practicing being a businesswoman / fashionista for life

So I'm back in Italy again! Sorry for anyone reading who thought that this was going to be about Spain - I promise, it will be!

This week I've been helping my boyfriend and his brother design some bijoux for their stores. It was fun to see the immediate turn around. I designed 10 or so pins for women's scarves or coats, and five were sold the next morning! Last spring when I visited Madrid to check out neighborhoods, I also helped the bf buy merchandise from the wholesalers south of Sol. I also went with him a month ago to the MACEF trade fair in Milan. He left yesterday for China to stock up on the newest beads and bijoux. 

Watching my boyfriend and his brother start their jewelry businesses from the ground up motivated me in part to apply to business school. Through their eyes I've learned a little bit about the bureaucracy of opening a business in Italy. More fascinating still, I've seen what they pay for earrings or necklaces that I might have bought for 10 times the price or more if I didn't have them to supply me... It's really interesting to enter the world that goes on behind the small business, to see where they get what gets put on the shelf.

Fortunately, I don't like about 1/2 - 3/4 of what my boyfriend sells, so I don't steal too many possible sales from him :) I've learned to head his advice when going with him to buy wholesale: don't get what you like, get what those "boring, fad-following, tacky" teenagers or ladies like, because that's what's in the market, that's what sells, and that's what's paying the bills! So that's why five of my pins sold yesterday, I didn't make anything I'd actually want (I did that this morning hehe), I made designs I thought would sell, and so they did! Of course there are business where that's not the case, but that's not what my boyfriend nor his brother are currently dealing in.

Too bad I don't want to go into jewelry design... it was just diversion for a day for me. My ideal small business would definitely involve food... This weekend, we attended the local chocolate festival, and thank God I can't find the names of the vendors because I'd be way too tempted to seek them out and buy more absolutely amazing chocolate. Believe me, I've had my fill for awhile.

This morning, I delivered some new merchandise to my boyfriend's shop in Genova and sat down for lunch to enjoy some testaroli al pesto. Genova and the Ligurian region in general is famous for its pesto. While I've been to Genova numerous times, bought fresh pesto in the grocery store in Torino, and even made my own, I had never actually had any in a Genovese restaurant. And... the jury (me) likes my own pesto better! That's the way it goes in Italy, the food is always amazing, but everyone has their own little recipe. What I had for lunch today was a little more garlic-y and a little short on the basil for my preferences. Here's a picture of the same dish I made for my family this summer. I was given the testaroli pasta as a gift from my coworkers before leaving Italy. It came from the specialty "slow foods" store Eataly that started in Torino, but now has several locations, including a brand new one in New York. 

Doing touristy things reminds me of the magic and beauty of Italy... it balances out my love/hate relationship for the country. I tell everyone I never want to live here again, but really, as I'm contemplating what to put as my first choice office for 2011 summer internships with consulting firms, Rome is definitely a very close second right now to Madrid. I think with the right, challenging yet rewarding job, I'd be happy establishing myself permanently in either place... as long as I eventually get to buy my Mediterranean farmhouse with a killer garden... and maybe a small vineyard :) Dreams!