madison avenue

Erin Brockovich -- the real one, not the movie version -- wants us to put down the bottle and turn on the tap. Bottled water is no safer and less regulated than tap water and way more expensive, she explained at the Toronto International Film Festival, where she's appearing in the new documentary Last Call at the Oasis.

The macaron is a filled cookie about the diameter of a half dollar coin that has become a foodie currency in its own right in recent years. It's simple in concept, but near impossible to get right -- and for the first time, Laduree, the French bakery and tearoom that made them famous is opening a U.S. boutique. So, let them eat cake!

Shoppers at New York's Oscar de la Renta spend more per visit than at any other retail site in the country -- more than $3,000, according to consumer finance website Bundle's "most expensive stores" list. But what pushed that Madison Avenue store above and beyond its high-fashion rivals?

Take a stroll up Madison Avenue and one will see a number of vacant storefronts with "for lease" signs in the windows that are too numerous to count. But that isn't stopping Hermes, which will open its first store dedicated to men's ready-to-wear, accessories on Wednesday. $8,500 handcrafted baseball mitt, anyone?