With summer coming up (in the Philippines anyway), I imagine many of you are looking forward to days lounging on a beach bed, cold drink in hand and reading a good book. These are my recommendations for fun and chic light summer reading. Both happen to be memoirs, of ordinary people who had extraordinary experiences…
(image: Bringing Home the Birkin Blog)
BRINGING HOME THE BIRKIN
Do you wanna know the secret to purchasing a Birkin without having to get on the fabled 2-year waiting list? YES I do!!! Even if I would NEVER be rich enough to actually buy one! 
Michael Tonello was a makeup artist and hair dresser who left his life in Massachusetts to follow his dreams of living in Barcelona, Spain (He had me at “Spain” – living vicariously through him!) wherein he finds himself alone with no job! Then he discovers the secret to purchasing the most coveted bag in the world and becomes an eBay luxury reseller of everything Hermes. It’s so fabulous and told in such a witty, sassy way that I can barely believe it’s a memoir! What a fun exciting read! I didn’t wanna put this book down. Seriously.
“[A] memoir of … madcap travels, triumphs, and humiliations…. Anyone who has ever stepped into a luxury boutique and felt the sting of the doorman’s disapproval will find a hero in Tonello.”
– MIAMI HERALD
Read an excerpt of Bringing Home the Birkin here. Read about author Michael Tonello’s life in Barcelona here.
(image: Design Wonderland)
SUMMER AT TIFFANY
This New York Times Bestseller is about 2 college girls from Iowa who go to NYC to apply for summer jobs and end up being the first girls working on the sales floor at (the holy grail) Tiffany’s in the 1940’s.
Oh my! How exciting to be around all the lovely things and fabulous people of that era! During a time when everything was so proper and people wore hats and gloves. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to live in that time when there were so many rules and proper ways to do things. Though I am sure I would probably be a “rebel” of some sort… it is nice to daydream about those days of glamour and the
This book lets us live that daydream through Marjorie Hart’s story of that one summer at Tiffany’s. She got to see legends like Marlene Dietrich and Judy Garland in the flesh!! She even got to model jewelry for the famous playboy and heir to the Woolworth’s fortune, Jimmy Donahue!
“A glorious once-upon a time fairy tale come true. . . . I loved every moment.”
– ADRIANA TRIGIANI
Ladies, enjoy the read! And when you finish, please do drop me a line to let me know your thoughts on the books! I would love to hear from you!
Wow, you read these two? They sound so interesting! I wish I went to Aksara when they had a sale!! Bringing Home Birkin sounds very interesting! It’s so intriguing to learn how people see something with business potential and bring it to life and become a successful business owner. I wish I could do that. Ebay is revolutionary, isn’t it? The Tiffany story sounds like fun! I don’t know if I can survive living with all the rules for doing things and remembering protocols, but it would be fun to see the fashion in that era.
Hi Kaho, I read Bringing Home the Birkin a couple of years ago. It’s still one of my favorite books. So much fun to read and to live vicariously through Michael T! I can lend it to you if you want!! I hear you about living during that time… though I like the thought of rules and protocols I would probably have been a “rebel” if I had been born during that time. However I do think that these days people should be more conscious of protocol or at least try to educate themselves on it. Nowadays I think some people forget that the concept of etiquette..sigh. Kaho, Summer at Tiffany is sooooo cute and quaint – and the writers beau was such a cutie too! She even has pictures of souvenirs from that time!
Wow, pictures of souvenirs from that time! That’s precious. About etiquette, you’re right. Especially in the cyber world, since people don’t see faces, it feels like people do forget that. Isn’t it sad…?