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)