"5"^^ . "2"^^ . . . "2011-01-04T00:00:00"^^ . . "9"^^ . "I've been going to 'The Elegant\" for about twenty years now, and it's always new. \n\nIt's the store of a thousand faces. Consignment jewelery? Ostentatious furniture from The Art Shoppe, exiled by Leaside's new interior designer? Dollar-store toys? Shabby-chic glassware? Antiques, in good taste and bad? 'Collectables'? Check, check, check, etc. It's the pinnacle of fascinating browsing.\n\nIt is one of the only places I know where you can pick up an emerald ring, a dining room set upholstered in silk (laquer slightly chipped), a novelty porcelain saltshaker, and a pencil topped with a no-pop bubble blowing set. It rivals 'Courage! My Love' for diversity, but in the gift-art-and-furniture arena instead of personal adornment.\n\nMy childhood home saw many items from The Elegant arrive, and I've spent many happy hours wandering through the shop, alternately amazed, amused, and desirous."^^ . "6"^^ .