One of my favorite authors, Beatriz Williams is releasing a new book, A Certain Age, tomorrow. I cannot wait. I have been following Beatriz since her first novel 100 Summers. I have to say each one is better than the next. Her books also make the BEST gifts, everyone LOVES them. Here is the story line of this latest soon to be best seller!!!!!! Happy Reading!!
As the freedom of the Jazz Age transforms New York City, the iridescent Mrs. Theresa Marshall of Fifth Avenue and Southampton, Long Island, has done the unthinkable: she’s fallen in love with her young paramour, Captain Octavian Rofrano, a handsome aviator and hero of the Great War. An intense and deeply honorable man, Octavian is devoted to the beautiful socialite of a certain age and wants to marry her. While times are changing and she does adore the Boy, divorce for a woman of Theresa’s wealth and social standing is out of the question, and there is no need; she has an understanding with Sylvo, her generous and well-respected philanderer husband.
But their relationship subtly shifts when her bachelor brother, Ox, decides to tie the knot with the sweet younger daughter of a newly wealthy inventor. Engaging a longstanding family tradition, Theresa enlists the Boy to act as her brother’s cavalier, presenting the family’s diamond rose ring to Ox’s intended, Miss Sophie Fortescue—and to check into the background of the little-known Fortescue family. When Octavian meets Sophie, he falls under the spell of the pretty ingénue, even as he uncovers a shocking family secret. As the love triangle of Theresa, Octavian, and Sophie progresses, it transforms into a saga of divided loyalties, dangerous revelations, and surprising twists that will lead to a shocking transgression . . . and eventually force Theresa to make a bittersweet choice.
Full of the glamour, wit and delicious twists that are the hallmarks of Beatriz Williams’ fiction and alternating between Sophie’s spirited voice and Theresa’s vibrant timbre, A Certain Age is a beguiling reinterpretation of Richard Strauss’s comic opera Der Rosenkavalier, set against the sweeping decadence of Gatsby’s New York.
To purchase A Certain Age, click HERE
This week’s Fashionable Friend Friday is Jessica Ryan of The Entertaining House design/art/living blog. I stumbled up Jessica’s awesome blog a few years ago. From the first post I read, I was hooked. I fell in love with her stories of La Jolie Grandmere in the South of France, the raising of her three kids (which I could totally relate) and her very candid details of her painful divorce. Over the years, I felt like I really got to know her well through her written words. I finally reached out to her and our friendship began. Jessica is as elegant as her writing. She is a breath of fresh air in our over-scheduled, type A, uber 1st world problem universe. She is down to earth, grounded and extremely sophisticated. I really could use some lessons from this lovely lady. To read The Entertaining House, click HERE. I know you will love it!!! Bon Weekend!!!
La Jolie Grandmere in Cannes
images The Entertaining House
I was recently lucky enough to interview Jessica. To listen, click HERE
We love the company The Greatest Blaze & Co. Their motto is “to share laughter and friendship around a fire”. They have a range of handpicked products to enhance this lifestyle – the life well lived! Whether you enjoy a fire inside or out, the Greatest Blaze has all you need. From Kiln-Dried firewood, burning bright, clean and hot, to all the accessories you need for the perfect flame, to cool gifts and apparel, they have it covered. The guys have put together the perfect July 4th speciality crate with exclusive items to make your 4th “The Greatest”. To order your crate (please by 6/26 for July 4th delivery) or any of the other Great products, click HERE.
Meet Darlene and Diana the two ladies behind the delicious gourmet grilled cheese truck Melt Mobile. These ladies started their business in 2012. They appeared on the Food Network with help from Bobby Flay and their amazing cheesy empire began. The food is beyond amazing. I have hired them for a handful of parties and everyone was in awe. They also have a location schedule, where you can find them to try their fabulous menu. They just recently introduced a franchise program. Basically, you are given “the opportunity to feel good about selling high-end products without the high-end overhead of a traditional brick and mortar restaurant”. How great is that? Isn’t this a perfect business for a recent grad? Or a family who loves to cook together and is looking for something to allow them to pursue their passion? The best part is that Darlene and Diana provide all the support needed for you to become and remain successful. “Melt Mobile’s” Franchise support will be there every step of the way to offer guidance, training and support”. For more information on this Franchise opportunity or just to locate one of the yummy trucks, click HERE.
image Greenwich Times
image city bites
So far this summer has gone off with a bang. We started off with a high school graduation and all the fun events that accompanied it. The first weeks of summer have been a blur of one celebration after another. I just recently took the time to sit back and reflect on what this meant fashionwise!!!!! I have seen a rainbow of dresses and outfits. As I posted a few weeks ago, the off the shoulder look is huge. I have seen dresses and blouses. BUT the most refreshing addtion I have seen almost everywhere is the evening clutch. From material to leather to embellished it has been a runway of glamourous looks. I personally love the embellished ones. The price range is from the bargain to the affordable to the splurge. Whatever your budget this accessory can take your outfit from zero to sixty.
Recently the book, Rich and Pretty, by Rumaan Alam has caught my eye. It’s a book about two best friends, almost like sisters and their enduring friendship. The story goes like this:
This irresistible debut, set in contemporary New York, provides a sharp, insightful look into how the relationship between two best friends changes when they are no longer coming of age but learning how to live adult lives.
As close as sisters for twenty years, Sarah and Lauren have been together through high school and college, first jobs and first loves, the uncertainties of their twenties and the realities of their thirties.
Sarah, the only child of a prominent intellectual and a socialite, works at a charity and is methodically planning her wedding. Lauren—beautiful, independent, and unpredictable—is single and working in publishing, deflecting her parents’ worries and questions about her life and future by trying not to think about it herself. Each woman envies—and is horrified by—particular aspects of the other’s life, topics of conversation they avoid with masterful linguistic pirouettes.
Once, Sarah and Lauren were inseparable; for a long a time now, they’ve been apart. Can two women who rarely see one other, selectively share secrets, and lead different lives still call themselves best friends? Is it their abiding connection—or just force of habit—that keeps them together?
With impeccable style, biting humor, and a keen sense of detail, Rumaan Alam deftly explores how the attachments we form in childhood shift as we adapt to our adult lives—and how the bonds of friendship endure, even when our paths diverge. Summary Amazon.com
I have added this to my must read summer list. To purchase this book, click HERE.
image Amazon.com