Bag of the Day: Carpisa Italia Limited Edition 2012

This is a really cute bag I picked up in Rome, Italy last summer.  I saw it in one of the shop windows near The Spanish Steps and had to have it.  It's the perfect classic summer bag (very reminiscent of the classic Hermes Kelly bag).

Carpisa is a very inexpensive retailer of handbags in Italy.  Unfortunately, you'll have to go to Italy in order to shop at Carpisa.  They are selling their 'tattoo' luggage online, but that's it. 

When I travel, I try to buy local.  Carpisa is strictly an Italian brand and company.  They are not international.  You won't find their bags in America for sale at any regular department store.  You have to go to Italy to buy their brand. 

One of the great things about Italy is that there are Italian leather purse stores everywhere.  Because there are so many stores, you can always find a great deal and a memorable purchase you can bring back home.  You know...that little story that goes along with that moment you made the purchase.

After all, a great world traveling fashionista always has a great story to go with what she's wearing. 

For those who travel or are looking forward to an upcoming vacation, here are some ideas to think about when you shop while you're traveling:

1.  Always buy local.  If you can buy it back at home, what makes this item so special?  Think...if you're going to show it off to friends on how you bought X item in Paris on your vacation, how are you going to feel when your friend responds that they bought the exact same item at Macy's just last week?  Not so special now is it?  Buy local. 

2.  Create a collection.  When you travel, try and hunt for items that you will love.  Create a hobby out of it.  For me, I have a handbag collection.  I buy a handbag from every place I visit.  If I'm traveling on NHL business, I buy something from Burberry [this is a tradition I've held for 5 years].  I also seek out places that have scarves authentic to the region.  I go grocery shopping, looking for ingredients to bring back to my kitchen back at home.  Bringing home spices, teas, jams, chocolates, etc. are usually on my TO BUY LIST when I travel internationally.  Domestically, I look for cute magnets or clothing that is geared toward that specific city.  When you travel, figure out what you love and could create a hobby out of and make it a mission to stray away from the touristy stuff and focus on buying the things you want to bring back to add to your travel collection.

After all, I always remember where I bought X item in X city, no matter what it was.  It fills your memory of a happier time...you know, when you were on vacation!!!!

3.  Gifts.  Stray away from the touristy stuff.  Everyone has some sort of hobby.  Look for gifts that your friends/family will love by keeping it local and something that they can add to their own collection.  If they love cooking, taste some great food and go out and buy ingredients or cookbooks to bring back home that will duplicate that amazing dinner you had.  It will make the gift more meaningful when you explain why you picked up X, Y and Z for them. 

If they love sports, bring home a jersey from the local club.  I know when I go to Europe there are local teams everywhere for European football. 

If they love fashion, there are plenty of awesome shops you can peek into that are similar to the H&M, Zara and Forever 21 stores back in America.  I've found plenty of cute stuff, especially accessories, that no one else in America has.  When I was in Dublin, I picked up a dress that was on sale only to see it in a fashion magazine in America a couple of months later at 4x the price I paid for it.  European fashion is usually ahead of American fashion. 

Everyone has their own loves, just keep away from the tourist traps, go where the locals go, and shop there.  You'll be surprised how much cheaper the local stuff is as compared to the touristy stuff. 

4.  Make sure you have room.  Buying 10 different handbags in Italy last summer created a predicament...I started to run out of room in my suitcase.  Towards the end of my trip, I started looking for bags that were easy to pack that would lie flat in the suitcase.  Just make sure you buy light when you shop, especially if you are city hopping through Europe!  Leave the food shopping for the end of the trip, and make sure to put the jars of local jam in your 'check in' and not your carryon.  Trust me...they will confiscate your 'liquid' items...and that includes JAM! 

xxoo,

Michelle

{Scarf: Zuma Scarf from gorjana-griffin courtesy of PopSugar Must Have}
  

New York Restaurant Week: The Palm

 

There's a lot of history that goes into The Palm.  It's tradition goes all the way back to 1926.  Two Italian immigrants decided to open up a restaurant in New York City.  Natives of Parma, Italy, John Ganzi and Pio Bozzi went to register the name "Parma" as the business name, the clerk didn't understand what they were saying and issued a license for "The Palm."  That's how the restaurant got its name.

Their steakhouse (which did not start off selling steaks) has grown in popularity over the last 87 years with locations all across the United States from the East Coast to the West Coast.

I first heard of The Palm back in Washington, DC.  It was a favorite amongst the politicos of DC.  I had walked by the place many times, but never went in. 

Getting a taste of The Palm in NYC, the same city where it all happened, now that is a treat for the history books...as in a 'Been There, Done That' moment.  You can see the history all along their walls which showcase caricatures of the many famous guests that once sat in their booths and the many news article reviews that once upon a time graced print journalism.  The caricatures are a time honored tradition.  Artists that couldn't afford their meal would draw or paint on the walls of the restaurant as payment. 

This is what The Palm prides itself in...its history.

The waitstaff is one of the most outstanding I have ever seen.  Your glass is always filled with water.  You never have to ask.  They make sure that the service is impeccable...like the professional service you would expect if you were to dine at "Downton Abbey." 

The food...

You'll find there was a mixed review during my visit.

The menu for New York Restaurant Week at The Palm West location (250 West 50th Street, NYC) is as follows:

FIRST COURSE:

- Classic Caesar Salad (garlic focaccia croutons and parmigiano reggiano)- Mixed Green Salad (romaine, iceberg, baby greens, cucumber, carrots, radish, scallions and cherry tomatoes, tossed in garlic vinaigrette)
- Watermelon and Arugula Salad (watermelon, arugula and feta cheese, tossed in balsamic vinaigrette)- Chef's Soup of the Day

SECOND COURSE:

- Ahi Tuna Steak (wasabi seared ahi tuna with Asian avocado salsa)
- Mahi Mahi Fish Tacos (flour tortillas, shredded cabbage, fresh tomatoes, chiptole lime dressing, red beans and rice)- Buffalo Chicken Cheesesteak Sandwich (thinly sliced chicken, grilled onions, provolone cheese and homemade Buffalo sauce served on an Amoroso roll with hand cut french fries)
- Filet Mignon Medallions (two 4 ounce) (Danish blue cheese and wild mushroom demi-glace)

THIRD COURSE:
- Berries and Cream Parfait (fresh berries, crunchy granola, mascarpone whipped cream)
- Banana Crème Brulée
- Key Lime Pie (key lime custard, graham cracker crust, blueberry compote and whipped cream)

I ordered the Watermelon & Arugula Salad, Mahi Mahi Fish Tacos and the Key Lime Pie. 

My thoughts?  First, we'll start with the worst part of this lunch...the salad.  While the whole idea of watermelon, arugula and feta sounds appealing, what troubled me was the balsamic vinaigrette.  The only thing I could think as I tried to 'like' this salad was, "Did the person that developed this combination even try this?  It's horrible!"

Balsamic vinaigrette is not the right dressing for this salad.  Even a sesame dressing would have suited this salad or a very, and I do mean "VERY" light dressing so that the person eating the salad would enjoy the flavors of the watermelon, arugula and feta together.  The balsamic is not the dressing they should have used. 

My advice if you head to The Palm, avoid this salad like the plague.  It's more balsamic vinaigrette than it is salad.

What redeemed The Palm was the second course: Mahi Mahi Fish Tacos.  I've attempted fish tacos in NYC several times.  I've either walked away thinking it was horrible or I got sick.  80% of the time, I walked away sick as a dog. 

The Palm, on the other hand, has created the best fish tacos I have ever had.  The mahi mahi fish was an excellent choice to fill the flour tortillas.  The spices used with the fish were just the right spices to let the fish stand alone, but mixed with the chiptole lime dressing...it was superb.  The use of cabbage instead of lettuce was spot on. 

As for their side dish of red beans and rice...pass.  It was boring and like something I would make if I was a beginner cook and wanted to attempt making red beans and rice for the first time (i.e. dumping a can of red beans on top of some rice and calling it red beans and rice...tasted just like it too). 

As for the key lime pie...it was delicious.  It was so rich, I couldn't eat it all, but it was good.

What I've learned about The Palm...just get the main entree and maybe the dessert.  Do not fuss with the sides or starters.  Go straight for the main course.

Like I said, the fish tacos were the best I've ever had.  That makes The Palm worthwhile, especially if you want to be surrounded in history and political talk from the tables next to you.  Would I go often?  No.  Maybe once every 5-10 years. 

In other words, why eat sub-par food when there are other restaurants out there that can create a fantastic meal from start to finish?

xxoo,

Michelle 

READING MATERIAL: The Glister

 

 

I don't normally read books like this, but the setting intrigued me as well as the storyline.  Just where did these children go?  What happened to them?

 

This book takes place in a community...well, a dead community.  The chemical plant that was once so promising that brought big business to this small town and employed most of its inhabitants had turned this town into a toxic waste site, leaving its workers and inhabitants sick.

 

As the plant shuts down, people lose their jobs.  People become sick.  The woods become a toxic waste littered with what once had been.  Strange creatures changed by the chemical plant's pollutants creep within its borders.

 

All in the midst of this dead community is a struggle to survive, waiting for the moment...any moment to be free of the dead world around them.  People leave.  Children disappear.  People die.

 

Wait...why are the children disappearing?  What's happening to them?  Why are the police not searching for them?  Why don't the residents care that their own children are missing?

 

One child...the police know for a fact...he was killed.  The policeman was, after all, the person that found him, but then buried him to cover up the fact that a child was murdered.  What about the other boys that went missing?  Were they also murdered or did they just run away?

 

These are all questions you ask as you go through this story.  It is a part coming of age book about a teenager struggling in this dead community, dealing with his mother leaving him with his sick father, struggling to find something meaningful in this messed up community, and dealing with the death (or did he go missing?) of his best friend...never knowing if he is the next child on the list to go missing.

 

In the Amazon reviews, the reviewer mentions that his friend called this book "a sleeper."  "It creeps up on you."  What she meant by that is that even after you finish the very last word in the book, you think...that's all there was?  That's nothing.

 

Then as you churn the book over in your mind days or weeks later you realize just how haunting the book really was.  It stays with you.

 

I picked up this book on a suggestion from Oprah.com.  After reading the book, I had to sit back and ask if the person at Oprah.com actually read the book, because it's a very strange book for Oprah to recommend.  I don't even think Oprah would read a book like this.

 

Why would you read it?  Because for some odd reason, this haunting tale means something to you, you just don't know what it is...then you realize it's a reflection of yourself and what you've lost as you moved on through this lifetime. 

 

That, of course, you don't figure out until long after you've closed the cover on the book.

 

xxoo,

 

Michelle

 

MOVIE REVIEW: The Wolverine

 

 

 

No one does The Wolverine better than Hugh Jackman.  NO ONE.  Even if you are bulked up like Hugh Jackman, you can't pull off the look.  Why?  Because, only Hugh Jackman can pull off The Wolverine and still look hot for the ladies and like the Marvel comic book superhero that he is to the guys.  Ok...so maybe Liev Schreiber could pull off the look too, but they never casted him as The Wolverine (he was casted as his brother, Sabretooth).

The Wolverine begins where X-Men 3 left off...life without Jean Gray.  For those who've forgotten...at the end of X-Men 3, Wolverine was forced to choose...save the woman he loved or save everyone from being destroyed by the woman he loved.  He chose to protect the world.  He had to kill the one woman he loved more than anything. 

The Wolverine is life after Jean Gray and Logan trying to live with knowing he had killed the woman he loved.  Where do we find him as we start our story?  Living like a hermit in a cave.

A young woman from Tokyo (Yukio) goes looking for Logan because her employer wants to repay him for a debt.  Logan saved her employer's life back on August 9, 1945...the day the Americans dropped the atom bomb on Nagasaki.  He tried to repay Logan by giving him his family's ancestral sword.  Instead of taking the sword, he tells the young soldier, Yashida, that he should look after the sword for him. 

Yashida has sent this young woman to find Logan so that he can give him the sword and say his goodbyes.  He's dying.  He offers to give Logan something he's never had before...a mortal life.  He could have his immortality taken from him so that he could live out the rest of his life and die.  This appeals to Logan (to a degree). He could, after all, be with Jean Gray again.

Yashida was able to have his company develop a technology that could transfer Logan's immortality to himself.  Logan isn't so sure about transferring his immortality to someone else.  It's a curse, not a gift.  Yashida, an old, dying man, disagrees.

What Logan does not expect is that his ability to heal and his immortality would be taken from him (not at his will).  He wakes to discover Yashida is dead and that something is wrong.

Before Yashida died, he told Logan that his grand-daughter was in danger. He wanted to live to protect her.  Being the honorable man that Logan is, when danger arose, his only mission was to protect Yashida's grand-daughter and try to discover who was after her and why.

In the spirit of X-Men films, you will enjoy this one just as much as the others.  I don't think there's ever been a bad X-Men film.  The storylines are always great with a great cast of characters. 

I really loved the introduction of Yukio.  She reminds me of one of the girl ninja assassins from the Kill Bill films.  She could be just an innocent regular Japanese school girl...or she could be one of the best ninja assassins in Japan.  What I really love about her: she decides that she is Wolverine's bodyguard.  Like he ever needed a bodyguard...apparently, in this movie, he does.  Wolverine is always trying to protect some innocent person.  He's never had someone watching out for him before.  That's what I love about Yukio.  She's that damn good that she can protect The Wolverine.

The movie is out in theaters now.  If you're an X-Men fan, you'll enjoy this just as much as the other films.  After all, I think many of us have loved Wolverine ever since we picked up our first X-Men comic book. 

And yes, I do have a comic book collection.

xxoo,

Michelle


P.S.  Be on the lookout for X-Men: Days of Future Past due out May 23, 2014.  This film is the second installment in the X-Men: First Class trilogy.

Movie Review: R.I.P.D.

 

 

Meet Detective Nick Walker (Ryan Reynolds).  Boston's Finest.  Married to a beautiful French woman.  Struggling to make ends meet.

Meet Detective Bobby Hayes (Kevin Bacon).  Boston's Finest.  Nick's partner.  He tries to help out his friend by trying to get him to cash in on some 'found' gold at a recent bust. 

Nick struggles with the ethical dilemma of keeping the gold or turning it in.  Nick decides he's going to turn it in when he can.  Instead he and Bobby get called away to bust a criminal haven at a warehouse.  Little does Nick know, this is his last call.

He heads up for judgment only to be thrown into the Rest In Peace Department (RIPD)...a sort of heavenly police department where they try to bring souls up for judgment before they become malevolent spirits haunting mankind...better yet, before they turn into walking demons and monsters.

Grouped with a bad ass 1800's US Marshall as his partner (Jeff Bridges), both Nick and Roy head back to earth to try and bring back these souls...only to discover that 'found' gold Nick buried in his backyard all of a sudden means something bigger...and it was the reason why he was killed.

Ends up, Nick has some unfinished business down on earth.

This movie is a little bit Men in Black, but throw out the aliens and add a life after death/spiritual/religious montage to it and you have R.I.P.D.  The movie was really good.  The best parts of the film all lies in Jeff Bridges' acting.  He did a superb job.  You can't help but dislike his character Roy because he's a jerk, but at the same time, you love him because he's a crass, bad ass...sensitive underneath it all with a fetish for women's ankles. 

That southern drawl with chewing tobacco sitting in the side of his mouth and spit going all over the place...that's Roy.  Gotta love him.  But what makes his character funny, human beings see him as this beautiful, tall blonde woman...so it's quite hilarious when men enamored with his beauty try to pick him up.  His responses are hilarious! 

As for Nick, they see him as a little old, Chinese man.

All in all, you will definitely enjoy this comedy.

Also stars: Mary-Louise Parker (from Weeds fame).

xxoo,

Michelle 

New York Restaurant Week: Todd English's Ça Va Brasserie

 

Restaurant Week has begun in New York City and will run through until August 16th.  The deal?  You get to try out some of the best restaurants in NYC: 3 courses for $25 (lunch) or $38 (dinner). 

In the spirit of Restaurant Week, I decided to spend the evening out at a restaurant I've never been to.  French food was the desire and Todd English's Ça Va Brasserie was the destination.

In the spirit of Restaurant Week, a special menu was designed for patrons. 

FIRST COURSE

Salad de Cresson (watercress, grilled peaches, feta, toasted pistachio, white balsamic vinaigrette)
Soupe Glacée de Petits Pois Anglaise (chilled english pea soup, buttermilk flan, jumbo lump crab)
Lamb Spare Ribs (apricot glaze, cucumber-yogurt dip)

SECOND COURSE

Strozzapreti Pasta (spicy pork sausage, roasted tomato ragout, broccoli rabe)
Poulet Rôti (roasted half chicken, grilled sweet corn and baby heirloom succotash, warm yellow tomato vinaigrette)
Loup de Mer Rôti (roasted mediterranean sea bass, lentil salad, braised greens, vadouvan butter)

THIRD COURSE

Stone Fruit Crisp (ginger snap-almond streusel, vanilla gelato)
Manjar (chocolate mousse, english toffee, caramel drizzle)

I ordered the salad, pasta and mousse from the menu.  It was so divine, I'm still remembering each and every flavor on the tip of my tongue a week later. 

It was that good.

The salad had a mixture of sweet, salty, and bitter all at once.  The combination together was a delightful way to start the palate.

The pasta was beyond amazing.  Each bite was as if I was tasting nectar made specifically for the gods and worthy of heaven.  I can't even put into words what I tasted...you just have to go for yourself and try it. 

The chocolate mousse...you know it's good when after the first bite you are bombarded with so many pleasurable senses that you feel like you don't need another bite.  You are fulfilled.  That is what we call a perfect dessert.

Since the pasta is not part of their regular menu, I'll be going back every week until the end of Restaurant Week to enjoy this special menu.  After tasting this little piece of heaven, I plan on becoming a regular at Ça Va Brasserie.  Not only is the location perfect for me, the way I look at it...if each meal is as heavenly as the last, they are worth taking a little time out of every week to bask in the splendor that is the nectar of the gods.

Chef de Cuisine is Patrick Malone.

xxoo,

Michelle

P.S.  Thank you to @CaVaBrasserie for making my visit even more entertaining.  From the welcome tweets to the 'checking in' to see how dinner was going...their Twitter account made for a very welcoming and pleasant atmosphere during dinner.  I look forward to visiting more often.

MOVIE REVIEW: The Hunt

 

 

 

Out of all of the movies I've seen so far this summer, this is the first movie that I have to give five stars to.  This movie has been getting rave reviews everywhere, and I can see why.  This is the kind of movie that will stick to you for the rest of your life.

This Danish film stars Hannibal star Mads Mikkelsen.  The story is about a man (a kindergarten teacher) wrongfully accused of abusing his best friend's five-year old daughter.  As the child tells the lie, you see the story grow from being just one child to being multiple children...all telling the exact same story.  You see how the story of the abuse is weaved into the minds of the children...by the adults.  The kids become so confused, they don't remember if the abuse actually took place or if it was like the adults described it to them.

In the meantime, Lucas (Mads Mikkelsen) is ostracized from the village.  His once close friends become complete strangers and enemies.  He loses his job.  He is denied access to his own son.  He can't even shop in the local grocery store.

All the while, the little girl who made the false accusation is trying to tell the truth because she loves Lucas.  She's known him her whole life.  She kept saying she never meant for this to happen...she never meant to hurt him. 

Everywhere Lucas turns, he finds that only one man (the godfather of his son) is the only one that believes him.  Everyone else has turned their backs on him, humiliated him, and even went so far as to gang up on him, beating him up and killing his dog. 

The only thing Lucas is guilty of...trying to correct a little 5 year old girl's crush.  She tried to give him a gift of a heart she made.  She ran up to him while he was being wrestled to the floor by the other boys in her class, and kissed him on the lips.  He told her not to do that.  She should only kiss her mom and dad on the lips.  When he asked her about the heart she slipped into his pocket, he tried to tell her to give it to her mother or one of the other little boys in the class. 

She didn't like this at all...and that's how the drama starts.

When she realizes what is going on after her accusation, it's already too late.  No one will listen to her.  They think she was traumatized, sympathizing with her abuser.  The stories the adults tell her as far as what happened to her...she becomes so confused (as well as her classmates) that they start to believe those stories really happened.

Throughout this entire movie, the audience all responded the exact same way when each emotional trigger happened in the movie.  From the start, you see the man's innocence, you hear the lie (and understand how she came to the accusation), you see how the adults react and begin to fill her head with things that she wasn't aware of, you watch as the lie grows from one child to all of the children, you watch as the child tries to tell the truth and the adults tell her that is not the truth anymore, you watch as an innocent man is seen as guilty from the start and loses everything.  He has nothing...not even his trusty best friend (his dog). 

Even when they are able to find a break in the case where the truth shows the children had to have been making up the story, he is still believed to be guilty by the entire village.

His saving grace all lies in his best friend.  Sometimes when you've known someone your entire life, you feel like you can tell whether they're lying or telling the truth.  At first, his friend was conflicted and didn't know if his best friend touched his daughter or not.  As time moves on and the village sides against Lucas, he starts to believe the village.

But one look at his friend on Christmas Eve and he knows.  Lucas is telling the truth. 

As the events of the evening unravel, he realizes the truth when his daughter (half asleep) begins apologizing to Lucas for what happened.  She doesn't realize it's her father she's talking to.  When he tells her it's him, he finds out from her that she had made a mistake.  She never meant to hurt Lucas.

This conversation is the saving grace because he's able to face the village and tell them it was a false accusation.  Lucas and the village can go back to normal...

Truth is, like all small towns, even if you are absolved of a wrongful accusation, there are always people that will believe you really did do it.  You will always be guilty, even when you are innocent and proven you were innocent.

This isn't just something you see in Denmark.  It happens everywhere.  Someone is wrongfully accused of child sexual abuse...even if innocent (and proven innocent)...there are people out there that will always look at you as a pedophile, even though it never happened.  With that, you are never safe or innocent.

This film will probably stay with me for the rest of my life.  It reminds me of my own hometown and how people reacted to things like this.  Even if the person was innocent and the child made it up, people never forget.  They will always call that person a pedophile.  It's a black stain that can never be washed clean. 

Mads Mikkelsen won best actor at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival for his role in this film.  Is this an Oscar-worthy role?  Hell, yes.  It is.  The film should also be considered for an Oscar.  It was so thought-provoking and emotional.  To hear the entire audience all have the same shock, sorrow, and disbelief echoed throughout the cinema, you know this is a powerful film.

The film has a very limited engagement in the United States (in NYC, only two theaters are showing the film).  It grossed only $44,000 over the weekend, but that is due mainly to the film showing only in art cinemas (and extremely limited engagements).  Critics and reviewers have ranked this film very high (4 stars and above).  It is that good.

Take time to see this film...even if you wait until it comes out on video.  Like I said, this movie will cling to me for the rest of my life.  This is the kind of story you never forget. 

Well done, Mr. Mikkelsen.  Well done.

xxoo,

Michelle

P.S.  Topic of conversation overheard as we were all walking out of the cinema?  Thought-provoking discussions on Hannibal Lecter as a psychiatrist.