Clean white business cards from Hoban Press, a letterpress company in Washington state.
I've made this recipe for a chipotle white bean casserole from Heidi Swanson's 101 Cookbooks more than any other dish.
My 16-year-old stepson introduced me to Avatar: The Last Airbender. I won't say more about this show, because once I start, I can't stop. Just watch it.
That's Thefft, a stunningly affordable line of handmade couture from a New Delhi-based fashion designer.
My friend Brian Boyer told me about Fuschia Dunlop's homestyle Chinese cooking guide, Every Grain of Rice. I still can't make red-braised pork like his, but my mapo tofu is pretty great.
I've bought Roy Peter Clark's guide to good writing, Writing Tools, at least a dozen times, because I always loan it out and never get it back.
The American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, which preserves the work of self-taught artists. (It's also where I got married.)
The National Institute of Computer-Assisted Reporting, which is the friendliest, most earnest corner of the nerd Internet.
Tamar Adler's Everlasting Meal. You'll never look at a stale end of bread the same again.
The food and drink aisles at Cost Plus World Market. Need za'atar? British cocktail weenies? Icelandic chocolate? Hawaiian huli-huli sauce? They have it.
The bulk section at Berkeley Bowl.
We collect two-player board games and card games, and my favorite so far is Jaipur. You're an anachronistically Arabian trader competing for the best rugs and camels at the market. The art is cringey but the gameplay is very elegant.
RIP Rdio. You were the only truly lovely music streaming service. Why did you have to die.