rome, 2010 (shopping pictures)

retail therapy break! here's a look at shopping in the eternal city. after a couple of fruitless days, i accepted that the italians, for the most part, do not make clothes that fit my body and i would have to be content with acquiring things in another manner: by photographing them. actually, i could find some clothes and shoes and, obviously, purses were not problem...i was just too frugal to spend high triple- or quadruple-digit euros on anything fashionable. there, i said it--i was cheap.

rich has no idea how lucky he is...

...as this is where much of our cash would have gone were i smaller (or angrier)

or here--beautiful leather/skin purses and shoes! i could totally see that one on my arm...

...for a mere 9,800 euros. right now that's roughly 14,000 US dollars. i'm guessing they skinned the last crocodile on earth for that price and we just haven't heard about it yet.

for the fashionable priest in your parish. i know it's tacky to mock this--it is rome after all--but there is something quite distasteful about priestly fashions...

...and nunly ones, too. sadly, i realized about halfway through my trip that i probably looked like a nun in my black skirts/dresses covered with a black sweater coat and, once it started raining, my navy blue windbreaker. i caught my reflection and realized all i was lacking was a habit and a big ass cross swinging around my neck.

a good ciborium is rather hard to come by, though

tomatoes that look like they burned in hell (like that segue?)

spices at campo de' fiori market--and unfortunately the airlines consider this a liquid (nothing over 3 oz. allowed in a carry-on, damnit)

fractal veggies. i would love to be able to pop down to the local market every morning and decide what we were going to have to eat that day according to what was available. yum.

limoncello da sophia! see...i did remember my kids existed. i just had to recall that information through a filter of alcohol.

crazy asparagina

beautiful little cart o' squash and potted herbs

roasted chestnuts are everywhere in rome when it is cold--i'm not terribly fond of the taste, but the smell is heavenly

every meal should end with a trip to della palma

meals on wheels, italian style

even the pigeon approves

i ADORE the widow--if you haven't read the biography of veuve clicquot, do yourself a favor and pick it up now. this was the most painful window display to see--the widow in rosé! a leather travelling case for the widow! a cooling jacket for those picnics on the go! and i passed on all of them. i'm totally kicking myself now. i did, however, find a veuve clicquot orange nail polish by OPI after i got back.

the coffee mecca that is sant' eustachio. absolutely the best--totally kicks tazza d'oro's ass for sublimity.

you have to love a country who intentionally makes lactating-boobie-shaped cheeses

candy fiori

pretty, pretty fiori

confetteria moriondo e gariglio, near the pantheon. perfection in chocolate. how lucky was i to see this shop decked out for valentine's day! the smell in there is so intense that just walking through the door sates a craving.

volpetti had their own take on valentine's day, too--i'm pretty sure that's paté.

interior, ditta g. poggi art supplies...more fun than anyone should have.

just to put things in proper perspective: here we see the creation of want. and that 15-year old was totally bored during her shoot for maserati.

oooh, i just realized i didn't take a picture of momento, this wonderful clothing store near campo de' fiori (it was on the west side of via dei giubbonari, just off of via arenula). crap. let me try and describe it instead: momento is like the tj maxx of trendy/up-and-coming french and italian fashion; it isn't prada, gucci or missoni but rather independent designers you've probably never heard of trying to clear out last year's stock. in the picture below, i'm wearing an awesome skirt i found for 50 euros (original price: 300 euros). and i'm totally regretting not buying more from there. the saleswomen are quite possibly the rudest you'd ever encounter in rome--there was one who actually tried to help (who won't last long there) and five who would rather scowl and pose and bitch--but the finds were totally worth the attitude. as an aside, in my experience at least, the rudeness thing at momento is kind of an anomaly--i've had much worse treatment in the states in stores on the whole than i've had in rome. just a thought.