The Mira calligraphiae monumenta, illuminated by Joris Hoefnagel, is an amazing example of a master guide to calligraphy. The text is beautifully inscribed and illuminated with flora and fauna like the sloth, shown above. The small scale reproduction is available from The Bookstore at the Getty.

Sumana sent over a link to Imaginary Friends’ beautiful new animal-themed Rare Beauty card series. I love the knysna seahorse and the panamanian golden frog. Each card is hand-silkscreened.

Coffee is a semi-essential now. We only drink good coffee on the weekends, when we have the time to make it right. Beans from down the street Porto Rico on St. Marks. And we still love Gimme! (ithaca!). The Bodum Chambord Press is our favorite coffee maker thing. The Sigg Metro Mug makes it good to go.

Beautiful textiles from Inleaf. The Geranium Cocktail Napkins are $40 and come in five different color combinations. The Fig Towel is $26.

I hate cooking with garlic (not that I cook much) because of how the smell gets all over your hands. Ineke Hans’ Garlic Crusher will easily crush your garlic and will keep your hands smelling nice – the 18/0 stainless steel removes the smell from your hands. $20.

I love the Satellite Bowl by Carlo Contin. It makes a beautiful fruit bowl, and being that I live in a tiny New York City apartment, I love that you can twist it to flatten it if you need to save space. $45 from the MOMA store.

The I DIG Dinosaurs Excavation Kit is exactly what it sounds like. You get to excavate a full T-Rex (among others) fossil from the rock and reassemble it. Every kid loves dinosaurs, digging around in stuff, and model building. This toy combines every little boy’s favorite activities. Available from Amazon.com for $17.49 ea.

I love these modified rubber duckies. Luxury Ducks by Bud. I have no babies to buy this for, but I think I want one for myself. $8.99 from Elsewares.

The Bling glass ring from Phuze. The Bling ring is handmade from crystal, so each one is one of a kind. $95.

A friend in college always wore ring watches (hi alisa!). I like this ring watch from MOCA. Not too bad at $22, either.