Back in August of 2009, a day or two after I officially decided to start blogging, I stopped into a little just-opened shop in Williamsburg called Brook Farm General Store and thought, "Ooh! Now that I'm A Blogger, I'm supposed to do things like take pictures of cute little places so that I can tell my millions and millions of bated-breath readers all about them."

And so I did. It was my second post ever, and I remember being so excited at the idea that I could find a cool little store...and then just write about it, and maybe someone somewhere would read what I'd written and decide that they needed to check out that cool little place, too. And then maybe they'd buy something that became one of their favorite things, or even just see something that inspired them, and it'd make them happy, and then in some little way I'd have contributed to that.

Anyway, last Friday Francesca and I passed Brook Farm General Store on our way to Marlow & Sons, and stopped in to check out the pretty wool blankets, vintage plates, and antique jewelry.

For those of you in NYC, I have the best news you'll hear all week: HomeGoods is opening - today! - up on 99th and Columbus, across from the TJ Maxx and Michael's (that block, incidentally, just became Jordan's One-Stop Heaven Shop). Oddly enough (or maybe not, considering this is the first store to open in NYC), I've never been before...but it is AMAZING, and has everything from art deco mirrored tables to my actual wedding china (above) to obscure olive oils to those crazy sheets that cost a thousand dollars (and are just $199 for a Queen-sized set at HG).

I went to the press preview last Thursday and had one of those incredibly satisfying shopping moments where you pick up every single thing that's been on your list all in one fell swoop - you know, those things that you really have been meaning to get but don't want to make a special trip for or don't want to spend a fortune on.

For $52, I bought the following:

What a cool project.

My friend Anna recently wrote me to tell me about this guy Erich, who's generating a community-compiled compendium (three times fast) called The Encyclopedia of Gratitude. It consists of of completely random things to be grateful for, from the weird to the mundane and everything in between, and to make this happen Erich is asking for contributors to both help him raise funds...and to contribute to the book itself.

A recent entry, as an example, focused on hammocks. I, too, am extremely grateful for hammocks, and thus am way on board with this. If everyone had a hammock, the world would be a happier - and calmer - place, more filled with people interested in spending long afternoons in the company of a book, a beer, and maybe a nap or three.

To read about more things to be grateful for, from sleeping in to Superman, click here.