Charles & Marie

We love these clever little silicone travel bottles. Shaped like little light bulbs, they feature a wide mouth neck for easy filling, o-ring seal to prevent leaks, inverted stand design to use every last drop and simple rotating icon system to help you remember what’s inside. And of course they’re carry-on approved.

Just because you have to take some prescription (or vitamin) pills every day, there’s no reason to carry around one of those plastic day pill organizer cases which just scream “GERIATRIC!” Use these colorful and amusing pill shaped aluminum containers instead.
Only 4″ x 1.52 x 1.5″, they handily fit in your purse though what they mean when they say “Only available in assorted pharmaceutical color combinations” is your guess. $10 each at www.flight001.com.

Danish design company VIPP and supermodel Helena Christensen recently announced the VIPP Charity Auction, a benefit for Food Bank For New York City and Chernobyl Children’s Project International. Leaders from the worlds of fashion, design, art and entertainment put a fashionable spin on the classic Vipp pedal bin. Customized creations from notables such as Bono, Michael Stipe and Mario Batali will be sold in a silent auction benefiting the two charities.

Swedish fashion designer Filippa K launches new coffe mugs each season, Her new model is called Splash. A mug where the porcelain is given a textile feeling with organic shapes that are both classic and graphic. Catching up with the latest pattern trends in fashion. Sold in a set of two. Produced in collaboration with Rörstrand.

The Gardener in Berkeley peddles an uncommon assortment of gardenwares, like Japanese scissors for cutting stubborn roses and terracotta exports from Tuscany. Owner Alta Tingle also stocks items to make the most of homegrown fruits, veggies and flowers. Ceramic and wooden salad bowls let you share Mother Nature’s bounty with friends, unique watering cans make the mundane more fun, and a plethora of cookbooks provide new twists on some of your favorite recipes. Tingle, a former garden designer and lecturer on landscape design, opened her Berkeley location 24 years ago, followed by shops in Healdsburg, and San Francisco’s Ferry Building. Marie often stops in when she’s in the mood for pruning, planting and sowing, and she can’t help but snap up a few deliciously-scented soaps as well.