Ultimate Lifestylist

Are you looking for ideas on how to plan the perfect wedding? Our Lifestylist Weddings page is full of helpful information. You can also check out our Pinterest page for more easy, inexpensive ideas.

The holidays have come and gone, and now we are busy getting ready to attend the International Builders Show and to learn about all of the new ideas and products that will be available to consumers this year.

We can't wait to share everything with you here, and in our social media sources. To find out what we find as we find it, follow us on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter. Be sure and "like" us on these - we'll be uploading all day long so you won't want to miss a thing.

Just when I thought I had heard it all.

We've been trying to get into the holiday spirit and since many of our friends and family are out of state I've been embracing buying online. We are busy compiling the Lifestylist® List which is full of our favorite gift ideas for this year and we've been spending a lot of time trying to find the perfect products.

I've had some wonderful experiences - Amazon.com can't be beat, especially with their new Amazon Smile program where you can shop and a percentage will go to the nonprofit of your choice.

In the spirit of giving, Shared Housing which is one of our favorite nonprofits were in need of some televisions so we gave them all of ours and got online to buy a few more. We had some Sears gift cards to use up so we went to their site and found one that would suit our needs.

Here's where things went really off track. First of all, with all of the talk this year about people stealing your information, fake sites and viruses, I was concerned when I went to the Sears.com and saw how many things were misspelled -often a sign of a fraudulent site. I did some checking and it seemed to be authentic even though I was having trouble with it and made my purchase, and a few minutes later I got a call from someone who said they were in fraud prevention and needed to ask me some questions to verify I made the purchase. Really, really strange questions so I got cold feet and said cancel my order.

A few days later I decided to call Sears and try to order the same item. They said they were honoring their "Cyber Week" pricing all week and when I talked to Mr. Jhon he said he could honor that pricing - he would just need to credit the difference back to my credit card at the end of the transaction.

Then I get another crazy call wanted to confirm personal information including my ex-husbands birthday and date of birth! At this point I just wanted to get what I ordered and be done with it so I complied. Go figure - after checking my credit card balance the credit was never given so here we go again.

After wasting over an hour with people this morning trying to resolve this, they put me through to a man who said their name was Master and that's how I should address him. And that no matter what I was told and promised I wouldn't be getting the credit on my credit card as I was promised, but they would be sending me another gift card.

I had stopped buying from Sears years ago because they never honored a very expensive warranty they sold me on a range - today I'm remembering why I swore that would be my last purchase.

Remember the Sears and Roebuck catalog when your word meant something and it was an American company based on integrity. Days like today really make me miss the qualities that company and so many others were built upon. And Master - best of luck with your career, you might want to find a new profession.

What a great week it has been! Spending time with family and friends, then a night at the beach before a busy couple of days with clients.

There was a wedding happening on the beach at sunset and we got this shot -hope this is the beginning of a wonderful forever.

I love New York. There is no other city like it in the world, and every day that we get to spend there turns into an adventure.

When I was lucky enough to have a place to stay in Tribeca I started the NYC Lifestylist blog, and I still enjoy writing about the small local places that you might just walk by and never notice. One of the places I always made sure that I visited is Porto Rico Importing Company - a company that has been offering the finest cofees and teas since 1907.

Their birthday sale is always worth shopping and stocking up at, and it's going on right now until October 31st. If you aren't lucky enough to be in NY and can buy at their store you can visit their website and buy online, and there's free shipping for orders over $75.00!

My favorite beans that they sell are Peter's Blend - smooth but with enough substance to it that it wakes me up in the morning.

Happy Birthday Porto Rico from the Lifestylist family!