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Category: General

Irish Soda Bread on Repeat

This recipe is so good..I had to share it again!!!!

Thank Heaven for Mrs. Mullen.  First she brought us meatballs in the crock pot and now her famous (it has been published!) Irish Soda Bread recipe, just in time for St. Patrick’s day.  Enjoy!!!!


image popsugar



Ann Marie Mullen’s Irish Soda Bread

Ingredients:
5 cups all purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons each salt and baking soda
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
2 1/4 cups raisins
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
3 eggs
2 1/2 cups buttermilk

Instructions:

  1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Grease and flour 2 loaf pans.
  3. Mix flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
  4. Add raisins and mix well.
  5. Melt butter or margarine, let cool.
  6. Beat eggs with whisk, add buttermilk, and melted butter.  mix well.
  7. Add to flour mixture. mix well.
  8. Put into 2 loaf pans.
  9. Bake for 50 minutes.




Here Comes The Sun

Mostly everyone loves sunglass shopping.  Whether it be top designer or discount store, there is a style for everyone.  Here is a round up of some of MY favorite designs.  Hey those sunny days are just around the corner!!! Best to be prepared in style!!!!


image Marie Claire UK

This is the best price I have ever seen for Chloe glasses!!!


Well actually this might be!!!!!


Michael Kors still make the best aviators!!!!


I usually go with a bigger frame but there is something about this pair…


And who can resist cat eyes?


My favorite reading glass style just came in sunglasses for the first time!!!


Le Specs still seem to be one of my favorite brands!!


I know I featured this before, but these are Megan Markle’s Favs!!!


Do you want the Celine look for less…check out Quay!!!


My friend JB always LOVED Oliver Peoples…I should have had her pick out a fav pair for you but I think if she were shopping with us…she would choose these beauties!!!


I recently discovered the designer Linda Farrow’s sunglasses. They are uber expensive but Amazon has a few styles as a great price. Here is my first pick!!


This is the pair I tried on the other day…a lady literally snatched them out of my hands because they look that good on everyone….









Packing 101

Boy do I dread packing…I dread weighing my bags as well…honestly the only thing worse than weighing yourself is having your stuffed bags weighted at the airport.  I am always praying we do not hit 50 lbs.  This past summer I had and epiphany….I was watching Instagram stories and as all these influencers were going on summer holidays, out came their packing cubes.  I messaged one of my favorite bloggers Being Bridget and she told me to roll my clothes and place them in packing cubes..I immediately went on Amazon and purchased these.  Now everyone in my family uses them and you cannot imagine how streamlined our packing has become.  Oh and don’t worry about wrinkles…I never seem to get them…but if I do happen to have a piece that needs some extra TLC A few sprays of this does the trick!!!!




How To Pack Packing Cubes!!!!
  1. Layout and sort the clothes that you would like to bring.  I like to keep pants and tops in one, dresses in another and pajamas and underwear in another.
  2. Roll each piece.  Place horizontally in the cube.  Slightly push  each piece of rolled clothing to the side (this will allow for you to fit more rolled pieces in each cube). 
  3. Zip up cube and move onto the next.
  4. Place filled cubes in suitcase and Viola…

Book Club Monday

We are changing gears here today in recommendations for our Monday Book Club selection.  This week’s book, Tony’s Wife by Adriana Trigiani has been chosen as People Magazine’s Book of the Week and The New York Post’s Best Book Of The Week.  We have never had that combo before…it has to be good!!!!  Here is the summary:

Chi Chi Donatelli and Saverio Armandonada meet one summer on the Jersey shore before World War II. Chi Chi is a talented and ambitious singer-songwriter working in a local blouse factory looking for her big break, while Saverio, a singer already on the rise, is fronting a touring band and has the good looks and smooth vocals that make success seem assured. It isn’t long before Saverio becomes Tony Arma and  he and Chi Chi form a duo; together they navigate the glamorous worlds of nightclubs, radio, and television. Soon they’re married and all goes well until it becomes clear that they must make a choice: Which of them will put ambition aside to build a family and which will pursue a career? What compromises will they make to achieve their dreams? And on the road to fame and fortune, how will they cope with the impact these compromises have on their marriage, family, and themselves?
From the Jersey shore to Hollywood, New York City to Las Vegas, the hills of northern Italy and the exuberant hayride of the big band circuit in between: Tony’s Wife tells the story of the twentieth century in song, as Tony & Chi Chi make studio recordings and promote them with appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. As they juggle the demands of their public lives, secrets are revealed, promises are broken, and loyalty is tested as the Armas attempt to keep the music playing and their family together. – Amazon.com

I LOVE this cover!!!!  I really really do!!!

image amazon.com
For more information or to purchase this book, click HERE.

Estate Planning Cheat Sheet

Estate Planning is one of the hardest parts of financial planning.  There are so many unknowns and so many questions.   New Leaf Financial Advisory has a cheat sheet for us with some answers to common questions get us started.  They are also having an interactive workshop on the Fundamentals of Financial Planning on March 11th at Serendipity Labs in Rye, NY from 6-8.  




Fundamentals of Estate Planning….Cheat Sheet!  

What do I need to do while I’m alive? 
  • Durable General Power of Attorney
  • Health Care Proxy
  • Living Will 

How do I plan for after I’m gone? 

  • Wills
  • Trusts
  • Designated Beneficiary Accounts

Review of Assets and Accounts

  • Sole or jointly held
  • Named beneficiaries
  • List of accounts and passwords

Bahama Mamas

We are off in a few days on the trip of a lifetime, well my daughter’s lifetime!!!!!!!  Her senior year spring break!!!!!   She is so excited to spend this last Hurrah with the great friends she has made over the past few years.  We are headed to The Bahamas with some of my favorite Mama’s too.  Soooo in celebration, I am going to share with you a recipe for the famous Bahama Mama Cocktail.  I am probably not going to be able to bring my laptop on this trip.  I did get an Ipad mini that will be coming along with me so I will try to get in as many blog posts as I can.  Also def. follow along on my instagram @NSLifestylesblog.  I will be posting all of our adventures!!!!  


Chef Nobu’s Bahama Mama!!

Ingredients

  • 1 ounce dark rum
  • 1/2 ounce coconut rum
  • 1/2 ounce banana liqueur
  • 1/2 ounce grenadine
  • 1 ounce pineapple juice
  • 1 ounce orange juice
  • 1/2 ounce lemon-lime soda
  • Garnish: Pineapple wedge and Maraschino cherry
  • Layer ingredients in a tall glass filled with ice. Garnish with pineapple wedge and cherry.