make a link to outside URL amd remove quick access in magento cart

just got handed a magento site to update. No experience with the cart, so I hope these questions aren't too simplistic. Did search around a bit and haven't been able to find straightforward answers on either: 1- How do you make a menu item in Magento link to an outside url? I want the current "shop" link to go to another sto开发者_开发技巧re site, not the internal cart. 2 - How to remove the quick access shopping cart block info. that links into the cart (my account, shipping bag...). I could hide it via css but that seems like a bad idea.

Essentially, the client wants to scrap the shopping bit of her cart and continue using magento as a cms. We want the shop link to go to etsy and the other shopping area access stuff to be removed. However, I want to leave the actual cart system on the server, in case she changes her mind about using it. Here's the site: http://www.ledarawlins.com/ thanks for your help!