So, maybe you’ve heard … the design genre dubbed Mid-Century Modern is popular right now. Of course, the craze for all things Eames, Saarinen and Noguchi has inspired a lot of, let’s just say, unfortunate knock-offs. Those seeking a heady mix of provenance and authenticity should head to Freeman’s this Saturday for the 20th/21st Century Design auction.

There’s a treasure chest of furniture for sale, including a coffee table by Wharton Esherick, chairs from Ron Arad and Harry Bertoia, and several white oak pews that George Nakashima designed for a New Hope church in 1961. Paddle, please!

Lately, I’ve been in a funk. I’ve been grumbling about the million little things still left to do for my upcoming wedding, complaining about the five extra pounds that insist on clinging to me, and ranting about the fact that the appliances in our new house don’t exactly match. Which is why today’s trunk show at Town Home couldn’t have come at a better time.

From 10 a.m.-8 p.m. (wine and cheese are set out at 6 p.m.!), Town Home will be debuting Gratitude Etc.’s brand-new, totally lust-worthy line of 14K-, 18K- and 22K-gold handcrafted bangles (shown), along with a few pendants and cufflinks. But, oh, the bangles! Each is engraved with “Gratitude is the most precious jewel,” a sweet reminder to be thankful for what you’ve got (instead of walking around cranky and cantankerous like, um, me). And they’re customizable, so you can choose your metal, stones, diamonds and inscription.

So drop in, meet Gratitude Etc. founder Liz Flavin, and snag one of her pieces (10 percent of all purchases go one of three charities — Living Beyond Breast Cancer, Laurel House or Women’s Way — you choose which). And, well, it’s quite easy to be grateful when you’ve got one of Liz’s oh-so-stackable, semi-precious-stone-and-diamond-studded gold bangles encircling your wrist. As far as being grateful for mismatched appliances? I’ll have to work on it.

Jenkintown, the borough (not town) where I grew up is a lot of things. It is small. It is quaint. It is historic, cute and family-friendly. One thing it’s not: Cutting edge.

And, while J-town’s charming lack of radical-ness might make the wee community a bit slower to embrace the sort of fast-paced lifestyle changes that are so quickly adopted in, say, metropolitan Cheltenham or high-tech Abington, my hometown (home-borough?) deserves extra credit for trying.

Take this Friday night, for example. When Sandi Young, owner of Old York Road’s Moderne Life Interiors, which stocks Italian sleek entertainment centers and French-Canadian orange sofas and Coloradoan metal tables, hangs 20 new ethereal encaustic photographs by Leah MacDonald, the shopowner won’t just be showing off all 3,400 square feet of her thoroughly contemporary wares, or, for that matter, won’t merely be encouraging one-on-one interaction with the area artist, who might speak to her works’ mythical femininity and occasional nudity, but Young will also be offering guests food and drink from the nearby West Avenue Grill, and, quite possibly, encouraging comparisons between sweet little Jenkintown and big, bold Old City — on a First Friday, to boot.

A daring move, if I do say so myself.

Friday, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Moderne Life Interiors

First Fridays? So last year. Our favorite day is quickly becoming the last Friday of the month, when the fab shop owners on the quirky stretch between Bainbridge and Catharine celebrate 4th on 4th, during which they stay open late, serve munchies and drinks, and prove that there’s more to Fabric Row than bolts of cloth. (Hint: Participating shops hang a red balloon outside their storefront.) Here are just a few reasons to change your plans for tomorrow night:

GO: Behind Closed Doors
WHEN: 6-8:30p.m.
WHY: Owner Catherine Cifonelli will show you all her just-arrived things for spring, including Scalamandre’s new spring fabrics, oodles of luxe trimmings and tassels, and the dazzling paint colors of Pratt & Lambert and Ralph Lauren’s new lines — all while you sip cocktails.

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Trunk show alert! Scarlett Alley’s got a party menu — owner Liz recommends the “antioxidant martinis” made with the Pure Inventions tea and fruit extracts that the shop carries — and a peek at bags, totes and clutches from the brand that kicked off my bag addiction years ago, Hobo. I’m just about due for a new splurge to carry around … I’m thinking something like this shimmery number, which is dreamily dubbed the Starlite and will go perfect with a summer tan.

Sunday, April 27, Noon-5 p.m.

Provided you’re as tired as I am with political events, rallies and television in general, you’ll be glad to forget all about such trivial matters as you browse the FULL SPRING COLLECTION by Alice + Olivia this Saturday at Center City’s Kimberly Boutique.

Sweet shop owner Jimmy Contreras, every girl’s best friend, always does the cutest trunk show parties, and this one will be no exception: Look for adorably bright cocktail frocks by the ever-wispy designer (and Penn grad) Stacey Bendet (who can’t come, because she’s apparently permanently weighed down, hand-first, by her brand-new engagement rock), along with A + O’s signature trousers — six styles of them! — a rose-silkscreened gown, pleated halter tops galore, and so-worth-the-splurge floral candles that retail for $50 apiece. Don’t feel guilty: 15 percent of proceeds go to the Fund for Living at the Foundation for Breast and Prostate Health.

As Jimmy predicts, the event will be, “Unbelievable. Gorgeous.” Don’t miss it. But if you do, at least mark your calendar for May 16, when he’ll throw the boutique’s three-year birthday bash alongside Tibi designer Amy Smilovic.

Who says auctions are only for dead-ancestor antiques? Mark your calendar on Saturday, April 26 (when the glow from Earth Day celebrations will still be in full effect), for some green-thumb bidding at the 28th Annual Rare Plant Auction at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square. The “going once, going twice” stuff is performed by the folks from Christie’s. For the paddle-meek, there’s a silent auction, too.

Tickets, which are $100-$200, get you access to gardening experts and a look (and an opportunity to buy) exotic species that you can’t just pick up at your local farm stand, such as ‘Cool Splash,” which doesn’t get released until 2009 and will make you the envy of the garden club gals. Proceeds benefit community gardens in our area.

Spa week kicks off today and hitting it up should definitely be on your agenda. The details: Select treatments for only $50 at tons of area spas and salons. And with Spring finally making an appearance—albeit, a fashionably late one — a little self-indulgence with the week-long event can pull anyone out of this winter funk for good. Think hour-long Swedish massages (or a mani/pedi combo) at Ananda, Spring green facials with all natural ingredients like apples and cucumbers at Pure Bliss Wellness Center, personalized massages — with body butter — at Rometta Salon and Spa and Jane Iredale makeup lessons at Harmonia Healing Arts Spa. Check out spaweek.org for more info. — Andrea Carayiannas

Image, spaweek.org

My current design philosophy: Furnish any dwelling in Ikea and thrift-store vintage — provided you invest in one good piece per room. This one good piece, be it a mirror that hung in Pop-pop’s beach house or that pair of Dalmatians that stood sentry in Mimi and Granddaddy’s living room, will, in the immortal words of ever-fabulous Aunt Thelma, “class up the joint.”

Need more inspiration — or that one, essential investment that’ll totally transform your modest bedroom? Head to the Philadelphia Antique Show this weekend, at its new site at the Navy Yard. (Hence the theme: “Philadelphia Collects Maritime.”) And class up your own joint, already.