Friday 5ive- June 30, 2023

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly-ish post featuring five things that caught my attention this week. It's the last day of June???? How is that possible???

1) One great thing about living where we do in New York City is that come July, we can see all the various fireworks displays that go off nightly from now until July 4th. Last night was the beginning, at first I thought it was someone working on the apartment above us and then I realized it was fireworks.

2) We went back home for the wedding of our dear friend and former neighbor's daughter. It was such a beautiful ceremony and it was great to catch up with all my good friends and dance the night away. We also celebrated four family birthdays- my older son, mom, nephew, and his wife all have birthdays this week so it was a good week to be home. We were able to have a cookout with charcoal-grilled hamburgers, a rare treat for those of us who live in NYC. My brother did a great job with the burgers, they were delicious, and my Tarragon Potato Salad (thanks to Ina Garten) was a hit. The recipe is here.

3) Carol Fitzgerald of the Book Reporter Network hosted a  "Bookacccino Live Summer Reading Event" where she shared titles of upcoming summer books. She covered a lot of ground in just an hour, and there were so many books that I want to read.  Laura Lippman's Prom Mom, Ann Patchett's Tom Lake, and Beatriz Williams' The Beach at Summerly top the list for me. You can watch the presentation on YouTube here.  

4) We watched the entire second season of The Bear on Hulu this week and wow, was it fabulous! The premise this season is that Carmy and the team is preparing to open a fine dining restaurant in the former The Beef restaurant that belonged to his deceased brother. We see members of the team as they learn how to work in a fine dining restaurant and each person gets an episode highlighting their journey. My favorite episode is "Forks", which shows Ritchie's story. You really get a feel for all that goes into running a restaurant, and the final episode of the season had me on the edge of my seat as they open the restaurant for family and friends night. This is a must-watch. 

5) I read Shaun Bythell's The Diary of a Bookseller on the recommendation of one of my fellow volunteers at the Book Cellar. Shaun owns and operates The Bookshop, a used bookstore in Wigtown, a small town in Scotland, and he tells the story in true diary form. Each day he has an entry sharing the days' customer count, the amount of money in the till at the end of the day and what happened that day. He shares stories of customers (some nice, some not so much) and as someone who runs a used bookstore, I could relate to so much of his story. He has a dry sense of humor and I found myself laughing out loud many times. The funniest interactions are between Shaun and his employee Nicki, who is a real trip. You don't have to work in a bookstore to appreciate this book, but if you've ever worked in retail, you'll enjoy. 

I hope you have a safe, healthy, happy 4th of July. Until next time.

Friday 5ive- February 12, 2021

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly blog post featuring five things that caught my attention during the week. 

1) Sunday was Super Bowl Sunday, and while I am not a football fan, I do like watching the commercials and the halftime show. The Toyota commercial with the paralympic swimmer was moving, and the Will Ferrell General Motors commercial was pretty funny. Although I only know a few the Weeknd songs, I thought he did an amazing job with his spectacular halftime show. He used the fact that there weren't a lot of fans there to create a fantastic set design. 

Of course, it's all about the snacks for us. Even though we were only two, I made Ina Garten's Warm Spinach and Artichoke Dip recipe from her new Modern Comfort Food cookbook, and Clean Food Crush 's Irish Nachos,  made with sliced potatoes rather than tortilla chips, a recipe that my sister found online. Both were delicious and we didn't need any dinner after that.

Irish Nachos

2)  I was walking by the local YMCA and saw this Kiddie Cart outside their preschool. Whomever has to push the car with six children in it must be very strong.

3)  Under the heading "when it rains, it's pours", on Wednesday there were two online upcoming book presentations. From 1-3 pm, the terrific trio of Virginia, Chris, and Lainey from Library Love Fest marketing team presented the upcoming summer books from HarperCollins imprints. We had a three-page printout of all the great upcoming books. My highlighter almost went dry as I busily noted all the many books I can't wait to read- Jennifer Chiaverini's historical fiction The Women's March, Barbara Chase-Riboud's The Great Mrs. Elias, and Jessica Anya Blau's Mary Jane among them. You can find the presentation on their YouTube channel here.

At 2pm, Carol Fitzgerald from the Book Reporter website presented Bookaccino Live, featuring her February reading suggestions. Again, my highlighter worked overtime with her suggestions of wonderful books such as Lauren Willig's brilliant novel Band of Sisters and Julia Cooke's nonfiction Come Fly the World: The Jet-Age Story of The Women of Pan Am. Book Reporter has lots of great author interviews on their YouTube channel here.

From 2-3pm, I listened to both presentations, one on my computer, one on my Ipad. Thank goodness I had the printouts so I could go back and forth and listen to the books I most wanted to hear about.

Multitasking

4)  On our last Zoom wine tasting, our guide Seri recommended we watch the 2008 movie Bottle Shock, about the small family California winery that won the Judgment of Paris competition in 1976. Chris Pine, Bill Pullman, and the always fabulous Alan Richman star in this delightful movie that will appeal to anyone who enjoys wine. Englishman Steven Spurrier travels to Napa Valley to find American wines that can compete against French wines in this new blind tasting competition in Paris. It's a real underdog story based on a true event. We ver much enjoyed the movie, and were surprised to find a bottle of wine from Chateau Montelena (the winning winery) in our wine cooler that we drank during the movie.

5)  I read one book and am in the middle of a second. Melanie Benjamin's historical novel, The Children's Blizzard  is based on a true story that occurred in 1888 in Nebraska. A dangerous blizzard rapidly comes out of nowhere just as students are about to be released from school. Many students, as well as other people, died during the horrific storm, some just steps from their own homes. Benjamin tells her story through two young sisters, both teachers. One sister sends the children home just as the storm begins, and the other keeps the children in school, even though if they run out of fuel to keep warm, they will surely die. It's such an evocative book, you feel like you are right in the middle of this storm and this story, and you feel for these young adult women who have to make a terrible decision. I highly recommend it. 

I'm in the middle of Susan Mallery's novel, The Vineyard at Painted Moon. Mackenzie is a celebrated winemaker at her husband's family's vineyard in Walla Walla, Washington. The family took her in when her grandfather, her only relative, died when she was in college. When Mackenzie and her husband come to the sad conclusion that their marriage is over, Mackenzie decides it's time to move on to a new job. The head of her husband's vineyard, his mother, is enraged over losing her winemaker, and is determined to make Mackenzie pay. Mallery writes family, friendship, and love stories so well, and of course I really enjoy the winery setting. (I think we have established that I like wine.) My full review will publish on Tuesday.

Stay safe, socially distant, wash your hands, wear a mask (or two), and get a vaccine when it's your turn. Many of my friends and family have already received one or both doses of the vaccine and are feeling great- yay for them!

Friday 5ive- October 23, 2020

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly blog post about five things that caught my eye this week.

1) We made a quick visit to Boston on Sunday and saw this yacht docked outside our hotel room. Below Deck is the rare reality show we watch, about the crews that work on luxury yachts, so we always find this fascinating. 

2)  Rosanne Cash is one of my favorite singer/songwriters and she released a new song this week, Crawl Into the Promised Land, and it's phenomenal. The video for the song is fantastic too, and it features a photo of Harriet Tubman taken in my hometown of Auburn, NY, where she lived for many years. You can find the song here. 

3) Carol Fitzgerald and her team at BookReporter.com hosted Bookaccino, an afternoon program which features Carol discussing books that will be published in the upcoming month. She always adds to my To Be Read pile as I listen to her describe books I know I will want to read. There is a PDF takeaway of all the books discussed, the next one is November 11th and you can sign up here to join.

4) We have been working on a virtual gala for ArchCare, the organization my husband is the CEO/President of, and it was held Thursday night at 7pm. It was a big success, raising nearly $1.2 million to help the frail and vulnerable in the archdiocese of New York. Called A Toast To Our Healthcare Heroes, it highlighted the work of the many people who showed up everyday at ArchCare during the pandemic, in nursing homes, hospitals, PACE centers and individuals' homes, placing themselves in jeopardy to do so. There was entertainment, and special guests like Jeannie and Jim Gaffigan, Tino Martinez, Mike Piazza, and of course Timothy Michael Cardinal Dolan made an appearance. Thanks to all who watched and donated, it is so appreciated. It's online at www.ArchCareGala2020.org if you want to check it out.

5)   I did not have much time to read this past week, with travel and gala work. I started Crissy Van Meter's novel, Creatures, which came out in paperback this week. The novel made many Best of 2020 Lists already, and it's a coming-of-age story set on an island off the coast of California. On the eve of her wedding, Evie comes to terms with her relationship with her often-absent mother and pot dealing, neglectful father. It's very atmospheric, and the writing is descriptive and vivid. A full review posts here on October 29th. 

Stay safe and socially distant, wash your hands, wear a mask, and prepare to vote if you haven't already. Early voting starts tomorrow, October 24th in New York.