Why I am Pissed right now.....

Well, I am pissed right now because I am sitting here at the shop on a beautiful but very hot and humid Saturday afternoon and it is over one hundred degrees and I am looking out at the dry desert. Not a speck of green or a drop of water.So I begin to daydream since no one has walked in here in the last hour. For some reason my thoughts take me to a place I visited over 8 years ago. I think it was the summer of 1998 or 1999 can't quite remeber the year right now. At the time I was living in Philadelphia and needed to get the heck out of the city. I wanted to go somewhere far far away were there no tall buildings, traffic jams and lots and lots of water.

So I headed for Martinique located in the French West Indies. I figured this would be a great place to go and I would be familia with the language and the food. Having both parents natives of Haiti and surrounding islands I grew up hearing about their visits to Martinique and family that lived there. So I figured why not. I new the trip would be long since I had recently visited the Island of Grenada, also part of the French West-Indies. I knew the flight from Philadelphia would be long. But I was really excited and three weeks later here is where my plane landed...

Bulk Organic Sheabutter is back in stock.....
Unrefined shea butter is a beautiful creamy butter that is made traditionally under fair trade and organic guidelines. Our shea butter is not extracted using hexane or other chemicals, bleached, or deodorized. Our source does not add preservatives, yellow coloring agents (natural or artificial), or other additives to our unrefined shea butter. Our sheabutter is packaged in its purest and most natural state. Like all premium unrefined shea butters, it has a characteristic nutty scent, which disappears after a few minutes when rubbed on skin. Unrefined shea butter is a very versatile active ingredient for skin and hair care products, and has excellent anti-aging, soothing and moisturizing properties. details provided by our vendor.
We offer our sheabutter at $8 for 1/4 oz or $20 a pound

New French Soaps from Provence
We finally have a new inventory of fabulous
triple milled shea butter rich natural soaps.
There a many new scents to try. $4each
matching hand and body creams will be
in shortly.

Tea Lover's of Ridgecrest September Meetup

Tea Lover's of Ridgecrest September Meetup

http://tea.meetup.com/195/calendar/8614964/

We are having our first Tea Lover's Meetup event
September 16th at 6:30pm at Botany's Desire.
For more information and to sign-up visit the link
above. We look foward to seeing you there.

More Treats for you...Boule in LA










Well, I guest my late night cupcake adventure was not enough
for me so I decided to let you in on one of my LA secrets. What
is so amazing about Boule is that they have such a great variety
of goodies. They even make their own ice cream and sorbet.
But, what caught my attention the first time was not even the
products. It was the beautiful and simple and pretty decor.
They are so worth the 2.5 hour drive from Ridgecrest.

One of the things I do before my husband and I head out to LA
is I do a major online search for pastry shops, bakeries,
farmers markets, New York style pizza shops and of course
tea shops. We are so serious about this we even go as far
entering all our finds into our GPS unit so we can plan out all
of our stops. I also MapQuest every location so I know where
we are going and the distance between each stop.

Sometimes these LA adventures take the whole day. We travel
all over LA and the surrounding communities. We have gone
from downtown LA, to Burbank, to Venice, Culver City, Santa
Monica and Pasadena all in one day. It is always such a treat
and we always are amazed at all the other fabulous places
we find on the way.

What I did early this morning? Well I didn't eat these cupcakes
but I did start searching online for one of my favorite
desserts and in doing so I found this wonderful blog :
http://www.cupcakestakethecake.blogspot.com.
What I also discovered was that they have a wonderful
Meetup Group in New York. This group has several
cupcake related events year round where people who
make cupcakes, admire them and eat them get together
to enjoy cupcakes and socialize. So pretty much I will be
planning my future trips home based on when these events
are happening. I think I just might
start my own Ridgecrest cupcake club.

Please take a moment and visit their blog. They have some
recipes and also have a huge listing of cupcake shops all over
the country with many throughout California.

This is how the French are sleeping tonight...Compliments of Descamps Shops. A Beautiful Linen Shop located throughout the world with roots in France.
Descamps was created in 1858 as a small weaving company by Auguste Descamps. They are the leading brand in the home linen market today. "It remains since the past 150 years true to its history, rich in colour and full of sensations." images from Descamps website

I love how the colors are mostly neutral but have such texture and detail to them and for someone who prefers more color in the bedding, it would be very easy to incorporate various other colors to create your own unique and personal bedding.

New Hint Water Flavors!!
Yes, hint water has new flavors.
Honey Dew & Hibiscus and Blackberry.
As we mentioned in our blog back
in June we have been selling them
at Botany's Desire and they are just
amazing and selling like crazy.

Our spa clients are also buying these
after their treatments. What a
wonderful treat after being pampered.
The most amazing thing is that even
construction workers that are working
near our location have recently
discovered Hint water at our shop.
How cool is that.

So all you new fans of Hint Water look out for the cool new flavors to be available
at our location by the end of next week or as soon as Hint can get an order out to us.
Remember mention you saw this post and get 10% off.

LADUREE PARIS...Je Taime

As I sit here I am thinking about my last trip to
Paris over 5 years ago. I am wondering why I
haven't been back in so many years. I suppose
it has to do with owning my shop and not having
much time to travel overseas since moving to
Ridgecrest.

Thinking back to my last trip there I began to think
about what I did while I was there. Well as I remember
it I didn't really do much except eat! I didn't visit any
of the museums, famous dress shops, Eiffel Tower..nothing.
I did though eat lots and lots of baked goods, wonderful Ethiopian
and Indian cuisine.

But what I remember the most is the incredible tea, chocolate and desserts. They are the most memorable.
At the time I had never heard of this most special tearoom. It was by accident that I ran into this most amazing place. It was something out of a dream. It was like walking into the Jimmy Choo of tea and desserts.
It was so beautiful, elegant, clean, colorful in a classy way that only the French could pull off. It was like a museum of beautiful things that should not be touched just admired.









Just so you know this is no ordinary tea shop or bakery or pastry shop. Every detail is taken into consideration. The decor, the packaging, the lighting, the colors and the amount of sunshine that shines through. I even think they pay beautiful people to just sit in there all day long drinking tea and eating their deserts, because even the people look delicious LOL. Well ok maybe it was all that sugar going to my head and flowing through my blood.

So if by chance you find yourself in Paris this fall or winter please make sure to spend some time here.
Do bring lots of cash and an empty stomach.
P.S. I am looking into importing their teas.
pictures are from the Laduree website.

New Vintage Style Handmade Lighting
Here are some of the lighting we now offer at Botany's Desire. These are very beautiful pieces handmade by craftsman. They are made with solid brass, ceramic pulley-wheels and rayon covered wires and come in 4 finishes and are shipped with 8" milk glass shades. Many of the designs are made with satin nickel with aged brass counterweights.

Looking For New Ceramics & Tableware....
Yes, I am on a mission to find some really unique and casual
ceramic dinnerware for the fall season. I want something that
can work for both outside and inside entertaining needs.
I really dislike overly formal dinnerware that only gets used
for "special events". I think beautiful tableware should be
enjoyed as much as possible even for the most casual gathering.

The other thing that is important for me is that my tableware
not distract from the meal itself. It should compliment those
wonderful ingredients. Let me know what you think about
the selection below.

Spa Services @ Botany's Desire
Just a reminder to many of you who have
forgotten or just never knew it. We also offer
wonderful pampering services at the boutique.
Massages are $35-$80
Facials $40-$85
Appointments required.
Gift Certificates are for sale
We specialize in using natural and organic products.
Free tea samples always given to our spa clients.

http://shoppingbotanysdesire.blogspot.com/

For updated information on our most popular products being sold in the boutique please check out our new shopping blog.

Maybe My New Bedroom??
Well I have been trying to figure out the design of my
new bedroom. I find this to be somewhat to my liking. I love simple clean natural colors with texture. I really like having a bit of 40's glitz but not too flashy though. I love including things like pewter, glass, alabaster and antique nickel.

The only thing about this room I am not feeling are the night stands. I don't care for overly matched decor and the white color and design are not doing it for me. I think I would prefer a dark stained wood with only one drawer and open bottom to store beautiful textured throws and blankets which would help to give the room a warmer feel to it.

Also, the lamps are nice but the thick white base to quite do it for me either. Otherwise I love the round shades. I think what makes a room special are the unique elements added from your personal taste and that have been put together over a period of time. If not I think your final result will be an overly staged look. Lastly, I would have to add at least one other contrasting color to this room. I would add some elements of nature and some beautiful very light green and cream colored flowers and maybe even some other textured fabric in a very light butter cream yellow.

Coming Soon To Botany's Desire...

Where in the world is Ridgecrest, CA
This post is for all my customers, vendors and friends who do not live in Ridgecrest and are always asking me where in the world is Ridgecrest, CA. I though I would show you some pictures of some of the places I like that are in driving distance of Ridgecrest and China Lake.
These are images of Mammoth Lakes, June Lake loop and Dantes view in Death Valley, Inyo National Forrest with Mount Whitney and Bristle Cone are with the oldest known trees.
While these are not actual pictures of places in Ridgecrest. This will give you an idea about what the high desert area has to offer. The high desert area has very extreme weather conditions. It snows in Mammoth and the area can have fluctuations in tempertures from as low as the low 20's to 145 degrees in Death Valley.
images are from www.visitmammoth.com and Inyo National Forrest website.