Happy New Year!

Sorry for the long period of time without a post -- we were having issues uploading entries to our website. We wanted to wish everyone a Happy Holidays and share a few pictures of our tree/tree room set-up.

The chairs were an awesome ebay find (original Niels Moller) and I love how sculptural they are. The blue table we bought from a great thrift shop in Santa Barbara called the Opportunity Shop. How can you go wrong with blue Formica!

Also, You can check out how to make Alissa's super cool tape-less, staple-less and glue-less paper garland here.

-RYAN-

P.S. The cheese domes flew out of here and we only have one large dome left. We are not sure when or if we can get them back in stock so make sure to grab the last dome if you want it. And we just got two Long and Round Wood spoons from Kirsten Hecktermann back in stock. We only have two until we can place a bigger order, so make sure to get those soon as well!

Radio City Christmas Spectacular!!!

This past weekend was awesome! We took the train up to New York to spend time with family and did all sorts of Christmassy things.

Saw the tree- check
Went ice skating at Rockefeller Center- nope I am a clumsy fool and the line was way too long
Took Ryan to see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular for the first time- you betacha
Ate roasted chestnuts from the street vendors- nah I'm not a fan and Ryan would die

We also went to the Cafe Sabarsky with my sister. It is this amazing cafe in the Neue Galerie (a Museum for German and Austrian art). It has been totally outfitted to resemble a cafe at the turn of the century in Vienna. I would recommend the gallery and restaurant to anyone (for meat eaters: try the wiener schnitzel with potato salad and for vegetarians: try the spatzle with cream, wild mushrooms, peas, sweet corn and tarragon).

This Christmas card is from the bookstore at the Neue Gallery. Ryan and I feel in love with the graphic design. If I could have any talent in the world it would be to be able to design/draw anything I could image. That would be awesome!

As a last note, I wanted to share a Christmas card I received from my father. Isn't it cool? This house has been in my family for over 100 years (which is old for Texas). Every year my dad sends out a funny Christmas card of him doing strange things dressed up in Christmas garb. But this one is really nice. Maybe a little too subdued for him. I'm scared to see what he'll come up with next year.

P.S. I scanned these on our old fax machine and it took me about 30 minutes for each one. Santa if you are reading this I would love a flatbed scanner for Christmas!!!

-Alissa-

Back from NY!

We are back from NY and my sister just sent us this photo of our niece, Rylan. It was taken when we were out cutting down her first Christmas tree. I like to pretend she was named after yours truly, but I think my sister only tells me that to make me happy. We have been fortunate enough to see her grow up from when she was first born, and it's true what they say -- they really do grow up so quickly.

The new Cannes rugs have arrived. As a reminder, we have two sizes in stock (6' x 4' and also 6' x 8') but we can order any size you might need. Additionally, the white is our favorite but if you would prefer brown or even black, we can arrange for that as well.

Last year we were in Italy around the Holidays and went to an exhibit of the most amazing nativity scenes (presipios) from all over the world. The exhibit was taking place in an ancient amphitheater. It was so great to see how each culture created their own unique vision of the story. Some of them even had fireplaces with real smoke, moving parts, rising and setting suns, roosters that crowed, etc. It was spectacular so we were very happy when Alissa's father sent us our very own nativity set (unfortunately no moving parts and not the one shown above)

Oh, and Alissa is still working on these great paper links for the tree and then hopefully you can all catch a glimpse of our first east coast Christmas tree together.

-Ryan-

A couple of our products were recently featured on the French blog Les Carnets Du Design and what a wonderful blog it is! Her image recaps and gift guides have such a soft and cozy palette. I want to climb in and take a nap.

We just added the little brother to the Rosewood 10" Bowl known as the Rosewood 8" Bowl (original names, we know). They are really stunning pieces elevated to a sculptural level.

We are heading to NYC for the weekend to be with Alissa's family so check back early next week for a sneak peek at our fully trimmed Christmas Tree! Oh, and don't forget to take advantage of the last couple of days of free ground shipping on orders over $100.

Happy Weekend!

-Alissa&Ryan-

They're Here -- Cheese Domes!

They are finally here! Thank you everyone for your patience as we got them listed. Both of the domes qualify for our current Free Shipping Promotion valid until Dec. 20th. So get all of that last minute Holiday shopping in soon!

-Ryan&Alissa-

Cheese Domes Delayed :-(

We have had a lot of inquiries about the arrival of the Cheese Domes and unfortunately they have been delayed until Monday. It has been rainy here in Philadelphia and the light has been atrocious (Alissa will only take photographs with natural light) so we have no photos of the pieces yet. We are really sorry for the delay.

On a brighter note, are you all familiar with The Selby? Whoa, amazing! Totally satisfies my inner voyeur. Plus, these homes are fantastic.

Happy Weekend!

-Ryan-

P.S. Don't forget FREE DOMESTIC SHIPPING via FedEx Ground for all orders over $100 until Dec. 20th!

New Products

The cheese domes and toy cameras have been delayed a few days (fear not they are coming soon) so we decided to add two new products to the store today! We have had great success with the Acquatinta Suspension Lamp in Clear so we are now also offering the Acquatinta Suspension Lamp in Silver. Both of these lamps are mouth-blown in Murano and were created from a sketch by famous architect Michele De Lucchi.

We also added the MAGNO Wooden Radio medium to go along with the MAGNO Wooden Radio small. We have been waiting months for them to arrive (they are each handmade in Indonesia) so even though we have limited quantities, we are still very excited. If you are interested, make sure to check them out soon!

And finally a word about the Jielde lamps. Both Alissa and I are easily mesmerized by television so a couple of years ago we had to cut ourselves off after we spent one entire night watching re-runs of Saved by the Bell (sad, I know). Now, however, all of the networks seem to have readily available episodes on the internet so we do allow ourselves the guilty pleasure of a couple of shows a week - Heroes, Bones and Alissa watches Gossip Girl (OK, fine, I watch it too). Last night we were catching up on Heroes when we saw a Jielde lamp featured in Mrs. Petrelli's office. So great!

ShopHORNE on Design*Sponge!

We were very honored and happy to be featured by Grace Bonney on her fabulous design blog, Design*Sponge! THANK YOU GRACE:-) When we first planned to open the online boutique we knew it was going to be fun, but we had no idea it would be this fun! Thank you to everyone for making our jobs so great.

Check back later this week for an update to the boutique including cheese domes, wooden toy camera and amazing new rosewood bowls!

-Alissa&Ryan-

Priscilla Ahn

Have you all heard this amazing, talented lady sing?? I kind of want to steal her abilities, Sylar style.

-Ryan-

New Product: Cowhide Rugs Sneak Peek

Alissa, being from Texas, has a soft spot for cowhide rugs. We have one in our kitchen/dining room beneath our blue Formica-topped table and love how it makes the room cozier. They work well in any style space and they add so much texture and warmth. We have even found that they look great when layered on top of an antique Oriental rug.

The only problem with a cowhide is that sometimes you need the rug to be a specific size and not such an 'odd' shape. Recently we formed a partnership with Yerra Rugs from Buenos Aires and we will soon be offering the perfect solution. Yerra's cowhide rugs are made from the finest hides and are produced locally in Argentina. We will have two sizes of the white rug shown above in stock (6' x 4' and 6' x 8') and additional sizes can be ordered as a custom order. The squares can be 4"x4" (as shown), 8"x8" or 12"x12" and the hide can be white or brown. The lead time for a custom rug is 4-5 weeks. If you are interested and cannot wait, contact us at info@shophorne.com for details.

-Ryan-

New Products: Sneak Peek

We are very excited to be adding 3 products to our boutique from the collective known as Landscape Products. The cheese domes (shown above) are made of mouth blown glass and a hand finished walnut base. They have many purposes, the most obvious of which is to properly store your favorite manchego. It comes in two sizes and would make a very unique present for your favorite turophile.

We will also be adding this toy camera that Alissa fell in love with the second she saw it. It makes the perfect stocking stuffer for your tot or, as in Alissa's case, your not-so-tot.

Check back next week for the official update to the boutique!

-Ryan-

Stocking Stuffers

Ryan is a holiday fanatic. He has a proper procedure for everything holiday related. We have to personally cut down our own Christmas tree (I'm talking boots, gloves and a saw) no later than 14 days after Thanksgiving and promptly decorate it upon our return. All other decorations must be in place by the weekend following Thanksgiving including the set of nutcrackers and "smokers" that he collected when he was a boy. We have to bake at least 5 different varieties of holiday cookies, not including the mandatory Christmas tree bread his mother used to bake for him when he was young. He must have pine cones and garland and lights strung all over the house and even though we have no chimney he is working on a strategy for the necessary stockings.

I find him endlessly cute so instead of fighting his overly specific holiday endeavors, I decided to embrace them. When he was young, his favorite part of Christmas morning was opening the presents in his stocking because "that's always where they hide the small, but good stuff." That is why I took it upon myself to create a Stocking Stuffer section in our boutique where you will find wonderful options for "small, but good" presents to stuff in the stocking of your loved ones.

-Alissa-

Happy Thanksgiving!

We are celebrating Thanksgiving with the family in Kenebunkport, ME. Our yearly tradition consists of an indoor picnic in front of the fire while we watch the National Dog Show (GO POINTER!).

We hope everyone is cozy with their family and friends. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

-Ryan & Alissa-

New Stock, Low Stock

We finally received the Spice Boy Spice Grinders and Nio Tea Sets from Oliver Hemming and they are listed in the boutique. The grinders come in a beautiful gift box and would make a wonderful present for the holidays. The tea sets are gorgeous and I really wanted to keep one for myself but Alissa wouldn't let me -- hopefully they will all find great homes!

We are also, unfortunately, very quickly running out of stock of many of our Third Drawer Down tea towels. As each design is created in a limited edition, several of them we will be unable to re-order. If you had your eye on one of the tea towels you better scoop it up soon!

-Ryan-

Food and Jewelry

Last Friday, we jumped in our car and headed to New York City for a relaxing weekend of food and shopping. We got off to a rocky start as it was rainy and we sat in bridge traffic for nearly 2 hours but immediately headed to the west village where we had a perfectly rejuvenating meal at August. The front room of this small restaurant, which is under the culinary guidance of the talented Chef Terrence Gallivan, is cozy and intimate and felt very inviting. The back room (where we were seated) is situated in what used to be an old greenhouse. Vines snake around the upper parts of the room and we were told that the ceiling windows were opened during the summer. It was absolutely beautiful and we can only imagine how lovely it would have been during the Spring.

The service was friendly and timely and the food was excellent. We highly recommend it for an intimate evening for two or four (we probably wouldn't go with a group larger than four, though, as the rooms are a little small).

We also had the chance to visit the Ted Muehling store (we are having our wedding bands made by him) and were blown away by what this man can create. For those of you not familiar with his work, Mr. Muehling seems to have his talented hand in a little bit of everything. He makes spectacular jewelry, beautiful ceramics (with Nymphenburg), quirky glass work (with Lobmeyr) and stunning candlesticks (with ER Butler). All of his pieces seem so effortless but you just know that a lot of thought, dedication and hard work went into each creation.

He personally oversees the production of each piece of jewelry so, as I'm sure you can imagine, availability is always limited but you can find his jewelry at stores like Bergdorf Goodman and Egan Day right here in Philadelphia. For those of you who are interested, author Susan Yelavich and photographer Don Freeman collaborated to create a spectacular book showcasing Muehling's body of work for the first time.

-Alissa & Ryan-

New Products: Sneak Peek

We will be offering new products every couple of weeks and whenever possible I will try to post a sneak peek of the items we will soon be receiving. If everything goes smoothly with customs, we will be listing this wonderful spice grinder from Oliver Hemming starting the middle of next week. They are available in four colors and would make a perfect holiday gift for your favorite cook. They can be used as a traditional grinder for pepper or salt but around the holidays we envision ground cloves and allspice (yumm).

From the same designer is also coming a sleek stainless steel tea set (teapot, creamer, sugar caddy and sugar spoon). We couldn't resist the clean lines and would love to use this set with our Gold Thirsty Teacups!

Have a great weekend!

-Ryan-

Wedding Inspiration Boards

In April of 2009 Alissa and I are getting married in beautiful California. At first I argued against hiring a wedding planner but was convinced when I realized how incredibly difficult it is to coordinate a group of vendors from 2500 miles away. After choosing a planner, Alissa was given the task of creating inspiration boards (she is much better with visuals than I am). I was absolutely blown away with how beautiful her boards turned out and I wanted to share them with everyone. We are having a very small wedding (45 people) and I think Alissa did a spectacular job of portraying the intimate bohemian vibe that we are going for.

This then got me thinking about wedding gifts. We are planning to offer a gift registry at the boutique in the future but we do have some wonderful items that I think would make a very unique and special wedding present. Check out these teacups by Karin Eriksson and this Mad Hatter Set by Jorine Oosterhoff.

Ryan

P.S. Check out the artist who created the 3 ladies shown on the board above here.

Thank You!!

Both Ryan and I wanted to say a special thank you to everyone who emailed us with words of encouragement and congratulations. Here is the email and picture my father sent us on the day of our launch.

'Just saw your new site! Absolutely marvelous!
I'm sure to find something for Charles.
Toddle too!
--Camilla'

-Alissa-

Ready, set, go!

We are very pleased (and very, very excited) to announce the official opening of our online boutique, HORNE. We have filled our store with items from around the world that we hope bring you as much joy and happiness as they do us. Each piece has a wonderful story to tell, so go ahead, invite them into your home and see what stories they create for you and your family....

Alissa & Ryan

P.S. Come back and visit us often as we will update the boutique with new items regularly.

(Photo Credit: Jose Villa)