GREER’S BEST BUYS:Collectors get ready for art glass sale

Connoisseurs of art glass shop at Orrefors Kosta Boda at South Coast Plaza. Collectors will want to save at the store’s semi-annual sale starting today through July 31. Save up to 15% on all regular-priced items.

Orrefors and Kosta Boda, two famous Swedish glasshouses, teamed up to form one art glass gallery. It’s here that you can find the exquisite Orrefors, produced since 1898 and known for its creative design and excellent craftsmanship, combining the best in form and function. Since 1742, Kosta Boda has been recognized for its colorful and artistic forms designed by renowned Swedish artists.

We love Orrefors Intermezzo collection of stemware with a simple and striking blue drop in the stem blown from the bottom. No wonder it’s one of the world’s most popular stemware collections. Choose from serving sets, vases, bowls, candleholders, carafes, sculptures and more.

Open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Friday; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday; 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Sunday at Level 1 at South Coast Plaza’s Crate and Barrel/Macy’s Home Store wing, (714) 549-1959; www.orrefors.us www.kostaboda.us .

If you’re like me, you want medical doctors prescribing medications, but you keep an open mind to natural remedies too. That’s why the new Pharmaca in Irvine is intriguing. It could be the first integrative pharmacy in Orange County.

Pharmaca bridges the gap between traditional and alternative health treatments. Its conventional pharmacy fills prescriptions and offers over-the-counter medications. And it’s current on homeopathic remedies, nutritional supplements, essential oils and other alternative medicines.

Pharmaca can also fill compounding medications (when doctors specify custom formulations of drugs); for instance, medications formulated into lollipops for children, pills to liquid form and bioidentical hormones.

Pharmaca also offers a bath and body section with toxic-free make-up and skincare lines, and one-on-one consultations with licensed aestheticians to assess skin treatments. And there’s a section of gifts and sundries in a relaxing atmosphere. Open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday at 4139 Campus Drive at University Center, (949) 823-9755; www.pharmaca.com .

Picnics Deli and Cheese Shop is a major find for gourmet foods and artisanal cheeses in Eastside Costa Mesa. It’s a deli for lunch and fine foods to go. Stop by on the way home from work and pick up gourmet dinners, or do the same for a memorable picnic, lunch or bay cruise.

Chefs and owners Jeana and Robert Whitesell cook everything fresh daily. Many dishes are inspired from top restaurants in San Francisco where they worked. French, Thai, Greek and Italian dishes make up the eclectic menu.

The deli selection changes daily — there’s always something new for the palate. Popular choices include the chicken breast roulade with morel, porcini, cultivated and black trumpet mushrooms; Dungeness crab cakes (light on bread); filet of petrale sole with braised leak and chanterelle mushrooms; and grilled salmon with cherry tomato basil relish.

For lunch, try the roasted beef tenderloin sandwich on toasted sourdough with horseradish sauce, grilled red onion, tomato, arugula, balsamic dressing and Swiss cheese ($12); or the hot chicken breast sandwich, with eggplant, provolone and sun-dried tomato pesto on a French roll ($10), or poached pear and walnut salad ($9), and ($12) with chicken.

Catering for every occasion is offered daily. Picnics can create a small five-course dinner party for 10, up to a lavish sit-down dinner for 750.

Picnics also stocks an incredible selection of artisan cheeses, hard-to-find olive oils, varietal honeys, sea salt caramels, hand-cooked potato chips and Barefoot Contessa cookie and brownie mixes.

The cheese case consists of 40 choices, always cut fresh to order. Picnics imports directly from Neal’s Yard Dairy in London, a fine cheese purveyor.

Open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday at 435 E. 17th St. in Costa Mesa, (949) 722-7200; www.picnicsdeli.com .