WE SPOTTED IT
Will "Sex & the City 2," opening tomorrow, unleash a style stampede? Home merchandisers are betting on it. The 2008 movie, which picked up where the TV show left off, was wildly popular with female fans and jump-started fashion trends. This time around, Carrie and company leave the Big Apple to conquer Abu Dhabi. So retailers have stocked up on Middle Eastern and safari-inspired home trinkets, including animal prints, Moroccan lanterns and vases, and exotic pillows fit for a sultan's lair. If you want to try the harem look at home, you won't have to look far to find it.
DO IT NOW
This is it! If you're one of those cautious gardeners who've been waiting to put in tomatoes and other warm-weather loving veggies, now's your chance. Memorial Day weekend is the (very unofficial) time to plant 'mates, peppers, eggplants and other tender annuals and perennials.
ECO-DEMO GARDEN OPENS
The Minneapolis Farmers Market has more than flowers, veggies and live entertainment. Scott Barriball has transformed an asphalt lot into an Urban Garden to demonstrate eco-friendly products and methods for outdoor living. It will feature the latest landscaping materials, such as pervious pavers to reduce storm-water runoff, an outdoor kitchen equipped with a natural stone fireplace and a rainwater garden.
"It will provide an interactive, summer-long home and garden resource where people can come and kick the tires, get their questions answered and see how it works," said Barriball, owner of the Farmers Market Annex, at Glenwood and E. Lyndale Avenues N. The 12,000-square-foot Urban Garden will be open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily; www.farmersmarketannex.com.
NEXT WEEK
At one time there were more than 290 breweries in Minnesota, and many of them are represented in Jim and Ruth Beaton's basement. The Bloomington couple's collection is so extensive that it will be a featured attraction when the American Breweriana Association holds its annual meeting in the Twin Cities June 8-12. But you can catch a sneak peek in Home & Garden.
CONNIE NELSON, LYNN UNDERWOOD, KIM PALMER
