Do you carry cash anymore? I was heading out to a local farmer’s market yesterday. Luckily, I happened to check my wallet to make sure I had enough money to pay for my expected purchases. Most of the stands I frequent do not accept credit cards or cash cards, only cash. I had no cash in my wallet. Rather than pay the fee at the cash machine, I a …
Have you ever regifted a gift? I was in rush last week. My husband and I were invited to a friend’s beach house in the Hamptons for the day. I realized a few minutes before we were to leave that I had forgotten to buy a hostess gift. I was in a quandary as we were already running late, and we had no time to stop anywhere. Immediately, my eyes …
Everyone seems to have their summer “Happy Place.” For several of my friends it’s on their boats, out in the beautiful waters of Long Island, and feeling the breeze in their hair. For others, it’s on the beach, at a cabana, enjoying the smell of the sea air and feeling the sand between their toes. For me, my summer “Happy Place,” is in my backyar …
It was my father’s birthday last week. My father died several years ago but his birthday still causes me to take some time to pause and remember. The first thing I always do on his birthday is to call my brother and sister. We find comfort in talking about my father with one another and exchanging stories and memories. I also light a candle o …
Organizing a family dinner together has become more difficult to coordinate as our children get older. Just getting everyone together on days such as Father’s Day is becoming challenging as our children have significant others, spouses etc. We are learning to alternate or divide the special days with our family and the families of significant othe …
My husband and I were very excited about this past weekend. It was one of those rare weekend days. We had no plans, no work obligations, no children coming over, no getting together with friends, etc. It was just us. We were very excited to just relax by our pool on Sunday and, basically, do nothing. And then it rained. So we spent the day doing …
My youngest daughter, Sydney, got engaged last Friday night. While my husband and my other children knew it was happening, it was a surprise for Sydney. Interestingly, after it happened and we spoke to the happy couple, I found myself in a race against social media. We wanted to call/text those closest to us before they saw the news on Facebook, …
As the Monday blogger, I always blog on Memorial Day. In the past I’ve blogged on such topics as are you a burger person or hot dog person; topics I thought to be relevant to Memorial Day. Here’s my Memorial Day question for this year, did Memorial Day sort of sneak up on us this year? It seems like just a week ago I was still wearing heavy coats …
For all those “smokers,” out there I need tips. After years of asking for a smoker for Mother’s Day, I finally got one. I always understood my husband’s hesitancy in buying me a smoker. Anyone who knows me, knows I do not eat meat. But I do eat poultry and fish. And every summer when he opened up the bar-be-que, I just wanted to be able to smoke …
I love hidden gems. I’m referring to those small restaurants that have been in your neighborhood forever and you can always rely on for a good meal. One of our hidden gems is Bigelow’s. Bigelow’s opened in 1939. It’s a very small seafood restaurant in Rockville Center I loved going there as a child, to sit at the counter with my dad, and eat …
We’ve all been there. Those weeks where work is all consuming. You finally get home and you need something to help you mentally unwind a bit. Perhaps, a guilty pleasure? For me, this week, my guilty pleasure was turning on “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” Friday evening when I got home from work. For an hour I truly enjoyed watching other p …
A colleague and I were recently talking about the “old days.” Back in the day, we would leave the office at 5:00 on a Friday night and could not be reached again until Monday morning when we returned to the office. During those days, our weekends belonged to us. That was before we had home fax machines which then morphed into email and cell phon …
A colleague and I were recently talking about the “old days.” Back in the day, when we could leave the office at 5:00 on a Friday night and not be reached again until Monday morning when we returned to the office. Of course that was before we had home fax machines which then morphed into email and cell phones. I never had a personal fax machine …
My niece got married this past weekend. It was a beautiful weekend filled with love and family. It was also filled with numerous prepared toasts from the couple’s closest family and friends. Here’s something I noticed. The younger people (defined as younger than 35) all had their toasts typed in on their cellphones and read them from their phon …
My family and I are not very religious. We do, however, try to adhere to the eating constraints of Passover. Specifically, we will not eat any leavened products during the eight days including bread, cookies, cake etc. We also try not to eat in restaurants during the eight days of Passover. We do have another tradition affiliated with Passover. …
It's Monday, Monday. Let me know what you think about. . .
