By: Chrysa Smith Have you seen the commercial? An explosion of color, the scene at a tropical mansion looks like something from Fantasia. Bikini-clad women sit poolside with tropical birds and drinks all in bright shades of hot pink and blue, yellow and lime green. A Caribbean vacation? Florida resort? Nope. Just a trip to your local Target. So grab your beach hat because Lilly Pulitzer has arrived. That's right. Lily--the uptown beach boutique designer has [...]
By: Chrysa Smith Growing up, I was lucky enough to have a trio of matriarchs in my family. All sisters by birth, they couldn't have been more different. First there was my grandmother---a quiet woman who liked to sew, brush my hair and make me Tom Collins' and hot dogs with ketchup. She lived in a Brooklyn row house and, except for a few factory-type jobs, was a homemaker. Nonetheless, she always had [...]
By: Mary Fran Bontempo Well, friends, this Saturday, I will officially become a mother-in-law. It's a scary thing. Not because of my future daughter-in-law. I mean she's lovely. Damn it, there I go again, saying something potentially offensive and stupid without even realizing it! I'm determined to do my best to become the perfect mother-in-law, but I know it won't be easy because, well, I'm me. Check out my rules for my new [...]
This hilarious video from Dr. Gina Barreca says it all about bathing suit shopping. As we head into the summer season, your job, ladies, is to have fun and not obsess about how you look in a suit. Yeah, right. Enjoy the video! --Mary Fran
By: Chrysa Smith I love adorable animal pictures, wise and clever sayings and seeing photos of friends and relatives who live far away. So that's generally why I'm on Facebook. But let me give you a word of advice---like with all other conversations with complete strangers, steer clear of politics and religion. It can only get ugly. I find it interesting that some people are always posting all of their business, political, religious [...]
By: Mary Fran Bontempo Next week, my son is getting married. And even though I'm only the mother of the groom (Rule #1: Shut up and wear beige), there's still a ton of stuff to do. Dresses, shoes, hair, jewelry, underwear (nothing with holes or outstretch elastic, please), all multiplied by four, as my mother is pretty much my job, and my two daughters, one of whom is flying in from Florida, are [...]
By: Chrysa Smith I'm not sure I have that magic touch. Give me an adult plant and I can sustain it with sun and water. But those babies? I've never been great with infants. So here I am once more. Spring is theoretically here, and I started my darling seedlings back in early March. And maybe---just maybe---there's a little magic going on here, because the seedlings not only sprang up, all but one [...]
