Category: General

Are you ready for a book that is all consuming and you will not be able to put down?   My Absolute Darling by Gabriel Tallent is just that…here is the story of this INSTANT New York Times bestseller:


Turtle Alveston is a survivor. At fourteen, she roams the woods along the northern California coast. The creeks, tide pools, and rocky islands are her haunts and her hiding grounds, and she is known to wander for miles. But while her physical world is expansive, her personal one is small and treacherous: Turtle has grown up isolated since the death of her mother, in the thrall of her tortured and charismatic father, Martin. Her social existence is confined to the middle school (where she fends off the interest of anyone, student or teacher, who might penetrate her shell) and to her life with her father.

Then Turtle meets Jacob, a high-school boy who tells jokes, lives in a big clean house, and looks at Turtle as if she is the sunrise. And for the first time, the larger world begins to come into focus: her life with Martin is neither safe nor sustainable. Motivated by her first experience with real friendship and a teenage crush, Turtle starts to imagine escape, using the very survival skills her father devoted himself to teaching her. What follows is a harrowing story of bravery and redemption. With Turtle’s escalating acts of physical and emotional courage, the reader watches, heart in throat, as this teenage girl struggles to become her own hero—and in the process, becomes ours as well. – Amazon.com


For more information or to purchase this book click HERE

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!!!!

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.

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!!!!

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….

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!!!!

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…

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:

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