Timely nuggets of information and ideas we want to share with you. I was just saying the other day how I much I missed the Zagat’s restaurant guidebooks.  I used to get a new one every year for New York and I trusted their reviews implicitly.  I then heard about a website called The Infatuation, a global online restaurant guide.  For full disclosure, Zagat’s went online-only and in 2011 was acquired by Google.  In 2018 Zagat was sold by Google to The Infatuation.  The Infatuation was acquired by JP Morgan Chase in 2021. Here is the mission of The infatuation: “Our miss ..read more

Sometimes rugs look better on the wall than on the floor. Rugs and runners are becoming works of art in their own right. I love color, and a decorator once told me that when decorating any room, start with the rug first and go from there.  There are many appealing rugs, and a new trend is to hang them as art instead of walking on them. This Ruggable is the Iris Apfel Jingle Jungle rug.  It’s washable and could make a gorgeous wall hanging.  It comes in eight sizes, starting with a 2’ x 3’ for $129.00.   This is a vintage Boucherouite rag rug.  It is 51” x 81.5”.  ..read more

Timely nuggets of information and ideas we want to share with you. If your thoughts are leaning towards summer, consider this Juliska Isabella Acrylic Goblet.  It is 6.5” H x 3.25” W and holds 12 oz.  It is BPA free and break resistant.  Hand washing is recommended. $20.00 each. Juliska also has a matching acrylic tumbler.  It is 3.5” D x 4” tall and holds 8 fluid oz.  It is dishwasher safe on the top shelf only and on low temperature. $14.00 each.   This blog describes itself as “a bake-off blog”.  Erika Kwee loves to bake, and she is on a quest to find th ..read more

I’ll just put down my drink…. One can never have too many coasters.  They have the important job of  protecting the surfaces that drinks are put on, and they come in a wide variety of shapes, colors and materials.  They make great hostess gifts and stocking stuffers. These copper-colored coasters are made from recycled acrylic.  They are 4” in diameter and come with a vertical storage case.  A set of four is $75.00.   These coasters are crafted by a 65-year-old Scandinavian company. They are printed paper and laminated Scandinavian birch.  They are food and d ..read more

Timely nuggets of information and ideas we want to share with you. www.poweroutage.us is a near real time map of power outages in the U.S. They work with distribution utilities to record how many electric customers are without power. Click on a state to focus on that state’s outages with color coding based on the number of outages.  Above is a map of New York State with only one area experiencing power losses, and yellow indicating 10k+.  The information was only 7 minutes old.   Gallup, the Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre, and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network h ..read more

A biology lesson about eggplants. Eggplant (also known as aubergine) is enjoyed by carnivores and vegetarians all over the world.  It is adaptable and there is no shortage of ways it can be prepared. It will absorb the flavor of whatever it is cooked with.  While it is traditionally used as a vegetable it is technically a berry by botanical classification.  It is related to the tomato, so it is also a member of the nightshade family. In my research for this article, I found eggplants referred to as vegetables more often than as fruits which is what they are. These can be your ve ..read more

Timely nuggets of information and ideas we want to share with you. Spring is coming and I am thinking of flowery tablescapes.  ASE subscriber Susan G. gives these Carole Shiber hand painted napkin rings and napkins as hostess gifts. Insert a rolled napkin into the ring and you have flowers – on your buffet – or put one flower and leafy napkin ring in a glass at each place. They will make you smile. The napkin rings are $8 each and can also be used as coasters. They are made of flexible vinyl and can be sponged dry. Carole also has fun flower and leaf placemats, tablecloths and colorful na ..read more

Change up your tabletop look. I love my portable, cordless, rechargeable table lamps.  I recently came across lampshades in different colors and patterns that can be used on most of these lamps if you want to change their look a bit.  I did a deep dive into the internet and only found one company that is making these alternate shades.  The company is Zafferano America, and the name of the lamps are Poldina.  Most of these shades are 4.5” x 4.5” and most of these sites also sell the Poldino or similar table lamps. This is what the Poldina table lamp looks like- They dominat ..read more

Timely nuggets of information and ideas we want to share with you. These Duck Toast Tongs are so whimsical!  They are plastic, dishwasher safe, with a heat resistant beak.  They also come in black, blue, and green.  $15.98   Is your TV taste on trend?  If you are curious about the popularity of your favorite Netflix shows,  you might want to browse Netflix’s first-time release of its audience consumption numbers for 99% of every TV show and movie in the Netflix library. It covers the 6-month period of 1/1/23 – 6/30/23.  Netflix will update the list every six ..read more

Sharon Lorenzo at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Two curators at the Metropolitan Museum joined forces to present an exhibition of weaving traditions of both ancient and modern works.  Visitors can reflect on how the materials and meanings of some ancestral Peruvian weavings were absorbed and reworked by four modern female artists.  Iria Candela, the Curator of Latin American Art and Joanne Pillsbury, the Curator of the Arts of the Ancient Americas borrowed work from Anni Albers, Sheila Hicks, Lenore Tawney, and Olga de Amaral and placed them amidst the Andean objects from the Metro ..read more