HappyThursday, Cafe!Things look good from the Philadelphia Art Museum's west entrance.
Hermes Cafe Bon Temps~Good Times Cafe
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HappyThursday, Cafe!Things look good from the Philadelphia Art Museum's west entrance.
Great photo. I spent many a summer's afternoons lounging in the azalea garden.
Crazy story about what happened at rouge. One of my other favorite spots. Not good.
My goodness, PbP was right! Very chatty last night!
My favorite fraudulent charge was someone who got a hold of my AmEX and was buying train tickets in Italy and booking hotels on the Riviera. Sounded like a great trip, too bad I wasn't the one going. The CC caught it ASAP and the culprits never got to enjoy any of it. My least favorite fraudulent mishap was I was standing at the register at the Hermes boutique in Palm Beach and the SA told me my AmEx was rejected! Whaaaat? I had no notifications from the CC company and was clueless, not to mention upset and mad. I used another card for the purchase and as soon as I returned to my mom's home, I called the CC company. They had put a hold on my card because of suspected fraudulent activity and neglected to inform me. I was upset because that was the card linked to my airline ticket. I managed to get them to re-instate the card until I returned home after telling them my exact travel plans and time of arrival at home. Whew! It is scary out there and the only good news is that you are not responsible for the charges. I always make sure to notify the CC company when and where I am taking a trip so I don't get any rude surprises. I
RE avoiding distasteful retail experiences: We used to have a very nice ladies retail boutique that had great things and in-house alterations. The SA worked on commission and were beyond pushy. I finally said "no mas" and never went back. The last thing you want is buying an expensive garment that you really don't like and will never wear.
PbP: Very guilty of using artificial sweeteners in tea and oatmeal. Managed to wean myself to black coffee. On the whole I totally agree with you that these things are a bunch of chemicals and feel that way about margarine, and that has not been purchased in decades. I use butter for baking, cooking, and eating.
My favorite fraudulent charge was someone who got a hold of my AmEX and was buying train tickets in Italy and booking hotels on the Riviera. Sounded like a great trip, too bad I wasn't the one going. The CC caught it ASAP and the culprits never got to enjoy any of it. My least favorite fraudulent mishap was I was standing at the register at the Hermes boutique in Palm Beach and the SA told me my AmEx was rejected! Whaaaat? I had no notifications from the CC company and was clueless, not to mention upset and mad. I used another card for the purchase and as soon as I returned to my mom's home, I called the CC company. They had put a hold on my card because of suspected fraudulent activity and neglected to inform me. I was upset because that was the card linked to my airline ticket. I managed to get them to re-instate the card until I returned home after telling them my exact travel plans and time of arrival at home. Whew! It is scary out there and the only good news is that you are not responsible for the charges. I always make sure to notify the CC company when and where I am taking a trip so I don't get any rude surprises. I
RE avoiding distasteful retail experiences: We used to have a very nice ladies retail boutique that had great things and in-house alterations. The SA worked on commission and were beyond pushy. I finally said "no mas" and never went back. The last thing you want is buying an expensive garment that you really don't like and will never wear.
PbP: Very guilty of using artificial sweeteners in tea and oatmeal. Managed to wean myself to black coffee. On the whole I totally agree with you that these things are a bunch of chemicals and feel that way about margarine, and that has not been purchased in decades. I use butter for baking, cooking, and eating.
I tend to get a lot of fraudulent charges on my card, despite having "fraud protection", which only seems to work to prevent me from using my own card online. I have experienced numerous occasions where I purchased an item online, the charge was placed and then soon after declined due to the "fraud alert", which would cause the purchase to be cancelled. Then my card would be restricted due to the "fraud alert" so that I could not repurchase before waiting on hold to talk to a representative at the credit card company and verify all of the personal information about myself that I can never remember. What a headache.
Now I have reset my account notifications to send me an email, text me AND give a phone call when a purchase triggers a fraud alert, so that I can approve the charge in time (they give a very short window) so that the account is not suspended. In reality this is how it has worked: I get the text 99% of the time, 3/4 of the time I get the email and 1/4 of the time I get the phone call (this only happens for expensive international purchases - 2 times with online purchases: Hermes bag on Vestiare Collective and Cartier diamond earrings purchased from Vancouver, Canada. It did not happen for a $4,000 purchase in Italy, but I was physically there to swipe the card, so maybe that makes a difference).
I still get about 4 fraudulent charges per year on my card somehow. The company sends us a new card, but then it happens again. Luckily my husband checks the credit card report, but it is a bit embarrassing when he goes down the list to verify the purchases with me and asks, "What is xxxxxx?" ... "And what is xxxx?" because most of the time I have no idea what the purchase is (I shop a ton using Amazon prime for convenience instead of going to the store, like 4-5 items per day), or it is a super goofy store name from Ebay or Amazon that makes him laugh at me.
The biggest fraudulent attempted purchase was airline tickets from someone who was at the airport at that time. We got a call for that one and declined the charge. I wonder if anything happened to the person? The weirdest one was some Asian condiment store in California for $15 or $20. What is even the point of risking jail time for $15?
Now I have reset my account notifications to send me an email, text me AND give a phone call when a purchase triggers a fraud alert, so that I can approve the charge in time (they give a very short window) so that the account is not suspended. In reality this is how it has worked: I get the text 99% of the time, 3/4 of the time I get the email and 1/4 of the time I get the phone call (this only happens for expensive international purchases - 2 times with online purchases: Hermes bag on Vestiare Collective and Cartier diamond earrings purchased from Vancouver, Canada. It did not happen for a $4,000 purchase in Italy, but I was physically there to swipe the card, so maybe that makes a difference).
I still get about 4 fraudulent charges per year on my card somehow. The company sends us a new card, but then it happens again. Luckily my husband checks the credit card report, but it is a bit embarrassing when he goes down the list to verify the purchases with me and asks, "What is xxxxxx?" ... "And what is xxxx?" because most of the time I have no idea what the purchase is (I shop a ton using Amazon prime for convenience instead of going to the store, like 4-5 items per day), or it is a super goofy store name from Ebay or Amazon that makes him laugh at me.
The biggest fraudulent attempted purchase was airline tickets from someone who was at the airport at that time. We got a call for that one and declined the charge. I wonder if anything happened to the person? The weirdest one was some Asian condiment store in California for $15 or $20. What is even the point of risking jail time for $15?
The little charges are the ones that they hope will sneak by under the radar. I had a few of these recently and called the CC company when i was reviewing my charges online. You have to stay on top of your card and watch for things like this. The scammers realize the big charges will trigger the CC company to take a look. The CC people do look at your history. When I first starting putting online large purchases on the cards, they called me and since I spoke with them etc. it doesn't happen anymore.
Ah that makes sense! The little charges can sneak through very easily.
I hate those kind of pushy SAs. Or the kind that instantly act like your best friend in order to upsell you but are rude when you aren't interested. There are two stores in particular that stand out to me, and for both of them, it's every single location I've shopped in so I am sure it has something to do with the company's sale tactics and commission structure rather than the SAs themselves. I looked online for information about these stores and there is a lot out there. One makes quite a mediocre product (in my opinion) so I am fine avoiding but another is a brand I used to really like. I dealt with the SAs for a few times but then I just couldn't do it anymore.
Norton is dark with big fruity flavors and firm acidity. Very Bordeaux-like. No grass, herb, hard acids, astringency, or tongue-wrenching tannin. No-fuss to drink and ages really nicely. I am not sure how easy it is to get, but Chrysalis Vineyards has a 2014 Norton called Locksley Reserve for under $40. Virginia has some really nice Petit Verdot wines too. I am amazed at the quality of wines now from all over the US.
Sounds very interesting. I too have been impressed by some US wines lately. If nothing else, I love trying new things. I will try to look for this one.
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Yes. Vacqueyras, Gigondas, Chateauneuf du Pape are all Southern Rhone AOC appellations. If you mean the $16k Henri Jayer Richebourg Grand Cru I have never tried it and probably never will in my lifetime. I will invest in lifetime pieces like B or K but those are pretty steep for a wine that I will inevitably drink. I did have a Richebourg once (that was much cheaper in comparison) for a very special occasion and it was wonderful. I remember that day fondly. This was right around the time I was just getting really into wine so maybe I didn't appreciate it as much as I would now.
Barolo is usually considered the King of Italian wines, yes! I’d say Brunello is up there too, though Barolos are great. I tend to like the slightly older ones the best. There is actually an Italian wine restaurant right near one of my favorite restaurants. This restaurant does not have a good wine list at all (it is a Japanese restaurant so their wines are a bit mediocre) so often I will head for wine at the Italian place after eating there.
I wouldn't say the coffee is great but it is convenient sometimes. I will go other places first that have a better coffee selection but sometimes it comes down to location. I dislike their Pike Place (the default coffee), but I like very bitter and strong coffee so the Dark Roast is a bit better in my opinion. I don't drink milk and don't put sugar in my coffee so the taste of the black coffee/espresso is important to me.
There is a coffee place by Hermes that my SA recommended to me that I've been meaning to check out.
I haven't purchased any H scarves from Bergdorfs since I really like shopping with my SA who gives honest opinions about the scarves. We have similar scarf taste most of the time and they are the best when it comes to knowing what will look great on me. Even options I would have never considered, I am surprised by.
I have a couple of great SAs that I work with at different brands but my H SA and my shoe SA at BG really are phenomenal so I stick to them. I remember you asking about Clive Christian... I actually have a great SA there too, she is always so sweet and I sometimes visit the counter to say hello even if I'm not buying. If I don't really connect with any SA at a brand then I will just buy from whoever is there.
I shop impulsively for some things. I call the SA I work with at my local Hermes boutique first. She knows I am looking for a B or another K or maybe a Constance. A SO was suggested. I'm thinking about placing one. I have bought so much Hermes the past two or three years. Bags, slg's scarves , shawls, & a pair of shoes. I want to be more deliberate for the next large price purchase. I have great SA's at other stores in various departments and stay with them. They let me know when certain things come into the store I might be interested in. I've been shopping for a while and know it's a matter of developing a good interaction with a SA. It may not be immediately.
I have never had a card declined for an online purchase. I have a mac computer & an iPhone. Do they have good fraud protection? Once I received a bogus email from my bank asking me to verify certain information which I did. It did not seem right and I called the bank. They told me it was not how they verify that information & to forward the email to their fraud department which I did. I would be interested who these people or organizations are & how they obtain the ability to get into our emails or accounts. It's never been revealed to me. I sure there are reasons.
I'm not sure if there is actual cafe con leche at the Starbucks in Miami. They may use a different coffee roast. Typical Cuban beans are Pilon, Bustello, & some other local beans. Starbucks may use their own beans. I will check next time I'm in there. The wording is different for the same thing. Like macchiato, etc. Caffecito & espresso are the same. Colada is a large caffecito.
I lived in Philadelphia several years ago. My husband is from the area (I'm from NY). I remember thinking the food was great. It was a different time in our lives. Basically trying lots of restaurants that since closed & learning about wines. The Italian area in south Philly had good, basic comfort food. We went with friends. Each of us had our favorite restaurant.