Toula's Home Gift Garden

On April 1, 2002, I found myself on a plane headed to Los Angeles. I had accepted a job on a corporate project for a large retailer I was working for. I was told that the project would last about three months. As it turned out, I would be away from home for almost a year. One unexpected perk of my journey to L.A. was that I ended up living and working in Santa Monica. I had no idea, but this would turn out to be ground zero for celebrity watching.  I must confess my facination with Hollywood began at an early age, when I insisted my parents buy a “map of the stars’ homes” on a family visit to L.A. (as a kid I  was obsessed with finding Farrah Fawcett’s house). So going back to Los Angeles many years later was great fun for me.

Shopping in L.A. is fantastic. Any spare time I had, I was checking out all the cool, independent shops. In the back of my mind, I knew that I would be opening my own store one day, so whenever I discovered a great item, it got filed away in my mental bank of “future store products for Toula’s.”

During one of my outings to Fred Segal (a quirky, high-end specialty shop a few blocks from the Pacific Ocean in Santa Monica), I stumbled across an amazing bath and body line. I picked up a grapefruit and red current soap; it smelled like heaven. At that very moment a woman brushed by me, smiling, shopping bags in tow, and I realized that it was Kristen Davis from “Sex In The City” fame. I just about dropped the soap I was holding! In about a ten-minute span, I saw two other major television stars while browsing around. It was surreal.

That soap I was holding when I had my first celebrity moment was made by Mistral. I opened an account with that French company for Toula’s, and we do a fantastic business with them. Toula’s has a loyal Mistral following, and I am always converting people to the extensive bath line that includes well over twenty lovely scents. It is always at the top of our gift-ideas list because it is such a nice indulgence.

To this day, when I pick up a bar of Mistral’s grapefruit and red current soap in our store, I can’t help but think of California and my time there. I was excited to discover such a luxurious treat unexpectedly, one that I am so proud to sell in our store, and also to have caught a celebrity or two in the mix.

Eric

March always catches me off guard. One day you wake up and things are turning from dull brown to fresh green, and lovely hints of white and yellow are popping up from the ground. It is always a surprise to see daffodils springing up everywhere in my neighborhood. It amazes me that anything so delicate can grow so fast after such a long winter.

Hable Construction, a fantastic accessory company whose products we carry here at Toula’s, understands the energizing appeal of springtime. Two very creative sisters, Susan and Katharine Hable, design and produce durable canvas handbags and totes that capture the shapes and colors of spring and put them to good use. (The company name is a reference to their family’s traditional line of business.) They use whimsical silhouettes such as cosmos, lily pads, and chrysanthemums on their bags, with bright splashes of color. Our customers who are driven by practicality as well as fashion love these carryalls. But Hable’s designs are popular year round. One day around Christmastime we almost had a crisis on our hands as we were selling out of a certain Hable Construction bag before every customer got hers!

As it happens, Susan Hable has purchased a wonderful old home three doors down from my house here in Athens, and is planning to move south with her family in the near future. It will be exciting to have such a creative soul nearby!

Enjoy your spring and all the shapes and colors it will bring.

Eric