In my application, I have a dialog featuring a drop down menu, an "action" button and a "browse" button. The Browse button pops up another dialog which allows users to select the item on which they wish to act. If the action is successful, then the item gets stored as a "Recent Item", so that the next time the dialog loads, the drop down menu is pre-populated. The recent items behavior is just standard stuff - 10 items max, items getting bumped to the top if chosen again etc.
However, there is a new requirement to incorporate "Favourites" into the dialog somehow, and so I was hoping for some pointers on the best way to achieve this. Adding favourites seems straight-forward enough: there will be an "Add to Favourites" checkbox on the browse popup, but I'm not sure how best to present the favourites.
Should they be in the same drop down menu, but distinguished with e.g. a star icon? Or should there be two drop downs? Maybe drop-downs are the wrong way to go and both "Recent Items" and "Favourites" should be menu choices and the "current item" should just be a text label?
Any guidance on best practices in this area would be greatly appreciated!
Edit: Here's a wireframe of what I've currently got;