Double Trouble

I'd like to warn our readers about an area of the city I call the danger zone. The danger zone is a 3 block corridor between 16th and 18th, Sansom and Walnut Sts. Non-shopaholics may simply see this as the French Quarter or part of Rittenhouse Row. It is the home to some very fine boutiques, harbours of high fashion and my own personal shopping oasis. It is also where I often part with my discretionary income.

There are more stores in the danger zone than I can mention in one post so I will concentrate on two personal favorites: Echochic and Kimberly Boutique. Echochic is an urban fashionista's mecca, teeming with bohemian caftan-style dresses, avant-garde accessories and graffitied vintage handbags, cutting edge designers like See by Chloe and L.A.M.B. Over the years I have
found many great pieces, including a butter yellow sundress for my rehearsal dinner, a super-soft Rachel Pally cotton baby doll mini dress, and a few signature vintage pieces that always make an impression. The staff are stylish and helpful, and will actually tell you honestly if a piece is right for you. Echochic is also not a place for a woman whose style errs on the conservative side. Echochic is for the Carrie in us, not the Charlotte.

Which brings me to Kimberly, which is great for the more staple wardrobe "musts" and investment dressing - the LBD, the trench coat, the cropped wool jacket, classic Charlotte-friendly separates by designers such as Susana Monaco and Cynthia Vincent, peppered with the occassional LaRok or Nguyen to keep it exciting. I walk by Kimberly every day on my way to work. I have had many a close call with other commuters (and a few street food vendors) as my gaze gets stuck on its window displays when I should be watching where I am walking. Recently I coveted this fabulously mod Tibi dress for 3 weeks before succombing to its call to me. I knew if I walked in and tried it on, I would have to have it. I was right. In fact I also had to get a new hair cut to match the dress.

There are other shopping corridors around the city that can suck you dry of your savings. But the proximity of this particular area to my place of employment makes this one my own personal danger zone, filled with the pleasure of finding the next best thing and the pain of having to put it back on the rack and resist. Some power lunch, I power shop at lunch. It feeds my addiction.

Echochic, 1700 Sansom St.
www.echochic.com

Kimberly Boutique, 123 S. 16th St.
www.kimberlyboutique.com

New Colleen 1: Dating 0.

The first date (cue ominous music)...

How we met. We have mutual friends, but didn't know each other. He saw my profile on one of said friend's MySpace and got my IM. Ahhh, cyber dating. Old Colleen would have said "no", simply because he's not my usual type. See, I tend to err towards hipster and this guy's more of a Soprano (key differentiator, one showers the other doesn't). But New Colleen was into it. He suggested Tequila's and won me over immediately. Allow me to digress, when I went on my last actual date (there was snow on the ground) the guy took me to Mad Mex in University City. Don't get me wrong, it's perfect for its famous "Big Azz Margaritas" but not so great for a romantic afternoon date. I was carded by the hostess. The fact Gotti and I were going to an actual grown-up place was refreshing.

Preparation. This was tough. I shaved my right leg, thought better of it so when it came to my left I only shaved from the knee down (there had been proper maintenance up to this point so it didn't affect my balance). Megan vetoed my normal comfy/ cute outfit choices and made me break out the big guns, New Years Eve shirt '07. After my Pre-date glass of wine, we met at my street and walked over. The restaurant was everything I hoped it would be. The food was delicious, for the appetizer we had Queso Fundido (melted cheese with meat on top that you put in a tortilla... mmm cheese), and for the main course Cochinita Pibil (pork... mmm meat). For drinks I went with 2 mojitos (mmmm liquid courage).

Overall the conversation flowed easily. I gathered he was a little nervous because he went on a few tangents, then asked if he was talking too much (I think it was around the 10th time i said "right" and nodded my head). But I would take that over awkward silence any day. Apparently everything I did was "adorable" from my apathy for sports to my dumb joke about bringing a doggie bag home for the cats (Yes, I said cats. Plural. Don't judge.) My favorite quote of the night would have to be when he said "Yeah, I'm emotional and sentimental and all that shit." After said date he walked me home and didn't try to kiss me, which was admittedly a relief (baby steps). But I didn't want him to think I had a bad time, so I actually said "Let's hug it out". Yes. I said that out loud.

Anyway. First date was an overall success. This weekend, I'm going to West Chester to visit my girls. Let's see what tasty nuggets the burbs have to offer.

www.tequilasphilly.com

1602 Locust Street

Melogra-no-no

Melograno has emerged as one of Philly's favorite BYOs. Not an easy feat considering the shear volume of competitors in our fair city. It has definitely made the list of my personal favorites in the past - an atmosphere that has that special something - that 'je ne sais quoi'. Love the space with its floor-to-ceiling windows, open kitchen, red berry garland and minimalist sunflower arrangements. European waiters with thick accents and charming smiles. And the food, oh the food - my kind of perfection. Light, simple and flavorful.

So you can imagine my dismay at having to be the bearer of bad news from my most recent visit there on a cold Wednesday night. I understand that Melograno has received a lot of praise, great press and enjoys a constant buzz of traffic night in and night out. And it is certainly worthy of its success. But that is no reason to be rude to your patrons. No way. Unacceptable. So I politely ask the Melograno staff to sit back, take a deep breath, and quietly step down off your high horses. It is your privilege to enjoy our patronage, not the other way around. Make us feel welcome, not like you are doing us a huge favor by allowing us to have a table. Philly folk don't like snobs, not even in Rittenhouse.

That said, I'm not sure that even a snooty hostess will be enough to keep me away from the portabello with pine nuts and goat cheese or the branzino and garlic mashed. It really is that good.

Melograno, 2201 Spruce Street

215.875.8116

Sing City

Karaoke. What is it about karaoke that makes people crazy? You're either obsessed or scared to death. There's really very little in between. Those who have a nice singing voice but are not quite good enough to do anything useful with it are most susceptible to the calling of this psuedo-performance. Some people take it very seriously. Almost sport-like. There's an unspoken sense of competition, like you have to one-up the guy that went before you. Or someone in the crowd decides you suck and wants to one-up you with a mind-blowing rendition of "We are the Champions."

I never thought of Philadelphia as a karaoke capital, but I recently discovered otherwise. With some friends in town for the Thanksgiving holiday, we headed to Fuji Mountain for a relaxing sushi dinner and a few Sapporos (I should note here that they offered this Japanese beer in 3 -yes - 3 different sizes, the 22 oz for those who really need to lube up before taking the mic). Fuji Mountain is a 4-story establishment with the sushi bar on the first floor, sake bar on the second, and the third and fourth devoted to cocktails and karaoke.

Fuji Mountain is the real deal, a chanteur's paradise devoted to the underappreciated art of televised accompaniment. When we'd had our fill of singing along with everyone from Elvis to TLC, we made our way to what we thought would be your typical Brit-style pub, Barristers. Little did we know that we would walk right into Wednesday night karaoke. It is everywhere. So get practicing - you could be up next.

Fuji Mountain, 2030 Chestnut St., 215-751-0939
www.fujimt.com
Barristers Bar & Grille, 1823 Sansom St., 215-496-0786
www.barristersbar.com

A Perfect 10 (or 20)

City Nails, Midtown Nails, Nail City, Uptown Nails, Downtown Nails, Center City Nails, Walnut Nails, Chestnut Nails, Nails R Us...Nails, Nails, Nails. How is a girl to know the good from the bad and the ugly? Well the ugly I guess is easy to pick out and steer clear of. Dirty is a definite don't. But so many nail boutiques look the same, they're almost all always busy, how to know if I'll wind up with a fabulous mani or a fist full of fung?

My answer is Rittenhouse Nails. I worked around the corner when they opened a little over 2 years ago so I saw the whole thing go down. Hardwood floors, crown molding, even a lovely chandelier give this walk-ins-welcome a little extra class. The staff are friendly, full of smiles and even chatty despite a language barrier. Last week one of the ladies noticed my engagement ring and asked if I had any pictures of my wedding. How cute is that? Of course I could not oblige due to the fact that it has not yet occured, but whatevs.

The ladies at Rittenhouse are very thorough, so don't pop in if you are pressed for time. They take real care of their clients' digits - no wayward cuticle is safe around them. And if they can make mine look good, they can help anybody! They not only massage your feet and legs during the pedi and your hands during the mani, but also your shoulders while you wait under the nail dryers. Love that.

Rittenhouse Nails, 1742 Sansom St. 215.557.0078

Went in for sushi, came out with Christmas

While we're on the subject of random lunchtime wanderings, I might as well mention that I stumbled across my first taste of the holiday season the other day at none other than DiBruno Brothers. Most people go for bread, cheese, and $20 per pound salami. On this particular occasion I settled on sushi and a lovely addition to my forthcoming frazier fir. I usually subscribe to the "no Christmas until after Thanksgiving" rule, but how could I resist this fabulous tribute to my city? I did, by the way (shopaholics everywhere be proud of my self-restraint), resist the matching appetizer plates, dish towels, juice cups and pint glasses that were also prominently displayed in the impulse-purchase section.

This porcelain ornament, which is part of the Cityscape Collection by DSC Designs, features all of Philly's most famous landmarks - Independence Hall, Boathouse Row, and the Academy of Fine Arts to name a few. You know, all those places you take for granted, walk by every day but never visit. The artwork has remarkable detail for such small renderings and each landmark is labeled in the artist's handwriting. It is, in a word, adorable. And it's $14.99 plus tax. What can I say? It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Di Bruno Bros., 1730 Chestnut St. 215-665-9220

www.dibruno.com

Find a BYO, Courtesy of "The Google"

If you haven't yet been seduced by Philadelphia's burgeoning BYOB culture, than you are a much less hungry person than I. Who can resist the grilled whole fish, garlic hummus platters, goat cheese salads, hand-rolled gnocchi and vanilla creme brulees that await, just a few doors down any given block at one of the city's over 200 BYOBs. And its not just the food that tempts, but the din of happy voices, the buzz of the kitchen just a few feet away, the low candle light and the hearth-like warmth of these undersized and often overstuffed 1-room establishments. Why just in the last week alone I have had the pleasure of dining (and drinking) at 2 of these pint-sized places, Mercato at the corner of Spruce and Camac Sts. in Washington Square West (pictured), and Audrey Claire at 20th & Spruce in Rittenhouse.

But with the sheer number of BYO options these days, who can choose? Personally I'm trying to hit them all one by one, but it's going to take some time. And since they seem to be multiplying by the day, how can one even keep up with the latest and greatest? Now, thanks to the wonders of Google maps and the clever folks over at the Greater Philadelphia Tourism and Marketing Corporation, finding your next BYO has never been easier. Their new Interactive BYOB Restaurant Map lets you find what you want, where you want it. Just choose a neighborhood, and all the BYOs are marked by cute little bottles of vino, conveniently color-coded by cuisine type. Red for Italian, Orange for French, Yellow for Spanish/Latin American, Green for...well you get the idea. Click on your chosen bottle and up pops the address, website, phone number, and important bits of information like whether they take reservations (not likely) or accept credit cards (dream on).

The map even lists the Wine & Spirits shops in the area in case you run out of the fruit of the vine before the cheese course arrives. Brilliant.

Greater Philadelphia Tourism & Marketing Corp.

Interactive BYOB Restaurant Map

www.gophila.com/byobmap