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Rejuvenating Vacay in Your Jammies

This time of year, when we’re inundated with all the stuff we have to buy, all the guilt that we really should be adding that person to our list, it’s nice to enjoy a little joy for ourselves.  Kind of like cocooning yourself away in your own private happy place.  Even if it is for a short while.

I’m offering you a mini looky-loo trip, right there from your chair–in your jammies–if you so choose.  This is just for the beauty of it.  The inspiration of it.  This is so that you get your own creative juices flowing once again.

It’s not for lusting or coveting or being unthankful for what you already have.  It’s simply enjoying the beauty that’s out there.  We can do that, right?

Have your coffee or tea in hand?

Here we go.  [I’ve divided them into categories, so you can skip the ones you’re not interested in.]

Food (cooking, presentation, eating):

First stop.  A smart culinary blog for the foodie and environmentalist in you.  Isabel’s Bread and Courage.

Onto Tricia’s Eating is Art.  What fun!  Those Chocolate Oat Truffles are calling my name.  Do you hear them, too?

Visit The Jewels of New York, Diana Yen and Lisel Arroyo’s exquisite site, highlighting the hidden treasures of New York in seasonal recipes and party ideas.

And this site–Foodzie–sells food directly from cooks and local farms, making it a lot like a 24-hour Trader Joe’s.  Sad sigh.  Still waiting for a Trader Joe’s in our town.  [Kick to my shin.  Yes, I know coveting is not allowed.]

Design:

I always love browsing the MoMA store.  So many fun things to exclaim over.  How about the New York City in a Bag or Jasper John’s “Map” or the Colored Pencils Set.  Aren’t they just scrumptious to look at?

Along the same lines is the Walker Art Center Shop.  We go here frequently…and take our time loitering in the shop.  Seriously.  There’s so much to look at.  My mind revs a thousand miles a minute.  I could stare at their mobile collection all day long.

Branch Home markets themselves as “sustainable design for living.”  It’s an unusual site, full of artistic textures and colors.  How about those Bamboo Pebbles?  Can’t you just feel them slide between your fingers?

Art:

Stubby Pencil Studio makes me salivate (again, no coveting here; just simple adoration)–all those delicious art supplies in ONE PLACE.

This entry could have gone under “Food,” but it’s also art, so I chose to put it here.  These are the cutest Bento Boxes around.  [Update on 1.4.11: This link is dead, since Cookie Magazine is no longer in existence.  Sorry about that.]

Look at Curiosity Shoppe–“crafts, kits, and curios for the creatively inclined.”   The library, oh, the library!  And the Craft Room!  Excuse me a moment.  I’m going to be here for a while.  Go get yourself another cup of joe and get back to work!

Loved doing this with you.  Let’s repeat it soon.

Don’t forget to enter the Gratitude Journal Giveaway here!  Tomorrow is your last opportunity!

[Post image: Graham’s Christmas Tree by soultga on stock.xchng]

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