With pressure to change our habits and lifestyle, we can easily feel overwhelmed at the start of the new year, but in good ol' Tortoise fashion, we encourage you to take it slow and steady. After all, we've just entered a new decade - so there's plenty of time to learn and grow! Here are a few things in our general store to help make your resolutions easier to keep.
1. Miso Donabe Pot ($216): One pot dishes never looked so good. Donabe, meaning 'earthenware pot' in Japanese, are perfect for cooking and serving delicious, nutritious food quickly and beautifully. Put this pot directly over the stove and the pot's prehistoric clay and microscopic pores will absorb and trap heat so that your food cooks quickly, evenly and thoroughly. Acquiring one of these pots, and other donabes in different styles will likely encourage more food gatherings in your home in 2020, so cheers to that!
2. Traveler's Notebook ($58): Travel through your day with ease. Whether it's jotting down notes, drawing a sketch, or crossing off an appointment - writing things down can help you get more done in a day. Traveler's Notebooks are customizable booklets that come with 1 leather cover in 4 different colors, 1 blank paper insert and a rubber band. You can later add inserts like a monthly calendar, weekend scheduler, grid paper, sketch paper, lined paper - to customize your book into your best system. Many of our staff swear by this!
3. Brass Tray ($200) + Brass Acorn Incense Holder ($26.50), Brass Incense Holder ($120): Calming down to zero. Meditation can come in many forms and stillness can be felt in many ways. Sometimes a wonderful candle or lighting an incense can help you ease out of a hectic part of your day into a deeper, calmer part of your day. These brass incense accessories will also patina with use, reminding you of the passage of time and the natural changes happening around us that we sometimes miss.
4. Watches by Sazare ($450): An analogue life. While more and more watch companies are designing bigger and bigger watches in the 38 and 40 mm range, Sazare is throwing it back to the classic 36 mm watch - developing an entire line of classic 36 mm styles that feel timeless. Sleek, with thin profiles, and an AR-coated mineral crystal design, each hand-crafted watch is elegant, minimal as well as individually number and serialized so your watch is unique and personal. By wearing a watch over checking the time on your phone, you can give time the respect it deserves.
5. Gel Cool Lunch Box ($28 - $34): Less postmates, more packitathome. When a team of researchers in Hokkaido Japan wondered if they could create the perfect lunch box, they created the Gel Cool Lunch Boxes. Each Gel Cool lunch box has a cool gel hidden inside of its lid so you can keep the lid in the freezer, like an ice pack. When you've packed your lunch in the morning to-go, just take out the lid from your freezer, place it on top, and the gel will keep the food stored inside cool and fresh and ready to eat until lunch.
6. Snow Peak Camping Chopsticks ($39.95), Very Good Wrap ($22), Bamboo Fork ($13), Wood Spoon ($4.80), Shirayuki Fuukin Fine Mesh Cloth ($16): Sustainability is a better way of life. We can all agree that moving forward in 2020, and for many years into the next decade, we must all try to be more sustainable. Disposable chopsticks for example contribute greatly to deforestation and unfortunately, are soaked in terrible toxic chemicals. Luckily we can replace our disposable forks, spoons, and chopsticks with more sustainable options. Next time you reach for a paper towel, try the highly abosbant and easy to wash fine mesh cloth by Shirayuki Fuukin. And ditch the plastic saran wrap by covering your leftovers with the Very Good Wrap made from bees waxed cotton by Studio Cue. We thank you!
