Celebrating 14 years on Saturday

Yep, we've made it through 14 years in this crazy retail business. We're still in the same little hidden spot we've been in since we took that wild leap of faith in June of 1998. Still happy.

Come help us celebrate on Saturday, June 30, 2012, from 11-5. The store is packed with new finds, and we'll have libations and treats, prizes and specials for you. You know we love a party: join us!

Silk lanterns

We're just in love with these Vietnamese silk lanterns we found at market. They're very pretty just hung as is, or can be fitted with a light kit if you want exotic ambient lighting. I can see the 3' silver one (not shown) at a wedding, maybe just at the reception area entry, or hanging by the cake in a lovely corner. The others are perfect for a bedroom, entry, even powder room.

Summer candles

In the gift industry, it's apparently a well-known fact that summer is not the season to sell candles.

Well, at Pomegranate, we don't go by any of those industry standards, anyway. We love candles in the summer, and sell lots of them. This time of year, we lean more towards the lighter, citrusy scents that go well anywhere in the house (or outdoors, for those long evenings alfresco). We just got a new shipment in of our wonderful Mixture soy votives (I call them the test tube candles because they come in a slim little glass jar, just $6.95), plus more of the intoxicating Volcano from Capri Blue (along with a few new scents, too, like Pomegranate Citrus), a new line called Hôtel with a wonderful lemon verbena scent... oh, and a new shipment of Archipelago arrived on Friday, with more Luna and Positano candles and diffuser refills. Oh, loving the new tin 3-wick candles from them, too. Candles are great all year long. Why not?

Crisp and fresh, the Hôtel Palais Royal candle in lemon verbena

Mm, mm, mm. Volcano is just the best; in recycled glass jars of deep blue, white or the new mercury glass turquoise.

Bon Voyage!

Where would you travel if you had your pick of the world? Spain? Africa? Argentina? India? Italy? {You can't visit Italy too many times.} Sometimes half the fun of a travel adventure is the planning and anticipation. Another bit of pre-trip indulgence should involve buying a just a few new things to take with you. A new tote. A new book. Some shoes, perhaps? Or one of our new small leather pieces, from the lovely Alicia Klein collection out of San Francisco.

Clever and colorful leather luggage tags fold up so your info is inside.

Taxi wallets are slim, yet hold so much. For men and women. Very durable, too (Robert has had his for nine years).

Leather passport wallets in great colors.

Tokyo Bay watches are back at Pomegranate!

Back in "the old days" when we had our modern shop, dolo, followed by Pomegranate II (both downtown), we carried Tokyo Bay watches and loved them. They're very well made, stylish, and priced well. On our last market trip, we fell in love with them all over again, and decided to bring them back.

I already have a beautiful watch. My dear husband bought it for me at Saxon's the first year we were truly successful in our shop. But I worry about wearing it to work, as I'm always jamming my hands into boxes and digging in the dirt and who knows what. I looked all over for a casual watch that I really liked, and was unsuccessful... until now. My biggest problem is choosing which one I like best... and I'm usually pretty decisive about this stuff. But really, they're all so cool.

Great gift, too. Nicely boxed, and priced from about $75 to just over $100.

Accoutrements for the garden

People sometimes assume from our name – Pomegranate Home & Garden – that we are a nursery or yard center. Nope! We're more like a boutique home, garden, gift store. We have lots of wonderful bits to add to your garden, from bells to buddhas.

We tried selling plants in the past, and offered some really interesting and rare species. There was just one problem: the critters in our wild habitat ate all the inventory. We narrowed it down to just lavender, and that didn't go so well, either (that thing about deer not liking lavender? not always true). This year, we idiotically planted up some yummy things around the shop, you know, to make it colorful and pretty. Two days later, it was all gone, whittled down to the nubs. Very ugly. Apparently geraniums are to deer what Gummi Bears are to kids. Num num, gone. The beautiful dahlias persevered for an extra 24 hours, and then they were gobbled, too.

Sad thing is, we could have gone out to dinner, maybe twice – including nice bottles of wine – with what we spent to inadvertently feed the deer and the rockchucks. Those ingrates!* Now, thanks to suggestions from Schilling's Solar City, we have some grasses and fuzzy green things in our planters. For dessert, we'll be serving Bobex, which apparently is the only thing to deter the deer. Sigh.

Anyway, even though we don't have plants for sale, we have some lovely and wonderful things for your garden, for outdoor entertaining, for evenings spent relaxing and enjoying life alfresco. The last few weeks have been filled with shipments, and new arrivals are still coming in daily. It's a lot like Christmas around here... you just have to come see it all.

*Let it be said that we already supply our wild creatures with about 90 pounds of bird seed (and peanuts and other seeds) every ten days or so. Phew!

Bells can tuck right into tall grasses or a corner of the garden. Sweet chimes.

Iron birdcage is very decorative: plants can go inside and climb the sides... or maybe your bird would love it!

Buddha corner with riverstone votives, simple hurricane lanterns, volcanic ash buddhas.

Bamboo runners and placemats in vibrant colors for indoors or out. So reasonable, too.

Recycled bottle vases on a stand: great for a little handful of flowers, herbs, greens.

Iron birdbath, pinwheels, recycled tin hearts.

More of the recycled glass vases: with stand or individuals. Sweet!

Ceramic lanterns to mix and match in great colors.

Tiered stands (several sizes) with chalkboard (for plants, toys, craft stuff...)

Ceramic asian garden stool and volcanic ash serene buddha head (all weather).

Set of three nesting iron console tables for your garden party setup (they'll find a place in the house, too).

Iron etagere goes anywhere!

Tangerine! Trays, Casbah lanterns, hand-woven baskets.

We just love these lanterns. Removable metal insert inside makes it easy to deal with candles.

Our favorite SOLAR lanterns light up the garden all year round.

Sun bells to hang from a tree or shepard's hook.

More solar soji lanterns (new colors and shapes this year). Great gift, too!

Rustic, chunky teak bowls for indoors or out.

Recycled glass serving bowls, trays, wine barrel stave candleabra.

French Flea Market recon – loads of pix

This last Saturday might have been one of the busiest flea markets we've had at Pomegranate since starting them about 10-11 years ago. We had more vendors than ever before (packed in everywhere), more goodies (almost overwhelming!), more customers (maybe 1,000 people... maybe more?). And, more business. All good signs. We were slammed inside the store, which made us happy, too. I took a bunch of shots before things started, then didn't come up for air until the very end of the market. A big thanks to all our fabulous vendors for bringing some wonderful flea market finds, and for making all the booths so attractive and fun. It was a blast, even if a little chilly and windy. But hey, it didn't rain did it? We did promise clear skies.

Next markets are July 7, August 4, August 25, and September 15, from 10-4. We always have a few core vendors who attend (and always bring bunches of new things!) and others who cycle in and out on various dates. Some are brand new to our markets, some are selling off collections that have never been seen before, some are clearing out garages of the best vintage stuff... There are always surprises, and so much to look at. Lots and lots of treasures.


Here are a bunch of pictures from the June 9 market (only a wee bit of what was there!). Go get your coffee. It's gonna take awhile...