I heart New York Magazine & their Shop-A-Matic

I love New York Magazine for soo many reasons- they are such a great resource of information for all things cool in NYC, they named us to their BEST OF NEW YORK list, and basically they just R-O-C-K. I not only subscribe to the magazine, but also to many of their newsletters/blogs they have- including (but not limited to) Best Bets, Grub Street, Vulture & Agenda and Shop-A-Matic. The Shop-A-Matic email comes out every Wednesday and “they do the window shopping so you don’t have to.” This weeks edition included some ideas for Mother’s Day and we were lucky enough to be included for a few of our favorite gift ideas- take a peak:

Gnome candles in tins (remember these??) $14.95- $32.95.

Herb Pot, shown in red (also available in White). Keeps cut herbs 30% longer. Can also be used for herbs/plants in little pots. $19.99.

Mini Sunflower Kit, with gardening gloves! Show your mom she is the Sunshine of your life, $28. THESE ARE GOING FAST, ONLY A FEW LEFT!!!

Vegetable Box- Full of 14 Books corresponding to each vegetable you see, containing over 250 recipes. A wonderful gift, $34.95.

p.s. This Just in–Another “You Go Girl” siting in Brooklyn- this one at Flatbush & 4th, sent in from a lovely customer Julie Dooher. Thanks for sharing Julie!

’nuff said

I was just packing up this poster for an online order and was reminded of the classic & poignant message this poster sends. It has been over 30 years since Lorraine Schneider created this poster (in reaction to the Vietnam War), but it is a message that will always ring true.  War is not Healthy Poster- $25.

Outliers is Outstanding

I just finished Malcom Gladwell’s most recent release, Outliers:  The Story of Success and it was every bit as compelling and interesting as I could have hoped. After I read his first book, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, several years ago I was so enamored with Malcolm Gladwell and all his amazing insights that I felt like for a full year and a half I thought of something every day that related to that book. Then Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking came along (his second book) and I was less than enthused, but Outliers brought it all back for me (makes me think I need to re-read Blink, maybe I was not “in the right place” when I read it the first time). EVERYONE should read this book- athletes, parents, school teachers, lawyers, Garmentos, Southerners, computer whiz’s, maybe people who are scared of flying should not read this book ( well- y’know, on second thought- even they should too, just maybe not while flying), seriously EVERYONE will learn something from this amazing book.  Here is a little write up from the Publishers site (Little Brown/ Hachette):

In this stunning new book, Malcolm Gladwell takes us on an intellectual journey through the world of “outliers”–the best and the brightest, the most famous and the most successful. He asks the question: what makes high-achievers different? His answer is that we pay too much attention to what successful people are like, and too little attention to where they are from: that is, their culture, their family, their generation, and the idiosyncratic experiences of their upbringing. Along the way he explains the secrets of software billionaires, what it takes to be a great soccer player, why Asians are good at math, and what made the Beatles the greatest rock band.

Brilliant and entertaining, OUTLIERS is a landmark work that will simultaneously delight and illuminate.

Read this and let me know what you think.  Thanks Catrine for getting me this book for Christmas! You might recognize Catrine’s name from this blog or from the shop (she was “Employee of the month” last year for her outstanding volunteer help for our First Anniversary Weekend last October), or more recently for being the winner of the Haiku contest!! Her real name is Catherine Grieve, but we nicknamed her Catrine. FULL DISCLOSURE: she is also one of my best friends, was Maid of Honor at my wedding and is also my Lawyer. We are Malcolm Gladwell devotees and have seen him speak several times, including once together at the Omega Institute several years ago in NYC when he was the Keynote Speaker. Thanks again Catrine–Excellent read!  xoxox

Me! Bath– need some R&R

I have been working a lot lately and feeling kind of worn down, so I decided to enjoy some down time today and take a nice long hot bath. I got some of our Me! Bath Ice Cream scoops to relax in the tub with and I can’t wait to unwind. A gift box above comes with 12 scoops in different yummy flavors like Pomegranate and Papaya  that contain a unique six oil blend with purifying minerals, salts, and indulgent fragrances to make this the perfect gift for anyone- Including ME! $29.95. (This would be a lovely Mother’s Day Gift too!!)

Something to celebrate- WPPD

Did you know today is World Pinhole Photography Day?!?! A pinhole camera is a very simple camera with no lens and a single very small aperture (hole through which light travels). It can be a light proof box (or can, etc.) with a hole on one side. World Pinhole Photograph Day (WPPD) helps celebrate this art form and helps us take a step back from technology for a moment and appreciate the Pinhole Camera. With Pinhole Cameras you can really experiment with exposure times and light and learn the true art of  photography. It is celebrated the last Sunday in April each year, but you can celebrate the Pinhole camera every day with our Hole on Ex camera (above), it uses 35mm film and can be used again and again, $20.

FYI- I read about WPPD on Photojojo.com- a cool site for photography buffs. Turns out we sell a lot of the same stuff too

On a Sugar High…

Everyone’s happy today in NYC. The weather is beautiful (finally!) and if that were not enough, we just got in a major shipment of our awesome nostalgic candy. Including, but not limited to Pop Rocks (mixed box of 1/2 Watermelon, 1/2 Strawberry)- $1.25,

Fruit Stripe Gum $1.95,

Gold Mine Nugget Bubble Gum $1.75,

Candy Dots $1.50 or $3.00 for Giant bag,

Giant Smarties- $.75,

Clarks Teaberrry Gum $1.75,

Love them or Loathe them- C.Howards Mints, $1.50. Come by for your Sugar Fix!

And the Famous/Infamous- Box of Boogers- $2.50.

I’m Beaming Bright Yellow

This JUST in- the NEW 2009/20010 Zagat’s NYC Shopping Guide is out and we got top ratings!! Thank you for ALL who voted!! This is our first year with rankings, and these are super high, which is great because it’s kind of like your college GPA– it’s hard to rebound after a bad Freshman year. I had to photo shop in “Annie’s” since we are still listed as good ole BRGS, but you get the gist. Meanwhile, wondering what the Z next to our name is? It is a special rating for those with “highest ratings, popularity and importance.” WAHHHHHHHHOOOOOOO!!!!!

Wedding Bells at the shop

We set up a pretty wedding table last week- complete with some clever, thoughtful and fun wedding/shower & bachelorrette ideas. I actually got married last year and stupidly never once thought, “oh wait– I need to get some cool stuff for the shop too!,” so after many requests here are some of highlights from our Wedding table-

“Here comes the Bride” paper dolls. Perfect for the Bride, Bridesmaids, Flower Girls (keep the little ones busy during the big day!)- $18.95.

Beautiful “Bride” Pajama top- perfect for the Bride to get ready in on her wedding day (even an easy to button front closure for getting her hair done)- and for the honeymoon too!! Something she will have forever and always, to remind her of her special day. $60.

Love these Boxers for the Groom! I was looking for something like this to give to Rob last year when we got married- “Groom” is embroidered on the front and “Taken” is on the back- $30, Medium and Large.

Wedding Cookie Cutters- perfect for a Shower, or Engagement party– or for getting ready on wedding day. $12.

Don’ts for Husbands, Don’ts For Wives- Hilarious and full of wisdom from 1913. $4.95 each.

For the cynic- Worst Case Scenario Weddings- $14.95.

And for Bachelorette Parties & Wedding Showers— fun things without getting cheasy (hard to do!)-

Everyone loves Mad Libs– can’t go wrong for $3.99.

Prince Charming Bottle Openers- Fun and functional, and a lovely present $16.

Wedding Shower and Bachelorette Table Topics to Go- $9.00

Ring Pops- everyone needs some of these!!! $1.25.

Dear Cabbie Napkins– $3 for 12 pcs.

What do you Gnome? It’s Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day Everyone!! I originally started today’s post just talking about the cute (and wonderfully smelling) Gnome candles we have at the shop (see below)– and thought they would be perfect for today since they are literally all shades of Green. And then I was walking to the shop down lovely State Street and spotted this little guy in someone’s garden and started to do some research on Gnomes. Did you know the term Gnome actually means Earth dweller? They are considered Earth Spirits and represent the Earth element- perfect little creatures to represent Earth Day. So it turns out I am more clever than I thought- ha!

If you want a little slice of Heavenly Gnome-ness for your home- check out our wonderful French Gnome candles. I am Bananas for them!

Those are the little Guys, but here are their bigger friends-

And here is the Big Daddy–

but these tins below are the ones that smell SOOOOOO GOOOOOD and got me hooked! Prices- $14.95- $60 for the Big Guy above.

Drum Roll…. WE HAVE A WINNER!!!

We are super excited to announce the winner of our NPR/ Annie’s Blue Ribbon General Store Haiku contest- Catherine Grieve of Miami (shown above at a visit to the store last year). She will be getting the very cool laminated NPR map from the 50,000th printing. Here is her winning entry:

So many to please

But only time for one stop

Annie’s is the shop

we also have an honorable mention from Jennifer Quezada (also from Miami- apparently Miami is where it’s at!)

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Thank you for all your entries and CONGRATULATIONS AGAIN to Catherine!!!