While out in the Berkshires this weekend, I had a lot of time to think because, gosh, it takes nearly three hours to get out there from Boston. I thought about how Williamstown, Massachusetts – my destination and a paradise-like country nook I called home in the late 1990s – was the perfect blend of rustic farm pastures, local abundance and a touch of chic due to the influx of city folk who settle on this bucolic village for relaxation and a bit of theater each summer.

Williamstown plays host to the annual Williamstown Theatre Festival, a summer showcase that’s become a silent powerhouse in contemporary theatre, featuring some of the best talent in the business. I stood in line in front of some of that talent, a very famous actress, at the local coffee shop Tunnel City Coffee yesterday. I think she was annoyed by my gawking at the pretty pastries in the bakery case for a bit too long. Sorry, famous actress who’s married to an even more famous movie director. It was just all so pretty!

The city folk, including those who have finally left the skyscrapers to settle in the town full-time, add a touch of modernity to this otherwise crafty college town. I like to think that Williamstown is a little bit country and a little bit fancy which makes for an exciting summer vacation destination. I can go from eating at one of the best restaurants in New England to visiting with a herd of alpaca during a maple syrup tasting. (More on that tasting and those beautiful animals soon.)

The “little bit country and a little bit fancy” vibe totally plays into the Eat Boutique brand, which I’ve been thinking about a lot. I started Eat Boutique as a food blog to capture my food exploits inspired by both city and country life. The blog is now a food business focused on sourcing local, pure and comforting handmade food (because food enthusiasts need good food to send to the people they love) and we’re finally releasing our very first apron, which I couldn’t be more excited about. It totally sums up our brand in one look.

The new apron is made of an all natural cotton and hemp blend that’s both very functional and rugged but almost linen in feel. The color is kraft, of course, and the Eat Boutique logo is printed in black. On a glance, the apron is rustic, but when you get a glimpse of the logo, which is the exact same logo from this site, it turns quite modern. Of course, I’m debating whether the logo should be bold, front and center on the chest plate of the apron, or sweet and quiet on the hem of the pocket. Help me, Rhonda: Which do you prefer?

What makes me the proudest (sniff, sniff) is the method in which these aprons were made. I certainly could have sourced them online from some big manufacturer overseas but that’s kind of anti-Maggie and definitely anti-Eat Boutique. Instead, I reached out to a dear friend who’s a seamstress. Carrie, from Carrie Sew Fancy, helped me source the fabric, design the apron and made them by hand, totally from an idea in our heads. Thank you, Carrie!

The straps are adjustable, the pockets are flat but deep and there’s the sweetest loop for a dish towel to hang by your side, because I think we need more dish towel loops in this world. The apron will be on sale in the store starting later this week. You know, right after you all tell me whether the logo should be big and center or small and off to the side. This brand needs your wise opinion, so please leave a note in the comments.

Speaking of brands, I’ll be moderating a panel on “How to Market your Blog and Turn it into a Brand/Business” at Boston’s TECHmunch conference next weekend. If you’re there, please say hello, okay?

All photos styled and taken by Maggie Battista, with some help from my friends/models Genevieve Sandifer, Elle Rapport and Dawn Baker – thank you, ladies!

Eat Boutique is an online magazine + market for food enthusiasts to celebrate the best pure, local + comforting handmade foods. We call it: food that hugs you back. Looking for the perfect gift? Eat Boutique sells gift boxes filled with handmade sweet and savory treats. Send food that hugs you back today.

This plate (discovered at Merci in Paris, France a couple weeks ago) is absolutely perfect for a host like me. I imagine serving my guests all seven courses at once, letting them create taste patterns that work for their palettes by picking and choosing from each of the seven plates before them. Perhaps I’d serve a different taste (salty, sour, sweet, etc.) on each separate surface or arrange my courses by colors (of the rainbow).

Alas, I’d have to plan on serious dish washing duty the night I use them, as they’d barely fit in the dishwasher. Regardless, these plates are a total conversation piece. If my luggage didn’t already exceed the 50 pound maximum (damn, airlines), I would have carted 10 of these back to Boston.

There’s nothing like chicken soup to mend a bad cold or sore soul. Marti Bowes Wymer took that to heart by creating her own line of old-fashioned chicken soup that you can send to anyone needing a dose of love.

Forget flowers. We prefer the idea of helping a loved one with a jar of Spoonful of Comfort, filled with nothing more than chicken stock, chicken, carrots, celery, onions, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper. The soup is super fresh, so much so that this 64 ounce jar needs to be consumed within 2-3 days of arrival. How about sharing it all with someone you love?

Each jar is $32.00. Marti will even add homemade rolls or oatmeal raisin cookies to your order for $6.00 each. Now that’s love.

If you know me at all, you know I love dish towels. I also love the stubborn, sexy, reluctantly-in-love Mr. Darcy almost as much as dish towels. He both breaks and warms my heart.

Two amazing things push together into these sweet dish towels that play canvas to Mr. Darcy’s proposal from Pride & Prejudice. These will probably sell out in 5 minutes, so grab one of the few available fast over on Etsy. (Check out all her items that feature a variety of Jane Austen quotes.)

Virginia Sin’s line of eco-friendly porcelain products are inspired and profound. They look like picnic-style paper plates but, get this folks, they’re made of microwave- and dishwasher-safe porcelain. They’re completely irregular in shape and style, something that makes me love them more, in a very wabi sabi sort of way.

These plates found a spot in my heart virtually last month and, serendipitously, a friend gave me one the very next day, just 24 hours after the love first manifested. So now, lucky me, I have one of these perfect little faux paper plates in my possession. (Thank you, dear friend!)

I suppose you could use them as a statement piece for extra change, but I love to serve myself a little piece of cake on my plate (you know, when I’m all by myself with a big cup of tea). I hope to pick up some of her sugar cones someday soon too…

I am so into green and these green Emile Henry pots are on sale at One Kings Lane until January 8th. You’ll have to join the site to see the pots, but they are so worth it – made from beautiful clay in Burgundy, France since the 1850s. There are loads of colors to choose from but the green pots, priced from $45 to $139, get my vote.

Aprons are so special to me. I have a varied collection – puffy aprons, sleek aprons, white aprons. My favorite apron in the world right now is made by Ice Milk Aprons, but this denim version is a close second and, hello, it’s on sale!

I’m a sucker for tea towels; I must have 30 of them, new and vintage, hanging around my kitchen. I’m an even bigger sucker for Studiopatro’s tea towels. They make eco-friendly textiles that you can use to wipe up your kitchen counter or, as in this photo, to wrap a bottle of wine for your pals this holiday season. They’re fresh and fun and I need about a dozen right now please. Buy them here. For me.

I love mixing warm woods with cool steel in a kitchen. My own kitchen is a bit of a mish-mash with wood cabinets, honed granite counter tops (made to look like soapstone) and stainless steel open shelves. I started it’s redesign a few years ago and though the bones are complete, it’s still a work in progress. These stools would feel quite at home in my kitchen and are so very affordable. I love the science room look in a residential kitchen. Learn more about them here.

FYI: Lyon did not pay me for this mention. I just thought they were really cool. Subtle cool.