Taschen

Do you guys know about Taschen, a German publisher of amazing coffee table-worthy books on art, design, and travel? The Strand has a special mezzanine devoted to Taschen books, and whenever I browse I always want to take them all home with me (it's probably a good thing I don't actually live here). They're mostly pretty affordable (except when they're not), and they're beautiful.

When we were in Brussels, we happened to pass a Taschen store, and CM and I were mesmerized by the variety of books. I'm dying to visit all the stores. Don't you love bookstores?

If I was planning a Taschen Christmas, here's what I would buy my loved ones:


For Mama Bossy:

Design for Obama
A collection of posters from the 2008 campaign.











For Papa Bossy:

Early Travel Photography
The photographs of Burton Holmes, who took incredible travel photos at the beginning of the last century.









For CameraMan:

Audrey Hepburn
CM's favorite.












For myself:

4 Cities
Pocket-sized guides to Paris, New York, London, and Berlin. Why don't I own this already?

Which ones would you put on your wish list?

First Anniversary Gift Guide

In the midst of our European adventures this summer, we celebrated our first wedding anniversary (all about the wedding here). We decided it might be fun to give each other gifts each year according to tradition, so this year's theme was Paper. Here's a mini gift guide of ideas for first anniversary gifts.


CM surprised me with this print I had been eyeing from our favorite little shop near Glyndebourne. Now it's hanging in our living room.

I had letterpressed notecards made for CM by the lovely people at Penelope's Press. He's already used some of them!

You can't go wrong with a photo album of your wedding, or your honeymoon, or your first year as boring married people. I love the albums at Pinhole Press—I made a wedding album for CM's birthday last year and we love paging through it.

That's not us. From here.

I love this print, and framed it would make a perfect gift for your partner in crime.

How about a giant blown up photo of your wedding day or a place that's meaningful to you both? I love what Jenny did, and it looks like a DIY project I could actually D.

Via Little Green Notebook

These paper cuts are amazing. What better way to commemorate your honeymoon in Paris, or your first date in Manhattan?

What kind of gifts do you give for anniversaries? Would you follow the yearly traditions? Or is it (just a little, in a good way) cheesy?

Of-the-month

It is practically impossible to choose presents for my mother. She doesn't wear things like scarves or jewelry. She's only mildly excited by bath products. Her cupboards are full to bursting with dishes and kitchen gadgets. For birthdays and Christmases, I tend to fall back on the standard books, CDs, and DVDs, with the occasional tickets to something thrown in.

Last Christmas I tried a variation. I gave her one book and told her it was the first monthly installment of a Book-of-the-Month Club. There's no formal club, of course—I've just been sending her a book I like once a month through Amazon. We tend to have a lot of the same tastes in books, and I love choosing what to send each month. Sometimes we talk about what we've read and sometimes we don't, but I like knowing that we have these shared books in common.

I'm enjoying my DIY Of-the-Month Club, but I'm intrigued by these other, more organized clubs as well—perfect for gifting (or treating yoself).

Birchbox: For $10 a month, you get a box of deluxe samples of beauty products every month. Perfect for the girly girls in your life.

Bacon of the Month: Yes…just…yes. Perfect for the bacon lovers in your life. So, everyone.

Mistobox: Delivers special artisan coffee samples every month. Seems like a good way to enable the caffeine addicts in your life.

Harry & David: The original Fruit-of-the-Month Clubs. I used to ask for this every year for Christmas, and every year my mother would remind me that I am never anywhere for 12 months straight to receive crates of fruit. (This is, oddly, the same argument CM gives for not letting me get a kitten.) So practical. Sigh.