Sometimes Most of the time I have a hard time describing what we, or maybe better said what I, do here at marthaandtom.com. Tom does a lot of food (beer, and wine, and all of food’s other friends), and sometimes I share in that, but I also like to include a variety of other things. I liked what I saw this morning on Jeana Sohn’s blog. Simple, but not at all limiting:

i’m an artist living in los angeles, CA. i like taking pictures of my daily life and writing about beautiful things.

My mom has loved Clairefontaine papers and journals ever since my oldest sister lived in Montclair, NJ (we’re talking 1998-ish) where there is (was?) a small stationery shop that carried the brand. So, to help my parents remember a hiking vacation to Hawaii a couple of Christmases ago, I gifted her one of these travel journals found on Vickerey.com. The pages alternate colors as you flip through the book—solid black for images and white for text (or photos, I suppose). I’m glad to see they’re still for sale!

Obviously, this would be a bit big to actually take on a trip, but it does make for a great way to review any vacation or special event after the fact. Rest assured, though: in addition to the standard Moleskine, Vickerey has a lot of options for carrying in your pocket, which works especially well for those of us who like to have a pen and notebook on hand at all times:

Even though I haven’t bought anything from their site in a while, I’ve kept Vickerey in my bookmarks as a great source for gifts. Besides paper goods, their inventory ranges from yoga gear to uniquely packaged soaps and lotions and includes a fair amount of casual men’s and women’s clothing. Take a look. You might find something you like.