Annie's Blue Ribbon in Boerum Hill.   (Photo: Courtesy of Annie's Blue Ribbon)

• Annie’s Blue Ribbon General Store

  365 State St., at Bond St., Boerum Hill; 718-522-9848

  A birthday, a baby shower, a colleague’s going-away party? Annie’s Blue Ribbon will come through. Its stock runs from decorative cotton dish towels handwoven with the words eat at home; piggy banks in the shape of giant gummy bears; CDs with lullaby versions of Nirvana, U2, and Coldplay; or cult beauty products like Japanese Yu-Be skin cream. The best part: Most items are under $20.

From the 2009 Best of New York issue of New York Magazine