New longer length and tie belt make these a wardrobe staple.  Lightweight and soft, these ruana vests are just enough coverage for Houston without the confines of a structured blazer.  Great for business or casual, $149 each.  Don’t you love the colors?   Come try them on!

Remember the beautiful sets of soaps that smelled wonderful and were too good to actually use?  Ann’s has them, and Mom would love one for Mother’s Day.  Made by Rance, a French company that dates from 1795 and one Napoleon favored, these are hand-made, triple milled and nestled in boxes covered in hand-made Italian paper.   (They’re pretty and they smell good!)  The fragrance lasts as long as the thick, rich soap, so encourage Mom to use them!  (You can buy her some more.)  From $63 to $94 for a boxed set.

Fragrances include jasmine, lavender, gardenia, lily of the valley, magnolia, honeysuckle, narcissus. 
Men’s fragrances available, too.

With Mother’s Day approaching (May 9, 2010), now is a good time to make some gift suggestions.  Mom loves body products, so why not give her a few luxuries from Thymes?  At Ann’s, when you purchase $50 in Thymes, you get a FREE tote bag with butterfly on it, so it makes a very pretty gift.

Today’s fragrance is Lavender:  Thymes Lavender includes traces of rosewood, sage and violet.   Choose from body lotion, body wash, hand creme, hand wash, bath salts, and soap. 

Thymes Lavender Body Lotion, $22.95

Thymes Lavender Hand Lotion, $13.95

Thymes Lavender Body Wash, $18.95

While shopping at market last year, Ann discovered a marvelous line of home care products called Caldrea.  Being a bit of a laundry fanatic, she instantly fell in love with Lavender Pine Laundry Detergent and Linen Spray.  If you think it’s odd to sell laundry detergent at a nice gift store, you haven’t experienced Caldrea.   Ann recently upgraded to a new energy efficient front-loading washer and dryer that requires the high-efficiency detergent with lower suds.  Discovering Caldrea was serendipitous, so of course instead of just buying some for herself, she loaded up for Ann’s Fine Gifts. 

Caldrea Laundry Detergent ($16.95) smells wonderful and leaves your laundry smelling nice, too.  It’s made of essential oils, plant-derived surfactants and borax.  It’s super concentrated, so a little bit is all you need for a load.  No fillers or harsh chemicals, so it’s “green” and gentle on your skin.  Safe for front-loading machines.

To freshen your bed linens between laundry days, spritz a little Caldrea Linen Spray ($12.95) over them when you make the bed.   When you climb in bed at night, you get a drift of lovely lavender to help you relax.  Heaven!

Caldrea in Lavender Pine

Try all the other stuff from Caldrea:  dish soap, hand soap, hand lotion (wonderful), and countertop cleanser.  You’ll be hooked in no time!