It is almost March and time to begin the planning for whatever trip you intend to take in 2018. That includes Spring break anywhere from March to early April, Honeymoon, Mother’s day surprise, Destination Weddings, anniversary celebration, milestone birthday – you get the picture. So for this series, let’s begin with Four European recommended road trips – You might also enjoy this read: How To Dress Like An Italian
After the much needed purging/cleaning up the house, scheduling donations and curb-side pickup the entire month of January, I am finally ready to tackle the rest of putting my life in order. You know, documentation, files, passwords, and will. Believe it or not, it’s never to early but it is too late when something unplanned happens. So to make life easier for my beneficiaries, I have taken the following into consideration when organizing – simply put- how it should go down when I am no longer living and breathing. Apparently there are 12 documents we need to have ready and easily accessible. Will Why you need it: To choose an executor and spell out your final wishes for how your estate should be distributed after you die. What happens without it: You die “intestate” and your assets go through probate, where your state’s intestacy laws determine how to pay your debts and distribute your assets according to survivorship rights in that state, McMillan says. Living Revocable Trust Why you need it: To retain control of your assets while …
Four weeks later, and I am still experiencing sadness over the early-passing of a beloved family pet. What sucks the most is that I wake up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night, wondering if there was more any of us could have done to prevent it. But then after a good cry-hyperventilation, I reflect upon all the signs in the past year, leading to his faith three weeks ago. Heartbreak sucks. Past the emotional pain, there is the physical aches I’ve never felt before, or rather some discomfort worsened since January 22nd. Here’ what apparently happens to our bodies when we experience the worst of heart-breaks: Hormonal change – When you experience a heartbreak and are upset, the happiness hormones turn off and are replaced by cortisol and epinephrine; the stress hormones. All that happiness and joy is channeled and turned into anxiety and stress. When stress hormones chronically linger, a person’s ability to form and make new memories starts to reduce. It is probably a coping mechanism developed by the brain in …
I just realized this is a long weekend for Americans – celebrating ‘President’s Day’ for some and rushing off somewhere for a quick getaway for others – normally attaching today as an extended mini-vacation. So, if you are stuck in a car as a passenger, or on a flight taking you away from your norm, I figured you might appreciate a few interesting topics to read about.
Going out to dinner on Valentine’s Day is over-rated and simply too expensive and less personal. I mean the idea of sharing a romantic dinner with 50-75 other couples, all dressed up in like colors, in the past had me giggling the second my loved-one and I were ushered to our table. I think the most romantic is making dinner for him or for her. Send the kids off to the grandparents and take the afternoon off to make the perfect dinner for the special person in your life. And if cooking is unobtainable, then order in – with a bottle of his or her favorite wine. In case you choose to make dinner, there is a list of 25 romantic recipes to help with the process. Here’s what I’m going for. Please cross your fingers. I don’t like to mix alcohol – but the plan is – start with a good bottle of wine – in this case, I’ve chosen a bottle of Chateau St. Jean 2013 and since this variation is my first …
Seriously, when I saw this article about olive oil, my jaw dropped – what do you mean “Light olive oil” is a misnomer and a marketing ploy that actually means the oil has been refined and treated with heat to strip away odor and flavor.” Although I do not ever consider “LIGHT’ for the olive-oil I buy for my house-hold – I do go for the extra-virgin on the label because…. Extra-Virgin or Bust “Extra-virgin” is the highest designation of quality given to olive oil, meaning it’s unrefined, free of chemicals and other “defects” like rancidity, and never treated with heat. Quality can still vary within the extra-virgin category, but without intimate preexisting knowledge of individual olive oil brands, it’s as close as you’re going to get to an overall guarantee of purity you can get off a label. Look for those two words, and you’ve already eliminated a vast array of crappy bottles. Here’s where I’ve been going wrong – when buying the olive oil – I assumed “Product of Italy” was enough to consider. Read the …
Just the other day I was remembering my trip to Switzerland late 2016 with a friend who accompanied me on the trip. I found the country simply peaceful, elegant, relaxing and believe it or not, one of the best inspirations for decor – in terms of color-pairing. This article shares my sentiment
For some people the norm is boring – you know the week long island vacation, sipping a tropical drink by the poolside, or a 7-day museum pass for Paris to spend a week indoors, staring at art and then there is the pasta lovers trip that’s been overdone – according to some. So, if you fall into the category of sitting across your travel partner over Saturday morning breakfast asking yourselves ‘where to go?’ consider the following adventure geared, from this list for best 2018 travel destinations:
Monday morning is either a day we all look forward to or not, depending on how the weekend panned out. It’s true. And if you happened to have a weekend that was not the way you planned it and are at work, trying to figure out how and why – then stop for a minute, grab a cup of coffee/tea and just scroll:
We all do this. When in a relationship, we question commitment when it comes to the matters of the heart. Mostly wondering if we are loved just as we’ve read in novels, or seen in movies and learned of fairy tales about happily ever after. But on this Valentine season, I ask, past all the fantasy, how do we measure true love? And here’s what I found. According to the book The Seven Laws Of Love – these are the terms: According to a psychologist – these are the five things that will help you fall in love or lead you to love And then there are these helpful reminders: The simple facts are – love should be: When someone truly loves you, they will make “face time” a priority. There’s no substitute for it. There’s no volume of text messages or emails that can equate to the moments you spend looking a loved one in the eyes. Simply put, when we love someone, we will make it a priority to be near them. …
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