March 30, 2006   Trendy in Midtown     Don't you just get a little sick and tired of all the hype about every little boutique or cute little shop in SOHO or the Meatpacking District (aka "The land of size zeros")?  Usually mentioned in connection with a celebrity sighting, of course.  So The Three Tomatoes feel an obligation to share our cute little shop and boutique discoveries for those us who are over thirty and born before size 0 clothes even existed.  So here are a couple of shops you might want to check out next time you're in midtown New York.     Mai - Open to the public    On the south side of 39th Street on a somewhat seedy block between Fifth and Six Avenues, you will find a small storefront that is actually the showroom for Mai, whose lightweight cashmere tees, and basket woven handbags have been featured in all the major fashion and life style magazines and are sold in stores like Bergdorf's and Nordstrom's.   The front part of the showroom is actually a very small retail store open to the public.   Here you will find the cutest satin ballet slippers in colors like topaz, jade, and ruby ; a wonderful assortment of their basket handbags also in great colors; interesting items for the home, like beautiful wooden serving trays and bowls; and then their wonderful year-round, lightweight cashmere sweaters and tees in a glorious array a colors "inspired from chiansian tropique", whatever the heck that means.   This is a great little browsing shop and we bet you'll buy something too.   They also sell some of their items online at http://www.mai-nyc.com/.   On our most recent visit, they told us they're opening their second retail store in...where else...the Meatpacking District.   You heard it here first tomatoes.     You'll love browsing here    If you love browsing, then you will fall in love with Cozy, on the south side of 32rd street between Madison and Fifth.   This small delightful jewelry and handbag boutique is staged like a Victorian Parlor jammed pack with some of the most unusual modestly priced jewelry, from costume to semi-precious stones and 18 karat gold, jeweled hair clips and barrettes and some truly exquisite evening bags that rival Judith Leiber without the price tag.  Whether you're buying for yourself, or a gift, your purchase will be beautifully packaged with delicate paper flowers.   This is definitely the kind of jewelry and bags where people will ask "where did you get that"?   But keep it our little secret, okay?    We'd love to hear about your favorite little shops in Manhattan.   Drop us a line at tomato@thethreetomatoes.com.     Tomato Feedback    Thanks for your great response to last week's newsletter on some of our favorite cosmetic products.   Some of your recommendations included Cover Girl Moisturizer with a tint of color.  Very light and also has a sun blocker.  And Neutrogena Radiance Boost Eye Cream.  One tomato wrote, "I love Dr. Perricone's relatively new tinted moisturizer.  It's not a million dollars like most of his stuff - about $35 and the tube lasts a long time.  Has 15 spf so it saves using moisturizer, sunscreen and foundation - especially during those weekdays when you don't need to look like your makeup enters the room before you do.  And it also has that Perricone magic that has already made me look like I am 14 years old."   Wow..makes you want to head right over to the Dr. Perricone counter at Sephora or to his store on Madison Avenue.     Happy browsing.   'til next week.     The Three Tomatoes             ©Copyright 2006.  The Three Tomatoes.  All rights reserved.

You know you're a tomato if.... you've entered our "You Know You're a Tomato if" Contest.   Here's the deal. To enter, simply email tomato@thethreetomatoes.com with your very own creative "You know you're a tomato ifs..."  We will pick our top favorite three entries and post them to the front page poll on our web site.   The three semi-finalists will get to choose an item of their choice from The Three Tomatoes Boutique, and the winner, as voted by all tomatoes at large, will receive a $100 American Express gift certificate.   This is the last week to enter.   The deadline for entries is March 31, 2006 at midnight.   (Not that we stay up that late anymore, but if you're still up and feeling creative, submit something.) For inspiration visit The Three Tomatoes' "You know you're a tomato ifs".   Click here. ************** The Mai Traveler's Bag  Made of pandan woven straw, comes in three sizes ($45-$65) and great colors like lime, sunflower, aqua and more.   Perfect for Spring.  In stock at the 39th St. store or online. ************* Last Week's The Three Tomatoes' Poll Are you a dog or cat person is our most popular poll to date. 70% of tomatoes that took the poll are dog people (including The Three Tomatoes.)    Sorry cat people.   Or maybe it just means dog people like to take polls. ************** Vote in this week's The Three Tomatoes' Poll Have you ever used a personal shopper? ********************* Help us grow our list.   Use the button at the top of the page to send to a friend, or send them to www.thethreetomatoes.com ************************ Spirited Woman One of our tomato readers, Nancy Mills, is the founder of a fun and very inspired woman's empowerment community chock full of resources and more. Check it out at http://www.thespiritedwoman.com/. ***********