Blog Posts by Zippy S.

Check out the grooming products that should be on every guy's radar this Fall season from Degree and Schick, brought to you by Patrick Carone of Maxim magazine.

While I love nothing more than traipsing around a new city exploring what it has to offer, my husband prefers playing golf, sitting by the pool or beach and reading. I love being around lots of people and he's loves solitude. I could go dancing and then on to the casino to gamble the night away, while he loves to catch up on movies that he hasn't seen.

While the fact that we're so opposite seems like it would make vacationing tough, there is one thing that we BOTH enjoy doing....cruising. WHY? Because it offers each of us the things that we love to do most. I rush off the ship when we get to the port to explore, while he remains on board and has the ship to himself. I'll be making friends by the pool, and he'll will be swinging a 7-iron in a game of virtual golf.

So, we try to take at least ONE cruise per year (since I get to feed my travel habit though out the remainder of the year).

H2Zone - water park
Last week we had the opportunity to cruise aboard Royal Caribbean's Freedom of

Read More »from Freedom on the high seas

Big cities usually mean bigger price tags. They can ALSO mean bigger discounts. The big apple may be full of stores like Bergdorf Goodman and Hermes, but if you step off of Madison Avenue, you'll find some GREAT discounts.

1. Century 21 - This is my all time favorite store. If you're looking for designer clothes and accessories for less, Century 21 is a MUST SEE. Just ask my friend Sandy. The last time we were in the city, I dropped my bags in the room and didn't even freshen my lipstick before running downstairs and hailing a cab to go to this mecca.

• Address: 22 Cortlandt St., between Church St. and Broadway

2. Loehmann's - The Manhattan Loehmann's is their FLAGSHIP store, so you can be sure that you'll find plenty of IN-SEASON designer outfits and accessories at deep discounts.

• Address: 101 Seventh Ave. at 17th St.

3. Gabay's - A staple for those who Bendel's and Bergdorf's taste and a discount budget. Gabay's BUYS the overstocks from some of these famous

Read More »from New York Clothes Shopping at a Discount

"Worst Case" is the best case of collaboration between superstar James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge featuring Detective Michael Bennett to date. Third in the series (prior novels are "Run for your Life" and "Step on a Crack" - both fantastic reads), Michael Bennett and his ten adorable kids are back. And Patterson and Ledwidge have outdone themselves this time. I found it to be the best Patterson book I've reviewed so far, and Patterson always has me sitting falling off the edge of my seat.

That said, this novel catches and holds from page one. Bennett, a NYPD detective on the Special Investigative Division, is now new to the Major Case Squad, which investigates high profile bank robberies, art thefts, and kidnappings, and Bennett sees the worst.

A young medical student named Jacob Dunning has gone missing. His father is a high level CEO of Latrium and Company- with lots of money. Michael Bennett is called from his son's basketball game and sent by Chief Carol Fleming to the

Read More »from Book Review - Worst Case

Italian for Beginners

Author: Kristin Harmel


"Italian for Beginners" Author: Kristin Harmel What is it about Italian mothers, or Jewish mothers or Irish mothers, etc? True to form, Cat's Irish Catholic grandmother interrupts Cat Connelly's sister's wedding to ask why it's her younger sister that's getting married and not Cat. Always the responsible one, Cat has lived her life playing it safe. Looking to escape a potentially bad relationship, Cat returns to the place where she was the happiest - Rome.

Italian for Beginners is a quick moving book that allows you a glimpse of a woman who undergoes a life transforming experience on her trip to Italy. Although somewhat predictable, this quick read is full of Audrey Hepburn in "Roman Holiday" references that will make you smile. Ms. Harmel has created a group of lovable characters that are easy to identify with.

For those who love Chick Lit or even Romance Novels, this would be a fun beach read.

Read More »from "Italian for Beginners" by: Kristin Harmel

The Fixer Upper

Author: Mary Kay Andrews

It seems that everywhere you turn there's a story or television show about political corruption. Unfortunately for Dempsey Killebrew, she's caught right in the middle of a bribery scandal. When her boss Alex Hodder fires her and then implicates her in the scandal, Dempsey is left broke and unemployed. At her father's suggestion, she moves to Guthrie, GA to rehab a house that he just inherited.

The Fixer Upper takes it's readers through the rehab of a neglected old home (Birdsong). Dempsey sees right through the overgrown, pink exterior and years of neglect. With the help of her new friends in Guthrie and some good old fashioned hard work, the reader gets to see this glorious house come back to life.

During her time in Guthrie, Dempsey has to deal with the FBI, a family "squatter" that won't leave Birdsong and a handsome young lawyer who falls madly in love with her. Written with humor, the characters in this novel are all quite endearing, Read More »from "The Fixer Upper" by: Mary Kay Andrews

The Impostor's Daughter
Author: Laurie Sandell

I have to tell you that when my copy of The Impostor's Daughter first arrived and I flipped through it, all I could think of was "How did I get myself involved in reviewing this book?" It's not long, it has a very colorful cover, but when I opened it up I saw a COMIC STRIP. Maybe not a comic STRIP - but page after page of a book written in comic book style. My gut reaction was to hand it over to our college aged reviewer, thinking that it would be more appropriate for him, but I figured I'd give it a try. At least it would be a quick read.

I've been known to be wrong (big admission coming) and YES, I WAS WRONG. DEAD WRONG. Not only is this not a light comic book. But it's a very unusual and compelling memoir of Laurie Sandell's quest to discover the truth about her father. The fact that she's an artist as well really allows you to SEE the participants in this engaging book.

Like all children, Laurie grew up listening to her father's

Read More »from "The Impostor's Daughter" by Laurie Sandell

With most of the airlines now tacking on an extra fee for checked baggage, isn't it time to LEARN how to travel as light as possible? Packing just what you need, to cover every possible scenario when you travel in just ONE CARRY ON BAG is a true art.

Some of you may have backpacked through Europe or the United States when you were just out of school, with everything that you'd ever need not so neatly tucked into a rucksack. It seemed so easy to do back then, but as our lives became more complicated we started to bring more "stuff" with us on our trips.

Packing light is not as easy as you think. It's so much of an art, that there's even a website that teaches the best way to pack that bag of yours.

Why not just pay the extra $10-$20 fee (per bag)?

Security - If you're not checking your bags, then you've got less of a chance of losing, breaking or having your items stolen.

Flexibility - With only one bag, it's easy to pick up and go, go, go. For those of us who

Read More »from Lighten up - you're on vacation.