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Category: General

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.

The Sputnik Chandelier

All of a sudden I have gone Sputnik Chandelier crazy.  I previously thought they were not for me.  I found them to be a passing trend.  Then one day, I drove by a store window and was stopped in my tracks…I saw the most beautiful gold sputnik chandelier.  I started thinking…where can I use that.  I decided to calm down!!!  Go home and look for some inspiration…so here you go.  How gorgeous are these chandeliers???!!?!?!?!?…Now I think we all need a Sputnik chandelier!!!!!!!

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Going Green With House Plants

March is a month of waiting…waiting for the snow to stop, waiting for the warm weather, waiting for mother nature to kick in with blooms.  In the meanwhile we partnered up with our incredible sponsor, Outdoors Contained to show you how going green with house plants can not only spruce up these pre-spring days but also be beneficial to your health and happiness!!!
Did you know that keeping green plants in your home can (just to name a few):

  • Reduce Stress
  • Reduce Noise Levels
  • Boost Creativity and Productivity
  • Reduce Sickness
  • Reduce Carbon Dioxide Levels
  • Reduce Airborne Dust Levels
  • Clean The Air
Here are some ideas to help you go green with plants around your own home…Email the Amy’s at Outdoors Contained and they will help you place some gorgeous indoor greenery!!!!

Book Club Monday

A friend recommended today’s pick to me, Beneath A Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan.  If you liked All the Light We Cannot See, or The Nightingale or Unbroken, you will love this book.  Here is the summary:

Pino Lella wants nothing to do with the war or the Nazis. He’s a normal Italian teenager—obsessed with music, food, and girls—but his days of innocence are numbered. When his family home in Milan is destroyed by Allied bombs, Pino joins an underground railroad helping Jews escape over the Alps, and falls for Anna, a beautiful widow six years his senior.
In an attempt to protect him, Pino’s parents force him to enlist as a German soldier—a move they think will keep him out of combat. But after Pino is injured, he is recruited at the tender age of eighteen to become the personal driver for Adolf Hitler’s left hand in Italy, General Hans Leyers, one of the Third Reich’s most mysterious and powerful commanders.
Now, with the opportunity to spy for the Allies inside the German High Command, Pino endures the horrors of the war and the Nazi occupation by fighting in secret, his courage bolstered by his love for Anna and for the life he dreams they will one day share. – Amazon.com
image Amazon.com
To Purchase this book or for more information, click HERE