for weeks, but I was not sure. Thinking it might be too quaint an idea, I shelved it. So it was serendipitous when we came upon a tea display at the shop. We got to discussing tea, and it proved to be a natural theme for the party! Tea plays a big part in her lifestyle, and it helps that her husband is English, so it was a perfect fit!

It just so happens that lately I've been into this new tea I discovered at Whole Foods - Zhena's Gypsy Tea. The first one I tried was the Rooibos Lavender, and I was immediately hooked! It's somewhere between tea and aromatherapy. Lavender is one of my favorite herbs so I was eager to try it and very curious whether it would work as an herbal tea blend or not. It could have come off 'soapy' but it didn't - it was a great blend!! Aromatherapeutic, but totally drinkable and fabulous! I'm now on my second canister of Red Lavender. I've also tried the Fireside Chai (which has no caffeine, by the way) and the Gracious Green, and love them both. I look forward to trying other varieties! Another very impressive thing about the company that is just as fabulous as the tea itself is how morally upright this company is. You can read all about it on their web site (on this page and also on the Press Page PDFs, one with a more detailed interview). But, of course, the very first thing that drew me to the tea was the packaging. It's fantastic!! This is a company that produces A) Exceptional product B) Sees the value and importance of good design AND illustration (!! Yay) and C) practices not only fair-trade but supplies great benefits for workers and practices earth-friendly and ecologically safe ways of doing business. That's it - - Zhena SUPER-rocks!!!!! Try her tea and sip peacefully.

On our travels, we also hit Vintage Etc., a local shop (in Cambridge, MA, my 'hood) which specializes in clogs, eco-friendly, foot-friendly and people-friendly footwear, and loads and LOADS of socks and tights! The selection of socks and quality of the lines they carry is the best I know of, anywhere. My favorite socks are from a line called Ozone. They not only have the grooviest designs (which look cute peeking out of a pair of clog Mary Jane clogs under boot leg jeans) but the quality is there - - these socks actually last longer than any other sock I have ever purchased. These people know their socks. The fabric they use, the toe reinforcement - they don't look tough and mean at all - they look whimsical and silly, even - but make no mistake - they are built to last! I can't mention socks of any kind without mentioning the coolest socks of all - The Red Sox! YAY, RED SOX!!!!!!! But, in my book (and for my money), Ozone socks come a close second in coolness factor!!