It was love at first sight when i spotted this Akiko Lamp from Habitat London on a business trip. Unfortunately the price tag was way too high for my pocket and given that I was across the pond it wasn’t suitable to lug a giant beautiful thing around. I’m still in love with it. Akiko, one day you shall be mine. 399 Euro. The store, Habitat, is sooo awesome. It’s like a little haven made for me. Too bad it doesn’t exist in the US.

 Last weekend a friend and I took the L train over to billyburg just for kicks. We found some neat stores I’ve been wanting to visit forever (well, may be more like ever since design*sponge posted the tour). Sodafine was a bit off the beaten path, but well worth the swing over. This cute little ring looks a lot better in real life. The detail of the embroidery was very neat. You can buy online here for $40.

While you’re there be sure to check out Sprout Home’s NY Store a few blocks down Grand street. The garden is just so lovely.

No, not Al Gore, but GoreDesign - a design studio based in Arizona that specializes in custom concrete and steel furniture/fixture. I have to post this because not only do I absolutely love *LOVE* the topographic sink (below), I also love this little shell picture (above) and the quote from their site:

“Come upon an emerging design, and against certain lights, an industrial high noon, the silhouette of invention stretches itself out, turns darker, heavier, it begins throwing off its own long shadows – smokestacks, carbon, the metallic haze of industry and plastic.

But then there’s the design that wandered off, the one that turns its face to the sun and makes itself translucent in the light, that takes on the shapes and colors of the world outside it, that remembers its foundations will rest on the earth.”

To GoreDesign and all the designers and consumers out there who give a damn about the environment, I salute you.

PS. I just got me a grocery shopping bag. From now on, no more plastic or paper. Just one bag that’ll let me do my little part.

What do you give a chocolate lover who has it all? More chocolate, of course. Richart Chocolates double as taste buds delight as they are delicate eye candy. Originated in the 1920s from the hills of Lyon, France, these little pretty squares are among the most exquisite chocolate coming out of France. Damage? $72 for the Noel Ballotin pictured here. At such a steep price, it is a gift worthy of true chocolate lovers only.

Don’t want to shell the dough? Opt for Hershey’s Smores Maker instead. At half the price you certainly won’t get all that fine exquisite taste of French chocolatier, but you certainly will have a bit more fun along the way.

Continuing on with the self-centric theme for the day, I *finally* visited DWR Annex in person today. Let me tell you first and formost - driving in NJ is and forever will be your worst nightmare. While I can rant on and on about NJ, let me focus on the brighter side. This weekend DWR Annex had a big sale on top of their normal used-stuff prices. I scored 2 slightly used LEM Piston Stools in beech - both for $614 (incl. taxes). Yay me. A little background story - I have been obsessed about these stools ever since I laid my eyes on them back in 2000. At over $600 a pop, it’s certainly not cheap — the primary reason I haven’t direct deposited my paycheck until today. For most people, even 2 for $614 sounds like robbery. For me, I’m fairly happy. Especially when I feel that little hydraulic spring doing its thing under the bum.

Now, for the more useful info.. what else is at the Annex? A lot of chairs — 1006 Navy Side Chair, Bertoa with pad, Polyside Chair, Kyoto, Coco, Baba chairs and stools of all permutations, Presto chairs and stools (mostly black and red), and a bunch of Indecasa TB among other things. There were also a good selection of sofas and desks. The rest were scattered and minimal.

My first blog addiction, admittedly, is design*sponge. Through her writing, Grace is not just totally adorable, but also impeccably talented (she is the google of good stuff). She now has an online store where limited exclusive items can be obtained. Yum.

I have a love-hate relationship with Anthropologie when it comes to home goods. My style doesn’t quite fit their target theme - romantic, antique, and patterny. Every now and then tho, I do come across little accents that make such lovely compliment to a modern streamlined home. These picks above are quite nice. Who’s the fairest mirror $148, Pheasant Pillow $68, Gatekeeper Key Holder $16.

Etsy is a marketplace where you can buy and sell all sorts of indie handmade goods. There are as many stores as there are stuff and sometime it can be discouragingly difficult to wade through mediocrity to find the good goods. They have made a few cool navigation tools like browse by color and browse by time machine, but at the end of the day it is still quite a bit of work. Here are some cool picks I’ve found: rope stool by Lwise ($275), wristlet in avocado stripes by bellaroo ($29), green chameleon stripy pocket mirror by cocakoala, itsy bitsy tiny cherry blossom felt magnet by kitkabbit, and blue on off-white cotton bird on cherry blossom pillow by joom.

Speaking of store opening, Unison Home just opened its online store this week. I’ve raved about their Tatami bedding before. Pretty much their entire collection is to-drool-for. And now you can finally buy them online!. Happy shopping.

It’s funny how much of an advertising victim I am sometimes. If you live in NYC area you probably have seen their awesome logo everywhere. UniQlo is a huge, huge, Japanese clothing retailer that’s about to open its global flagship store in soHo this fall (yay). I’m not only awed by their marketing campaign (which includes well-designed logos, posters, the works, as well as fun concept of container stores which will allow consumers to preview their products at various strategic spots before store opens), but I’m also excited to see how their store will look. I won’t rave about their products yet since I haven’t seen a single thing first hand, but count me in on their grand opening. It’ll be fun just to go check out the interior alone.

Edit: Just went to their online store (in Japanese). Looks like their style and strategy is similar to H&M - affordable and trendy but not uber unique. Their Mix series is probably most noteworthy.