As Mother’s Day rapidly approaches, finding the perfect gift can become an arduous task. Supplementing the perennial tokens of love and affection — cards, flowers and dinners — Mother’s Day festivities and gifts awaiting your perusal at metro Atlanta shops might be the perfect choice this year.

Offering a fun event for the culinary mom, House and Garden Boutique in Woodstock hosts Marietta restaurateur — and cousin of Paula Deen — Johnnie Gabriel for a cookbook signing next Friday, May 7. While the kitchen may be the heart of the home, Johnnie Gabriel’s eponymous restaurant, Gabriel’s, serves as the catalyst for the delectable recipes in her cookbook, Cooking In the South.

Adding to this enjoyable event is the setting itself — House and Garden Boutique’s lovely home décor shop, arrayed with wonderful gifts to suit the occasion. From beautiful art on canvas, to elegant silver serving pieces hearkening back to a gracious era, to fresh flowers sealed and made into gold-filled pins, gifts selected from this shop are sure to please.

Meanwhile, Eclectic Living in downtown Kennesaw — true to its tradition of mating style and whimsy — has filled its front yard with pink flamingoes. While some may deem these kitschy items passé, for the right recipient, their caprice will reap smiles for a long time to come. And there’s more.

Inside, Eclectic Living offers a terrific shocking pink hat trimmed with a lavender satin rose — but it’s a lampshade! What a perfect gift for the stylishly offbeat mother. Or, perhaps the seamstress mother might prefer a wire mesh dressmaker’s dummy as a decorative accent. Atop a table or bookcase, it’s sure to be a conversation piece, draped in scarves or dripping with earrings. (And speaking of earrings, there’s a splendid selection, at fantastic prices.)

Home to another marvelous Mother’s Day event is Wind in the Willows, in downtown Acworth. Superb in its vast selection of sumptuous foods, its adjacent restaurant, Waterstone Grill will serve brunch between the hours of 11:00 and 4:00 on Mother’s Day, at $10.90 per adult (half price for children).

Additionally, availing yourself of their fine home décor pieces while dining there, you’ll find lovely sepia roses flowing across cream-colored porcelain, decorative porcelain plaques, and wonderful wrought iron accessories.

These stores offer Mother’s Day made easy!

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