Author Archive
CONTEST: get your exclusive bella bags by marcía here!
The other night I was strolling around the Internets at my dear, sweet, beloved P‘s request, looking for what I’ll call a man bag. They’re quite popular here in Europe and great for the summer as pocket space is rather limited.
I picked up a nice canvas one for him at the market last week, but he’s already looking toward winter and the rainy season, so I’m on a mission to find a nice leather pouch–a cross between a fanny pack and a small purse–kind of looks like a camera bag.
Anyway, I typed in “borsetta di pelle,” which means small leather purse, and I stumbled across one of most wonderful sites I’ve seen in a long, long time: Bella Bags by Marcía.
These are some of the cutest, most original, most fun [insert more positive, superlative adjectives here] bags I’ve seen, and I immediately thought of all of my wonderful readers who might also enjoy a Bella Bag or two or three, etc.
So I contacted the bella Marcía, and starting now until 19 August, you can get your very own Bella Bag at 15% off just by entering the coupon code “bleedingespresso” at checkout!
These bags and other accessories make fabulous gifts–birthdays, baby showers, holidays, thanks for being my friend days, or, you know, just for yourself when you want to carry around a bag that no one you know will have.
And we *do* love to be unique, don’t we?
Also, for those of you who are green-minded (go you!), Marcía has ultra-cool organic shopping bags made of 100% organically grown cotton that are only $14.00 a piece:
Here are some more of my personal favorites:
Beach Bag (now on sale!)
Hand Bag (now on sale!)
La Borsetta
Book Bag
Gym Bag
There are lots of different, unique choices from fabric to shape–yoga mat baggift certificate so that special gal can choose her own bag. anyone?–and you can even give a
If you don’t see the exact one you want but have a great idea, Marcía will work with you on a customized bag as well.
Also, throughout the contest, do check back on the site for new additions!
Once I saw the Bella Bags site, I was planning on featuring Marcía’s bags on here anyway, but then I saw that I could earn a free Bella Bag by hosting an online party. I assure you, though, this is not my reason. And a contest was born.
***CONTEST***
Through this sale, if I happen to earn enough Bella Bag points for a freebie, I will randomly pick a name from those who comment on THIS POST up until (and including) 11:59 p.m. (that’s 23.59 to some of you) (CEST) on 19 August; the name selected will get a free Bella Bag (I’ll pay for shipping).
Each name will only be entered once in the random drawing, and you can live anywhere in the world to enter.
But there’s more! Even if I *don’t* earn enough points, I’ll go ahead and spring for a bag myself and then pick a winner (same guidelines as above on eligibility and selection).
To be clear, that’s ONE winner, either sponsored by your purchases or by mine. Bag is always my choice, though, so for your sake, I do hope we have similar tastes.
Sound good? Any questions, please leave them in the comments or email me.
As I wrote to Marcía, supporting creative entrepreneurs is important to me because I truly admire anyone with the talent and drive to forge ahead doing what they love.
On that note, if any of you creative entrepreneurs out there would like to be featured here (I’m looking at you Jane!), shoot me an email and we can work something out.
And to my fellow bloggers, why not host an e-party of your own to support the wonderful creative souls that surround us?
Now you should:
(1) Leave a comment here for your chance to win a Bella Bag;
(2) Tell your friends, family, and fellow online addicts to come over here and comment as well (and, you know, have a look around if they so desire); and
(3) Go over to Bella Bags by Marcía and buy a Bella Bag of your own. Be sure to use the coupon code “bleedingespresso” at checkout for the 15% discount, and this way you’ll be *sure* to have the coolest bag to close out the summer…or already have a head start on your holiday gift list.
Happy shopping and in bocca al lupo!
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[tags]bella bags, bella bags by marcia, contests[/tags]
calabria’s version of urban photography
Two of my favorite bloggers consistently and amazingly share photos of their cities–She Who Blogs founder Frances (Blogforth, Photostroll, and The Meme Section) reports from New York and Sarala (Blogaway) from Chicago.
These two lovely ladies have inspired me to post some photos I took while walking around our nearest “city” of Catanzaro not too long ago.
**EDITED to add that our correspondent in St. Augustine, Florida, a one “somepinkflowers” also does a heck of a job showing off her town’s beauty on Tourist Tuesdays. If you haven’t been there yet, you have no idea what you’re missing!**
Admittedly Catanzaro isn’t much of a city (you with me Cherrye?), particularly compared to the Big Apple and the Windy City; good ole CZ doesn’t even have a nickname as far as I know unless an abbreviation counts.
But there’s just something about an even remotely urban landscape that I always love.
I’m not going to caption or explain these because I’d rather you do it–tell me what strikes you, how they make you feel, what you think is portrayed, whatever you’d like to share.
And then, this weekend, if you have a working camera (unlike me, sniff sniff), take a walk around you are (urban or not) and share what you find with us.
Link here in the comments if you like, or send me an email and I’ll do the linking.
As always, click to enlarge.
Ah, and also check out my latest post at TomatoCasual—How to Flirt Your Way to Choosing Better Tomato Plants. Sounds fun, doesn’t it?
Buon weekend!
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[tags]catanzaro, calabria, italy, southern italy[/tags]
What’s Cooking Wednesday: Fried Zucchini Slices
On the heels of our wonderful discussion about obesity and eating healthier (most commented on post ever around here!), I’m posting a recipe that *so* doesn’t qualify as healthy for this week’s What’s Cooking Wednesday.
I do hope that when I post such gluttonous dishes you realize that these aren’t meant to be eaten every day–today’s fried zucchini slices, for example, I make once, maybe twice a year. These would be great as an appetizer at a special summer dinner party.
Anyway, remember those stuffed zucchini flowers from last week? Well now we’re working with the actual fruit–yes, zucchini is technically, botanically speaking a fruit just like the tomato.
These are pretty simple, and you just might be able to slip zucchini past even the pickiest eaters.
Fried Zucchini Slices
- One large zucchini, cut into 1/4 inch slices
- 1 c breadcrumbs (*not* seasoned, if seasoned, omit onion and garlic powder)
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 3/4 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tbsp grated parmiggiano cheese
- 1 egg
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp milk
- vegetable or olive oil for frying
1. Wash and cut zucchini slices, leaving skin on. You can slice them thinner than what I recommend, but then you lose the zucchini flavor–thicker slices, of course, would give you even more zucchini bang for your euro (or whatever currency you’re currently using).
2. Combine egg, salt, and milk in small shallow bowl. Mix together bread crumbs, onion and garlic powder, and cheese in a separate small shallow bowl.
3. Dip zucchini slices in egg and then coat well with bread crumb mixture. Be sure to keep them separated from one another until you’re ready to fry (avoid stacking).
4. Fry zucchini slices in hot oil until golden brown and then let cool on paper towels to absorb excess oil.
5. These are best served warm so if you won’t be serving right away, I suggest keeping them warm in the oven.
Buon appetito!
july is burning
I’ve waited to write July’s Monthly Musing until the very end of the month–hoping that I would develop more positive feelings about it as July marched on.
Unfortunately with each passing day, more and more of our gorgeous rolling hills have gone from green and brown to charred black, and there’s not much positive I can take from that.
You may have read about the fires throughout central and southern Italy (as well as Greece), and believe me, the stories are not exaggerated.
Some say that many of the fires have been set deliberately but to be honest with you, I don’t really buy into that. Sure people burn off their land here all the time, but they’re pretty good about controlling it, and not many are doing it in 120°F–most of that was done in June when temps were reasonable.
They say the motive is to clear the way for new hotels, villas, and pastures
but from where I’m sitting, it’s just a whole lot of beautiful olive trees that have been taking the hit around here–and if any hotels or villas sprout up on the hillside, I’ll let you know.
I’m sure that there *are* some pyromaniacs around, but I personally feel that blaming arsonists for the rash of fires is just another way for the powers-that-be to shake their heads in derision toward central and especially southern Italy and to draw attention away from the fact that they haven’t been very successful in managing the fires.
But maybe that’s just me.
Anyway, we have been lucky to escape any damage up until now, but the hill just across the road from us wasn’t so lucky; yesterday afternoon it went up in flames as I was down at the beach swimming near where a helicopter was dipping into the sea for water to take up there. A couple weeks ago, our neighboring village lost two houses, although no one was injured.
I posted here about the planes fighting the fires, but things have gotten so much worse since then. Tourists have been killed in Puglia and one of our pilots died in Abruzzo when his Canadair crashed into a mountain near L’Aquila.
Greece lost two of its own in a similar way.
And so I sit here on another scorcher, although it’s certainly cooler than it has been, waiting for the wind to pick up as it normally does at this time of day and then continues to increase until it reaches what feels like hurricane force.
And I’m sorry to say that I smell smoke.
Smoke, flames, blackened earth
July two-thousand seven
I’ll never forget.
On a different, more cheerful note, do check out my post entitled “What’s the Deal with Lycopene?: Health Benefits of Tomatoes” on TomatoCasual.com.
And let’s hope for a better August.
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[tags]july, fires, forest fires, italy, southern italy, calabria, haiku[/tags]
i’m a tomato blogger!
Go over to TomatoCasual.com and check out my post, The Tomato: A Relatively New Addition to the Dinner Table, and then click on the home page to see all the posts.
The site was just launched today, so be sure to bookmark it and/or subscribe so you can learn more about the tomato than you ever thought possible–its history, how to grow them, how to cook them, and much, much more.
On a personal note, I’ve spent all day today with some American friends in town (yeah for English!), and we’re having a blast. Just got back from the beach, so it’s time to shower off the sand and head to dinner.
Hope your Monday is/was just as lovely as mine!
Michelle Kaminsky is an American attorney-turned-freelance writer who lived in her family's ancestral village in Calabria, Italy for 15 years. This blog is now archived.
Calabria Guidebook
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