Christmas Gift Guide 2016 {Gillian's Lists of Links}
Rebecca Plotnick Photography
My pal Rebecca and I kept missing each other by days all summer long. Thankfully through Instagram and Snapchat it almost feels like we had that negroni in the Piazetta. Her photography captures everything that is wonderful about summer on the Amalfi Coast. Order a large format print for a favorite wall and you will feel like you are lounging under an umbrella no matter where you are.
Eau d'Italie
I have not spent as much time in Positano in the past few summers as in other years but I kind of forget that because I watch my pal Nicki's daily snaps Instagram stories from her mountain paradise and am always wearing perfume created there. I switch between the signature Eau d'Italie and Aqua Decima which both evoke sun and salt and Italian summer on the Amalfi Coast. Extend your summer to the darkest winter days by perfume shopping online or at their Rome store on via Coronari 146.
Gioielleria Eredi Jovon
Ponte di Rialto, 5325
Venice
There is one tiny spot, do I dare say a gem, that is worth braving the crowds and chaos on the Rialto bridge. The jewelry store run by the Jovon family has been making intricate cameos here for generations. You can bring a photograph and have them transform it into a piece of jewelry or chose from their collection of antique pieces. If you can't make it to Venice send them an email. they are happy to work with you online to create or discover a unique piece you love. I am hoping to find a pair of Intaglio glass cameo earrings the color of the Venetian lagoon under my tree.
In the ten years that I have been living in Italy I have become quite the olive oil snob. I am acutely aware of how lucky I am to have easy access to freshly pressed olive oil from Tuscany and Umbria and Lazio and am grateful to be able to use it every single day. A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to expand my knowledge beyond I like the strong spicy makes you cough stuff. You can learn how spot (and taste) the industrial gak that gets sold as extra virgin and why the color is the least important thing about good olive oil too. Johnny Madge leads olive oil tours in both the Sabine Hills near Rome and in Rome.
Last summer I met Domenica in real life here in Rome after a long social media friendship. We bonded over the bittersweet joy of sending children away to college and exchanged favorite Washington, D.C. haunts. Dominica's lovely book Preserving Italy combines all kinds of things I love; Seasonal eating, reducing food waste and of course Italy.
It sometimes feels like I am always on the move; On a train heading to Venice or a boat on my way to Capri or Ponza. I'm not complaining, but the actual journey can sometimes be tedious. My Sudio Sweden wireless headphones drown out the "Ciao Mamma, sono in treno" cell phone conversations with the only two things on my playlist these days, the new Hamilton Mixtape or Sleeping Lion's Patient Creature. Buy your favorite audiophile a pair and use the code gillianslist for a 15% discount.
One of my new years resolutions for 2017 is to support independent journalism. Boston public radio is my background soundtrack and I just bought a snazzy new Kindle and re-upped my subscriptions to The New Yorker and The Atlantic. If I am being completely honest, a portable West Wing binge is probably in my future too.
Please note there are affiliate links in this post. 
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