Fashionably Late L.A.: Abbot Kinney | Urbanic Paper Boutique

I have a penchant for letter-writing. Finding a handwritten card in the mail these days really gives you that warm & fuzzy feeling, since no one but credit card companies and the IRS actually seem to mail anything anymore. It's like getting a special present just for you -- especially if you're lucky enough to get a card from Urbanic, one of the best-kept secrets to my success. Birthdays, holidays, I love you, I'm sorry -- they all work so much better on a cute little card. How can anyone resist?

The stats: Urbanic is located at the southernmost end of the Abbot Kinney shopping district in Venice, just north of the intersection with Venice Blvd. It's close to Capri (has anyone ever seen anybody actually eating there? I'm convinced it's a Mafia front).

Step inside this darling papeterie and it's the chicest stationery you'll never live without again. Funky handprinted cards, gorgeous retro notebooks, and lovely bound journals are not the only swank offerings -- Urbanic also stocks the yummiest candles and tons of cool desk accessories. Plus, they do custom orders, like invitations, cards and really nifty return address stamps. Your address never looked so good before.

The store is so chock-a-block full of style there's no way you're leaving empty-handed. Must-haves are the visually stunning offerings from Binth (at left); the whimsical cards from Hello!Lucky (below, at right); and the sensual, sensory overload of A'Quiesse candles (our fave: pikake & pear).

The cards from Binth are mini-works of art in their own right. The prints are so rad, I actually took a card and had it matted and framed -- looks great on my wall. And I can't get enough of Hello!Lucky's vintage designs and rich inks. Plus, each card comes with a slick vibrantly color-coordinating envelope. It's wicked but I love sending a hot pink envelope in the mail to someone unsuspecting!!!

So do a good deed this weekend. Share the love -- 'tis the season, after all -- and add Urbanic to your to-do list. Trust me: when your amor gets a little red-hot missive of joy in the mail, you'll be jumpin' (and bumpin').