Little Luxuries
214 State St., 255-7372
10 am-8 pm Mon.-Sat., noon-5 pm Sun.
There are two types of people: those who have the willpower to go into a store and dutifully purchase a gift for someone else, and those who habitually leave with 'just a little something' for themselves, too.
Little Luxuries is a gift boutique that can force even the most selfless shopper to come away with a few self-gratifying goodies. As you open the store's ornate, century-old door, you are instantly drawn in with a visual explosion of sparkles, punchy colors and tightly packed displays offering anything from French-made hair accessories to helpful how-to books to trendy kitchen utensils.
You find yourself beginning to fall into that eyes-glazed over, must-shop-now trance. Suddenly, you realize your life will be empty if you don't fill it with a Bambu cutting board, 'Dysfunctional Family' paper dolls or a 'Gnome in a Box.'
Under the ownership of Janice Durand, Little Luxuries has been entrancing customers for 17 years with its eclectic mix of kitsch and glamour, and its decidedly estrogen-charged atmosphere. Durand says she opened her store because 'I was yearning for feminine things to be around me.'
Descend into a shopping daze and maybe pick up a few gifts when you regain consciousness with these finds: Nick & Nora shoe print cosmetic bag ($22); the Thymes Fig Leaf & Cassis aromatic candle ($29); oilcloth strawberry print lunch bag ($10); La Vie Parisienne fleur-de-lis silver locket ($59).
