All posts by Linda

Sweet, Sweet Sue

Linda in Newsletter

Sue is one of our dearest friends and we cherish any and all time spent with her. We’ve had the opportunity to share time with her in Cabo, northern California and here on the east coast. The three of us share our passions for tennis, great conversation, gourmet cuisine, fine wine and so much more.

Professionally, Sue has an amazing success story. Self-made, she has attained extraordinary global recognition for her talent and product line. Self-disciplined and hard-working, she deserves every bit of the success and acclaim she receives. She is extremely visual and creates beauty in everything she touches. Her home is warm and inviting and reflects Sue’s impeccable taste (she did all the structural and interior design herself).

Sue’s Watermelon Margarita

Personally, Sue is one of the most generous people I know. When Ron lost his rental accommodation for over a month two years ago, Sue opened her home to him, and to me while I was still in New York. My birthday rolled around while we were staying there and Sue made the day unbelievably special. She created a spa with products that she had made herself for me to indulge myself with, and a blender full of watermelon margaritas for Ron and I to enjoy. She vacated the house so that we had privacy that night and could not have made my birthday more special.

Special Birthday Wishes

We created many meals together in her well-designed kitchen. We both love to cook and it’s a joy to create food with Sue. We’re both passionate about using fresh, local ingredients of which there is an abundance in the Hamptons.

After tennis last week, Sue invited us over to her house for lunch. One thing we’ve learned over time is that you NEVER turn down a meal at Sue’s house as it is always a memorable event. Here’s a picture of the salad she served – the greens freshly picked from her macro-organic square-foot garden. Served with some baked lasagne, our lunch was delicious!

Sue’s Garden Salad

We’re living in a village nine miles away from the tennis club Ron works from and Sue offered me a bicycle to use for the time I’m here. It’s a gorgeous cruising bike and I am so grateful to have access to it to get me around and to get some extra exercise.

We played tennis this morning and she generously invited us AGAIN to join her for lunch. As always, it was scrumptious and beautiful. Every dish she serves is a work of art. Please note the before and after pictures as a testament to how appetizing and delicious our meal. Our lunch consisted of chicken salad flanked by grilled salmon with dill sauce, all served over mixed greens sprinkled with tabouli, with a side grilled corn salad!

Before….

After….

We love you, Sue, and cherish you and our friendship immensely! Here’s to many more games of tennis, great conversations, gourmet cuisine and lots of shared glasses of fine wine with you!

The Jam Session at Bay Burger

Linda in Newsletter, Site News

There is a roadhouse family restaurant in Sag Harbor, New York, that we try to get to every Thursday night. Bay Burger makes really good burgers and their lobster rolls are delicious. We love their fresh veggie sides and their Joe & Liza’s homemade ice cream is wonderful (free ice cream on Wednesdays with your lunch or dinner – you can’t beat that!).

Although it’s jam-packed (no pun intended!) and chaotic on Thursday nights, we absolutely LOVE coming out to listen to the live jazz which is led by Claes Brandal and features the Thursday Night Live Band every week. If you miss coming out, you can always listen in to the Jam Session Radio Hour every Wednesday night at 7:00 EST on WPPB 88.3 F.

You never know who you will see there jamming and we have heard some truly world class entertainment (a week ago Thursday we saw world-renowned trumpet and flugelhorn player, Randy Brecker, and his beautiful wife, Ada Rovatti, a brilliantly talented saxophonist, jamming with the locals. There was a line-up of performers out the door that night, but the highlight was a young man of fifteen who stepped up to play sax with this cast of seasoned talent. I’m sure it was a night he’ll always remember, as we will, and he’ll be someone to watch in the years to come.

Ahhh….The Amazing Fragrance of Lilacs

Linda in Newsletter

Lilacs on my birthday have been a tradition as long as I can remember and no birthday seems complete without them. Yesterday was no exception.

My precious Mom was concerned that the lilacs would be finished by the time I get back to Canada towards the end of this month. Bless her resourcefulness, as she took her iPad out to my favourite dark purple lilac tree and took some pictures to ensure I would enjoy their beauty on my day.

Ron managed to find a fresh lilac bouquet at the Bridgehampton Farmers’ Market on Friday: their exquisite fragrance fills my heart with memories.

One of my favourite memories is of a card I received on my 50th birthday from my dear friend, Bettina. She had traveled to Italy with me to celebrate this milestone and she made the time there incredibly special. Outside our villa in San Gimignano was an archway of the most beautifully scented jasmine, of which Bettina picked a bouquet and had waiting for me when I awoke on my birthday. No lilacs that year, but the jasmine was an elegant substitute.

Everything Bettina did was very special and appreciated, but the card she found and gifted me could not have been more perfect. She purchased the card years before and remembered to pull it out of her stash before we left Calgary. It was one of the most thoughtful things anyone has ever done for me and I’ll never forget its significance. Here are the words from that special card:

On the porch,

Many years from now…

You will sit on the swing

I will sit on the chair,

And the fragrance of lilacs

Will hang in the air

I will tell you a story

I’ve told you before,

We will laugh (like the last time)

And tell a few more

Then perhaps we will say it,

And perhaps we will not,

But both of our old hearts

Will be thinking this thought

That it’s good to be known,

And it’s good to be there,

Where the fragrance of lilacs

Hangs in the air

Ahhh…the amazing fragrance of lilacs.

Window Shopping in Sag Harbor, New York

Linda in Newsletter

Night time is a great time to browse the shops in the small villages of the Hamptons. The window dressing is spectacular and each window tells a story! These shots are from a visit to Sag Harbor the other night after seeing Bay Street Theater’s excellent production of The Forgotten Woman. Enjoy!

Money Monster

Linda in Newsletter

Earlier this week we drove to East Hampton to see a show. Aside from the movies that we watch on television in Cabo, we don’t get to theatres until we’re either on the road to or from the Hamptons or while we’re here in the Hamptons. The show we decided to see was Money Monster directed by Jodie Foster and starring George Clooney and Julia Roberts.

George Clooney has had a house on the corridor (between Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo) at a development called El Dorado for several years. The villa is on a compound shared by his best friend, Rande Gerber, and Rande’s beautiful wife, Cindy Crawford, and is known as Casamigos (which is the name of their tequila brand, by the way, and means “house of friends”). Both villas were recently sold in April of this year for $100 million to an unnamed Mexican billionaire (the infamous Carlos Slim, owner of Mexico’s cell and landline phone businesses, perhaps?). Ron has played tennis on the El Dorado courts next to George and his wife, Amal, and our good friend, Steve, was the head pro at this resort for many years and has played tennis and basketball numerous times with the star. We hope that they build in our area again as they have a reputation for their warmth, generosity and kindness when dealing with the local people and businesses (unlike many other celebrities).

In the movie, George Clooney plays a character named Lee Gates, a Wall Street guru who picks hot stocks as host of the television show Money Monster. Suddenly, during a live broadcast, disgruntled investor Kyle Budwell storms onto the set and takes Gates hostage. He tells Lee that he lost everything because of one of his stock tips. As Gates tries to plead with Kyle, he’s also using an earpiece to communicate with his longtime producer, Patty Fenn (played by Julia Roberts), in the control room. Together, they must figure out a way to defuse the situation and disarm the angry young man.

Hating Wall Street, greedy corporations and their corrupt executives have become popular themes in movies and this film certainly embraces all three. We found this film to be a bit predictable but definitely entertaining. I gave it 3 1/2 stars and Ron gave it 4 (out of 5).