Life lesson from Italy #1 – There’s a Botero in the Vatican

My favorite thing to do when I vist the Vatican is nun watch. But after my college roommate waited 45 minutes while I pretended I was Maria in The Sound of Music, she was ready to do something a bit more...cultural. So we went to the Vatican museum. I thought it could...

Ten Life Lessons from Italy…

Rome-Bologna-Budrio-Venice-Perugia. Just home after a delicious Italian working vacation, the jet lag is officially coursing through my body, replacing the fresh pasta and local vino I have been wining and dining on for the last three weeks. As I stare at my computer...

Chocolate Nut Bars, Wine and Why I Love Book Clubs, part deux

There is an inordinate amount of wine at book clubs. In fact, I have yet to go to a book club where there aren’t at least half a dozen open bottles of vino beckoning to me. The wine bar is the Book Club's version of an oasis and instead of a dehydrated man crawling...

Colin Firth, Brad Pitt and why I love book clubs

An avid reader, I have always loved being a member of a book club; however, I never manage to stay in them very long. Truthfully,  I have been kicked out of several book clubs. This isn't because I don't read the books...I ALWAYS read the books.  In the past, I have...

The girl who is popular… with dogs

Today, I was walking my dogs and we met a heavyset teen whose entire face lit up when she saw my greyhounds. Our morning route is near a high school and I often pass this girl whose solitary journey to school makes her stand out among the groups of teens in front of...

Book Signings are like Stand Up… without the late hours.

I like book signings because they are like Stand Up... without the late hours. I used to do Stand Up and I loved it because I got to write my own material and perform it in front of an audience. Often people had far too much to drink and liked to heckle... I could...

Pop Up dinners – Julie Andrews, Betty White, Courtney Cox and me

A confessed foodie, I just had a culinary experience which was not only gastronomically sensational, it was fun. It all started the way all great experiences start...I knew someone who knew someone. And that second someone  was throwing a pop up dinner. Pop up...it...

Authors vs. Writers

Yesterday, was pub day for my book THE AFFAIR. And as I was knee deep in cobwebs in the back of my basement, sorting through old National Geographic Magazines, I finally realized the difference between being an author and being a writer. The latter is a lot less...

Pilates and Pillows

Pilates is the greatest workout on the planet for the mind, the body and the soul because, simply said -- YOU GET TO DO IT LYING DOWN. I never ventured into the world of pilates because I always felt somewhat intimidated. I assumed it was limited to wealthy suburban...

Ted Lange… meeting my childhood crush

One of the best parts of growing up are those full circle, 'ah hah' moments which make life utterly fantastic. Last week, I was on a panel for the NAACP play festival and enjoyed one of those  moments when I discovered that I was sitting on the panel with Ted Lange,...