That Special Find? Buy It When You See It !

How many times have you been somewhere, your one and only time being there, and not bought what you really wanted? I used to have so many regrets upon return from a trip- years ago. So now my mantra is: buy it.

I would obsess and obsess about the wallet, the Italian jewelry, the outfit, the leather pocketbook, the boots---oooh the boots-and I’d end up calling overseas, reminding the salesperson who I was, and describing the item- and then would pay to have the item shipped to me. And I couldn’t rest until it was done- anyways- no more of that craziness- I just buy it when I see it.

It was impossible to let go of desiring that special something, whatever it was. But that feeling has mellowed somehow now. First of all, aging is kind of good to us in that way. It seems to either enhance or diminish certain idiosyncrasies. The ones it enhances we just have to live with; and the ones that aging diminishes, well, be thankful.

Nowadays, even though it is certainly true that we enjoy a global marketplace, and that stunning Italian necklace or soft leather pocketbook you passed up could possibly be found online, better to be safe – and then enjoy the excitement of unpacking when you get home.

Angela Caputi Collection

Annalisa Miniutti Collection

Passing on the Love of Travel

We were young ourselves, with two 4 year-old sons. And after several years of local travel, to the beach, to Disneyworld, and to all the fun places young parents go with their kids, we longed to go back to Europe, children in tow.

There were no plans of doing the grand tour of Europe like all the American painters did, or anything remotely like that. All we wanted to do was be there, and live. So we rented an apartment for two spring weeks in Piazza Sta.Croce in Florence.

We brought a dear aunt of our sons along, to help us when the two of them decided to run in three different directions and to have another adult around for the usual craziness.

It couldn’t have turned out better. The apartment was gorgeous, with plenty of bedrooms to go around, and kitchen and washing facilities to make dishwashing and laundry very convenient.

We spent our days doing simple things in Florence, made it child-friendly, with lots of time built in for just running around the piazza chasing pigeons- which turned out to be a favorite past-time of theirs. And I will never forget the blue skies- every single day of the trip. We saw not one cloud in 15 days! Cielo sereno, as they say.

And I got to run off by myself a few times to buy an italian leather handbag, some Italian gold, Angela Caputi jewelry, and gifts for all my friends while my husband and sister-in-law took the boys to the nearest park with a playground.

Over the years we have returned with our sons to Florence several times. One eventually studied there (or I guess what kind of passed for studying) for many months, and the other travelled there with a girlfriend, so proud to show her his intimate knowledge of the city. In both instances my husband and I couldn’t have been happier.

We have seen in our sons the love of travel extend to all corners of the globe, and are thrilled to see that they have embraced and assimilated it to be a part of each of them.