Stewart & Claire

Fellow food lovers Adam and Andrew Erace opened a store in Philadelphia a couple of years ago that I wish I had around the corner from me in New York. In addition to local eggs, milk and produce and culty products like Q Tonic water and Stumptown Coffee, Green Aisle Grocery also stocks what they like to call "small, offbeat producers who are doing cool things with food." 

We thought our balms would be in line with the Erace brothers' philosophy (and the fact that I grew up in Philadelphia wouldn't hurt either.) So, I'm proud to say that Green Aisle Grocery is the first shop in the US to carry our lip balms. And don't they look great on the counter? If you live in Philly or are just passing through, pop by their store and buy a lip balm. And while you're at it, grab some of the awesome hummus Green Aisle stocks from chef Michael Solomonov of Zahav, too. -Claire

In his book, Food Rules, Michael Pollan writes to avoid products containing ingredients that a third grader can't pronounce. It's a great rule of thumb for beauty products, too, and one in which Liz Neves of Raganella follows whether she's making a scrub for your face with powdered goat's milk and oatmeal (above, it's divine) or one for your tub, with baking soda, castile soap and rosemary essential oil. 

Liz named her company using the Italian word for tree frog, a sensitive little creature with permeable skin. She simply intended to help people to live healthier, greener lives by teaching classes on things like composting and making natural beauty and cleaning products. While she still does plenty of classes, she found that many busy people would rather just buy her concoctions than follow her recipes on a regular basis. 

Using her experience with herbalism and foraging, she's taking all-natural beauty products to the next level and incorporating wild plants into many things she makes. We highly recommend you check out her shop on Etsy. Or if you're feeling ambitious, try one of her awesome-sounding recipes, like this "mermaid's" body scrub made with kelp. -Claire

In high school, I thought the world was separated into creative people and business people (or, as they're more commonly thought of, the right brain types and the left brain types.) Of course, now that I'm in my 30s, I know that most people are a little bit of both. I've seen loads of starving artists learn business skills to survive and business/lawyer  types leave it all to go pursue their passion making wine or some such. 

This past weekend, at the DIY Business Association conference, I met Lauren of Stamp 48. Yes, she designs bags and blogs about anything handmade but she also understands sales forecasting and profit-and-loss sheets and all of the numbers that make a business a business. Since leaving her job last April, she's been using her background in finance to coach creative people. I only met her for an hour but she impressed me immediately, and I plan to recommend anyone befuddled by their small business finances to check her out. 

Once again, I'm glad to have my high school self proven wrong. 

This weekend, I attended the first ever DIY Business Association Conference in (where else?) Brooklyn. It was a fascinating glimpse into people's micro-obsessions. Take, for instance, Rachel Mercier, who runs the fun design blog, Mercier Beaucoup. She has a serious passion for beautiful stationary and is working on opening an online store with a curated selection of cards from designers, like Mr. Boddington's Studio (see above), Egg Press, Printerette and Chewing the Cud. 

Betting on the fact that there are other stationary hounds out there, she's hoping to launch a membership program that will send those who sign up bundles of new, well chosen cards. Now if only the membership would come with reminders about dad's birthday. I know that's a service Stewart would pay for. -Claire