The Last Straw – Unique Jewelry & Gifts

If your grandmas were like mine, they had jewelry boxes that looked like treasure chests with multiple drawers stuffed with costume jewels and a few real ones. If you were like me as a kid, whenever you got the chance, you dug into these drawers, festooning yourself with as many beads, pins, rings, bangles, and earrings as your body could support. (Or, until you got yelled at for playing with the good jewels.)

Flash forward to your adulthood. You can now purchase things you admire, but shopping isn’t half as fun as when you pilfered your grandma’s jewel boxes. You go to a place that’s white or beige. Select from some over-hyped, carefully packaged items. Stand in line, as everyone’s items are duly scanned by a computer. Exit through a white or beige doorway.  

If that kind of shopping experience annoys you, visit The Last Straw, in San Francisco’s Outer Sunset. Tucked inside a cozy, adorable cottage is a great shop full of interesting, beautiful jewelry and one-of-a-kind gifts. You get to search through well-organized jewelry boxes and drawers to peruse the well-edited collection of necklaces, earrings, and bangles. Just like my grandmas’ jewel boxes, but with much funkier, contemporary jewelry.  

Gift selections are beautifully displayed throughout the store, making you feel like you’re actually in the home of a great collector. (In a way, you are, as there seems to be a residence behind the cute cottage.) The glass and pottery, in particular, is always beautiful and interesting to look at.   

You can get a necklace at a chain store. You can buy a gift for your friend from another chain store. Or, you can visit a one-of-a-kind shop and select something lovely that has a story behind it, at a place that makes the experience of the search fun again.

Check out The Last Straw at 4540 Irving Street, past 46th Avenue. Open Tuesday – Sunday 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Days of Wine & Lavender

One of the best wineries around has one of the best summer celebrations. Matanzas Creek’s Days of Wine & Lavender. The annual event usually takes place in late June.

Though it’s always nice to visit Bennett Valley’s Matanzas Creek, when the lavender’s in full bloom it’s especially nice. The kind folks at the winery turn the lavender bloom and subsequent harvest into a big afternoon garden party with gourmet food, music and dancing, bocce to play and watch, lavender crafts to make and buy, along with other activities around the winery. (You should still be able to snap up Francois Cordesse’s awesome wines with festival discounts if you buy pre-2009 vintages.)

Of course, the main activity is wine tasting. On a sunny Sonoma day, when you’re sipping a glass of cool Sauvignon Blanc amidst the lavender blooms, you’ll feel just as happy as the tame bees buzzing around the purple plants. (The bees get a bit tipsy on the lavender, apparently, as will you on the fantastic wines.)

To purchase tickets and for more info on the winery, visit: http://www.matanzascreek.com/visit/events.html

Safety First Note: If you don’t have a friend who’s a designated driver, book a hotel in Santa Rosa and have a taxi take you to the event and pick you up. Or, hire a limo to and from with a crew of friends. It would be a shame if anything happened to you that precluded you from going to next year’s Days of Wine & Lavender.

fiona’s sweetshoppe

In case you haven’t noticed, candy for grown-ups is officially beyond trend. It is a fact of the grown-up landscape. 

Maybe it’s the punch of the face of the recession. Maybe it’s the mortgage you can’t pay for. Maybe it’s the realization that you may be sitting in a beige cube for the next 30 years (or longer, given what has happened to your 401K).

Whatever grim grown-up news you face, candy takes you away from that. Particularly a little nook like fiona’s sweetshoppe with old-fashioned, glass apothecary jars showcasing their sweet contents: chocolate-covered nuts, gummies, sour candies, licorice, and more delights from all over the world. The special focus is on candy from Britain, home of one of the world’s best candy bars, most notably the Cadbury Flake. (Findable at fiona’s.)

For some reason, the Brits are way ahead of us on mass market candy bars. Perhaps it’s their wise decision to provide flavorful chocolate instead of loading a bar with wax for shipping purposes. (This is readily apparent in all mainstream chocolate candies, but very very obvious if you have a malt ball taste-off between Whoppers & Malteasers. Malteasers win every time. Less or no wax taste. Also findable at fiona’s.)

If you happen to be downtown and in need of cheer, although I typically recommend visiting a bar to remedy your troubles, candy is a nice change of pace. (And, there’s no hangover!) Or, if you need to bring a hostess gift and want to forego the candle or soap you have tucked away in your closet, fiona’s is also a good stop, as every offering is beautifully wrapped.

 Swing by at 214 Sutter (right next to the entrance of Claude Lane), or check it all out online @ www.fionassweetshoppe.com

Della Santina’s & Enoteca – Sonoma

Della Santina’s is one of those Italian places where it is difficult to decide what to order because everything you see on the menu and coming out of the kitchen looks great. Fortunately, you won’t go wrong with anything on the menu here. Roast meats are fantastic. Pastas are fresh and sauced well. You really can’t go wrong with anything featuring mushrooms. If they have penne con funghi or anything con funghi, give it a try as they really seem to understand how to honor mushrooms.

The main room is a sweet white cottage-type area, making you feel as if you’re eating in an old school Sonoma family’s home. (And, in a way, you are!) The vine-covered patio, out back, is a beautiful place to have dinner when the season’s right.  The servers are always nice and knowledgeable.

The wine list offers an amazing variety, and Della Santina’s is run by one of the most knowledgeable wine guys in the county. (Which is saying something in a county of wine experts.)  I was introduced to Radio-Coteau here, which you should try if there are still a few bottles kicking around. On my last visit, there weren’t, but, we discovered the restaurant’s own private label, “R Cellars,” that had a fantastic, very nicely priced, pinot noir.

The commitment to wine knowledge is why Enoteca (also owned by Della Santina’s folks), next door to the restaurant, is worth stopping by before or after dinner. Many interesting wines are on offer there, for sipping on site or taking home with you. There’s even a wine club if you just can’t get enough. 

For more info & hours (they also do lunch), check out www.dellasantinas.com, or just swing by: 133 East Napa Street, Sonoma (right off the town square).

41 Buckingham Palace Road

 

There’s a dream of England that many of us have: wood-paneled libraries, a cozy fireplace, large comfy leather chairs, the most gracious service. You can find this at 41, a boutique hotel that’s located at the very prestigious 41 Buckingham Palace Road, just across from the Royal Mews.

The wood-paneled library/fireplace/leather chair area is 41’s  “Executive Lounge” where you take your delicious breakfast in the morning and your cocktails before supper or at the end of an evening. You will perhaps never feel as cosseted as when having a cocktail in front of the fireplace at 41.

The rooms are extremely spacious for central London, and very well laid out with all the right gadgets and amenities. (Business travel would be quite easy to handle when staying here.) The black and white color scheme is classic and contemporary, so you never feel like you’re trapped in one of those ghastly floral chintz nightmares that can often happen in elegant places in England. 

The 41’s beds are a dream, while the showers and deep tubs have amazing water pressure, perfect for rinsing off the city’s grime or getting a bath run quickly, so you can bring out your inner Churchill. (The former Prime Minister and maker of history made many critical decisions from the bath.)   

Aside from the wonderful location, the amazing lounge, and the nice rooms, it’s the people who work here who make the 41 truly exceptional. My husband and I were celebrating our 10-year wedding anniversary and the staff did so much to make it special. Even if you weren’t celebrating a special event, the staff will go out of their way to make your stay seamless, anticipating your every need. The concierge will provide you with directions to a restaurant where you’re meeting friends (without your asking); the reception staff will help reserve the fireplace nook so you can have a cocktail hour at the hotel with your friends; the staff can get anything booked for you in London and beyond. All while being some of the most pleasant (and interesting) people you could hope to meet.

The 41 is well worth the price for making your stay in London truly memorable.  They consistently win a slew of awards, and each is well-deserved.

For more info and reservations, see 41 online @ 
http://www.41hotel.com/