Friday Finds: Rockhounds' Delight

By Kathy Shaskan

If you were the type of kid who loved finding interesting rocks, fossils, and other mineralogical goodies, head over to Tomorrow's Heirlooms in Princeton and feast your eyes. It's part jewelry store, part rock museum; and it's presided over by a passionate collector who scored his first major fossil find at age 14 - a certified dionosaur hipbone! Samples of his jewelry creations are above, clockwise from left: fossilized coral pendant, Owyhee picture-jasper earrings, and two examples of plum jasper pendants.

Book Beat: Ladies on the Case

By Jenniah Caldwell

Long gone are the days when world-hardened male gumshoes ruled supreme in the world of contemporary mystery novels. Two NJ authors are breaking those molds with their smart, strong-willed female protagonists.

Plum Lucky, the latest novella in Janet Evanovich’s best-selling Stephanie Plum series, finds Trenton’s favorite bounty hunter on the trail of a bag of stolen mobster money. Only it isn’t so much missing as it's with her Grandma Mazur in an Atlantic City casino. Throw in a couple of trusty sidekicks, a racehorse, and a heart-breaker named Diesel, and you are off on the latest madcap Plum adventure.

This 176-page novella is the perfect length to hold over Evanovich fans until the next full length Stephanie Plum novel Fearless Fourteen is released in June 2008.


Valerie Wilson Wesley has created a compelling main character in her African-American, ex-cop turned Newark detective, Tamara Hale. In Blood and Sorrow, the 8th novel in the Tamara Hale series, finds Hale fighting to protect her son Jamal from a murder charge, all the while becoming entangled in a complex search for a missing child. Hale faces all challenges with the trademark, down-to-earth wit and clear thinking that have insured Wesley's character success not only in several niche genres but on the mass market as well. In Blood and Sorrow will be released in hardback on January 29th, 2008.

Valerie Wilson Wesley will be appearing at Watchung Booksellers in Montclair on Feb. 3rd from 2 to 4 p.m. and at the John F. Kennedy Library in Piscataway on Feb. 23rd from 2 to 4 p.m.

Fashion Forward: Cuff Yourself

By Leigh Boriskin

For the past few seasons, bold jewels have been nothing less than hot on the fashion scene. From chandelier earrings, to long and chunky necklaces, an all-black ensemble instantly transcends from dreary to sensational when paired with just one of these must-have accessories.

Metals, enamel and even plastic materials are stealing the scenes when it comes to this stylish arm wear. For spring, pair a cuff below with summery whites during the day, or eye-popping hues at night.

Edgewater’s Ambience sells a knockout Snake Skin Cuff by Ted Rossi NYC. Slip on this arm candy for the perfect amount of sex appeal with unmistakable edge.

Add a dash of color that will brighten up any mood with the Tapered Bangle by Alexis Bittar, available at Juli Mei LLC in Spring Lake.

Let our your inner wild side with this Enamel Elephant Bracelet by Kenneth Jay Lane available at Saks in Hackensack or Short Hills. Adorned with crystals and jewels, this black and gold stunner will catch onlookers’ eyes.

New & Noteworthy: Philosophy Boutique

By Kathy Shaskan

Longtime friends Karen Vitale and Michele Walten have opened Philosophy, a new boutique in historic downtown Chester. They promise "high-end style and down-to-earth prices on eclectic finds from around the world." Lines include Pine Cone Hill bed linens and loungewear, Dash & Albert rugs, Comptoir de Famille tabletop collections, soap and candles from France, and custom handbags from Erda. More info here.

The Monday Muse: Last Call for these NYC Exhibits

By Kimberly Baldwin

Considering our proximity to the art capital of the world (ahem, that would be New York City), I thought it would be fitting to share the details of some important current exhibitions that will soon be coming to a close.

Kinz, Tillou & Feigen, 529 W. 20th St., 212.929.0500
Jeremy Blake: A Memorial Exhibition, through Jan. 5
Jeremy Blake was an artist of recognizable accomplishment and promise. He was considered influential and iconoclastic. Sadly, Blake committed suicide one week after his beloved companion of 12 years, Theresa Duncan, committed suicide--the reasons for which remain open only to conjecture. His sixth solo show at Kinz, Tillou & Feigen is a memorial show and features a selection of wall works, a retrospective of daily screenings of his 21 short animated films, and documentation from his unfinished last film.

Metropolitan Museum, 5th Ave. at 82nd St., 212.535.7710
The Age of Rembrandt, through Jan. 6
The Met is home to the finest collection of Dutch art outside of Europe, and all 288 of these masterpieces are displayed together for the first time in this exhibition. On view is an array of circa-seventeenth century works--landscapes, genre pictures, still lifes, marine views, portraiture, and historical and biblical paintings--by celebrated Dutch masters such as Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Hals. The works are arranged by their acquisition date and reflect the taste for Dutch art in America.

Museum of Modern Art, 11 W. 53rd St., 212.708.9400
Georges Seurat: The Drawings, through Jan. 7
Once described as "the most beautiful painter's drawings in existence," Georges Seurat's mysterious and luminous works on paper played a crucial role in his short, vibrant career. This comprehensive exhibition, the first in almost twenty-five years to focus exclusively on his drawings, presents over 135 works, primarily conte drawings, oil sketches, and paintings. While Seurat is best known as the inventor of pointillism, this exhibition clearly demonstrates his achievement as a draftsman and the significance of his working methods and themes for twentieth-century art.

PaceWildenstein, 545 W. 22nd St., 212.989.4258
Joel Shapiro: New Sculpture, through Jan. 19
Since his first one-person exhibition in 1970, Joel Shapiro's work has been the subject of over 100 solo exhibitions and retrospectives. Here, he's displaying nine new works: four painted wood sculptures and five bronzes. Shapiro's assemblages are beautiful and always alter the viewers perceptions of volume, space, and movement.