Portsmouth, New Hampshire is quickly becoming one of our favorite towns to visit in the immediate area. It has a great colonial feel, delicious restaurants, and fantastic shops – our favorite of which is Gus & Ruby Letterpress. In fact, Michael & I have never been to Portsmouth without stopping in to this darling shop, located right on Congress Street in the heart of downtown!

In 2008, Samantha and Whitney started Gus & Ruby (named after their adorable dogs), doing custom design and letterpress, and shortly thereafter, opened a storefront to feature their work and other well-designed and creatively-crafted goods. It was in this small shop on Market St. that I first fell in love with their taste for style and eye for design. Michael probably wouldn’t admit it to his Sunday Night Football buddies, but he’s quite the fan of print and press work, and it wasn’t long before he was also insisting that we stop in every time we’re in town.

When Gus & Ruby moved to their much larger space on Congress street a couple of years ago, I was ecstatic to see their collection and business grow. On this most recent trip, they helped me discover the heavenly line of Sydney Hale candles, and I was able to pick-up a delightfully witty Mother’s Day card from their great selection. Michael and I had a wonderful conversation with Sam about our choice of restaurant for dinner that evening (coincidentally her favorite, Black Trumpet), and we discovered a mutual love for great food in the area (seriously, ask her for some suggestions when you drop in). On this rare occasion, the shop was quiet enough for us to spend plenty of time making over Sam’s Brussels Griffon, Gus. Too adorable!

If you ever find yourself in Portsmouth (or even passing by), you’d be doing yourself a serious injustice to not take a few moments to get lost in this wonderful store. I guarantee you’ll find something that you, or someone very close to you, will absolutely adore, and you might even make a friend in the process!