FOUNTAIN PEN HOSPITAL
• The folks working there pointed me to a beautiful limited-edition Graf von Faber-Castell fountain pen ($2,500).
• Naturally, I was also drawn to the $30 Kaligraffiti Splatter pen.

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NEW YORK VINTNERS
• I asked director of sales Jesse Warner-Levine to choose a bottle, based on what he would want as a gift. He got all politic, selecting an inexpensive wine, which I called bullshit on. So he admitted that he’d love this Hermitage Syrah ($199).

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CHURCH STREET SCHOOL
• A wonderful $5 tote. The design is also sold on T-shirts.

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KORIN
• Korin is known for its exquisite knives, of course, but it also has fun stuff like this two-tier pig bento box ($20); available in frog, too.
• Soap on a rope ($40) would make a great houseguest gift for the right host…. Can’t you see it in an outdoor shower?

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BABESTA CRIBZ
• Skip Hop’s penguin lunch bag is just $13.
• Chic toy cars designed by Patrick Calello (from $14).
• Would it be wrong for an adult to have a towel like these? The shark one ($37) would make a vivid impression at the pool where I swim.

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MYSTERIOUS BOOKSHOP
• You can’t go wrong with Elmore Leonard ($27).
• Giles Brandreth’s latest mystery with Oscar Wilde as a sleuth also appeal, not least because it’s still only a U.K. import ($48).

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BARNES & NOBLE TRIBECA
• Maira Kalman’s new book ($30), And the Pursuit of Happiness.
• Title aside, David Mitchell’s The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet ($26) was the best novel I’ve read in years.
• Harold McGee, the scientist whom cooks love, also has a new book ($35) that B&N is pushing hard.
• Honorable mentions: Keith Richards’ memoir, Life; The Autobiography of Mark Twain, Vol. 1.; the reissue of Diana Vreeland’s Allure.

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BED BATH & BEYOND
• I’m not really a BB&B person—the smell they pipe in gives me hives—but I was heartened to see this jumbo collection of Mad Libs ($7). It’s still the best way to teach kids (and adults) the different parts of speech, as well as a super time-killer.
• Who knew? BB&B has more travel-size stuff than I have ever seen in one place. This is only part of it! Great stocking-stuffer potential.