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There is the Veruca Salt side of me that when I want something, I want it NOW! Even when it is a rare baby blue boxy car with a sliding ragtop. (video blog here.)

It didn't matter to me that the ivory colored steering wheel and all the driving controls are on the OTHER side where the passenger usually sits. So what that it was sold in Japan and not here in the US. Those little details did not stop me from moving heaven and earth and burning up the Internet to find and buy my funky little Nissan Pao. It looks like something Bridgette Bardot would drive… if Bridget were driving away from Godzilla in some strange hybrid 1960's Japanese-French sci-fi flick.

It's so deliciously Franco-Japanese. A big piece of candy, good enough to eat. That was the impression of it from my favorite person, my Grandma Mommalou.

While others in my life look at me like I'm crazy, she gave me her full and hearty blessing, just like I knew she would. She was the same when I bought an apple red Pulsar with the modular "Sport Bak" and the creamy looking Honey Bee with it's crazy cartoony stick-on logos. Her openness is the reason she is almost always the first in my family to get a test drive of whatever "flavor of the month" mode of transportation brought out my inner Veruca. I am so amazed at the incredible hipness of my 86-year-old Mommalou. My being gay never phased her. Heck, I once wrote on this blog how when I was a little kid she let me wear her prettiest dress. (Read about it here.)

Now I like to trick or treat her with the gifts I buy for her, usually the most outrageous, never-before-seen designs I can get my hands on. I watch as she opens the package. It never fails. She always smiles and says "I love it!" Things that would make most suburban types wonder "What the heck is that?" get a big thumbs up from her. She and I share a child-like wonder and enthusiasm for fun, new things. Don't bother getting her a needlepoint pillow. Things like a bunny-shaped toothpick holder or a plastic tree branch toilet brush from designers like Karim Rashid, Marc Newson or Philippe Starck just make her chuckle.

I know she enjoys showing her friends the latest "crazy contraption" she got from that boy of hers in California. Whenever I'm in a cool boutique I browse with her in mind. So you know I'll be in heaven shopping for her at the upcoming International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) (link here) which runs May 19-22 at the Javits Convention Center in New York City.

There is no better place to see trends born and find awesome items made by people who think outside of the box, design from the heart and who throw caution to the wind. These are the Fresh Faced Mavericks of the Design World and I am in awe of them. Go there to find something for your Grandma. Instead of a damned shawl or velvet painting... Go for something really off the wall from my "Top Pick" designers from this years' ICFF.

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