Are we there yet?

Dear all,

should I start with a typical "Happy New Year!!" or with a less common "Are you there yet?"... where exactly is not known, I can simply wish for you to be next to someone you love and in a place you love to be.

Traveling during the holiday can be tiring and overwhelming (tell me about the luggage I received a week later I arrived!) and yet it is amazing to be able to move and reach everyone we love or anywhere we love to be.

Weather in Florence has been gracious, sunny and warm during the day and a bit chilly (well maybe a bit more than just chilly!) at sundown. 

My Bella Firenze is full of visitors and days are moving at full speed in this new 2025!

Now, tag me in your stories, write to me, stay in touch with social networks and if you need a special personal shopper session online, you can ask to:

personalshopper@jennifertattanelli.com

PALM BEACH

I will be back in Palm Beach in few days, the holidays have been busy and the weather gorgeous as always. Yes some cold front here and there allowed everyone to test drive their warm coats and shoes, likely to be used few days each year!

Palm Beach has many small-town traditions that make it a special place. Among them, the municipal election caucus, which marked its 113th year in December and harks back to an old New England tradition; and the popular Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning.

Then the latest sees residents and visitors rising before sunrise on New Year's Day for a community photograph to celebrate the dawn of a new year.

2025 was no different. With sunrise forecast for 7:07 a.m., a small group started gathering around 6:30 and the number slowly grew. HAPPY NEW YEAR from the sunny island of Palm Beach!

FIRENZE...

We greet the new year in style! There’s some long-awaited news from Florence  regarding one of its most well-known sites, and there is, as usual, an array of unmissable exhibitions to get excited about!

Closed since 2016, the Vasari Corridor finally reopened on December 21. The 750-meter-long overhead walkway has now been restored in its entirety, costing 10 million euro. To answer the question of many, it will no longer be lined with portraits, but returns to its original purpose, providing undisturbed passage in its original bareness but offering amazing views as it weaves its way to Palazzo Pitti...right in front your well known "Jennifer Tattanelli - Florence Atelier"!

Beyond this exciting news, the pedestrian passage to Piazzale Michelangelo has also reopened! Via Mondi alle Croci is the stairway that links the San Niccolò area and the hill, and it’s been closed since March 2022. Now, the bottom half of the steps are once more accessible, climbing from the side entrance of the Giardino delle Rose through the spectacular gardens up to the mesmerizing views of the entire city. 

As can be expected, there’s an ever-interesting lineup on the exhibitions front. The latest at Palazzo Vecchio marks the 450th anniversary of the architect Giorgio Vasari and the Grand Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici, with a display titled Sala Grande that looks at the origins of the Salone dei Cinquecento as we know it today. There’s even a letter from Michelangelo giving advice on the height of the ceilings that makes for interesting viewing! 

There’s another significant anniversary being celebrated this year, the 800th anniversary of the stigmata of Saint Francis. Santa Croce marks the miracle with manuscripts and paintings that cover the earliest known representations through to two panels by Taddeo Gaddi, a student of Giotto. The exhibition titled The Cross that Blooms and the Stigmata of Saint Francis will be hosted in the winter refectory until March 30.

As you might imagine, Florentines have some fascinating traditions to mark the start of a new year, but you may not know that they actually celebrate their own new year on March 25 also! That tradition dates back to the Middle Ages, but January 1 is obviously more significant nowadays with concerts held in the main piazzas and a traditional meal of lentils that are said to bring good luck. Locals will tell you that the more lentils you eat, the greater the riches that await you in the year to come! 

On that note, how about a recipe! Lucky lentils, of course! The stewed legumes are a popular side dish for cotechino and zampone, types of sausage and pork. Flavored with onion, carrots, celery, peeled tomatoes, salt, sage, and Tuscan extra virgin olive oil, the lentils need to be soaked for at least eight hours before they bring good fortune to your table!

And with that, I wish you all a wonderful new year ahead!

With love, 

Jennifer