By: Mary Fran Bontempo To hear an audio version of this post, click the play arrow below. There’s no place quite like New York City. The streets teem with life, energy and creativity. And everything, absolutely everything, is big. Big crowds, big buildings, big stores, big billboards, big traffic jams—just big. It’s one of my favorite places to visit, but precisely because it’s so big, it’s also overwhelming. And sometimes scary. Life tends [...]
by Chrysa Smith OK. Here I am. A born and bred NYC girl. Worked in Manhattan. Only played gentile sports like tennis. Well, I did run track and play kick ball when I was young but that didn't last long into adolescence. As long as I can remember, I've liked nice clothes, feminine things, decorating, cooking, writing. My friend Carol and I shopped at Saks like people shop at the local grocery store; [...]
by Chrysa Smith The weather's getting cooler, Halloween is here and you know what that means---the big holidays are coming fast. I don't know about you, but for me, and a significant number of women, I'm hearing that favorite Christmas song playing over and over in my head, only for us-- It's the most DIFFICULT time of the year. I'm not talking about sentiment, although that is increasing each year too. What I'm [...]
By: Mary Fran Bontempo If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the exhibit at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia is worth a million of them. Capture the Moment: The Pulitzer Prize Photographs, running from October 11th through December 31, 2013, features "the most comprehensive exhibition of Pulitzer Prize-winning photographs ever assembled." With 153 photographs on display, it's simply stunning in its effectiveness in portraying the human condition in [...]
By: Chrysa Smith It may be a beautiful floral arrangement for the table. Maybe, it’ll be some fancy hors d’oeuvres. It might even be my outfit. That’s about my special touch for a get-together. But a mermaid? A customer of my husband has extraordinary tastes. Crocodile shoes. Fancy cuff links. Aviators in almost every color combination. Italian cars. You get the picture. A great guy with a completely matter-of-fact style, there’s no mincing [...]
by Chrysa Smith New York is always interesting to visit. You just never know what you're going to find there. And with one of the best seasons coming up to do the city, take a tip from someone who spent today wanting for more. Every year, I do an outing with a long-time friend. We head up to New York City and do facials at Mario Badescu. It's a wonderful European skincare salon [...]
By: Mary Fran Bontempo This week, two DVD movies at opposite ends of the spectrum—both worth a look. First up, everyone’s favorite funny lady, Melissa McCarthy and Jason Bateman in Identity Thief. The premise is everyone’s nightmare: Bateman’s Sandy Bigelow Patterson unwittingly gives his personal info to McCarthy’s Diana (if that’s her real name), who proceeds to live it up on Sandy’s dollar. After Sandy is arrested for skipping a court date that [...]
