How To: Cut a Mango

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One of the tricks I picked up while living in Australia was how to cut a mango!  It comes in handy all the time as mangoes are one of my favorite fruits.  They are oh so delicious and refreshing!  I know mangoes can be a little intimidating, like lychee fruits or pomegranates.  You take one look at them and think, “how in the world are you supposed to eat that!?!”.

Well, I have no clue about pomegranates but I do know about mangoes!  Let me show you how I learned to eat a mango!

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First, you select your mango.

TIP: The little champagne mangoes are the best!  You want them to be soft but firm… does that even make sense!?  You don’t want them to be too hard or too soft!  You want them to be just right.  Smooth, soft and firm.  Ok, enough of that.

So you take the mango and stand it up on its side.  Then you slice down on either side of the mango seed.  You will have 2 mango halves full of mango fruit and then the mango seed center that has a little mango fruit around the outside.

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Next step, take the mango halves and gently slice lines lengthwise and crosswise.  Making small squares!  WARNING:  Do not push down too hard!  You do not want to pierce through the skin of the mango!!  Run the knife up against the mango skin but not cutting through.

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 And then push the center of the mango skin up… Flipping out all the little squares!

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Now it’s finally time to ENJOY!! Bite those little mango squares off!

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 Be sure to have a napkin handy because mangoes can be very juicy!

#OttEuropeanInvasion – London

The final stop on our Ott European Invasion tour was London!  Sadly, we lost Caroline and Steve in Barcelona.  We didn’t lose them lose them… we parted ways at the airport.  Steve – back to Boston.  Caroline – back to Switzerland.

  It was just Patty, Bill, Emily and me in London… what I like to call the Core Four.  The Original Crew.  The way it was for 7 years before Caroline was born. Yay!

Seeing as we lost our photographer, Caroline, we barely have any pictures from the trip. Sorry :(  I did take video though…
So in lieu of lots of pictures, watch this video!

London-#OttEuropeanInvasion from The Milly & Grace Girls on Vimeo.

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This was my and Emily’s first trip to London!  When I travel, I love to try to experience it like the locals do… I am not big into all the touristy, mueseumy, sightseeing thingys.  London is FILLED with history and tradition, though, so we had to make sure to pay respect to that and take in the major sights.

Big Ben     Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace     Churchill War Rooms Museum      Westminster Abbey      Tower of London  London Eye     The British Museum

Shopping:  Harrods     Selfridges    Liberty of London    Notting Hill   Fortnum & Mason

We went to the theater one night which was so fun… We saw Book of Mormon, which was absolutely hilarious.  I am not a huge musical person and this show was AMAZING!

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My Peekaboo with Big Ben

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We were always on the go so we didn’t always have time for major sit down meals, BUT the food did not disappoint in London.

We always stopped to pick up cappuccinos and a treat for breakfast everyday at Carluccio’s right next to our Underground station in South Kensington.  We LOVED Carluccio’s.

The first night, we met up with our dear friend, Annie, for dinner.  She knows all the ins and outs of London!  She filled us in on all the places we should go and picked an amazing place for dinner.  J Sheekey’s Oyster Bar.

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We ventured over to Notting Hill one afternoon and stumbled across Dayelesford Organic Farmshop and Cafe… we popped in for some brunch.  We loved this place.  Perfect and simple.  The poached eggs on toast with herb roasted ham and hollandaise was spot on!

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We also ate at one of Jamie Oliver’s restaurants… Jamie has always been one of my favorite chefs.   There are quite a few to choose from but one of his restaurants is a MUST!

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And finally, Coco Momo was my favorite lunch spot!!!  It is the restaurant at the end of the video.  They offer a little “soup and salad with Prosecco” lunch special that is quite lovely!

It was after that meal at Coco Momo that I decided that I want to move to London one day!  I truly loved it there.  Can’t wait to go back.  For more, check out Caroline’s London Post!

Now that we are FINALLY done with #OttEuropeanInvasion we can get back to the regular blogging program!!  We apologize for the delays and can’t wait to share more with you, as well as all the exciting things happenings with the store and summer on Nantucket!

Movie Review: The Other Woman

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I went to see “The Other Woman” last weekend… and if you didn’t see it this weekend then you should definitely see it next weekend!  Despite bad reviews, “The Other Woman” beat all “The Other Movies” at the box office last weekend!  I had been dying to see it ever since I saw the pictures of Cameron and Leslie filming in New York… and it did not disappoint.  It was hilarious, cute and a little ridiculous at points, but that was to be expected, right?  It was a fun movie about friendship and the importance of having girlfriends that will always have your back!  I was laughing the whole time!  Check out the trailer below…

I personally think Leslie Mann is beyond funny in this amazingly quirky way.  She definitely stole the show!  Her sense of humor and comedic timing is impeccable and unique.  Love her.  (I am a huge This Is 40 fan too.)  And you can never go wrong with Cameron Diaz.  She is so likable, gorgeous, sexy and silly… and can be all of those at the same time!  That’s rare.  The two of them together were a perfect comedic match.

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Nikki Minaj did a hilarious job, and I won’t be surprised if she gets casted in more movies!

Nick Cassevetes directed the movie.  Like The Notebook, which he also directed, it was beautifully shot in beautiful locations with beautiful women.

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Taylor Kinney, Lady Gaga’s boyfriend, played Leslie Mann’s brother and Cameron Diaz’s other love interest.  He is a hottie!  The whole time I was trying to picture him with Lady Gaga!?

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The three girls did a huge press tour for this movie.  They were everywhere!  Cameron stopped by our favorite, Jimmy Fallon, and did this funny photobomb segment.  I love it when people don’t take themselves too seriously! Check it out..

And here is an extra little video about…

The “Unlikely” Friendship between “The Lawyer, The Wife and The Boobs”

Photo Credit: 1 – Barry Wetcher/Twentieth Century Fox, 2, 3, 4