New Discovery

On my latest trip to Chicago, I stumbled into Barneys and made a great discovery. Claudio Riaz, one of the makeup artists, had recently launched his own line of brushes. While all the brushes were lovely, my favorite was the patented "Instant Smoke" brush. The inverted crescent moon shape does just what it's name suggests; it provides the perfect soft smoky eye. Simply line your eye and then rock the brush back and forth starting at the outer corner. Viola, the easiest smoky eye ever!

Currently the brush line is only available at Barneys in Chicago and New York.

Pick Your Nose this Holiday Season

Let's be honest. The holidays are fast approaching and with them comes a complete loss of time. Between holiday shopping, cookie baking, present wrapping and party planning, you barely have time to sit and think, much less clean. Instead of busting out the crystal this holiday season and commiting yourself to hours of dishwashing, why not use the Pick Your Nose Paper cup? Found on http://store.heliotropehome.com/piyonocu.html, these cups are a welcome break from the token red plastic cups of your college years and also a great cheap laugh. Not to mention, at $8.00 for 24 noses, it's the cheapest nose job you'll ever have.

The Hunt for the Perfect Wine Glasses

Chardonnay, Burgundy, Bordeaux; wine glasses have expanded past the basic red or white variety. If they make wine, someone’s going to make a glass for it. And while I’m all about drinking a French Burgundy out of a Riedel Burgundy glass, sometimes aesthetics win out. I’ve been obsessed with the beautiful wine glasses featured on the cover of the Food and Wine October 2006 issue, and insofar have been unable to locate them. I’ve searched the internet far and wide for a wine glass that has a delicate stem that meets a flat bottom and proceeds to curve in instead of straight up. While not quite as delicate, the search did lead me to the iittala Essence Red Wine glasses. Available at http://www.finnstyle.com/essenceredwine.html, these elegant glasses are dishwasher safe and a little different from what you’d find in most cupboards. I also ran across the Rosenthal TAC 02 11-1/4-Inch Bordeaux Wine Glasses, available on amazon.com. I’ve noticed these glasses popping up at a variety of restaurants lately. Perhaps the most affordable and substantial glasses I came across were the Lira wine glasses at www.cb2.com. At $3.50-3.95 per glass, I could afford to use these while still on the trek for the perfect Food and Wine glasses.

Shine Eternally

I've never been one to like knick-knacks, so imagine my surprise and delight at discovering these quotable matchboxes. Call it my love of all things literary, but I can’t help thinking what fun additions to holiday hostess gifts these would make. They’re elegant, yet cheeky and at $11.95 for a pack of four, they're completely necessary.

Available at http://www.fridgedoor.com/quma.html