I recently got back from a family vacation to a place we’d never been before: Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. When I say a family vacation, I don’t just mean my husband, son and I. Oh, no. Every so often my extended family swarms together to go to some exotic place for a celebration. The last one that included my father was in 2005, to Italy, for my parents’ 50th wedding…

We had been wanting to try Sugarfreak since it opened a few months ago, but Jon's gluten allergy, and my intolerance to sugar kept us away. When I first glanced at the menu one day as I walked by it on 30th Ave, all I saw were po-boy and muffaletta sandwiches (hence, the gluten), and that name...well it scared me a little. Still, I was intrigued by…

Sometimes you just gotta put the spotlight on the little guy. I doubt anyone cares about a tiny gyro shop tucked away on a busy street in Astoria, Queens, NYC, but my son is such a fanatic about their shawarma (sliced, ground lamb in a pita) that I had to give Pita Hot a try. First of all, the name is awfully…

I'm so thrilled and honored that my novel, The Time Baroness, is Read of the Week! But is it a travel novel you ask? Well, Tripatini co-owner David Paul Appell and I batted that question around, and we agreed that though, no, it is not a travel book, per se, a novel about traveling to another era might just intrigue Tripatini members. To me, fantasizing about time-travel is about as good an escape as vacationing in some exotic locale. In The Time Baroness, the main character travels from the…

I'm ashamed to say that I occasionally watch Live with Kelly in the morning (used to be Live with Regis and Kelly - you know what I'm talking about). This week Kelly reported that New York City was voted the number one rudest city in the U.S. What?! Us rude? I'm not a native New Yorker, but have lived here about twenty years, so I consider myself a New Yorker by default. I'm originally from the Southwest of the U.S., where people are so polite it's almost sickening. I almost dread…

On a mild December night, I took my husband for a surprise visit to an independent bookstore in Brooklyn to give…

Hi all,

travelers to major cities want to take in excellent theater at bargain prices. If you're in NYC this weekend, you have got to check out this off-off Broadway piece at Astoria Performing Arts Center in Queens. Here's my review from The Queens Gazette newspaper:

A Hard Wall At High Speed: Powerful Play Hits Home …

Shirley Mae's Diner

Shirley Mae's...doesn't that name just conjure up images of fried chicken, ribs, collard greens and macaroni and cheese? It did…

Hi Everyone!

Just wanted to let you know that my novel, The Time Baroness is ranking #1 today on Amazon in the category of Books > Travel > Europe > …

I got behind on posting about some great places I've been, and one that my friend Cara Bertoia went to. I asked her to write about it on my blog back in July. So now, I'm going to post about those three wonderful spots here. One is a an Italian joint in NYC, another is a great seafood restaurant in Houston, and Cara's is about the town of San Pedro in California. Enjoy! (Or go to SearchingForSincerity.com)

Napoli…

Portland, Oregon

As seen on the TV series:…