WAG magazine, March 2015

Sean Patrick Maloney and Randy Florke

HIGH-PROFILE LIVES FILLED WITH EVERYDAY MOMENTS

DAVID BOIES A PASSION FOR JUSTICE ED GIOBBI PAINTING… AND PROSCIUTTO GINA BRATTER A WORLD OF ART ROBERT REIFFEL AND MATTHEW WILLIAMS DOCTORS WITH HEART PETER SUCHY’S VINTAGE GEMS WESTCHESTER & FAIRFIELD LIFE FEBRUARY 2015 | WAGMAG.COM

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WHAT’S INSIDE 12 The lingua franca of love 14 China’s gender reversal of fortune 16 David Boies’ fight – Justice for all 20 An all-consuming passion 24 Painting, prosciutto and the pursuit of life 28 A gem of a romance 32 The right touch 36 New meaning to ‘young at heart’ 38 Sole sister 40 A passion for beauty 42 Going strong 44 ‘Love Story’ 46 Preserving your relationship

– and your sanity

48 More than just ink on paper 49 COVER STORY: RIGHT AT HOME 53 A look for a woman’s

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Gina Bratter.

Photograph by John Rizzo

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What makes you feel romantic?

Sean Patrick Maloney and Randy Florke

HIGH-PROFILE LIVES FILLED WITH EVERYDAY MOMENTS

DAVID BOIES A PASSION FOR JUSTICE ED GIOBBI PAINTING… AND PROSCIUTTO GINA BRATTER: A WORLD OF ART

PASSIONATE

ROBERT REIFFEL AND MATTHEW WILLIAMS: DOCTORS WITH HEART PETER SUCHY’S VINTAGE GEMS WESTCHESTER & FAIRFIELD LIFE

pursuits

FEBRUARY 2015 | WAGMAG.COM

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ON THE COVER: Sean Patrick Maloney and Randy Florke in Cold Spring.

Photograph by John Rizzo

FEBRUARY 2015

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AH, FEBRUARY, winter’s mid kid, when we pause from snow, sleet and ice to exhale and celebrate AfricanAmerican achievements (all month); the Super Duper Bowl (Feb. 1); a cloudy, shadow-less Groundhog Day (we hope, on the 2nd); our presidents (Feb. 16); and the Oscars (Feb. 22).

For a short month, February packs a punch.

No, we didn’t forget.

February is also, of course, the month of amour, which we salute in our “PassionHere I am at WAG’s “Powerful Women in Retail/Fashion” ate Pursuits.” It’s our anevent at The College of New Rochelle. (See Watch on Page 90). Outfit by Ted Baker, from Bloomingdale’s nual romance issue. And White Plains. Photograph by John Rizzo. there’s plenty in the way of traditional stuff.

Mark’s stay on Franco-flavored We’ve got hearts (Mary’s piece Mauritius, Leif’s test-drive of a Feron Croton-on-Hudson performance rari California T at Miller Motorcars artist Marcy B. Freedom, who riffs in Greenwich and Jackie “The Cookon “Love Story” in her show “True ing Realtor” Ruby’s latest offering — or False? Love Means Never Having Chocolate Ravioli With Strawberries. to Say You’re Sorry”); flowers (the And then there’s Romance as the annual orchid show at The New York early 19th century artists would have Botanical Garden); lingerie (Simdefined it — the pursuit of something one Pérèle); and jewelry galore (see grander than yourself. Gina Bratfeatures on Stamford’s Peter Suchy ter’s quest to be an artist, against and the new Shreve, Crump & Low all odds. Painter Edward Giobbi’s in Greenwich); plus “Fifty Shades of devotion to authentic Italian cuisine, Grey” the movie, due out Feb. 13. particularly his homemade prosciutBut romance, as it turns out, to. High-powered trial lawyer David comes in just as many forms, as you’ll Boies’ thirst for justice. Dr. Matthew see in our opening essay. There’s the Williams’ enthusiasm for cardiac adromance of relationships — a subvances and gift for explaining them ject close to the heart of Bronxville to the layman. Plastic and hand surpsychotherapist Mary Giuffra, who geon Robert Reiffel’s tender cultivahelps couples and families navigate tion of orchids. Insurance agent Krisour challenging times. That’s sometina Cavallo’s curatorial approach to thing New York Congressman Sean her shoe collection.

Patrick Maloney and his husband, These remind us that love — for a real estate entrepreneur Randy cause, an avocation, an idea, a place Florke, know all about. Our cover and, especially, another — gives life couple, who married last summer, meaning and enables us to tranhave two demanding careers and scend ourselves. three children. But as Bob observes And that remains true anyway you in his story, the handsome pair balcolor it. ance family and work everywhere Georgette Gouveia is the author of from their home on the Hudson to “Water Music” and the forthcoming the halls of Congress.

“The Penalty for Holding,” part of There’s the romance of Romance her series, “The Games Men Play,” languages, particularly French and which is the name of the sports/ Italian, which you can savor in our culture blog she writes at thegamesWonderful Dining feature on the menplay.com. new Encore Bistro Français in Rye,

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WHEN WE THINK OF ROMANCE AND ROMANTIC PASSION, WE PROBABLY THINK OF THE TRADITIONAL TRAPPINGS — HEARTS AND FLOWERS, CHOCOLATES AND CHAMPAGNE, CUTE CUTOUT CUPIDS AND DIAMOND RINGS, VALENTINE’S DAY AND JUNE WEDDINGS. But the word “romance” has its origins in the everyday Latin that gave rise in the sixth through ninth centuries to the so-called romance languages – including Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian and Romanian. As such, it sweeps across time to embrace everything from medieval chivalry to European arts in the early 19th century to Hollywood movies to the most widely read genre today.

The heart of a romance remains, well, romance. A man and a woman. They meet and fall in love. Stuff happens. But in the end, true love prevails. That’s how the ancient Greeks saw it. Or at least that’s how the later Latinspeaking Christian interpreters of their tales saw it. In Longus’ “Daphnis and Chloe” – whose many versions include a ballet with a Maurice Ravel score – the title characters are an orphaned shepherd and shepherdess innocent of love’s first stirrings. It’s only after enduring many trials and reuniting with their birth parents that they are ready to begin a life together.

When it comes to romance, however, the classical period had nothing on the Middle Ages. Writing at first in Old French, Anglo/ French-derived Norman and Occitan – spoken in parts of France, Monaco, Spain and Italy – the medieval poets mashed together ancients like Achilles, Alexander the Great and King Arthur with contemporaries like Richard

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“Daphnis and Chloe” by Jean-Pierre Cortot. Musée du Louvre.

the Lionheart in stories of chivalrous knights, distressed damsels, slain dragons and derring-do. By the late Renaissance, such works were out of fashion to such an extent that Miguel de Cervantes would ridicule the knightly tradition in his “Don Quixote.” Yet such is the power of romantic love that when Cervantes’ novel reappeared as the inspiring 1965 musical “Man of La Mancha,” its message was the opposite of what the satiric book intended.

It was romantic – not only in the Don’s transformative love for the tavern wench Aldonza, his idealized Dulcinea, but in his eagerness to embrace bold ideas and life’s epic journey.

That is Romanticism with a capital “R,” which came to define the arts in the early 19th century as influencers turned away from the cool rationality of the 18th century and the mundane grit of the Industrial Revolution for a more expressive approach that would encompass the natural and transcendent worlds. Romanticism is the colorful dynamism of Delacroix and the moonlit mysticism of Caspar David Friedrich set to the titanic tumult of Beethoven. It’s not only the poetry of Keats, Shelley and Byron but their all-too-brief lives as well – Keats dying in Rome in 1821 of tuberculosis (and presumably a broken heart at the poor reception of his work “Endymion”); the admiring Shelley eulogizing him in his poem “Adonais” before drowning off the coast of Italy a year later, a copy of Keats’ poems in his pocket; Byron outliving his friend Shelley by two years before succumbing to a fever as he prepared to fight for Greek independence.

Though neoclassical in form, Edward Onslow Ford’s exquisite sculpture for the Shelley Memorial at University College, Oxford, crystallizes Romanticism. The beautifully tortuous body of Shelley, like something out of Géricault’s “The Raft of the Medusa,” washes up on the shores of immortality, returned to the elements the Romantics so loved.

In the 20th century, romance reinvented a familiar genre even as it married a new one. With its larger-than-life, luminous images, the newfangled motion pictures seemed tailor-made for romantic dramas and comedies. Everyone has his favorites, which spring to the mind the instant you say “romance.” In the dramatic category, “Gone With the Wind” and “Casablanca,” to be sure. But what about “Now, Voyager,” in which self-sacrificing Bette

Davis relinquishes an adulterous life with the equally noble Paul Henreid in order to raise his child by saying: “Don’t let’s ask for the moon. We have the stars.” Yep, nothing says “romance” like the physical renunciation of it.

As for romantic comedies, they helped chart the sexual revolution of the 20th century. From reporter Clark Gable stringing a demure blanket between himself and runaway bride Claudette Colbert in “It Happened One Night” (1934) to Cher exhorting her fiancé’s brother Nicolas Cage to “leave nothing left for him to marry, nothing but the skin over my bones” as they make passionate love in “Moonstruck” (1987).

But perhaps no genre has been transformed by romance the way the novel has. The virtuous heroines of Samuel Richardson’s “Pamela,” Jane Austen’s comedies of manners and Georgette Heyer’s Regency romances – written in the 1920s but set in Austen’s time – would blush at the explicit goings-on in Kathleen Woodiwiss’ “The Flame and the Flower.” Flourishing amid a wave of feminism, “Flame” foreshadowed the romance boom of the 1980s that shows no signs of abating.

Romance novels account for more than half of all paperbacks sold, and while they have been ridiculed as “bodice-rippers” or “mommy porn,” filled with heaving bosoms and aroused members, they can range in both sexual and literary content as well as subgenre. Today you’ll find historical romances (set before World War II), erotic romances like “Fifty Shades of Grey,” which comes to the big screen Valentine’s Day weekend (see related story), even vampire romances.

Since women make up 90 percent of the readers, the romance is usually told from the women’s point of view. But one of the hottest subgenres in our post-feminist, gay-rights age is the male/male romance – written by and for women, allowing them to explore the themes of the traditional romance through the distant mirror of a gay relationship.

Some things, however, never change. As the song says: “It’s still the same old story, A fight for love and glory A case of do or die.

The world will always welcome lovers as time goes by.”

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CHINA’S GENDER REVERSAL OF FORTUNE

A carefree bride and her husband at a wedding park in Chongquing, China.

Putting the shoe on the other (unbound) foot STORY AND PHOTOGRAPH

BY AUDREY RONNING TOPPING

He who beat out all others in a drinking game downed his last from one tiny embroidered slipper whose owner lay waiting for him on the top floor of the teahouse. Later upstairs in the intimacy of her chamber, she would unravel the bindings of her feet and reveal them to him. That evening, in a final moment of passion, he would lift her tiny unwrapped feet to his shoulder and thrust them into his mouth to suck.

– Peng-Mei Natasha Chang, “Bound Feet and Western Dress”

W

hen my American grandparents arrived in China as missionaries in 1891, they were shocked to discover that traditional marriage was a contract between families rather than love between two individuals. This was during the last years of the imperial Manchu Qing Dynasty when Chinese parents often arranged weddings while the future bride and groom were still infants.

Spouse selection was based on family need and the socioeconomic status of the potential mate rather than love or attraction. An arranged marriage was accomplished by a matchmaker, who acted as a link between the two families. It involved the negotiation of the bride’s price, gifts

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to be bestowed on the bride’s family and a dowry of clothing, furniture or jewelry.

The exchange of monetary compensation for a woman’s hand in marriage was also utilized in purchase marriages, in which women were seen as property that could be traded, bought or sold at a husband’s whim.

But the ancient custom that traumatized my grandmother the most was the wicked custom of foot binding and fetishism. Chinese Han girls had their feet bound when they were as young as 7 years old while their bones were still soft.

The arch was broken and tightly bound with cotton strips – forcing their four smallest toes to fold gradually under the soles, causing them to curl up into stumps that created three-inch “golden lotuses.” The bandages were not supposed to be removed, except for periodic washing, until the girl was married. The excruciating process led to a lifetime of agony and labored movement. The “lily feet” resembled hoofs or “fists of flesh” but were regarded by men as sexually exciting and the epitome of feminine beauty.

Among upper-class women, foot binding was a prerequisite to getting married.

According to one custom, the bride’s malodorous bandages were removed on her wedding night when her husband indulged himself by drinking wine from her ornate slippers.

Walking was so painful that the women hobbled along with a stylized, mincing gait. When they dressed in gold embroidered robes and wore their exquisite hand-embroidered slippers, their sexy movements reminded men of “lotuses blowing in the wind.” Their grinding gait seemed to bewitch men, young and old alike, perhaps because they didn’t have to worry about their crippled women running away.

As these women could not walk well or do any physical labor, only upper-class women could afford to have their feet bound. Hard-working lower-class women escaped the cruel custom as they needed normal feet to do their chores. Not all upper-class women practiced foot binding. The Manchu Qing rulers forbade it among Manchu women. Most ethnic minorities in China did not practice it.

One of grandmother’s Chinese friends, a Buddhist who believed in transmigration, said that when she died she would rather be reincarnated as an earthworm than a Chinese woman. My grandparents opened the first school for ordinary girls and boys in the interior of China. The only requirement for entry was that the girls unbind their feet. It is now the largest middle school in Hubei Province.

When I arrived in China half a century later, the barbaric practice was almost gone. Even though it fell out of favor at the turn of the 20th century and was generally viewed as an antiquated and shameful part of imperial Chinese culture, I still saw hundreds of elderly women hobbling around as a reminder of the past oppression of women, insularity, despotism and disregard for human rights.

In the Communist era, the custom was considered a vestige of the feudal era, its beauty defined by backward men. The People’s Republic established the Marriage Law in 1950, causing fundamental shifts in family dynamics. The law banned the most extreme forms of female subordination and oppression and gave women the right to fall in love and select their own husbands. In 1980, a new marriage law prohibited concubines, polygamy and bigamy and banned mercenary and arranged marriage.

The law that really transformed the ancient customs, however, stated that both men and women had a right to lawful divorce. It took 2,000 years, but women were finally empowered to initiate divorce proceedings. The divorce rate soared.

But the women met stiff resistance, especially from rural males. Thousands of women even lost their lives for attempting to divorce their husbands. Others committed suicide when the divorces were denied.

It soon became evident that divorced women were often given less than a fair share of housing and property. But the worm had turned. There was a significant increase in women committing violence against men. Domestic violence was finally criminalized in 2005.

Not all of the changes favored women. The one-child policy initiated in

1978 to control China’s burgeoning population mandated that each married couple may bear only one child. Traditionally, Chinese favor sons over daughters, because sons take care of aged parents. Although the new law encouraged sexual equality, the result was the illegal practice of sex-selective abortion made possible by the availability of ultrasound, child abandonment and infanticide. The orphanages were filled with female babies.

Women were sometimes subject to forced abortions by their husbands if the embryos were female.

Decades later this policy led to a high male sex ratio with a large number of marriageable men finding it difficult or impossible to secure a willing bride.

The society is out of balance. According to a report by the State Population and Family Planning Commission, there will be 30 million more men than women in 2020.

The shortage of women has already resulted in a 180-degree swing from traditional marriage customs and the superior male attitude towards women.

Women are free to “hold up half the sky” and be fickle. They select their own husbands and plan their own weddings. Instead of the traditional red gowns, the shop windows are full of voluminous, modern white bridal gowns. Wedding parks have been established in many cities where Western style weddings are held with wedding cakes and Champagne.

Women now enjoy legal rights to property almost identical to men and have equal opportunities for education and inheritance. But there is still a long way to go. Women have lower salaries and no place as political leaders. At the top level of decision-making, no woman has ever been among the nine members of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party’s Politburo.

Yet if you’re a woman, you can’t help but feel a certain schadenfreude at this reversal of gender fortune.

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David Boies at his Westchester County home.

DAVID BOIES’ FIGHT – JUSTICE FOR ALL

BY FRANK PAGANI PHOTOGRAPH BY ANTHONY CARBONI

I

n 2016, David Boies will be gathering with 60 of his nearest and dearest, including his six children and nine grandchildren, for a biannual family reunion in Sycamore, Ill., where he – the man who defended Sony in the recent North Korean hacking scandal and represented Al Gore in the tangled mess that was the 2000 presidential election – was born and raised.

The return to the farming community – he calls it “cow country” – where he spent his boyhood will be a special occasion as Boies and his family mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of his father (David Sr.).

“He was a major influence in shaping my passion for justice,” Boies says.

“As a high school teacher of American history, he instilled in me a deep appreciation about how far we have become a more just society since our

country’s founding and how much more we need to do to make sure people have access to all the rights our free society offers.”

Those inspiring lessons, amplified by his mother, Mary, who was also a teacher, occurred shortly before the Civil Rights Movement unfolded. It served as a dramatic backdrop and parallel while Boies attended high school and then Northwestern University. Boies received his bachelor of science degree in 1964, the same year that the landmark Civil Rights Act was passed by Congress and signed by President Lyndon Johnson.

At that time, Boies recalls, “I was still on the fence as to whether I wanted to follow in the path of my parents and become a teacher or an attorney.”

Even when he attended law school – first at Yale University, where he graduated in 1966 magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Laws degree and then a year later at New York University where he earned a Master of Laws degree – he thought there would be

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a good chance that he would end up teaching.

Fortunately for the advancement of civil rights, the call of the courtroom won out. As a young attorney, he volunteered with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights in Jackson, Miss. Over time he filed a number of lawsuits relating to civil rights issues, including one in 1986 against the Republican National Committee, ending its discriminatory practice of targeting minority districts with voting ballot security programs, not uniformly applied, that essentially discouraged minorities from voting.

In 2009, the Armonk resident would take great pride in his work as co-lead counsel in a high-profile case, Perry v. Brown, which overturned Proposition 8 in California prohibiting same-sex marriage. In an interview published in the October 2014 issue of New York Metro Lawyers, Boies says: “My whole experience as a lawyer has been in the context of trying to vindicate the promises that our Constitution and our founders made. I believe that the issue of discrimination against gay and lesbian citizens, is, as the racial discrimination issue was the defining civil rights issue 50 years ago, the defining civil rights issue of this century.”

Though a number of states have approved the constitutional right of gays to marry, “the battle is far from over,” Boies says. “There is much more work that needs to be done to end discrimination on this issue.”

Indeed, for someone who will turn 74 in March, Boies sounds like a young attorney who is just starting to roll up his sleeves a to help create a more just society.

“There is a tremendous amount of justice that needs to be done to end discrimination in a host of areas besides race and gender. In Florida, we are working on litigation to help indigent children receive adequate medical care.”

Education is another civil rights area that Boies feels very strongly about.

“We have pending cases to prove people who live in poor districts are discriminated against because of the way education is funded, which is on a local basis. If you live in a poor district, education is often not properly funded. Yet a good education is absolutely essential in order to fully participate in society, to get a good job and to raise a family.”

He noted that the policy is not only “fundamentally unfair to individuals but detrimental to our country’s competitiveness. At a time when the cost of a college education has become prohibitively expensive, community 18

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Mary Boies and husband David Boies arrive on the red carpet for the Time 100 Most Influential People in the World Gala at the Frederick P. Rose Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City on April 29, 2014. Boies is best known for his defense of President Bill Clinton during the impeachment hearings and for successful arguments before the Supreme Court in defense of gay marriage in California. Dreamstime.com

colleges are critically important in helping to close this gap by providing large swaths of the population with the skills they need to succeed.”

Boies’ legendary career – he brought a successful antitrust suit against Microsoft, represented the late New York Yankees’ owner George Steinbrenner in a suit against Major League Baseball and defended CBS in a libel action brought by Gen. William Westmoreland, among other high-profile cases – led Washington Monthly to hail him as “a latter-day Clarence Darrow,” after the lawyer who defended evolution teacher John T. Scopes in a 1925 case that inspired the play and movie “Inherit the Wind” and still resonates today. In 2010, Time magazine named Boies one of its most influential people.

His accomplishments are all the more remarkable considering that he is

dyslexic and did not learn to read until the third grade. (He’s still a slow reader.) But Boies thinks that his dyslexia was a motivating factor in his success, because he learned to compensate for his disability by slowing down and focusing on the salient points of written information, analyzing them critically and developing a keen memory.

In coping successfully with dyslexia, he became a role model for two of his children who are dyslexic as well as others. In a profile by The Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity, he recalls telling his children: “I know what you’re going through, for I’ve been through that myself, and let me tell you from my own experience, it gets better.’”

Since 1997, Boies has served as chairman of Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP, which has emerged as one of the nation’s premier law firms, with more than 200 attorneys practicing

in multiple offices across the nation.

When not leading this large enterprise or preparing for his next court argument, Boies spends quality time with his number one love – his family. He especially looks forward to family gatherings at Christmastime, which are celebrated every other year on a rotating basis with the family reunions.

He also enjoys sailing two or three times a year. But his favorite pastime, one that started about 30 years ago, is taking bicycle tours in Europe with his wife, Mary, a founding partner of the law firm Boies & McInnis LLP. “It’s a great way to see villages, because you are going slow enough – 35 to 60 miles a day – so that you can really see what’s before you,” he says.

As with reading – and maybe pursuing justice as well – taking it slow enables Boies to savor and gain what might otherwise be lost.

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An all-consuming passion

BY MARY SHUSTACK PHOTOGRAPHS BY JOHN RIZZO

Gina Bratter, at home in Dobbs Ferry.

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ART IS A PART OF GINA BRATTER’S EVERY MOMENT

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he artistry begins even before you enter Gina Bratter’s home.

While her corner townhouse might seem like any of the endlessly similar facades in the Dobbs Ferry complex, a collection of decorative tiles and tiny sculptures gives the entrance a distinct personality.

And when the artist opens the door, with a warm smile and hand extended, you are swept into a space where nearly every inch is filled with art. There are masks and paintings dotting the rice-paper walls and bowls, dolls and assorted sculptures artfully filling most every surface.

It overwhelms – but in an exciting sense.

“Most of it is mine,” Bratter says in response to a show of amazement she has likely encountered before. “It’s my little cocoon.”

The Italian-born artist will offer espresso – “I don’t know how to make American coffee” – before settling into the living room to chat about her life in art.

Bratter is clearly at home within a space that showcases her own work liberally sprinkled within an array of African masks and even an intricately carved Flemish cabinet purchased in an antiques shop.

“I appreciate art from all over the world,” she says, with her own imagery ranging from Japanese figures to Italian villages.

Her striking appearance is an equal reflection of her art.

“I make my own jewelry. I decorate my shoes. I make my own sweaters,” she says.

Indeed, on this day she wears a sweater and jewelry of her own design, with shoes she has embellished.

And while there is a traditional studio space on the home’s top floor, Bratter says her work is done throughout.

“Every room has become a studio.”

Or a project: “I decided one day I didn’t like the color of my kitchen. I painted the tiles.”

EARLY DAYS It’s always been an artistic life for Bratter, even if she had to fight for it once her family arrived in New York City.

“I grew up in a very creative home. I was born in Italy. When I came to this country, art was just not in the equation. …Education was stressed.”

Bratter’s parents were scholarly people with a talent for tailoring. The Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America sponsored the family’s trip to America, with the contract specifying that the adults in the family would then work for the union. Her parents and brother, 12 years her senior, would travel from the outer boroughs to Greenwich Village for work (with her brother attending college at night).

This left the 8-year-old home alone, with her parents asking a landlady to check in on her from time to time, “simply the only option they had to keep me safe.”

She says she realizes that her parents were facing a “whole different way of life for us, and the unknown was very frightening for them.”

Bratter would take newspapers and make dolls, sketches and papier-mâché, “stuff that I don’t know where it came from but it saved my life,” helping her escape the “terrible fear” of being abandoned.

“I survived it, and it was because of my art,” she says. “This continued to be a pattern … I was a very depressed teenager. I come from a family who are all geniuses and I said, ‘Where do I fit in?’”

A high school teacher recognized Bratter’s artistic talent, with Bratter eventually earning recognition through a national competition.

“I would earn all of these medals and my parents would never come to see me get my medals,” she says.

Bratter says, though she might wear “sandals up to my knees” and “hair like Cher,” she led a conventional life that defied the stereotype of a 1960s artist.

She would go on to college – “nothing to do with art” – but art never left her thoughts.

“Whenever I had a bad day, I would get in my car. I would drive around.”

One day driving by the Garrison Art Center, she happened upon a scene that would change her life.

“I saw all of these beautiful colors on a clothesline.”

She went in, learned they were batik works and took a class later that same day.

“I fell totally in love with the technique,” she says. “As a result of that, I was creating like a lunatic.”

She would go on to develop an innovative way to create batik – a process that uses wax-resist dyeing on cloth to make art – effectively westernizing the ancient art form and bringing it to a whole new audience.

“I decided why not try it on rice paper,” Bratter says of her breakthrough approach to the process.

She would begin exhibiting locally and was at a White Plains furniture store with a friend – “I was teaching belly dancing at the time” – when she met an agent who would change her path.

“He made me very famous in a very short period of time. That really launched my career,” she says.

The work – creating pieces under her then-name Gina Lombardi to complement trends in furniture – would also make her career.

She was creating commissioned works that were reproduced in lots of 500 or more. Finally, her parents recognized her talent.

“They finally accepted it at that point,” she says.

The work, though, was not as creative as she might have liked.

“So much of what I did was for what the home décor field called for,” she says.

Her agent would tell her, for example, that the following season would focus on Asian furniture.

“He would say to me, ‘It’s going to be big so create some pieces.’”

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Gina Bratter examines one of her own creations.

Gina Bratter works on her jewelry designs in her Dobbs Ferry studio.

The work gave her both a “name and income” that helped with her raising two children. (She is also grandmother of three).

Bratter, though, didn’t create in order to gain recognition or fame.

“It’s whether you consider yourself famous or not,” she says of her time during that era. “It was openings of galleries. It was hanging out at galleries with Peter Max, Andy Warhol.”

Bratter created an extensive number of original works, printing them at prestigious city spots where work by fellow artists including LeRoy Neiman, Erté and Chuck Close were also completed. During her downtime, she took courses at The Parsons School of Design and would become accredited to teach, which she did in the New York City public schools – ironically, Italian, math and “everything but art.”

Eventually, she would land at Southern Westchester BOCES where she taught a variety of subjects, including fashion design, for 18 years.

“Then I retired and decided to just devote my time to… ” she says, gently waving her arm to everything in the room. “This is my oxygen. It’s my passion.”

MOVING FORWARD “Now I’m free to design any way, and create any way I want,” she says. “I go through these periods. For six months I design pottery. For six months I’ll design clothes. It’s great to have that kind of freedom in my life.”

After all, “If we can find a way of transporting us into a world where there’s beauty and color and nature – then we have to grab that gift and run with it.”

In recognition of that gift, she donates 10 percent of all her proceeds to a variety 22

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of charitable and nonprofit causes.

Once again, she has found herself teaching.

“I’m teaching watercolors to adults right here in my dining room,” she says. Beading classes are also offered.

She welcomes participants of all skill levels, encouraging them to be daring.

“I’m very unconventional when it comes to my art,” Bratter says.

She has been known to take a work and run it under water to create an unusual effect or splatter something with paint as ways to encourage students to experiment.

“I think it’s to show them you can’t fear. … It’s a piece of paper.”

Her unique approach is also evidenced in a showroom on the ground floor, a virtual explosion of jewelry and accessories of every kind.

“Now, you will understand,” she says, opening the door to the treasure trove. “I don’t make two of a kind. I’d go crazy.”

It is like nothing you’ve seen before.

“I don’t want to create what people can buy in a store,” she says, explaining the incredible spectrum of work in metals, clay, glass, beads, leather and fibers.

Friends often come and ask to borrow something for a special occasion, and she also opens up shop for seasonal boutiques.

Over time, Bratter has had trouble with her hands, from carpal tunnel syndrome to a hereditary muscle condition.

She dreads the idea of her hands becoming impaired.

“That is my biggest fear,” she says. “If I didn’t create, what would I do?”

She never fears running out of inspiration, though.

“The truth is what keeps us creating is we never reach that ultimate masterpiece.

It’s the process. It’s the total meditation that’s involved. It does become a form of meditation.”

Talking about her annual return to Sicily puts a smile on Bratter’s face.

“My brother moved back. I have been going as long as I was old enough to travel by myself, since age 12. The last day of school I was on a plane.”

Once there, usually each June to September, she takes advantage of her surroundings.

“It’s outdoor living,” she says, where she can focus on larger-scale projects such as felting and weaving.

It is, she admits, a lovely complement to life in the Hudson Valley.

“I’m fortunate that I can do both.”

Bratter may have made her name in the world of commercial art, but today, perhaps more than ever, her art reflects her soul.

“I did those conventional things to make a living. Now I can be free, be me.”

And that creativity is part of her every moment, she says.

“Even people now say, ‘What a wonderful hobby.’ Hobby? It’s my life.”

And you can tell, it truly is.

For more, contact Gina Bratter at ginabratter@hotmail.com.

Painting, prosciutto and the pursuit of life

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA PHOTOGRAPHS BY BOB ROZYCKI

Edward Giobbi

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or Edward Giobbi, the passion for painting and for preparing prosciutto is all of a piece.

ing pesto at the last minute. (Long before there was seasonal cooking or a farmto-table movement, there was Giobbi.) Or the antipasto featuring hard pears and cauliflower dipped in batter that he prepared at Christmastime. These are the recipes, the memories, of a child born in Waterbury, Conn., to Italian immigrants, who spent time on his grandfather’s farm in Centobuchi on the Adriatic coast, who still goes to Italy twice a year with wife, Elinor – she of the Southern charm and lilt and fine bone structure – who ventures down to Arthur Avenue in the Bronx every Friday not just for the authentic Italian foodstuffs but for the conversations and perhaps a recipe or two from the old-timers.

“Italian-American food is a corruption,” he says. “It’s not like real Italian food.”

It’s on Arthur Avenue that Giobbi gets the hams to make his prosciutto. These are not the puny 9-pounders but 45- to 50-pound hams that come from huge pigs raised in upstate New York. The art of making prosciutto, which Giobbi learned from his grandfather, is not for the faint or impatient of heart, as you must start in December or January and then wait at least nine months – a year being preferable.

Curing the ham involves removing the pelvic bone and foot fragments from where they join the thighbone, to prevent bacteria, and rubbing them well with kosher/coarse salt and black pepper. You cut off the skin from the inner thigh. (Salt and save it for soup.) Ditto any loose meat and fat. (Save this for making sausage.)

After shaping the ham, you massage it to get any blood out, then give it a generous salt-and-pepper rubdown. Place the ham, skin-side down, on a salted, noncorrodible tray in a cool, dry place (30 to 40 degrees) where air circulates. Sprinkle the ham with salt as it is absorbed, taking care to salt the exposed knobs. (The French, Giobbi writes, use cognac on the femur knob; Italians in certain regions use grappa.) After a week, you put three sticks under the ham to keep out moisture. Three weeks later, you hang it in a

“It’s all part of me – gardening, cooking, painting, writing,” he says. And no one part is superior to the other.

“A stonemason who knows how to build a wall is just as creative as a painter. The word ‘artist’ is among the most overused in the English language. Everyone today is an artist. They didn’t call themselves artists in the Renaissance. They were craftsmen.”

As Giobbi talks before a crackling fire in the airy addition of his Katonah home, many of the arts – Should we call them crafts? – are in play.

Sounds of Mozart, Ravel and Rimsky-Korsakov fill the air. Books line a corner case, including the four cookbooks Giobbi has written. Paintings, both abstract and figural, hang or lean everywhere. Among them is a large round work – reminiscent at once of a shimmering mandala and a vinyl record – that’s all about vanishing perspective and the interplay between twoand three-dimensionality. Stories spin about Giobbi’s equally accomplished friends – the chef Jacques Pepin, whose quote adorns the back flap of Giobbi’s “Pleasures of the Good Earth”; the late Southern historian-novelist Shelby Foote, first introduced to most of America in Ken Burns’ landmark “Civil War” series.

“Shelby Foote gave me a chapter of one of his books,” Giobbi recalls. “He wrote everything in longhand. It looks like medieval script. Not a mistake on the page. …He knew history, he knew the battles so well. He would read everything he could get his hands on. He had it all in his head. Then he would write it.”

In his artisanal way of thinking, Giobbi might call Foote a scribe. “The scribes were very important, very well-read,” Giobbi says. “They kept culture alive.”

But then, so does a nourishing minestrone, like the Genoan-style one he makes with vegetables from 1his11/17/14 garden and serves in the summer, add42_westfair_v2_Layout 12:46 PM room-temperature Page 1

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cool, well-ventilated space for 10 days.

Next you rub salt on the skin side and place the ham skin-down on the tray, adding a 30- to 50-pound weight atop the ham to squeeze out the remaining moisture.

Leave it that way for another 10 days, removing the weight every two days to give the ham another salt rub if it becomes too moist. After this period, you wrap the ham in a cheesecloth, tying it securely to keep bugs out, and hang it in a well-ventilated place.

Now your part is done. You must await the robust delights of your prosciutto through spring, summer and fall. When it’s ready, cut an inch of skin, fat and outer dried flesh from one side and save it for soups and stews. Slice the meat paper-thin and serve it as a first course. Keep it in a cool place, but not necessarily a refrigerator.

You’ll find this and 339 other recipes in “Pleasure of the Good Earth,” which Giobbi himself illustrated. It features a foreword by Alice Waters, a leader in the organic, locally sourced movement, and fulsome praise from the late food writer Craig Claiborne, who called Giobbi “one of the finest and most enthusiastic of cooks and gardeners.”

Writes Jacques Pepin: “…he understands the product first, and his close communion with the earth and nature is reflected in the quality and integrity of his recipes.”

Indeed, Giobbi is so well-associated with food that you forget he has a day job.

Winter mornings, he’ll put a pot of soup on and sketch in the house, taking about a 45-minute lunch break to relax with some TV, which puts him to sleep for about 15 minutes. Then he’ll head to the barn, which is his studio, to work in various media – oils, watercolors, tempera, sculpture. In the summer, he’ll be in the garden early in the morning and in the evening, painting in-between. It’s all about catching the light, working with the seasons, on canvas and on the table.

Part of Giobbi’s studio – which has fabulous northern exposures for painting – was destroyed during Hurricane Irene in August 2011. The handsome addition contains parts of works – a whole year’s worth were lost – that have been refashioned into colorful collages. The series is called “Up Yours, Irene.”

Despite the title, Giobbi is philosophical – stoical even – about nature. Still, he is single-minded in pursuit of his craft – which is really the art of living.

“Anything for the good of the art,” he says. “If it doesn’t fit, I throw it out.”

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A gem of a ROMANCE JEWELER PETER SUCHY CAPTIVATED BY HIS WORK

BY MARY SHUSTACK PHOTOGRAPHS BY BOB ROZYCKI

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UCKED INTO THE CORNER OF A BUSTLING STRIP MALL IN STAMFORD, PETER SUCHY JEWELERS IS, AT FIRST GLANCE, YOUR TRADITIONAL JEWELRY STORE. There are necklaces and rings, earrings and brooches, watches and objets d’art. Fashioned out of gold, platinum and silver, the pieces sparkle with diamonds, sapphires, emeralds, rubies, opals and pearls in settings simple to elaborate.

But when you really start to peer into the glass cases – and talk with owner Peter Suchy – you realize his inventory of antique and estate jewelry is utterly unique.

As the jewelry merchant, designer and gemologist with more than 30 years in the field gives an impromptu tour of the treasure trove, it’s apparent that these glittering windows into earlier eras represent more than adornment.

They are also filled with stories – and in a few cases, mysteries – that never fail to captivate Suchy.

“I always loved the old stuff,” he says. “I would describe my feeling about the old jewelry as a passion. I get excited about it.”

And that includes a necklace and matching earrings that carry an almond motif. Yes, an almond motif – but more on that later.

An agate forms the centerpiece of a pin designed by Peter Suchy.

RIGHT FROM THE START

SUCHY, WHO ALSO ACTIVELY SELLS through online outlets including eBay, 1stdibs and Ruby Lane, has built his reputation on the variety and quality of his antique and estate jewelry.

The inventory is bursting with delicate Victorian pieces, fanciful Art Nouveau work, elegant Art Deco statements and even a few groovy things from the 1970s.

“We’ve become experts on identifying” the different time periods and styles, he says.

For Suchy, it all began back in Norwalk.

“I started as a hands-on jeweler… a repair person,” he says of working with a Norwalk jeweler before going out on his own.

That introduction, he says, allowed him to “develop a keen interest and love of antique and estate jewelry.”

Today, he not only sells that jewelry but has fulfilled a longtime dream of becoming a jewelry designer as well.

And when working on his own designs, Suchy is influenced by the past, creating new work that is also “keeping the old designs alive.”

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29

An almond-themed necklace has a mysterious past, while a pair of necklaces offers a regal touch at Peter Suchy Jewelers.

His is a hand of restraint. He shows how a particular setting he created allows a diamond to truly shine.

Others, he rightly noted, might have given in to the temptation to “go big.” Sure, you’d have had a showstopping piece but the understated beauty of the stone would have been lost.

Suchy says that often, contemporary makers influenced by the past don’t quite translate the original feel.

His goal is to “try to be true” to the original forms and methods – no matter how long it takes.

One project, he shares, is waiting “for a stone that I feel is appropriate. … As far as I’m concerned, it can sit here another five years.”

AT YOUR SERVICE

IT’S NO SURPRISE THAT SUCHY’S RETAIL SHOP, which also offers full appraisal services, has a devoted following.

“It’s not unusual for me in this store to have a couple make an annual or biannual trip from South Carolina or Texas,” he says.

Being online may raise the profile, but Suchy says having an old-fashioned brick-and-mortar store adds another dimension to customer confidence.

“We have an established business,” he says. “We are 30

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real people, and they can look up who and what we are.”

Suchy is often tapped to see if he’s carrying prestige pieces from Cartier or Van Cleef & Arpels, for example. It’s no surprise with such a diverse inventory.

“We have jewelry from $100 to jewelry over $100,000,” he says.

“I think we’re also known for having eclectic pieces. …I get calls from dealers from all over the country looking for pieces for their customers.”

Being so established in the field, Suchy no longer has to go out hunting for inventory.

For the most part, he says, “it comes to me.”

And dealing with such a range gives Suchy a keen perspective on trends.

“I would say that anything old and vintage is very much influencing current buying trends,” he says.

“Art Deco would probably be the strongest of the trends.”

Varied items from the 1930s through the ’50s continue to do well, he adds.

“I’m also seeing a trend back to quality. People don’t necessarily want the biggest. They want the best, something that’s one of a kind.”

A MOST GLITTERING TOUR

FOR A JEWELRY LOVER, there’s nothing more fun than hearing all about a piece that has caught your eye.

And Suchy feeds right into the enthusiasm.

“It’s not hard to get excited about it,” he says, sharing details of one lovely piece after another during a recent afternoon visit.

He might focus on technique.

“This is something you wouldn’t see done today, because it costs way too much money to do,” he says of an intricate work featuring natural pearls.

Or he might dwell on the impact of a refurbishing project, such as the one that added a colored face to a 1950s wristwatch, “making it into a fashion watch.”

“We’re trying to give this stuff a second life,” he says. “The idea is to try to preserve the whole essence of the original.”

Suchy’s authority extends to materials as well.

Prior to the Industrial Revolution, “the number of people who could afford anything but the thinnest gold band were few and far between,” he says, noting a particularly thick band from that era signals it was

made for someone of wealth.

The surprises, though, are the best.

A 19th-century necklace features what at first appear to be charms, but on closer inspection were revealed to be needlepoint miniatures set under crystal.

“I took out my loupe,” he says.

His reaction was one of amazement: “It’s handstitched, for God’s sake.”

The piece, he knows, is from France “because of the letters on the clasp.” That the needlepoint jewelry, featuring the tiniest flower motif, has no water damage “is almost a miracle of jewelry.”

Next, Suchy will talk about the Montana sapphires from Yogo Gulch that join moonstones on a 1940s choker, likely fashioned by one of the suppliers to Tiffany & Co. Elsewhere, there are Victorian tassels made with rose gold, a 1950s brushed crescent featuring small diamonds and, you are delighted to hear, a brooch of his own design.

For the elegant piece that resembles a tortoise-hued leaf, Suchy took a natural agate, “picked up from the estate of a gem collector,” and finished it with tiny sparkles.

For every delicate work, there are the major pieces, too.

With flair, Suchy shows off a true showstopper, an Emile Perret 18-karat gold minute-repeater pocket watch once owned by Joseph Henry Ramsey.

As Suchy shares the elaborate story of the watch that belonged to the 1860s railroad magnate, it’s stunning to realize something so personal to someone not only survives but offers a vivid glimpse into the fashions, politics and social customs of more than a century ago.

“You talk about history – it’s all right there,” he says, capping the twists and turns of the tale by allowing the watch to chime in its uncanny re-creation of a railroad whistle.

THE SWEET MYSTERY

AND AS DETAILED THE BACKGROUND is for that Ramsey watch, some other favorites, Suchy says, are “the pieces that have me wondering.”

And that brings us back to that almond jewelry.

“I’ve been in the business a number of years, and I’ve never seen almond jewelry,” Suchy says, drawing attention to a mid-19th century green gold necklace and matching earrings.

“Obviously to me, this was privately commissioned,” he says.

Perhaps it was a gift from an almond merchant to his wife, a tribute to someone’s favorite snack or even a sly comment on someone’s “nutty” personality?

Though Suchy says while he knows the origin may never be discovered, it remains a one-of-a-kind creation well worth preserving. He has, in fact, already refused offers to split the set.

“That piece has been together for 170 years. Let it stay together,” he says. “I’m not going to separate it.”

After all, the store that Suchy says has been compared to a museum is not only a place to find something dazzling, but also a place to fuel daydreams, including Suchy’s own.

“What I would love is for any one of these pieces to tell us whose neck it’s been on, what it’s seen.”

We would love that, too.

For more, visit petersuchyjewelers.com.

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31

The right touch ORCHIDS AND PATIENTS BENEFIT FROM DOC’S ATTENTION TO DETAILS

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA PHOTOGRAPH BY BOB ROZYCKI

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Dr. Robert S. Reiffel among his orchids.

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FEBRUARY 2015

R

OBERT S. REIFFEL IS A STICKLER FOR DETAILS. And that turns out to be just what the doctor ordered in his work as a hand and plastic surgeon – and in his passion for orchids.

“I find hand surgery lends itself to what my wife calls my ‘obsessive-compulsive personality,’” he says. “With hand surgery – and eyelid surgery – there’s no such thing as too close attention to detail.”

That’s because hand and plastic surgery are about so much more than subtle stitching. “They’re about how you care for the tissues,” Reiffel says.

He learned that dramatically as part of the Bellevue Hospital team that reattached student musician Renee Katz’s right hand after it was severed when she was pushed from a New York City subway platform in 1979. Though she would never play the flute again, Katz became a successful occupational therapist.

“Unfortunately, she didn’t get the best result, because her hand was crushed by a subway train,” Reiffel (pronounced RAY-fel) says. “The more delicately you can treat the tissues, the better the result. Had it been cut cleanly, there would’ve been much less trauma.”

The delicacy needed for such microsurgery comes in handy when cultivating orchids. Though their beauty and versatility – there are more than 30,000 species ranging across every continent but Antarctica – make them highly seductive, orchids won’t bloom for just everyone. Reiffel has the touch. There are 25 in his White Plains office, another 10 in his Scarsdale home, including moth orchids and

the showy cattleya orchids, which are probably what we think of when we think of orchids and corsages.

The orchid is a kind of Goldilocks flower: It likes a lot of light but not dry heat, humidity but not wetness. It’s no loner. “A group of orchids can provide one another with enough humidity,” Reiffel says.

He even won an award for Best Original Photography Exhibit at the World Financial Center’s “The Greater New York Orchid Show” in 1993. His techniques have included using a mirror set up on a tripod to reflect the light back on the orchid’s tunnel-like center. In the old days of 35mm cameras, he’d take a whole roll of film.

Now with digital photography, he can see what quality he has right away.

Reiffel came by his love of orchids accidentally – although Freud might disagree with that.

“A good friend came to dinner with a phalaenopsis (moth orchid),” Reiffel remembers. “Someone else came over and saw it. Once they know you like them, they give you orchids.”

His medical career has been a lot more deliberate. The Yale graduate earned his medical degree from Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons before going on to an internship and residency in general surgery at Roosevelt Hospital. There he discovered his love of the hand, that complex extremity that sets us apart from so many other animals. There were two ways to go with it – orthopedics or plastic surgery. Reiffel chose the latter, which led to a residency in plastic surgery and a fellowship in hand surgery at New York University Medical Center.

He sees a parallel between his medical disciplines and his plants.

“Just the fact that you’re trying to make things better,” he says. “In plastic surgery, it’s how you care for the tissues. With the plants, you’re providing an environment in which they can grow and rebloom. They’re like babies. They’re totally dependent on you.

“When you get something to rebloom, you know it’s happy,” he says. “It will last a long time. Then you have the satisfaction of having done something well.”

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Petal power ORCHID LOVERS LIKE DR. ROBERT S. REIFFEL won’t want to miss The New York Botanical Garden’s 13th annual orchid show. This year’s theme is “Chandeliers,” featuring blooming baskets and cylinders not only in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory’s Palm Court and Seasonal Exhibition Galleries but also, for the first time, throughout the conservatory. The show is designed

by Francisca Coelho, the Garden’s Vivian and Edward Merrin vice president for glasshouses and exhibitions, who’s been called “the best female head gardener at present working under glass.” For more, call 718-817-8700 or visit nybg.org.

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COMPARE US.

hen it comes to selecting a doctor, training and experience make all the difference. Compare the credentials of the ONS physician team to their

counterparts’ anywhere, then you be the judge. With 23 sub-specialty trained physicians in orthopedics, neurosurgery, sports medicine and physical medicine,

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FREE HEALTH SEMINARS ONS Spring Calendar Ready for Spring Sports? Foot & Ankle, Hand & Wrist Injury Prevention and Treatments When: February 25, 2015, 6:30 p.m.

Where: Noble Auditorium, Greenwich Hospital Speakers: Sean Peden, MD, Mark Vitale, MD, and Paddle & Tennis Professional Patrick Hirscht Learn about common injuries seen in golf and racket sports and available treatements. Hear about injury prevention, stretching and treatments from a professional’s perspective.

Falls and Injury Prevention

When: March 6, 2015, 1:15 p.m.

Where: Senior Center, Greenwich Hospital Speakers: Steven Hindman, MD and Tatyana Kalyuzhny, PT, DPT, MDT Did you know that falls are the most common cause of traumatic brain injury? Most fractures occur from falling. Orthopedic surgeon Steven Hindman, MD, of ONS and Greenwich Hospital will discuss the risk

factors of falling, fall prevention and treatments of common injuries caused after a fall. ONS Physical Therapist Tatyana Kalyuzhny will present general strength and flex exercises that help reinforce the muscles maintain balance.

Joint Replacement Symposium

Shoulder Pain? If you can’t do the simple things you once did, you may be suffering from a shoulder condition.

ORTHOPEDIC SURGEONS from ONS and Greenwich Hospital’s anesthesiology, nursing and physical therapy staff will present an informative and comprehensive seminar about, shoulder, hip & knee joint replacement surgeries.

When: March 12, 2015, 6:30 p.m.

Where: Noble Auditorium, Greenwich Hospital Speaker: Marc Kowalsky, MD

Severe shoulder arthritis and chronic shoulder pain can make daily-life activities, like combing hair, reaching for a lamp or putting on a sweater extremely difficult. Marc Kowalsky, MD, orthopedic surgeon and shoulder specialist will talk about reliable solutions for chronic shoulder pain. Learn about your options so you can make the best decision for you.

When: April 22, 2015, 6 p.m.

Where: Noble Auditorium, Greenwich Hospital Speakers: Frank Ennis, MD; Seth Miller, MD and Brian Kavanagh, MD

Topics: • Latest advances in joint replacement • Computer-assisted surgery • Minimally invasive & muscle sparing techniques • Preparing for joint replacement surgery • Pain management • What to expect from the recovery process You may ask questions at the conclusion of each physician’s talk. Talks are free and open to the public.

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Please resigter for seminars that are held in the Noble Conference Center at Greenwich Hospital by calling 203-863-3627 or register online at www.greenhosp.org. Visit ONSMD.COM for more upcoming free health seminars.

Advances in cardiac care bring new meaning to ‘young at heart’

T

BY JANE K. DOVE

O SAY IT’S A NEW DAY IN THE TREATMENT OF HEART DISEASE IS A VAST UNDERSTATEMENT. Many new procedures have emerged that make things much easier on patients, with improved results and shorter recovery times.

In the forefront of these advances is Dr. Matthew R. Williams, who heads the structural and heart valve program at the NYU Langone Medical Center in Manhattan.

Williams’ extensive and multifaceted training has earned him the positions of chief of adult cardiac surgery, director of interventional cardiology and director of the valve program.

In addition to being a highly skilled cardiac surgeon, Williams is an interventional cardiologist, using catheters, balloons and stents to treat blocked arteries and valves.

“This is the area that has advanced most dramatically in recent years,” he said. “Treatment of valve disease has taken big steps forward, including highly successful repairs of the mitral valve and replacement of the aortic valve.”

ALWAYS FOCUSED A native of Utah, Williams said he was always interested in being a doctor. “From early childhood I was drawn to the idea of helping others and science fascinated me,” he said. “I used to do operations on bananas, with raisin transplants a specialty.”

With his eyes on the prize of a career in medicine, Williams got his medical degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1996, followed by a research fellowship at Columbia University Medical Center, a residency in general surgery at Columbia and the UCLA Medical Center; and fellowships in cardiothoracic surgery and interventional cardiology, both at Columbia.

He was co-director of the Columbia’s Heart Valve Center until six months ago when he left to join NYU Langone. (He, wife Sara, who’s in publishing, and daughters Zoe, 8, and Lola, 3, divide their time 36

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FEBRUARY 2015

between homes on the Upper West Side and New Milford.)

“My training in both cardiac surgery and interventional cardiology give me the opportunity to do the very best for my patients,” he said. “These are usually completely different training paths, treating essentially the same problem with different skill sets. For example, most people think ‘bypass’ when they think of cardiac surgery and ‘catheterization’ when imagining interventional cardiology. Thanks to my training, I do both.”

MAJOR ADVANCES Williams said the area that has advanced the most in recent years has been in the treatment of valvular disease using interventional cardiology, his specialty. Interventional cardiology deals specifically with the treatment of structural heart disease, including conditions affecting the mitral valve and the aortic valve.

“The new technologies now at hand allow us to repair mitral valves and replace aortic valves with transcatheter techniques,” he said.

Many procedures can be performed on the heart using catheterization. The main advantage of using interventional cardiology is the avoidance of large scars and pain and long postoperative recovery times.

“Aortic stenosis, where the aortic valve leading to the heart becomes calcified, narrows and doesn’t function properly, is a common condition among the elderly,” Williams said. “If untreated, it has a high mortality rate. It used to require open heart surgery, but now we can remove the old damaged valve and insert a new valve using advanced catheterization techniques. In most cases, the patient does not have to go under general anesthesia.”

Repair of the mitral valve is also now a routine procedure.

“The mitral valve has a different structure and tends to leak rather than narrow through calcification,” he said. “Using minimally invasive surgery we can repair the leak or, if necessary, replace the valve. We have a 95 percent success rate, even factoring in older patients who can be at high risk. They may require more sophisticated techniques, but we have helped many patients in their 90s. In fact, I have operated on a patient who was 101 years of age.”

Williams said he is especially gratified with his work on older patients.

“They come in very sick and depressed, sometimes with extreme shortness of breath.

Of course they want to live, but what they are most interested in is an improved quality of life.

We can take a 90-year-old and have them up and walking the next day.”

High success rates are not possible without a total team approach, he added. “It is not just what I do. It is the support I get from everyone on our patient care team. It is collaborative care at the best.”

LOOKING AHEAD Seeking to take interventional cardiology to an even Dr. Matthew R. Williams higher level, Williams is involved in research on a new valve that is smaller than the ones currently in use and can be repositioned during the procedures. “This gives us a lot more flexibility. We can make needed adjustments then and there to get the best possible result.”

The new valve is called Evolut-R and Williams thinks it has great possibilities for making good outcomes even better.

Looking back over his career to date, Williams said he has found it personally fulfilling and exciting.

“About 25 percent of my patients are in their 90s,” he said. “Not that long ago, they would have been deemed not eligible for surgery. But today they come to me to, as one patient said, ‘to get fixed or die trying.’ Age and the aging process can be relative, with some 90 year-olds in better shape than many 70- year-olds. There is nothing more gratifying then to see them a week or a month later, greatly improved and looking forward to some more years with a vastly improved quality of life.”

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SOLE SISTER

KRISTINA CAVALLO IS HEAD OVER HEELS FOR SHOES

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA PHOTOGRAPHS BY BOB ROZYCKI

I

f the shoe fits, Kristina Cavallo has probably worn it.

“Shoes are my passion in life,” she says.

How crazy is Kristina for footwear? Well, she’s just moved into a two-bedroom condo in New Rochelle, where she grew up. One bedroom is for her. And one bedroom is for … you guessed it.

“I just wanted to have it to display them,” Kristina says. “To me they’re artistic.”

If shoes are objets d’art, then she is their curator, creating a space with offwhite shelves and a glass island – above which hangs a chandelier – to feature more than 400 pairs.

“For me, it’s a personality thing,” she says. “You put on a shoe and it represents how you feel. I have trendy shoes, conservative shoes, pointy shoes, Manolo Blahniks. I’ll put on a shoe to match my mood. If I’m shopping for an outfit for a special occasion, I’ll buy the shoes first.”

More than half of her collection consists of platforms. “They’re pleasing to

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the eye and pleasing to walk in,” she says.

Many of her shoes sparkle, like her silvery pink Christian Louboutin Daffodile Strass platforms, bedecked in Swarovski crystals. “They’re breathtaking,” says Kristina, who plunked down more than $6,000 for them and has yet to take them for a test-drive. (That might change with a special birthday approaching Feb. 24.)

Louboutin is something of a fave. She

has a glittery pair of Louboutins that the designer signed for her three years ago when she met him at Bergdorf Goodman, four Louboutin Barbie dolls, a drawing of red-soled Louboutins and 13 Louboutin nail polishes. But then, Valentino, Jimmy Choo and other usual suspects are also well represented. Being a connoisseur, Kristina has an eye for those brands that may not immediately spring to mind,

like the edgy Sophia Webster, with her colorful cutouts, dominatrix lace-ups and winged flights of fancy that might’ve tempted fleet-footed Mercury himself.

Kristina’s shoe room is arranged by type. There’s an area for boots and one for UGGs and even a dedicated space for some 10 staple handbags by Balenciaga, Chanel, Saint Laurent and Louis Vuitton.

About 80 percent of the shoes come

from Neiman Marcus Westchester in White Plains. Kristina points to the friendly resourcefulness of the staff. “(Jimmy Choo designated sales associate) Stephanie Ramos and (shoe department manager) David Yeung find things that scream my name and call me in.”

And the bubbly Kristina – who happens to have a most accommodating shoe size, 7½ to 8 medium – is happy to oblige.

Her stewardship of the collection extends to its care as well, from dusting the shelves and cleaning the chandelier to maintaining the shoes. (Kristina favors Occhicone Fine Leather Goods in Port Chester.)

To her, this is an expression of Girl Power.

“Girls don’t dress for guys anymore,” she says. “They dress for other girls.”

Kristina’s more than happy to dress up and turn heads with a little cleavage – that’s toe cleavage, revealed in a swanky peep-toe pump.

It’s been that way since she was Sweet 16 and wore a sequined pants and top ensemble designed for her by Marc Bouwer to the party.

“I always had to be different,” says the fashionista.

Still, she decided to forgo a career in fashion to join her father’s insurance business, Patrick J. Cavallo Agency in the Bronx. It’s now 50 years old and Kristina is co-owner.

“I’ve thought about designing on the side,” she says. “But I love what I do and I’m grateful for it as it helps me afford my wonderful addiction.”

So Kristina will stick with the insurance business and continue to post photographs of her collection and its exhibit space on Instagram (Live Love Laugh and buy shoes).

“To me, it’s something that makes me happy and lifts my spirits.”

Kristina Cavallo has turned a space in her new condo into a shoe room.

Hair and makeup done by Maryann Papasodero from Salon LaBottega, 39 WAGMAG.COM FEBRUARYRye 2015Brook.

A PASSION FOR BEAUTY

BY DANIELLE RENDA

Before considering a romantic getaway, dinner reservations or lingerie for this year’s day of amour, treat yourself to a pampering session. This three-stop beauty tour will have you primed for the most passionate of holidays. Because what better way to create romance than by looking your finest?

THE GREENWICH MEDICAL SKINCARE AND LASER SPA Specializing in skin and body care, this luxurious spa lists such offerings as photo rejuvenation, laser hair removal, dermal fillers, chemical peels, permanent makeup and complementary consultations. In honor of Valentine’s Day, the spa is offering a laser hair removal promotion for the bikini line – six treatments for $600, a 50 percent discount.

For more, visit greenwichmedicalspa.com.

OASIS DAY SPA Christopher Noland Salon & Beauty Spa, 124 Greenwich Ave., Second floor, Greenwich. Photograph courtesy Christopher Noland Salon & Beauty Spa.

Greenwich Medical Skincare & Laser Spa, 1285 E. Putnam Ave. Photograph courtesy Greenwich Medical Skincare & Laser Spa.

For your next stop, visit Oasis Day Spa, offering treatments using natural ingredients to enhance your looks. Services include peels; body scrubs and wraps, waxing, manicures and pedicures, hair removal, and for your locks, the Maximus Clark Salon. Valentine’s Day specials include Heartwarming Hot Stone, a lava stone massage; In Love with Lavender, a one-hour scalp massage; Sweet Red Rose Facial, a 30-minute facial scrub; and Chocolate Kiss Sugar Scrub, a one-hour cocoa and sugar full-body massage.

For more, visit oasisdayspanyc.com.

CHRISTOPHER NOLAND SALON & BEAUTY SPA You can’t end a lavish afternoon without tending to your tresses – and more. Local hotspot Christopher Noland Salon & Beauty Spa specializes in haircutting, coloring and styling, Keratin treatments, massages, facials, eyelash extensions and eyebrow shaping. There are services for guys and brides as well as an on-the-go option for which stylists meet clients at their homes or schedule early/ late appointments. The salon is currently promoting a $99 introductory massage with Tim Moonan, the newest licensed massage therapist.

For more, visit christophernoland.com.

Oasis Day Spa Westchester, 50 Livingston Ave., Dobbs Ferry. Photograph courtesy Oasis Day Spa.

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A LIFE IN THE THEATRE

DECODA

PAUL TAYLOR DANCE COMPANY

NATALIE MERCHANT

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FEBRUARY David Mamet’s A Life in the Theatre Loving & laugh-filled backstage drama February 3 • 8pm

Midori, violin

Impress your Valentine!

February 14 • 8pm

Decoda

Chamber music’s finest young talents February 15 • 3pm

Harlan Jacobson’s Talk Cinema Smart films for smart people February 24 • 7pm

Paul Taylor Dance Company

Pioneers of modern American dance February 28 • 8pm

MARCH Danú

High-energy traditional Irish ensemble March 7 • 8pm

La Fille du Regiment

Donizetti’s comic opera in spectacular HD March 8 • 2pm

Natalie Merchant and the PSO

Famed singer-songerwriter with orchestra March 20 • 8pm

Compagnie Käfig

Dazzling, heart-stopping dance from Brazil March 21 • 8pm

The Klezmatics

The genre’s most innovative band March 22 • 3pm

Academy of St Martin in the Fields

With award-winning pianist Jeremy Denk March 26 • 8pm

TICKETS

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WWW.ARTSCENTER.ORG or in person at the box office 735 Anderson Hill Road Purchase, NY Box office hours: Tues-Fri noon to 6pm VIOLINIST MIDORI | Photo © Timothy Greenfield-Sanders Major sponsorship of The Performing Arts Center’s 2014-15 Season is provided by The Vivian and Seymour Milstein Endowed Fund The Performing Arts Center’s programs are also made possible by ArtsWestchester with support from Westchester County Government The Orchestra and Chamber Music Series are made possible in part by support from the Tanaka Memorial Foundation Special thanks to our corporate sponsors, Steinway & Sons and TD Bank, and media sponsor WNYC

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41

GOING STRONG Erin Marich gets moms back in pre-baby shape

BY JANE K. DOVE

“What happened to my waist?

It’s gone!”

“Will I ever get back to my pre-baby weight?”

“Why do I feel so physically weak all the time?”

These are a few of the laments that StrongMom owner Erin Marich of Greenwich hears as she conducts her fitness classes designed especially for new moms and pregnant women. Her classes, held outdoors except for the winter months, are crafted to help women gain back their strength and fitness levels, lose that baby weight, and, just as important, bond with the other women in the group who are “all in it together.”

“After leaving my job as a school psychologist, I had my first child, Ben, and was living in Manhattan in Battery Park City,” Marich says. “I found 42

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a great mom’s boot camp that I attended regularly. The classes were held right in Battery Park, and I loved being on the water and under the open sky. I was able to take Ben with me and met a lot of new moms and made friends, which was very important to me. Because we were all in the same place in our lives, going through a major event together, it was easy to bond.”

Erin and her husband, Chris, moved from Manhattan to Greenwich in 2012.

“By then I had my second child, Hadley, and looked around the area for a similar program dedicated to pre- and postnatal fitness. I couldn’t find one.”

Chris was supportive of her need to work out with like-minded women and suggested she start her own specialized fitness business. So she took the leap and became a certi-

fied personal trainer, incorporating StrongMom as an LLC in the spring of last year.

“FOR THE MOMS” StrongMom is based on the reality that many new mothers have little time to themselves.

“I wanted to create one hour out of their day when they could focus totally on themselves,” Erin says. “Child care is provided, so they can bring their children with them and have them only a few feet away while they work out. The kids are there – but they are not there – at least for that one hour.”

She typically has from six to eight women in her classes, which are held outside in Bruce Park weather permitting and indoors at Allegra Dance in downtown Greenwich.

“I am lucky to have attracted a

group of women who really get along.

They treasure their ‘me time’ and have forged many friendships. The support of the group is all-encompassing and as instructor, I tailor my cardio- and strength-training exercise program to the needs and abilities of the women.

It is highly individualized. I modify exercises and everyone is free to work at their own level of ability. There is absolutely no competition.”

A typical one-hour session consists of a warm-up followed by circuit (resistance) and interval (speed and endurance) training.

“I use a lot of equipment – balls, weight bells, an agility ladder and ropes, among other things. I take advantage of the outdoor environment and use the benches in the park for strength training and will use trees for the battling rope.”

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While her high-intensity approach works the entire body, Erin says, “I focus on the core, which is a big area of concern for women after giving birth.

Getting that midsection back under control is a big deal. Women want their nice flat belly back and my workouts are designed to help them achieve that goal.”

After the main part of the workout is complete, Erin conducts a cool down at the end.

“My workouts are always different,” she says. “I do partner work and teamwork and use great, upbeat music for motivation. I bring portable speakers to the park, and, yes, I have a permit for all this from Greenwich.”

LOOKING AHEAD WITH CONFIDENCE The results speak for themselves.

“It’s growing and the women that come really enjoy it. Friendships are blossoming and we do things aside from exercise like Ladies’ Night Out and group runs for different causes.

My clients tell their friends how much they like it and the good reviews spread.”

She credits Chris with giving her the push she needed to get StrongMom going.

“He knew I could create something

successful, and he was right. He has helped to spread the word and gives me plenty of help with our two children. StrongMom fits perfectly into our shared interests.”

Chris’ successful career in the world of finance had been a big benefit to StrongMom. “That gave me the breathing room and flexibility I needed to start a second career.”

He also volunteers as “guinea pig” for different routines and exercises.

“He has been very helpful in that regard. We talk things through and do my new workouts together. Apart from StrongMom, we have always exercised and gone to the gym together, something we continue to do.”

Erin is proud to have created classes for women who can join them at any level. “No matter where you are, everyone gets a good workout,” she says.

“I make sure my students are at the right intensity level and focus on their technique and form.”

And the encouragement and support from peers is the icing on the cake. “Everyone is at a different stage of the same process – becoming a mother. I think I have created a sound workout that is fun for everyone and leaves my students in a happy sweat.”

For more information, visit strong-mom.com.

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1/12/15 2:14 PM

‘Love Story’ Artist MARCY B. FREEDMAN offers Valentine’s performance

BY MARY SHUSTACK PHOTOGRAPH BY BOB ROZYCKI

M 

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Marcy B. Freedman at the Black Cow Coffee Company in Croton-on-Hudson, where she will offer an interactive performance Feb. 14.

arcy B. Freedman would like you to stop texting, checking email or posting to Facebook – at least for a little while.

The performance artist is asking people to take a break from their virtual worlds and experience the here and now through one of her interactive performances.

Freedman, who lives in Croton-onHudson and has a studio in Peekskill, is again taking Valentine’s Day as her cue.

As part of her year-round performance schedule, Freedman is now in her sixth year of designing and presenting a series of works inspired by what many consider the most romantic day of the year.

While diverse in approaches, the pieces share a common theme – encouraging people to rediscover the power of face-to-face, one-to-one interaction.

“I guess everything, deep down, I do is about connecting,” Freedman says. “As commercialized as Valentine’s Day is, I love the fact that it’s not solely about romance. For me, Valentine’s Day is about valuing people.”

It encompasses, Freedman says, friendships and relationships in general.

The visual artist has a rich past filled with painting, drawing, collage, sculpture and photography.

“I think I’ve also always been a con-

ceptual artist,” she says. “Ideas are fascinating to me.”

She has devoted much of the past 10 years to video and performance art. To date, this has found Freedman presenting her pieces in bookstores, cafés, art galleries and museums, as well as a fitness center, tailor’s shop and bakery. She is tapped for many private events, something she does between her work as an art historian, lecturer and curator. Freedman is also an active participant in the Peekskill Project, a major arts undertaking in the city with its sixth edition set for later this year.

Valentine’s Day is always special, though, and this year Freedman will offer her performance Feb. 14 at the Black Cow Coffee Company in Croton-onHudson.

In “True or False? Love Means Never Having to Say You’re Sorry,” Freedman looks to “Love Story,” the 1970 movie starring Ryan O’Neal and Ali MacGraw, to spur a conversation about the meaning of love.

The tearjerker’s tagline, “Love means never having to say you’re sorry,” is a phrase, Freedman says, that “has always bothered me… Let’s see if other people feel the way that I do.”

In speaking to a few people – especially those who have been married a long time – Freedman says the sentiment always seems to raise a fuss.

“They all say, ‘I’ve been married 40 years. You have to say you’re sorry.’”

On Valentine’s Day, Freedman will be chatting with anyone who would like to join her table in the

bustling coffeehouse, which has long supported both Freedman’s work and the arts in general. This will mark her third Valentine’s project at the coffeehouse.

It was back in 2010 that she launched the holiday series with “My Funny Valentine” in a Tarrytown art gallery.

A week before Valentine’s Day, Freedman asked visitors to tell her about a loved one.

“I realized people like to talk about positive things, for the most part. Valentine’s Day is positive.”

She took notes and went on to create a personalized collage or poem in honor of that loved one, a gift the participant could present on Valentine’s Day itself.

While she did receive a number of lovely thank-you notes, Freedman says the best part of that project was the afternoon she spent listening to people talk about someone they loved, something she has described as “a beautiful experience.”

Since that initial project, her interactive performances, held in various Westchester communities, have encouraged reminiscences about kisses (“First Kiss Remembered”) or pets (“For the Love of Dogs”), which she says elicited surprisingly emotional results. (“I had grown men crying.”)

In an ambitious 2013 work, Freedman put the spotlight on the power of two decidedly low-tech forms of communicating, writing and talking. “The Letter Project” found Freedman set up at the Black Cow every single February afternoon, offering free pens, paper, envelopes and stamps to those who

would sit down to first chat and then write to someone in their life. At the end of the month, Freedman had spoken to more than 250 people, with each of them writing at least one postcard, notecard or letter to someone.

“People would write to people they hadn’t been in touch with,” she says. Some, she would later hear, rekindled old friendships or started the healing of family rifts. Others simply put something in writing to their spouses.

Freedman was especially pleased with her youngest participants.

“I was very excited to introduce teenagers to the idea of writing.”

This year, Freedman looks forward to the reactions her “Love Story”-themed concept will draw out as well.

After all, she says, “I’m really interested in storytelling.”

And this month, what’s better than sharing a story about love?

Marcy B. Freedman will present her interactive performance, “True or False? Love Means Never Having to Say You’re Sorry,” from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Feb. 14 at the Black Cow Coffee Company, 4 Old Post Road S. in Croton-on-Hudson. For more on the coffeehouse, visit blackcow.com; for more on the performance, contact Freedman at 914-271-5891 or mbf@ bestweb.net. For more on her artistic pursuits, visit marcybfreedman.com.

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Preserving your relationship – and your sanity

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN RIZZO

Mary Giuffra

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T

wo-career couples. Gay marriage. Shifting roles for men and women.

“We’re in a time of huge transition,” says Bronxville psychotherapist Mary Giuffra. “Many of the external structures and social institutions are gone or seem to be shifting. The one constant is change.”

And that can offer quite a challenge to those in a romantic relationship.

“People think, ‘Another person – he’ll be my center,’” she says. “If I marry the right person, we’ll live happily ever after. That’s lovely, but the adult has to see that no one can be there for you every moment except you.”

Rather than shrink from that realization, she suggests you consider “How does this offer me an opportunity to grow, to do for others what others didn’t necessarily do for me?”

Though it may sound counterintuitive, the key to a successful relationship lies in the centeredness of the individuals involved, says Giuffra, who immediately engages you with her warmth and easy conversational style. Over coffee, crumb cake – and good old-fashioned girl talk – at Slave to the Grind in Bronxville, she distinguishes between shame, which makes you feel bad about who you are and guilt, which makes you feel bad about violating a value.

“You have to say to yourself, ‘What do I feel guilty about? Whose value is it anyway?’”

Often, we cling to values that belong to another time or another person (such as a parent), instead of “getting to love what it means to be human, getting to love our imperfections.’”

With 40 years of experience as a New York state-licensed marriage and family therapist and a board-certified clinical specialist in psychiatric mental health, Giuffra has seen her share of guilt, particularly among working mothers who worry that they’re not doing enough for their children. When it comes to two-career families, she’s not only talked the talk in her practice and on her blog; she’s walked the walk. Her own mother was a nurse. An aunt was a midwife and both grandmothers worked.

“I didn’t know men or women’s roles,” she remembers. “My father helped with the cooking and bathing the kids.”

Giuffra found her independent-mindedness early: “If (my mother) had been there all the time, there would’ve been more of her but less of me.”

When her own time came, Giuffra followed her mother into nursing, where she became fascinated by family dynamics. But she was also at home with her children for five years. When they went to school, so did she, earning a doctorate at New York University. She has been a tenured faculty member there and at the College of Mount St. Vincent, where she was the founding director of the bachelor’s and master’s nursing program. She also trains therapists in Canada and Hong Kong and throughout the United States. (After the school shooting in Newtown, Conn., Giuffra coordinated a trauma response there.)

The two-career approach can prepare kids for the 21st century, she says but adds that “there are different strokes for different folks. There’s no right or wrong way. If you think it’s best to be with your children, then that’s fabulous.”

In a sense, Giuffra says, gay couples may have it easier than straight ones even though they’ve had to surmount societal prejudices and legal challenges. “They don’t have the predictable roles” that men and women have been raised with and that have been eroding.

Neither may couples who are well educated and marry later. Studies show they tend to stay married longer.

Our conversation turns to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who met as flatmates at the University of St. Andrews in 2003, marrying in 2011 – a marked contrast to Prince William’s mother – Diana, princess of Wales – who was barely out of her teens when she married Prince Charles. “(The duke and duchess) have ownership of their own values,” Giuffra says.

But whether you are a gay or straight couple or your courtship is long or short, expect one thing to be true: Nothing stays the same.

“Whatever happens today,” Giuffra says, “enjoy it. It will be different tomorrow.”

For a free copy of Mary Giuffra’s 17-page “10 Secrets of a Successful Two Career Relationship,” visit twocareerfamily.com. And for more, visit drmarygiuffra.com.

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A selection of Marilyn Peek Juan’s work.

More than just ink on paper for Marilyn Peek Juan

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA PHOTOGRAPH BY BOB ROZYCKI

VER THE SUMMER, MARILYN PEEK JUAN BROKE BOTH HER ARMS, TRIPPING OVER HER GOLDEN RETRIEVER, BOGEY. STILL, SHE MANAGED TO MAINTAIN HER CALLIGRAPHY BUSINESS HERSELF. How? It’s a bit of a trick question. Juan’s Greenwich-based Greenleaf Ink Calligraphy is a 17-year-old digital business, handling everything from wedding and bar/bat mitzvah invitation envelopes to place cards by machine. Using a Lettering Bed, which actually holds a fountain pen, as well as the more common and cost-efficient inkjet printer, Juan is able to turn out envelopes in less time and at a fraction of the cost of traditional calligraphy.

The state-of-the-art InScribe equipment allows for 50 styles in any color ink, while hand calligraphy uses several in black ink.

“With something less formal, it’s good, because you can have fun with colors,” Juan says. Her brides, however, are still traditionalists, preferring ecru-colored envelopes with black ink. (According to her informative website, paper made from cotton is preferable to that made from wood pulp as it does not disintegrate. For this reason, U.S. paper currency is made from cotton.)

So digital calligraphy is cheaper, faster and more versatile. But, Juan says, “each envelope looks the same. You don’t get the individuality of hand calligraphy, which is really beautiful. It’s a real art.”

Still, if you’re looking to channel the majority of your resources elsewhere or to have something more adventurous, digital is the way to go, as is Juan, whom etiquette doyenne Letitia Baldridge (Jacqueline Kennedy’s social secretary) dubbed “the queen of stationery.” That’s because there’s a lot more that goes into addressing an event envelope than plunking down a name and address. For example, an

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invitation to a boy up to age 9 is addressed to “Master” So and So. If he is age 10 to 17, no title is used, and 18 and over, he’s a “Mr.” Gay partners are listed alphabetically on two separate lines. Married doctors are The Doctors Jones or, less traditionally, The Drs. Jane and John Jones.

Wedding invitations are even more complicated. “Is it a religious service?” Juan asks. “Black tie? Are their stepparents involved?”

You have to know your bible – which in this case is “The Crane’s Blue Book of Stationery.” And Juan knows her “Crane’s.”

It wasn’t always thus. She became a stockbroker in 1987 on the day the market crashed. (Her father, the late Walter Peek, teased her by saying, “Now look what you’ve done.”) Juan took a job coordinating engraved stationery at Cartier Inc., where she learned from the late George Raymond and where her clients included Baldridge. She also honed her skills at Dempsey & Carroll, stationery engravers since 1818, and passed them along to Tiffany & Co. in Greenwich, where she was known as “Monday Marilyn” for the day of the week on which she’d impart the formal rules of the trade.

Along the way, though, she decided to turn her knowledge into a home-based business.

Juan would fax her order (the invitation wording) down to an engraver in Florida, who would hand-engrave the text onto a copper plate. The plate and paper stock would be sent up to the printing press in Bridgeport to produce invitations that had the feel of etchings.

Another process, Juan says, is a less expensive alternative called thermography.

“A thermographed invitation feels like the ink is raised from the paper,” she says.

“There is also photoengraving, but that is an article in itself.”

When the invitation order was completed, Juan would then address each envelope with her digital calligraphy machines. But once she married in 2003 and became a stepmother, Juan dropped the engraved invitation end of the business to concentrate on digital calligraphy.

It’s by no means all sitting by a machine.

“I get friendly with (my customers),” she says. “I read about their weddings in the paper. It’s just a very personal business and that’s what I love about it.”

For more, visit greenleafinkcalligraphy.com.

Right at home Passion runs high for politics, real estate and family

BY BOB ROZYCKI PHOTOGRAPHS BY JOHN RIZZO

Sean Patrick Maloney and2015 Randy 49 Florke WAGMAG.COM FEBRUARY

Y

OU CAN SEE CONGRESSMAN SEAN PATRICK MALONEY’S PASSION FOR POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT IN THE NUMBERS.

Maloney, sworn in last month to a second term as U.S. representative for the 18th Congressional District, has had 10 pieces of legislation signed into law, including bills supporting disabled veterans, Hudson Valley farmers and railroad safety.

He’s co-sponsored 274 bills, authored 35 and had 15 pass the House, all while casting 1,205 votes, which represented a 98-percent attendance record.

So when his cell phone rings on Capitol Hill, it’s probably some powerful Congressman or committee member, right?

Well, not always for Congressman Dad. “They’re not shy,” Sean says of daughters Essie, 12, and Daley 14. “They’ll call or text me. I have a cell phone like everybody else. I’ll find myself in a meeting. I’ll get a call….”

“It’s usually after I’ve said, ‘No,’” Randy interjects.

Randy, Essie, Sean, Daley and Jesus on the wedding day.

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Owner of The Rural Connection, Randy Florke is as passionate about finding country houses for city residents as Sean is about politics. He also offers urban transplants renovation, restoration and interior design services.

Together for 22 years – they met in New York City on May 23, 1992 – the handsome pair married on June 21 last year not far from the Cold Spring home the family also shares with son Jesus, 25. Small-town life appeals to the couple. (Randy, author of “Restore, Recycle, Repurpose: Create a Beautiful Home,” grew up on a farm in Cherokee, Iowa; Sean, in Hanover, N.H.) They’re the typical modern family, juggling two careers and balancing suburban life with a high profile in the nation’s capital, except for one thing…

They seem to be better at it.

I

ndeed, the two men look relaxed as I sit down to talk with them just a couple hours before they catch a flight to D.C. for the annual White House Christmas party and congressional ball.

Do those miles between Washington and home make life difficult?

“It’s an adjustment,” Randy says. “It’s never easy.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re in Congress or not.

If you’re spending four days a week in a separate city, it’s challenging. You just have to be organized. The truth is kids don’t really notice their parents anyway.

I think they largely ignore us (he chuckles), so I don’t know if they really notice.”

“I don’t have a personal life in Washington,” adds Sean, who has a small apartment a couple blocks from the Capitol. “I try to get back as soon as possible. And Randy is always almost here, so Randy is bearing the lion’s share of the parental responsibilities during the week.”

Sean is down in Washington Mondays through Thursdays. “We have a saying on Friday that there’s only two more working days ’til Monday,” he jokes, referring to the work that he does in the district on his alleged days off.

Sean entered politics as a volunteer for the first presidential campaign of Bill Clinton. After Clinton’s win, Sean served as a senior adviser and White House staff secretary. After Clinton’s term ended, Sean was first deputy secretary to Govs. Eliot Spitzer and David Paterson.

But when Sean is home, he joins Randy to walk the girls down the driveway to wait for the morning school bus. That’s usually followed by a 6-mile run by the couple along the hilly roads surrounding their home.

Randy does the “kids’ stuff” Mondays through Thursdays.

“It’s one of the advantages of working for myself,” he says of weaving his work schedule into the soccer, basketball and horseback riding lessons.

“I have to have some flexibility in my schedule.

I work and then ...” Sean interrupts: “Next Friday, there will be a birthday party for 12 kids at the bowling alley. Randy takes the lead on organizing that

stuff. We make a priority of that.”

Everybody’s birthday is coming up, but Essie’s is the first one in the series.

“She says, ‘No parents.’ I guess that excludes you, too,” Randy says.

P

utting their children, all adopted, first has been foremost for both men.

Sean says, “We always made the critical things a priority. So even when I was working at the White House (for Clinton), and Jesus was there for part of the time going to school, he would play Little League baseball and soccer. I made sure I would go to all of the games. And we walk the kids to the bus every morning and, as Randy points out, kids at that age only want so much of you. They want to know you’re there, but they often want to be independent as well. But on the important things like getting a Christmas tree or birthday parties or making sure the schoolwork is done, we’ve just made it a priority.

And it’s amazing what you can accomplish when you know what your priorities are.”

The two men agree that their children have an interesting mix of being different as well as privileged.

Sometimes they get treated like the children of a congressman and sometimes “they are aware that we have an unconventional family. That we’re diverse, that not everybody thinks our family is, um, a wonderful idea,” Sean says. One day the girls could be attending events in Washington, like Sean re-taking the oath of office in January, or “dealing with folks who might not understand the contours of our family.”

Do you two still encounter that today?

Both: “Sure, sure.”

“It’s obviously gotten better,” he says. “The laws changing are part of a very positive trend. And the district has now elected me twice.” (Sean’s reelection followed a tightly fought campaign with the former congresswoman from whom he initially wrested the seat.)

“Our experience with the Hudson Valley is people are very tolerant and very open-minded and very welcoming,” he adds.”But we live in a country where we’re still struggling with making sure everybody is being treated equally under the law, whether its race or sexual orientation or gender. We still struggle with creating real equality in this country. But we’ve made enormous progress and obviously no one like me has ever been elected to Congress before from the state of New York. So we’re walking proof that New York is a tolerant and welcoming place. … I’d say we deal with very little negative stuff based on who we are.

But when you’re a parent, it concerns you.”

“I feel we’ve experienced very little negative thinking and the kids, too,” Randy says. “It’s been a largely positive experience. I think in the height of the election, sometimes there’s rhetoric they (the children) hear or see. And even kids will translate some of that rhetoric to them.”

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“

It’s a free country. A lot of that comes with the territory. It’s not like I’m the only guy in public life who gets criticized,” Sean says.

“Sometimes our ears go up when some of the criticism around our wedding, for example, by my opponent seemed to be a little too focused on calling it extravagant or elaborate… We got married in a church (St. Mary-in-the-Highlands) and had a reception in our home. We heard the ripples out there on the fringes. This was an unusual event and so maybe it’s not that surprising. But Randy’s right.

The overwhelming number of people have been incredibly welcoming and open to us.”

Randy says, “And I think that what they realize is that we have way more in common than we do in differences. Like we have the same issues with Common Core and the same issues with other things that are concerning to them.”

And how did the wedding go?

Sean: “It was the best day of our lives. A 22-year engagement. We’ve survived six months of marriage.”

“Barely,” quipped Randy.

Do you guys finish each other sentences?

Randy: “Sometimes.”

“He’s always getting it wrong,” teased Sean.

Sean Patrick Maloney — by the numbers • $3,197,408.36 returned to taxpayers who were owed Social Security checks, veterans’ compensation, refunds or other payments from the government • 2,322 individuals assisted with cases involving Social Security, Medicare, the IRS and the Department of Veterans Affairs • 97 service medals for military heroes, including one Legion of Merit, four Bronze Stars, and three Purple Hearts for veterans from the Hudson Valley • 33 “Speak with Sean” town halls and neighborhood office hours in the Hudson Valley • 22 online and telephone town halls that included 108,000 households throughout the Hudson Valley • 121,062 constituent letters answered Source: Washington, D.C. office of Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney.

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A look for a woman’s double life

Cara Delevingne models YSL’s Spring 2015 cosmetic collection. Photograph courtesy ©Roxanne Lowit.

BY DANIELLE RENDA

Y

ves Saint Laurent (YSL) combines sophistication with seduction for its spring cosmetic line, “Désir de Jour.” Designed

by Lloyd Simmonds, YSL’s creative makeup director, the line features top model Cara Delevingne in a campaign inspired by the 1967 French film “Belle de Jour.”

Directed by Luis Buñuel, “Belle de Jour” stars Catherine Deneuve as Séverine Serizy, a frustrated housewife who begins working in a high-class brothel after experiencing sexual difficulties with her husband. Though the plot may still be considered risqué – a more complex, sophisticated antidote to “Fifty Shades of Grey” – the film depicts sex as an expression of Séverine’s femininity,

rather than an exploitation of it.

The title is a play on “belle de nuit,” or “lady of the night,” a reference to prostitution. Since Séverine works in the afternoon, she is a “belle de jour,” or “lady of the day.” The “Désir de Jour” collection captures the two complementary faces of womanhood, something Deneuve herself alluded to in Valerie Steele’s “Fifty Years of Fashion:” “Saint Laurent designs for women with double lives…(During the daytime) he helps her to go everywhere without drawing unwelcome attention…In the evening when a woman chooses to be with those she is fond of, he makes her seductive.”

Ombre de Jour Couture Palette The limited edition face palette in-

cludes camel beige, golden brown, champagne and bright pink eye shadows and a black matte with pink sparkles to glamorize your look. Use the black matte as both an eye shadow and eyeliner. The product is housed in a gold case with pink crystals and finished with a gold YSL signature. $60.

Blush Volupté This blush is designed to enhance your cheekbones. The case’s graphics are inspired by Saint Laurent’s 1965 Mondrian dress, made up of red, black, blue, yellow and white color blocks that recall the painter’s “Broadway BoogieWoogie.” Available in two palettes – the No. 4 Baby Doll, a bold 1970s pink; and No. 6 Baby Passionée, a soft coral. Use the inner shade as a highlighter, $47.

Mascara Volume Effet Faux Cils Baby Doll and Baby Doll Liquid Eyeliner A woman’s look is never complete without the proper mascara. YSL’s falselash effect mascara, also available in waterproof, uses a brush with dual-length bristles to coat every lash. Housed in a shimmery gold case, available in “fetish black, wheddler brown, audacious blue and indiscreet purple,” to quote the brand’s copy. $30. To complete your look, use YSL’s Baby Doll Liquid Eyeliner for long lasting color, $34.

Rouge Volupté Shine Bold lipsticks are hot in the cosmetic market right now. Available in a variety of colors, this lipstick uses special ingredients to keep your pout moisturized during these chilly winter months. In a gold case, stamped with the YSL signature, $35.

La Laque Couture Attract attention to your nails with this new brand of polish for a finishing touch. It uses ingredients that prevent chipping and is housed in a glass bottle with a gold cap. Check out No. 58 Nuit Blanche, a delicate winter-white look; and No. 59 Nuit Noire, a tribute to the midnight sky, $27.

From left, La Laque Couture in No. 58 Nuit Blanche, Rouge Volupté Shine in Fuchsia in Excess and Ombre de Jour Couture Palette, two views.

Photographs courtesy Neiman Marcus, Westchester.

Yves Saint Laurent is available at Neiman Marcus Westchester. For more, visit yslbeautyus.com/makeup or neimanmarcus.com.

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WAY

THE ROMANCE OF A RETREAT

BY HOULIHAN LAWRENCE PHOTOGRAPHS BY TIM LEE

PRESENTED BY HOULIHAN LAWRENCE

This month, we offer a glimpse into two properties that offer an escape, from Serenade Lake in Brewster, where nature inspires every day, to One Singular Sensation, the luxurious Bedford estate of the late composer Marvin Hamlisch. Read on…

ONE SINGULAR SENSATION Supremely private 4.6-acre gated estate with spectacular views of New York, Connecticut and New Jersey.

Sited upon one of Westchester’s highest points in a premier Bedford estate area.

4,600 square feet, four bedrooms, four baths, one powder room and three fireplaces.

Spectacular Poggenpohl kitchen accented with a mural by acclaimed muralist Alex Traturo.

Expansive stone terrace and heated pool.

ONE SINGULAR SENSATION AT A GLANCE • Bedford • 4,686 square feet • 4.6 acres • Bedrooms: 4 • Baths: 3 full, 1 half • Price: $7.95 million

For more information, contact David Turner of Houlihan Lawrence’s Bedford Village Green office at 914-234-9099, ext. 22365, 914-953-6010 or dturner@houlihanlawrence.com.

WAY

IN LOVE WITH NATURE…

BY HOULIHAN LAWRENCE PHOTOGRAPHS BY TIM LEE

PRESENTED BY HOULIHAN LAWRENCE

SERENADE LAKE A spectacular 134.5-acre estate on pristine Serenade Lake, surrounded by extensive natural woodlands, open fields, meadows, rolling hills, thousands of trees and miles of private trails.

The 6,800 square-foot residence is a one-of-a-kind custombuilt log house crafted with Florida cypress set right at lakeside and graced with an easy flowing layout and dramatic lake views from nearly ever room.

Highlights include a huge great room with fireplace, a new kitchen designed by MarkJames & Co. with a Lacanche range custombuilt in France and a library with fireplace. Also, there’s a stunning indoor pool with a full wall of glass overlooking the lake.

A one-bedroom guest house and 1840s barn round out the property, ideally located close to shopping, major roadways, a MetroNorth Railroad station and New York City, some 60 miles away.

SERENADE LAKE AT A GLANCE • Brewster • 6,800 square feet • 134.5 acres • Bedrooms: 4 • Baths: 5 full, 1 half • Price: $4.9 million

For more information, contact Robert P. Morini of Houlihan Lawrence’s Brewster brokerage at 845-279-6800, ext. 222, 914-906-7947 or rmorini@houlihanlawrence.com.

WEAR

Unleashing the female form

BY DANIELLE RENDA

“Revelation” 3D demi bra for full-figured women.

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“

T

O REVEAL ITS WHOLE BEAUTY, LET’S BEGIN BY LIBERATING THE FEMALE BODY,” SAID THE LATE MME. SIMONE PÉRÈLE. As a professional corset-maker in mid-20th century Paris, Pérèle knew how to accentuate the female silhouette. Using stiffeners to mold the body, corsets created exaggerated shapes like the hourglass. Unlike the modern corset, which is considered a sexy luxury, the early corset was viewed as a necessity as it functioned as a bra.

However, so constricting were the early corsets that they posed health risks and sacrificed comfort for vanity. If laced too tightly, they delayed digestion and limited blood flow, in addition to shifting internal organs in extreme cases.

Noticing this flaw in the corset’s function, Pérèle sought to unleash the female body. With aspirations to embrace the natural figure, she founded Simone Pérèle in 1948.

“A woman should not have to choose between being comfortable and feeling beautiful. She can have it all,” said Pérèle, in a statement that became the brand’s motto.

Pérèle’s first major innovation followed the release of in the 1960s of “Solo Mio,” the first bra collection to use stretchy Lycra lace, instead of the traditional stiff lace or nylon. For the first time, women could maintain their sexuality while comfortably navigating their lifestyles.

Today, the lingerie brand remains loyal to Pérèle’s vision. Managed by her children, Catherine and Philippe, the brand’s creations are still designed in France.

Each piece in the collection is inspired by art, travel and culture, offering its own personality to the wearer. Using luxurious fabrics and embellishments, such as embroideries, laces and ribbons, the curve-hugging lingerie functions as the wearer’s second skin.

The current collections include – “Andora,” the brand’s top-selling Tshirt bra; “Celeste,” Chantilly lace with stretch; “Amour,” with Leavers lace; “Delice,” featuring floral accents; and “Revelation,” designed for the full cup-sized woman. The brand also carries “Top Model,” a modern twist on the corset.

These body-shapers, with a zebra-lace finish, tackle problem areas to smooth the figure. Targeted benefits include tummy flattening and bottom lifting. Available in five styles in beige or black, they range from $68 to $160.

Pérèle’s full-cup bras include protective lining, thicker straps and a wider band for boosted support. With most full-cup bras sized to a G cup and a select few sized to an H, the brand strives to accommodate the more difficultto-fit bust sizes. Available in nine styles and an array of colors, they range from $78 to $99.

To find the correct size in Pérèle, visit Neiman Marcus Westchester.

For more, visit simoneperele.com.

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WARES

STORE’S ROOTS RUN DEEP

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

Piaget is among the brands of watches at Shreve, Crump & Low.

J

JUST IN TIME FOR VALENTINE’S DAY, SHREVE, CRUMP & LOW HAS ARRIVED ON THAT SLOPING THOROUGHFARE OF TONY SHOPS KNOWN AS GREENWICH AVENUE. THE ELEGANT EMPORIUM, HOUSED IN THE STATELY NEO-FEDERALIST BUILDING THAT WAS BUILT IN 1925 BY THE PUTNAM TRUST CO., BILLS ITSELF AS THE OLDEST PURVEYOR OF LUXURY GOODS IN AMERICA. How old? The company traces its history to 1796, when watchmaker and silversmith John McFarlane opened a workshop in Boston across the street from Paul Revere at Downtown Crossing. Some 50 years and many craftsmen later, the business would be taken over by Benjamin Shreve, a Boston shipping merchant, who filled the shop with silks, gemstones, antiquities and other treasures culled from voyages to Europe and Asia.

Today what became Shreve, Crump & Low is owned by David Walker, a second-

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generation American jeweler. “But we’re not just a jewelry store,” says son Brian Walker, vice president and creative director. (Shreve is very much a family affair.

Brother Bradford is senior sales associate with a degree in gemology.)

Indeed, Shreve features watches by Tag Heuer, Piaget and Bremont, among others; Lotuff leather briefcases, passport wallets and iPad foldover cases for the man in your life; Lalique vases with reliefs of dancing nymphs; antique Chinese garden seats; silver flat and giftware (the company created tennis’ sterling silver Davis Cup); and, of course, the signature Gurgling Cod pitcher, so named for the sound it makes when you pour water from its generous mouth.

Shreve even carries 19th-century American and European paintings like E.J. Niemann’s “Forest Fishermen” (1860), which hangs in Brian Walker’s office. “We love artwork,” he says.

But “jewelry is our passion,” says the website, which offers educational information on diamonds and pearls. They are among the bling that will make your heart sing. There are dazzling suites (necklace, ring and earrings) of emeralds or rare, unheated sapphires surrounded by diamonds; fanciful, animal-inspired bracelets and pins by David Webb and Jean Schlumberger; and pigeon-blood Burmese rubies. These are housed in a space that has undergone quite the overhaul.

“We invested over $2 million in the gut renovation of the entire 6,000-squarefoot first floor of the building,” Walker says. We added a private walk-in vault, as well as a private showroom; reconfigured the front entrance of the building to be more in touch with the classical architectural elements of the building’s exterior; and consulted about four separate lighting specialists for the ceiling layout – for which we installed all energy efficient LED lights to show off our incredible selection of diamonds and precious jewels.

“We also increased the five windows on the Lewis Street side of the building from 4 feet wide to 10 feet wide by 7 feet high, adding bomb-resistant security glass, and in doing so removed over six tons of limestone from the facade of the building in an unprecedented achievement of modern engineering, which has helped to allow an adequate amount of natural sunlight into the showroom.”

The result is a truly yin-yang arrangement that marries a delicate, airy white décor – accented by sparkling chandeliers – with handsome, masculine wainscoting.

Greenwich, Walker says, is worth the effort: “We have a large client base in the Fairfield, Westchester and Manhattan area. We needed a fair spread of locations.”

With the Boston flagship ensconced on fashionable, artistic Newbury Street and another shop in Chestnut Hill, Mass., Shreve officials scoured New England for the third locale before settling on Greenwich, where the company continues to offer a full range of services. Shreve will not only create and sell you jewelry. It will appraise, repair, repurpose and buy yours as well.

“Allow us,” Walker says, “to serve you.”

Shreve, Crump & Low is at 125 Greenwich Ave. (at Lewis Street). For more, call 203-622-6205 or visit shrevecrumpandlow.com.

A rare unheated sapphire and diamond necklace, part of a suite that includes a ring and earrings. Price upon request. Photographs courtesy of Shreve, Crump & Low.

Must Love Dogs We Dig Your Dog

Exquisite Dog Grooming & Products 45 Katonah Avenue Katonah, NY 10536 (914) 232-5500 GroomInKatonah@optimum.net

PRINCE WILLIAM HAS PRINCE HARRY, SNOOPY HAS SPIKE – YOU KNOW, THE BAD-BOY BABY BRO WHO’S A CHUNK OF CHARM AND A TON OF TROUBLE. That’s what WAG Weekly is to WAG. In our e-newsletter, we let down our hair (and occasionally, our grammar) to take you behind behind-the-scenes of the hottest parties and events, offer our thoughts on the most controversial issues of the day, share what couldn’t be contained in our glossy pages and tell you what to do and where to go this weekend – all while whetting your appetite for the next issue.

If you can’t get enough of WAG — or you just want to get WAG unplugged — then you won’t want to miss WAG Weekly, coming to your tablet.

www.MustLoveDogsKatonah.com WAGMAG.COM

FEBRUARY 2015

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WEAR

IN THE BAG H

er husband Tom’s passion was spy novels (“The Hunt for Red October,” “Patriot Games”). But Alexandra Clancy favors bagging it for a cause. In 2013, she launched the luxe accessories line Love, Alex, featuring link bracelets and necklaces as well as handbags in various colors and styles – handcrafted in Italy – that display her passion for sumptuous materials and for detail. (The bags are as handsome and polished on the inside as they are on the outside.)

But it’s not just about the bag. Thirty percent of sales go to DonorsChoose. org. In its inaugural year, Love, Alex has helped more than 15,000 children in more than 150 classrooms across the nation through the partnership. At this nonprofit website – which operates somewhat like a bridal registry – public school teachers can post requests for their classrooms, which include anything from art supplies and technology to books for their students, allowing the donors to choose the projects they’d like to support.

It is, as they say, in the bag.

For more, visit lovealex.com.

– Georgette Gouveia

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Gifts and new products ideal for any occasion COMPILED BY MARY SHUSTACK

FROM SWEDEN, WITH STYLE

You likely know Lexington Co., the Swedish lifestyle brand, from its Greenwich boutique. It’s one of only three U.S. outposts, joining those in Southampton and East Hampton, N.Y. We first featured its New England-inspired designs some two years ago with the opening of that Greenwich spot. And we’ve been following its understated-yet-chic offerings ever since.

Particularly catching our eye from the new spring line is the Devon Poncho ($149). Perfect for those winter getaways.

For more, visit lexingtoncompany.com.

Photograph courtesy Lexington Company.

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1. SETTING A MOST ROMANTIC TABLE

1

Photograph courtesy Kim Seybert.

Photograph courtesy Gucci.

2

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Kim Seybert’s designs add an air of romance — and a definite touch of elegance — to any table. For Valentine’s Day, why not create a charmingly romantic setting featuring selections from the Bijoux and Cherry Blossom collections? The vignette here features pieces that include the Cherry Blossom beaded table runner ($937) and the Bijoux beaded placemat ($512 for a set of four), both in blush, and the Constellation beaded napkin ring in blush/ crystal ($112 for a set of four). Kim Seybert is carried by Neiman Marcus Westchester in White Plains, Current Home in Scarsdale and Hoagland’s of Greenwich.

For more, visit kimseybert.com.

2. A SEXY SPRITZ

The spark between lovers — in this case it’s actually the actors Evan Rachel Wood and Chris Evans, stars of the Gucci Guilty campaign — has inspired the Gucci Guilty Diamond Limited Edition eau de toilette. Heady and seductive, Gucci Guilty Diamond Pour Homme ($88 for 90 ml) and Gucci Guilty Diamond Pour Femme ($104 for 75 ml) promise a memorable encounter. The fragrances debut later this month exclusively at Sephora.

For more, visit sephora.com.

3. SITTING PRETTY

4

Who wouldn’t like to take a seat in this fanciful creation? The Shahrooz Grand Acryliwing Lounge Chair ($6,738) is an artfully tufted center of attention. We love the daring design, including acrylic feet and unique contours.

The line is carried by Safavieh in Hartsdale and New Rochelle.

For more, visit shahrooz-art.com.

Photographs courtesy Facine.

4. JUST RIGHT, FOR NIGHT

We can always count on Facine, the New York-based luxury designer brand devoted to craftsmanship, superior leather and clean lines, to offer the ideal handbag options. If a romantic evening out is on the agenda this month, make a stylish grab for the collection’s newest choices in Gold Shimmer, which include the Evening Clutch ($350) or the Oversized Clutch ($475). Facine is carried at Bloomingdale’s in White Plains.

For more, visit facine.com.

Photograph courtesy Shahrooz.

5

5. COZY UP

Snuggle up for winter with organic-cotton bedding, robes and linens from Coyuchi, with standouts including the Prism Pillow ($98) and the Dobby Weave Blanket ($128). Both feature 100-percent organic cotton sourced and woven in India.

For more, visit coyuchi.com.

Photographs courtesy Coyuchi.

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WANDERS

66 Morne WAGMAG.COM FEBRUARY 2015 Le Brabont mountain

FROM HERE TO INFINITY

HONEYMOONING ON MAURITIUS

STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARK LUNGARIELLO

T

he island country of Mauritius occupies a quiet corner of the globe off the African mainland, east of Madagascar, in a part of the Indian Ocean where the water seems to be perpetually 75 degrees F. The resort we stayed at, LUX* Le Morne, sits on a lagoon outside of the main tourist area. The waters off the white-sand beaches were calm during our stay and the currents, untangled. Waves broke far from the coastline, and bathers, undisturbed by swim-

mers, could wade out knee- and waist-deep for yards from their thatched cabanas, where waiters served panache, a cocktail made from beer and the juice of sugar cane.

Mauritius has the beaches and blue waters of the best tropical destinations in the Caribbean and other parts of our hemisphere, without the crowded waters and noise that come along with water sports. Which isn’t to say there aren’t opportunities for activities. You can jet ski off parts of the island, while snorkeling in the lagoon takes you through

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clouds of tropical fish that seem as curious about you as you are about them.

LUX* Le Morne’s views are dominated by the can’t-be-faked backdrop of the Le Morne Brabont mountain, which is shaped more like a square than a triangle. My bride, Julie, who is a triathlete, suggested one day that we hike up the mountain with a guide. Being no triathlete myself, I agreed to take the “low-impact” version of the hike but later ended on the summit of the mountain 1,500 feet up, with panoramas of the Indian Ocean stretching into infinity. I’m still not sure if there even was a “low impact” hike or if Julie made that up as a way to convince me to get to the top.

The mountain, like much of the island, has a serene beauty, but beneath it lies the difficult truth of its history as an exploited colony. As legend has it, escaped slaves hid on the mountain in the 1800s. On the day slavery was abolished, French soldiers came to the mountain to inform the hiding slaves, but they misunderstood the reason for the visit and jumped to their deaths rather than return to captivity.

Inland, the island is filled with sugar cane, which makes up the vast majority of its agriculture. The smell of the cane gives much of the undeveloped inland area its perfume. Mauritians rely on the cane for their economy, which has struggled since textile plants for international retailers left the island. (The supplies were never local, but Mauritius was a site for production because of its cheap labor.)

Other crops include coffee beans and the “hurricane palm,” the palm tree from which hearts of palm are taken. It takes several years to grow those trees to adulthood and when they are chopped, they are replaced by younger

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ones. The effort in growing and harvesting this crop has led Mauritians to call a hearts of palm salad “a millionaire’s salad.” (That’s a whole lot of rupees, each of which is worth about three American cents.)

The island has also taken to growing black tea, but there is not much of an international market for it. Our taxi driver, Jan, blamed this on the elevations at which the tea is grown. In Mauritius, the highest elevations for tea are about 2,000 feet. By comparison, a country like Sri Lanka grows teas at 4,500 feet, Jan said. The Mauritian tea, he said, is only sold domestically and in Great Britain as a bargain tea.

Tourism became a focus only in recent years after textiles left, but the down economy saw the amount of visitors from the U.K. and India drop significantly. Tourism has since become the growth area for the economy not only because of the utopian beaches there but because of Mauritius’ significance to the Hindu religion. Slightly less than 50 percent of the country is Hindu, but during a festival in February the population of 1.2 million grows by 200,000.

The destination is the Ganga Talao lake, an organic crater which, legend has it, is filled with water from the Ganges. Local lore says a Hindu priest dreamed that the god Shiva told him about the lake. Near the lake is an impressive 100-foot statue of Shiva called the Mangal Mahadev. A second 100-foot statue was under construction on the opposite side of the road during our visit, and construction crews hoped to have the new statue finished by the time of the next pilgrimage.

Today, there are 10 temples there and the roads in the area are uncharac-

Sunset is reflected in the resort pool.

teristically large and wide, with ample parking spaces. Worshippers believe the face of Shiva was manifested on a rock in one temple. They stop to pour water on that stone – custom that arises from the belief that Shiva drank poison to protect the universe and therefore could use a drink of water. Outside the temples, people leave offerings such as food, which are taken not by deities but by the local monkeys. Monkeys are some of the only wildlife on the island, and notably there are no dangerous animals such as snakes for locals to worry about.

When the Dutch ruled the island centuries ago, they cut down native trees, including ebony. The imperial forces decimated much of the natural resources and also contributed to the extinction of the dodo bird and a species of Mauritian tortoise. The Dutch left in the early 1700s during the South African gold rush, and the island then came under French colonial rule. Most locals speak both French and English and the culture is a melting pot of Asian and European influences. Thus meals might include stir-fried dishes in exotic sauces paired with croissants.

Port Louis differs from the rest of the island in that it is a legitimate urban city, complete with tourist-trap restaurants, fast food chains and markets where vendors swarm tourists. Wanting to experience “the real Port Louis,” we asked a guide to show us around, which he did. The vendors, though looking to make a sale, were in no way intimidating to those of us familiar with New York City.

My wife negotiated down the price of a refrigerator magnet with no more astute a tactic than a smile and a “please.”

A statue of the god Shiva called the Mangal Mahadev.

A tortoise enjoys some greens.

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WHAT’S UP

Are dudes romantic, too?

BY MARK LUNGARIELLO

T

IME WAS RUNNING OUT IN THE FOURTH QUARTER OF THE AFC DIVISION GAME AND THE DENVER BRONCOS WERE TRYING TO COME BACK FROM A 24-13 DEFICIT AGAINST THE INDIANAPOLIS COLTS. Peyton Manning, the Broncos’ quarterback, had the ball and was marching down the field against the team that drafted him. A loss meant he’d go home, maybe forever, after a 17-year career.

I had a question for one of my best buddies that maybe wasn’t playoff-appropriate on one of the most bro-tastic nights of the young year, but I didn’t wait until after the game to text him.

“Is there such a thing as romance and if so, what is it?” I asked.

He didn’t respond for a few minutes so I texted him a second time: “No thoughts?” By then, the clock had ticked down to “2:59” and the Denver crowd had gone quiet, realizing that the season was about to end. The friend, whom we’ll call Matt, finally texted me back during a stoppage of play.

“Yes, there is,” he said. “It’s a tool that men use while dating to impress women. …The women’s version is when they pretend to like sports.”

Men – or “dudes” or “guys,” as we men call ourselves – have a reputation of being inept in the romance department. At least that’s what my editor, Georgette, suggested to me in one of our editorial meetings discussing this issue. “Guys are just as romantic as women,” I told her. “We are just romantic in more subtle ways, that’s all. And I’m going to prove it.”

I walked out of the office that day determined, a dude on a mission you might say, then I got to the parking lot. There I gave up. Romance isn’t even a real thing, I thought. It must be something that women made up to make guys look stupid – the same way they made up throw pillows and duvet covers.

Or maybe women are being conned, too, and romance only exists so the New World Order and the Lizard People can sell us their Valentine cards, chocolates, out-of-season flowers and tickets to movies starring Ryan Gosling.

My friend’s response during the AFC game proved it.

Or maybe not.

Later that night, I thought of “The Empire Strikes Back” and Han Solo and Princess Leia’s budding romance. Any dude would tell you there is nothing fake about that. Any man would be lying if he said he didn’t wish for a woman who’d yell out, “I love you” when he is about to be frozen solid in carbonite so he could respond, “I know.”

Romance is real, I thought, but I was still no closer to proving men are as romantic as women. Maybe the problem was that I was out of my element trying to study the topic. I thought of my first almost-relationship with a girl when I was in the seventh grade. At the annual church carnival, she asked me if I’d take her on the Ferris wheel. I told her I couldn’t, because

I might toss my cookies. She seemed disappointed, but I figured at least I saved a couple bucks – times were tough in middle school.

Doubting myself now, I reached out to the first person I thought could offer me insight – a friend we’ll call R.J. The names have been changed to protect the innocent, but he’s not innocent so I kept his actual name. He was married twice so I figured he must know something about this romance stuff. Plus, he usually drinks wine instead of beer when we go out for dinner, so that must mean he is classy.

“Are guys as romantic as women?” I texted him. “Why or why not?”

His only response was something to the effect of, “You can go hug yourself.” Emphasis on the “something to the effect of.”

R.J. is one of my lunch buddies for when guys go out on lunch break with other guys and talk about guy things. Since R.J. politely declined to be interviewed, I turned to email another lunch buddy, Joe, who’s in his mid-60s and therefore also wise in the ways of the world. He once said he’d like to host a love advice radio show.

“Men can be romantic. It’s the women that have difficulty being romantic,” Joe said. “Instead of a cozy candlelight dinner by the fireplace with flowers from their man, a woman would rather go to the gym, lift weights, join a kickboxing class and drive an oversize SUV.” He added, “Men are afraid to get their butts kicked if they burn the meatloaf. Or if they purchase the wrong flowers. Men can still be romantic. It’s women that lost it.” I should mention here Joe’s marital status, as he describes it, is “happily divorced.”

Yet another of the lunch buddies, Ray, was more receptive to my text questions. “We don’t do traditional anniversaries or birthday romantical things,” he said of himself and his wife. “But I do every so — ‘Ray’ often make sure the house is clean, laundry is done, kids are all taken care of. …I prepare dinner, then we eat with a nice glass of wine. We just enjoy the company of one another laughing, joking or just talking over the day’s events or whatever, then it’s followed by our nightly walk.”

Not that I’ve had Ray’s cooking, but that qualifies as romantic in my book.

Shortly after I spoke with Ray, he sent me a link to an article about a male soldier at Fort Bragg who left the house early one morning while his wife slept and picked up takeout breakfast as a surprise for her. When he came back, he accidentally set off the alarm and his wife, thinking he was an intruder, shot him through the bedroom door. He’s expected to recover, thankfully.

No wonder not more men are romantic: It’s safer watching football.

“...WE JUST ENJOY THE COMPANY OF ONE

ANOTHER LAUGH-

ING, JOKING OR JUST TALKING OVER THE DAY’S EVENTS OR

WHATEVER, THEN IT’S FOLLOWED BY OUR NIGHTLY WALK.”

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Follow Mark on Twitter, @marklungariello.

ATELIER CONSTANTIN POPESCU

ATELIER CONSTANTIN POPESCU is the place for people who seek the highest quality musical instruments. Since the studio opened in 1994, proprietor and musician Constantin Popescu has made it his mission to create a first-rate source that sells, rents and repairs fine stringed instruments.

Atelier Constantin Popescu and The Riverside School of Music are located in a stunning, light-filled space at 401-403 E. Putnam Ave. in the Cos Cob section of Greenwich.

High-quality European string instruments for professional musicians, students and collectors are found at Atelier Constantin Popescu. The sounds produced from these instruments are fit for concert halls.

Children can watch instruments being repaired by Sebastian Schwelm, a practicing luthier (craftsman of stringed instruments). World-renowned musicians and organizations like The Juilliard School trust their instruments to

Atelier Constantin Popescu.

Studies have shown that music helps foster brain development in infants and young children, and children who play an instrument score higher on standardized tests and typically have higher grades in math. The Riverside School of Music offers classes in string instruments, from the Suzuki method for beginners to advanced levels. The school also offers piano lessons, music theory, chamber music lessons and adult programs. Some Riverside students have gone on to study at such prestigious schools as Juilliard, the New England Conservatory of Music and the Cleveland Orchestra.

Children can rent the school’s fine quality instruments at a reasonable price and as they become more advanced musicians they can buy maestro-quality instruments. The Riverside School of Music is renowned for its commitment to quality and fostering a love of music.

Atelier Constantin Popescu • Riverside School of Music 403 E. Putnam Ave., Greenwich/Cos Cob, CT 06807 (203) 661-9500 | atelierstrings@aol.com | www.atelierconstantinpopescu.com

WHEELS

California Dreamin’

Leif Skodnick with the Ferrari California T, at Miller Motorcars.

BY LEIF SKODNICK PHOTOGRAPHS BY BILL FALLON

E

ven with a few snowflakes in the air, we had to put the retractable hardtop down when WAG took a test drive in the incredible Ferrari California T, a sleek ride that is a Ferrari for all occassions.

Ferrari’s touring convertible purred while our friends at Miller Motorcars in Greenwich backed it into their service garage. Beautifully colored in a rich blue that Ferrari calls “blu pozzi,” which roughly translates to “blue well,” the automatic hardtop retracts effortlessly into the trunk in just 14 seconds to unveil an interior clad with Cuoio leather that accentuates the lines inside the cockpit.

Sliding into the driver’s seat, you feel surrounded by the heritage of the Ferrari brand that began when Enzo Ferrari brought his racing knowledge to the streets in 1947, and the first Ferrari road car, the 125 S, came out of his factory in Maranello, Italy.

The Cali T’s cockpit feels uniquely secure — comfortable, but protected; sporty, but not exposed. With your arms extended to the ergonomic steering wheel, the controls are right at your fingertips. (The starter, wipers, turn signals, suspension, engine modes and high beams are all controlled from the wheel.)

“Ferrari always tries to evolve with each model,” said Evan Cygler, the director of marketing at Miller Motorcars. “The engineers at Ferrari are some of the most talented in the world when it comes to racing and Formula 1, and that’s been a part of the brand’s success.”

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As we pulled out onto the road and gave it the gas, the Cali T gave a throaty roar. And with 560 horsepower from its turbocharged V8 engine, the powerful-yet-smooth steed creates plenty of breeze to blow through your hair.

The double-clutch seven-speed transmission can be used automatically, or, for those who prefer a manual feel, a light touch on the paddles behind the steering wheel shifts the gears – right to upshift, left to downshift.

Maneuvering smoothly through the hills and turns on the winding roads just north of Miller Motorcars’ Putnam Avenue showroom, the Cali T handled beautifully, with exceptionally responsive steering and braking that, coupled with the V8 and manual gears, would make taking the long route on a short trip the preferred choice.

The California T’s lone drawback might be its small trunk, a good portion of which is filled by the hardtop when it’s folded down. If you want to drive it to the golf course, you’ll need to fold the back seats down to fit your clubs in the car. But then, complaining about trunk space in a high-performance hardtop convertible that melds Italian styling with racetrack engineering may be a tad nitpicky. You wouldn’t buy a hammer to drive screws, and you don’t buy a sports car for trunk space.

Ferrari’s aim with the Cali T is to draw new customers to the brand, customers who would perhaps be attracted to a Mercedes SL or Porsche Turbo, as well as repeat Ferrari clients who want to be able to drive a Ferrari every day.

bluehillfarm.com

WINE & DINE

Waiting to inhale

STORY AND PHOTOGRAPH BY DOUG PAULDING

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ELL, IT’S FEBRUARY AGAIN. The air is cold, snow is on the ground, Valentine’s Day is on people’s minds and all the wine stories in all the publications talk about wooing her or him with roses, Champagne and Belgian chocolates. This is a great starting point, but let’s take the next step. Aprés dîner, present your honey with a fine bottle of Cognac and appropriate glassware to amplify and express the flavors. With the first swirl, the first sniff and the first taste you will both feel the warmth and the glow of this lovely spirit that beckons you to get close, to inhale – and to touch each other.

Cognac is a brandy made in a specially designated region just north of Bordeaux on the Charente River, which was the starting point for transporting this spirit around the globe. The base fruit is the grape, usually Ugni Blanc, which makes an uninteresting white wine of little flavor. This wine is then distilled, usually more than once, to create a high alcohol spirit known as Eau de Vie, which is then oak barrel-aged and bottled.

There are several qualitative designations on the label, which usually correspond to the amount of time spent in oak and, roughly speaking, reflect the price. VS, VSOP, XO and Extra represent Very Special, Very Superior Old Pale, Extra Old and Extra. The XO designation jumps out at me for Valentine’s Day for obvious reasons – kisses and hugs. Expect to pay somewhere north of $120, possibly considerably more, for one of these bottles. It should last a long time, because fine Cognac is a contemplative drink to sip and savor. Unlike wine, its flavor remains true in the opened bottle. I like to use a brandy snifter or a large stemless glass. Stems

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on wine glasses are there to prevent hand warmth from changing the temperature of the wine from its optimal serving temperature. But with Cognac, holding the glass bowl with both hands and swirling will raise the temperature a bit, helping to release its essence and its flavor.

Since college, I have always had several bottles of Cognac for my home bar.

Each bottle can last years unless my very large family, traveling with spouses, is here for a visit. Each Cognac house has its own maître de chai, or cellar master, responsible for blending the different eaux de vie to present the chosen house style consistently. It’s interesting and fun to taste and discuss different styles and to find which flavors are present with the first taste and which emerge in the glass. Google and print out “Cognac aroma wheel,” and you will find several types of charts with flavors you can expect to find in Cognac. These range across almond, orange, pear, mango, dried fig or apricot, cinnamon, tobacco, coffee, walnut and honeysuckle, to name a few. It’s sometimes easier to recognize flavors when you have options to pick from, as in a multiple-choice exam. Each house style and price point will offer different flavors.

Perfumes and colognes tend to interfere and stomp on wine aromas. But deftly applied (think minimal), perfume scents can have a symbiotic effect on experiencing Cognac. The heady aromas of the swirled Cognac draw you in, move you closer to your partner. Perfumes are inhaled and absorbed and swirl around your head. The scent of the one and the flavor of the other can be playfully intoxicating.

Happy February! Happy Valentine’s Day! XOXOXO! Write me at doug@dougpaulding.com.

WAGMAG.COM

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WONDERFUL DINING

ENCORE, ENCORE!

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

F

rench cuisine has a reputation for being fattening, what with all those cream sauces and all that butter – or “but her” as the French Chef herself, Julia Child, liked to pronounce it.

“That’s absolutely right,” says David Masliah, owner of the divine Encore in Rye. And absolutely wrong.

“It’s very hard to change the way people think,” he says. “But that (reputation is) not always true.”

Encore Bistro Français, which will be a year old in April, certainly has its share of rich, hearty, wintry fare like its cassoulet, a crock pot teeming with sausages, smoked bacon, duck confit and white beans. But what was partic-

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ularly delightful about the enchanted evening we spent there recently was how light the food was – and how flavorful. We sampled a range of it, from escargots to the Tuna Tartare featured in the recipe here to Chocolat Fondant and Crème Brûlée, washed down with a B&G Bistro Pinot Noir from Corsica (Napoleon’s hometown) and a Domaine Chandon Champagne from California. But what we may have enjoyed most was the marvelous interplay of fish and vegetables.

Or the vegetables alone. The ladies who made up the quartet for our Ladies’ Night Out flipped over the Tatin de Tomates, a baked tomato and feta cheese tarte tatin, or upside-down tart. (More about the traditional Tarte Salade Parisienne, a frisée salad topped with smoked bacon, croutons, mushrooms and a poached egg. Courtesy Encore Bistro Français.

TUNA TARTARE 16 ounces of sushi grade tuna 1 shallot 1 teaspoon of sesame oil 4 anchovies 1 teaspoon olive oil 1 squeezed lemon 1 teaspoon of chopped parsley 1 teaspoon of capers Salt and pepper Mince the shallot, anchovies, parsley and capers. Cut the tuna meat with a knife into small cubes. In a bowl, mix the tuna meat with the other ingredients. Place the tuna in a 3-inch pastry circle on a plate. Remove the circle and dress with olive oil and toast points or thick homemade potato chips. Serves 4.

All photographs courtesy of Encore Bistro Français.

Tatin in a bit.) This one features red and yellow tomatoes.

“Three years ago, we tested it on the menu in Larchmont,” David says of the Encore restaurant he has owned there since 2000, “and people liked it so much that it stayed. But you have to come back in summer when the tomatoes are in season.”

The phrase “melt in your mouth” is overworked but OK, the dish really did melt in your mouth, the cheese and tomatoes happily marrying one another. It did not distract us, however, from trying one of the special appetizers, Rouleau de Saumon Fumé à la Chair de Crab (crabmeat wrapped in smoked salmon with pomegranate vinaigrette), also tasty.

Nicolas Marilhet, who provided the attentive but unobtrusive service, had recommended the Sole Limande en Papillote, lemon sole cooked with lemongrass and lime sauce on a bed of couscous with slices of tomato and zucchini, all baked in foil. The juices and flavors flowed together, giving this dish a delicately delicious integrity.

We also savored sweetbreads, bouillabaisse, homemade French fries prepared just right – and the desserts. We dove into them all, including the special peach brioche pudding with vanilla ice cream and coffee sauce. But the favorite may have been the traditional Tarte Tatin, a carmelized apple upside-down tart that has an equally scrumptious history. It was created in the 1880s at

the Hotel Tatin in Lamotte-Beuvron, 100 miles south of Paris, by sisterowners Stéphanie and Caroline Tatin.

There are many versions of how Tarte Tatin came to be. Stéphanie, who did most of the cooking, either dropped it in a hurry, or burnt it on the stove or made it by mistake. Anyhow, she served it, guests loved it – and you will, too.

Like les soeurs Tatin, David is French, born and bred in Lyons. When he was a teenager, his family moved to central France, where his father, Victor, worked in his uncle’s restaurant business. Soon David was in culinary school, in Thonon-les-Bains on the Swiss border near Geneva. After military service and a stint in London, he came to America when a culinary

school friend who worked at La Panetière, the noted French restaurant in Rye, told him there was a job opening there. David held various positions there for five years before striking out on his own in Wilton with Bistro le Trocadero in 1998. (He sold it in 2003.)

From his Trock days, David has worked with chef Erwen Perez, who’s with him now at the new Encore. It has the look of a classic French bistro – red banquettes, black and white-tiled floor. David says he did all the work with his father.

It’s just another ingredient in Encore’s recipe for success.

Encore Bistro Français is at 67 Purchase St. in Rye. For more call 914-4818833 or visit encore-bistro.com.

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WHETTING THE APPETTITE

CHOCOLATE FRIED RAVIOLI

THE COOKING REALTOR SHARES A DESSERT IDEA FOR VALENTINE’S DAY

BY JACKIE RUBY PHOTOGRAPH BY BOB ROZYCKI

Hi my saucy WAG readers, I am really not into baking, but I do make a few desserts. This one you will love.

Every time I make this easy, decadent dessert, people go wild for it. The only problem is that you’ ll never have leftovers when you serve Chocolate Fried Ravioli. It is one of the easiest recipes to make, and I’m sure that you will be a star after making it. You can substitute raspberry jam for Nutella chocolate if you desire and use cinnamon sugar if you don’t want powdered sugar.

Please let me know how you like it.

Your Saucy Friend

INGREDIENTS: Æ 16 wonton wrappers Æ 1 jar Nutella Æ Vegetable oil for frying Æ 1 beaten egg Æ Powdered sugar for dusting Æ 1 pint strawberries

DIRECTIONS: 1. Brush edges of wonton wrappers lightly with egg.

2. Spoon 1 teaspoon of Nutella in center of each wonton, 3. Fold diagonally in half over the filling and press edges down to seal.

4. Heat oil in frying pan and drop wontons in batches. (Do not overcrowd pan.)

5. Cook until golden brown (35 seconds per side) and drain on paper towel.

6. Dust ravioli with powdered sugar and serve with sliced strawberries.

Email Jackie at jacquelineruby@hotmail.com.

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Sotheby’s International Realty and the Sotheby’s International Realty logo are registered (or unregistered) service marks used with permission. Operated by Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Once more into the end zone GREENWICH HIGH SPORTS HALL OF FAME RETURNS

BY LEIF SKODNICK

I

t’s months away, but coach Pat Mediate is already excited about the second edition of Greenwich High School’s Sports Hall of Fame dinner.

“We’ve got some pretty good people coming in,” Mediate said.

Fifty years of Cardinals’ football coaches will be returning for the dinner, including Mike Ornato, who will be honored with an induction, as well as former Greenwich High and Cleveland Browns’ head coach Sam Rutigliano. Ornato will be introduced by one of his former players, who went on to achieve success as a football coach – New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin, who played for Ornato at Scotch Plains (N.J.) High School in the early 1960s. Coughlin will be the keynote speaker for the event.

“The impressions Mike Ornato made lasted a lifetime,” Mediate said.

“Guys come back and say, ‘All the successes in my life are from lessons I learned from Mike Ornato.’”

Rutigliano, who coached the Cleveland Browns from 1978 through 1984, was also the head coach at Liberty University from 1989-99. Under Browns’ owner Art Modell, Rutigliano and the Browns began a program that helped players deal with drug and alcohol abuse issues, the first of its kind in the NFL.

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Also being honored is Ken Bell, a Greenwich High and Boston College alumnus who appeared in 59 NFL regular season games with the Denver Broncos, primarily as a kick and punt return specialist. Bell was a junior running back at Boston College in 1984 when the Eagles, down 4540 against the University of Miami, came back to win as quarterback Doug Flutie, flushed from the pocket by the Hurricanes’ pass Pat Mediate. Photograph courtesy Greenwich High School rush, launched the ball deep down the field, where it was plucked by an NCAA championship in the 3000 wide receiver Gerard Phelan for a 47meters. St. Geme, who now lives in 45 B.C. win – nationally televised, on California, continues to compete in Thanksgiving Day. masters-level events.

Ceci Hopp St. Geme, a 1981 alumFormer Green Bay Packer Tony Dena who took up running while at Luca, who attended Greenwich High Greenwich High and parlayed it into and Milford Academy before playing distance running stardom at Stanford college football at Rhode Island, will be University, will also be honored. As a inducted into the Hall of Fame posthuhigh school student, St. Geme won a mously. A nose tackle, DeLuca was one state title in the 800 meters and was of four Greenwich alums to play in the second in the mile in her first year as NFL. The aforementioned Bell, Steve a track athlete. She later went on to Young, and current Minnesota Vikings win the 1980 national cross country center John Sullivan are the others. title, and, as a freshman at Stanford,

Young, an ESPN analyst who starred with the San Francisco 49ers; Sue Merz, a gold and silver-medal winning Olympic ice hockey player; and postwar New York Yankee John Bella were inducted into the Greenwich High Hall of Fame during the first ceremony, held Oct. 20, 2013 at the Hyatt Regency in Greenwich.The second event will be held in the same place at 6:30 p.m. on June 10.

For tickets or more information, call 203-625-8013, ext. 1 or visit ghshalloffame.com.

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WHAT’S NEW

Sam Taylor-Johnson directs stars Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson on the set of “Fifty Shades of Grey.”

Photograph courtesy of Universal Pictures and Focus Features.

‘GREY’ MATTERS

Why ‘Fifty Shades’ the movie may be better than the book

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

THE AXIOM IN ENTERTAINMENT IS THAT THE BOOK IS ALWAYS BETTER THAN THE MOVIE, ALWAYS RICHER IN THOUGHTS, THEMES, CHARACTERS AND SUBPLOTS THAT A TWO-HOUR FILM CAN’T PORTRAY. (“The Great Gatsby,” anyone?) Unless, of course, the work is one of pulp fiction. Then a movie in the hands of a great director stands a fighting chance of being the better of the two.

Surely, Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather” trilogy is superior to Mario Puzo’s nonetheless highly entertaining novel. And there’s no question that Mary Harron’s 2000 film did wonders with Bret Easton Ellis’ ridiculous, misogynistic “American Psycho” – in which title character Patrick Bateman cuts off the heads of women one moment and opines about Calvin Klein sheets the next. Perhaps because she is a woman, Harron brought Bateman’s victims into sympathetic focus while depicting the emptiness of the Mad Men of 1980s Wall Street.

So there is hope for the screen adaptation of E.L. James’ “Fifty Shades of Grey,” which arrives in theaters Feb. 13, just in time for Valentine’s Day. The reason? One name – director Sam Taylor-Johnson.

The former Sam Taylor-Wood – she and actor Aaron Johnson combined their names when they married after meeting on the set of the 2009 John Lennon biopic “Nowhere Boy” – Taylor-Johnson is perhaps best-known as the visual artist behind the stunning photographic series “Crying Men.” In that 2004 work – a response to her own grief in battling breast cancer – she asked a group of actors ranging from Hayden Christensen to Paul Newman to cry on camera.

The result was a series that is rich in iconography and metaphor, combining the interplay between the art’s artifice and real emotions with the gender-bending performance of a woman commanding men to weep on cue.

In the best of the photos – the only horizontal and the only nude – Robert Downey Jr. lies on a bed in a nondescript room, one leg and a blanket thrown over his loins, an arm tenting his head. It’s a languid, seductively serpentine pose reserved throughout art history for female nudes, except for the neoclassical period of early 19th century Paris when artists like Anne-Louis Girodet used it to portray unsuspecting male beauties, the sleeping Endymion for one, served up for the fe82

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male gaze. Here Taylor-Johnson casts Downey as Endymion and her camera’s eye as the feminine moon that caresses him.

It’s precisely this kind of gender reversal that should serve the director well in bringing “Fifty Shades” to the screen. Based on the novel, which began life as fan fiction inspired by Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight” series, “Fifty Shades” tells the tale of virginal college student Anastasia “Ana” Steele, who gets caught up in an S&M relationship with enigmatic young billionaire Christian Grey. But who’s the dominant and who’s the submissive in the twisting tale?

“Fifty Shades” has been dismissed as tripe – Salman Rushdie said it made “Twilight” look like “War and Peace” – that fosters female abuse. But Taylor-Johnson sees something else.

“The book appealed to me because it was a dark and tragic love story,” she told the Los Angeles Times. “I had a distinct approach to feeling that she was empowered even though she was in a place where she could be seen as a victim, and even though this relationship is about dominance and submission, to have it be an equal journey. It’s pretty complex, and I’m constantly feeling like I’m on a knife’s edge.”

That is music to the ears of fans champing at the bit for the film, which stars Dakota Johnson (daughter of actors Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson) and Northern Ireland’s Jamie Dornan.

“I loved the books (which include ‘Fifty Shades Darker’ and ‘Fifty Shades Freed’) and cannot wait for the movie,” Maureen Kress Stenglein, a fan, posted on People magazine’s website. “E.L. James has admitted she is not a great writer and wrote them for fun. Everything does not have to be Shakespeare. Apparently someone must like them or the books would not have sold over a hundred million copies worldwide.

Each to his own.”

Meanwhile, James has said that she is moving on to other romantic stories. But she’s not finished with “Fifty Shades” yet. There are two new wines – one white, one red – based on Ana’s relationship with the oenophile.

As People quotes James, “It didn’t seem like a big leap to making a wine inspired by ‘Fifty Shades.’”

la bottega salon IT’S MORE THAN A HAIRSTYLE, IT’S A LIFE STYLE If you are looking for a modern and comfortable salon experience in Westchester, La bottega is the place! With two locations one in Rye Brook and the other in White Plains owner Jon Verazza, with over 25 years of knowledge in the industry, has created a stylish sanctuary where indulgence and intimacy reach gorgeous new heights.

He is known for demanding excellence in everything he does. He believes in the importance of giving his guests what compliments their individual style, from offering the best products on the market to ensuring that his staff stays current with all your hair needs.

A big part of his success is due to his highly talented and dedicated staff and the passion that he feels for the industry — after all, it’s not only a hairstyle it’s a lifestyle.

Jon says, “as a hairstylist our goal is to communicate the message about our image and creativity.“ He invites new clients to come in and discover how they can create a totally new look or spruce up an existing favorite.

NEWLY RENOVATED

520 Mamaroneck Ave. White Plains, New York

(914) 948-7227

263 S. Ridge Street Rye Brook, New York

(914) 937-5333

ROAMING IN THE HUB OF THE HEART

WELL

Sit in a quiet place where you know you won’t be disturbed for a few minutes.

Gently close your eyes and bring awareness to your heart area.

Imagine that you’re standing inside your heart and there is a long dark tunnel in front of you. At the end of this tunnel, you can see a spot of light in the distance. With ease and confidence gently walk towards this light. As you walk closer and closer toward this spot of light, it gets bigger and bigger, as more and more light floods into the tunnel. Feel the warmth of this shimmering light on your skin.

Allow yourself to be guided by this light with each step you take as you walk towards what appears be the end of the tunnel. As you reach the end of the tunnel, a shimmering landscape of sunshine and blue skies opens up in front of you. As you look out at this expansive sight in front of you, feel a sense of ease, peace and love.

When you’re ready, simply open your eyes ...

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!

Love, the ultimate experience

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TO HOLD, TO KNOW, TO KEEP AND TO SHARE

BY KELLYE DAVIS

hen I first became interested in yoga more than 25 years ago, I was fascinated with the postures and the flexibility and expansiveness it offered the body. As I began to practice and later teach hatha yoga, the technique became less about the agility of my body and more about the agility of my heart. It was all about the love expressed from the inside out.

This was recently reinforced when I came across a book on yoga philosophy. Inside I found a passage by a well-known meditation master that simply read: “The heart is the hub of all sacred places, go there and roam.” As I read his words, my mind began to conjure up all types of images and questions. How can one roam the heart? What kind of shoes does one need to wear during such a journey? What type of map or directions does one use?

The word “roam” stirred my curiosity. As I thought about it, roam, for me, had the energy of traveling off the beaten path, of living with abandonment and seeing vivid landscapes.

As we celebrate February, the love month, many of us will easily express the love in our hearts with such tokens as cards and chocolates. However, for some of us, it may not be so easy. Some of us will experience stop signs that will prevent us from being able to roam about. Some of us will be crippled by our past disappointments, fears, hurts and speed bumps that continually warn us

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to “Watch for pedestrians.”

No one ever said love was easy, but it is so necessary. It’s what makes us feel connected to ourselves and to each other. It is the glue that keeps things together for us.

There are so many benefits of roaming in love: Our emotional well-being is strengthened. Putting ourselves out there and ready to love positions us to feel love. It makes us more resilient. It makes us feel like we are at the center, the hub of life.

In my book, “The Bliss Principle,” I write about creating a clearing for bliss to show up. We have to do our part for it to show up. We also have to create a clearing to roam in the heart. What I have been guided to see is that roaming in the heart starts with the love inside myself.

I remember when I first met my meditation guru many, many moons ago. She asked me, “Kellye, what’s the most important thing?” As I attempted to answer her profound question with the right answer, she shook her head repeatedly – not the right answers. After several attempts and what felt like my last final chance to answer, I blurted out “love for myself,” and she nodded – yes. We all need love. It is the sunshine that enables flowers to blossom and grow. We are all flowers. In order to blossom, we must love ourselves first. Then, and only then, can we love others. When we understand that we deserve to be loved, we open our hearts, and allow the love to come in, not just in the month of February, but every month.

For more, visit kellyedavis.com.

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PET OF THE MONTH

A real snuggler FOR THE MONTH OF HEARTS, WE GIVE YOU A POOCH THAT’S ALL LOVE. Snuggles is appropriately named, as that is just what you’ll want to do with her. She’s a Mini Australian Shepherd/Spaniel mix who came in to the SPCA of Westchester as a stray and sadly was never claimed. She’s about 5 years old and very calm for the most part (not typical of the Australian Shepherd breed), which makes her a great couch potato companion.

She likes most other dogs, too, as long as they’re also on the calmer side.

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Snuggles is a unique-looking little girl and was clearly loved as she is very trusting of people — a real sweetheart.

To meet Snuggles, visit the SPCA of Westchester at 590 N. State Road in Briarcliff Manor.

Founded in 1883, the SPCA is a no-kill shelter and is not affiliated with the ASPCA. The SPCA is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 1 to 4 p.m. Sundays. To learn more, call 914- 941-2896 or visit spca914.org.

THERE’S STILL TIME TO SIGN UP FOR 2015 TOURS

MAYANMAR: Oct. 7-16, 2015

TANZANIA: Dec. 8-17, 2015

LAOS & CAMBODIA: Jan. 6-15, 2016

Travel with us in small group photo tours and Workshops to: ETHIOPIA, MYANMAR, LAOS/CAMBODIA AND TANZANIA ETHOPIA: Nov. 18-29, 2015

Working in the field, learn photojournalism, portrait photography, location lighting, editing and workflow with new topics daily and personal attention.

Updated 2015 dates, itineraries, testimonials and tour fees are posted online at www.johnrizzophoto.com

“As the Director of the Foreign Press Association, I have worked with many photojournalist, but none have measured up to the outstanding work done by John Rizzo. I first met John after Sept. 11th and his photos of that disaster attest to his remarkable skill and sensitivity to the subject. He is an artist in his field.”

— Suzanne Adams, Director Foreign Press Association, New York

“Being a student of John Rizzo has been one of the greatest learning experiences in my life. I am glad I got to learn from John as the quality of my work has grown leaps and bounds because of his guidance.”

— Allen French, New England School of Photography

John Rizzo Photography | 10 Cedar St., Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522 | (914) 231-9513 studio | (646) 221-6186 worldwide mobile | www.johnrizzophoto.com

WHEN & WHERE

FEB. 5

FEB. 8

FEB. 19

With more than 60 million records sold, including 20 Top 40 hits like “I’m Henry VIII, I Am,” “Mrs. Brown You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter,” “There’s a Kind of Hush” and “I’m Into Something Good,” Peter Noone takes the stage at 8 p.m. Ridgefield Playhouse, 80 East Ridge Road; 203-438-5795, ridgefieldplayhouse.org.

The second annual “Hudson Valley Wine and Chocolate Festival.” Sip wine and sample chocolate from vendors from all across the region and buy some goodies to treat your Valentine. 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Putnam County Golf Course, 187 Hill St., Mahopac, 845-278-7272, hvwineandchocolate.com.

With 10 multi-platinum albums and 16 Top 30 hits, Foreigner remains one of the most popular rock acts in the world. 8 p.m. The Capitol Theatre, 149 Westchester Ave., Port Chester; 877-987-6487, thecapitoltheatre.com.

FEB. 6 FEB. 1 THROUGH FEB. 28 The Hudson River Museum presents “Leah Harper: Complimentary.” Harper turns the everyday vending machine into a compliment-dispensing marvel. Turn the knob on the dispenser and out comes your compliment in a plastic toy capsule. 511 Warburton Ave., Yonkers, 914-963-4550, hrm.org.

THROUGH MARCH 21 “TechNoBody” is a group exhibition that explores the media world’s effect on and relationship to the physical body in an increasingly virtual world. Includes video works, drawings and sculpture by artists Christopher Baker, Carla Gannis, Claudia Hart, Cynthia Lin, Joyce Yu-Jean Lee, Laura Splan and Victoria Vesna. Pelham Art Center, 155 Fifth Ave., Pelham; 914-738-2525, pelhamartcenter.org.

THROUGH MAY 1 Experience the fashions of 1889 as the New Canaan Historical Society presents “As We Were” in celebration of its 125th anniversary.

13 Oenoke Ridge Road, New Canaan; 203966-1776, nchistory.org.

FEB.1 “Girls’ Afternoon Out.” With experience in fashion shopping and styling, authors David Zyla and Eila Mell will offer tips to save money and time – from finding the perfect jeans to scoring the best deals online to avoiding department store traps. 2 p.m., Ernest A. DiMattia Jr. Main Library, 1 Public Library Plaza, Stamford; 203 964-1000, fergusonlibrary.org.

••• Looking for a pre-Super Bowl good time?

Chilifest, the sister event to Chowdafest in Westport, offers unlimited sampling of decadent recipes from 12 of the area’s best restaurants and six local fire departments. Come dressed in your favorite team jersey and enjoy the sounds of the Sacred Heart University band while you determine who has the best chili. 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Bedford Middle School, 88 North Ave., Westport; Come2Chilifest.com.

“Food, Love, Wine.” A Valentine’s Day tasting dinner. Enjoy a five-course gourmet dinner, raffle and live auction of one-of-a-kind experiences to benefit the Food Bank for Westchester. 6 p.m., Tappan Hill Mansion, 81 Highland Ave., Tarrytown; 914-923-1100, foodbankforwestchester.org.

FEB 7 THROUGH MAY 17

FEB. 14

“Promoting the President: An Exhibition at the Hudson River Museum.” The exhibit features one of Gilbert Stuart’s portraits of George Washington as well as prints, stamps, coins and currency that frame our image of the father of our country. Hudson River Museum, 511 Warburton Ave., Yonkers, 914-963- 4550. hrm.org.

It’s Valentine’s Day! Grab your sweetie and head over to the Jacob Burns Film Center for a screening of the 1938 classic “Bringing Up Baby.” Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, a leopard named Baby, a million dollars, snappy dialogue and irresistible humor — along with true love — all come together in this classic screwball comedy. 5 p.m., 364 Manville Road, Pleasantville; 914-747-5555, burnsfilmcenter.org.

FEB. 7 “Hudson River Eaglefest.” Greenburgh Nature Center is partnering with Teatown Lake Reservation and other environmental organizations in a daylong program that celebrates the bald eagles’ return to the Hudson River.

The day includes birds of prey shows, children’s activities, environmental exhibits and more. Activities take place at Croton Point Park with a shuttle bus available to other eagle sites along the river. For more information, visit teatown.org or call 914-762-2912, ext. 110.

It’s Groundhog Day! Come on Punxsutawney Phil, we’re hoping for a cloudy day with no shadows and an early return of spring!

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FEB. 15 “The Met: Live In HD” presents Tchaikovsky’s “Iolanta” and Bartók’s “Bluebeard’s Castle.” Both operas are directed by Mariusz Trelinski. Fairfield University Quick Center for the Arts, 1073 N. Benson Road, Fairfield; 203254-4010. For other venues, visit metoperafamily.org.

lianceSite.org.

••• A fundraiser for the Bruce Museum inspired by the beloved PBS series takes place at the Topping Estate on Round Hill Road in Greenwich.

The benefit will feature a cocktail reception and lavish seated dinner. Period dress is enan invitation to the fundraiser, contact Jen Bernstein at jbernstein@brucemuseum.org or 203-413-6761.

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••• Ballet Hispanico celebrates Latino culture through the fusion of classical, Latin and contemporary dance powered by theatricality, athleticism and passion. 8 p.m., Fairfield University Quick Center for the Arts, 1073 N. Benson Road, Fairfield; 203-254-4010, fairfield.edu/lifeatfairfield/artsminds/quickcenterforthearts.

FEB. 22 Come view the Oscars in glamorous style as the Avon Theatre presents its “Red Carpet Oscar Night Party.” Enjoy Oscar telecast festivities, with pink-a-licious cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and buffet offerings by Bar Rosso.

Prizes will be awarded for best red carpet attire and best “Pink Panther” costume. Festivities start at 6:30 p.m. and run until 11 p.m., Avon Theatre, 272 Bedford St., Stamford; 203-967-3660, avontheatre.org.

FEB. 25 “Back on Board: Greg Louganis” is an intimate portrait of the public triumphs and private struggles of Louganis, the greatest diver to date, who works to combat prejudice against gays, promote tolerance and serve as a mentor to the next generation. Q&A with filmmaker/Croton native Cheryl Furjanic after the showing. 7:30 p.m., Jacob Burns Film Center, 364 Manville Road, Pleasantville; 914747-5555, burnsfilmcenter.org.

••• The Delaware Valley Arts Alliance (DVAA) is launching an online gallery space named the Bgallery. Curated by Phyllis Bilick, the site will debut with the exhibit “The Impact of Color.”

The artwork will be presented at artsalliancesite.org/alliance-gallery/b-gallery/. It will also have a physical presence at the alliance on Narrowsburg’s Main Street in the form of a slide show on a computer monitor. DVAA, 37 Main St., Narrowsburg; 845-252-7576, ArtsAl-

couraged; formal dress is required. To receive

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••• Nothing says romance like the beautiful sounds of jazz trumpeter Chris Botti. Join the Grammy Award winner for a Valentine’s Day Gala at the Ridgefield Playhouse. In addition to the concert, there will be raffle prizes and a dessert reception in the lobby at 6:30 p.m., with the concert at 8 p.m., Ridgefield Playhouse, 80 East Ridge Road; 203438-5795.

Chinese New Year Celebration at the Westchester County Center features gourmet Chinese cuisine presentations and food sampling, calligraphy and Chinese painting, martial arts demonstrations and Chinese acrobats. 2 p.m., Westchester County Center, 198 Central Ave., White Plains; wacany.org.

“An Evening Inspired by ‘Downton Abbey.’”

FEB. 2

FEB. 11 The JCC of Mid-Westchester’s Adult Lecture Series presents Rebecca Alexander, author of “Not Fade Away,” a story of academic excellence achieved in spite of a genetic mutation that robbed her of most of her sight and hearing. 7:30 p.m., Jewish Community Center of Mid Westchester, 999 Wilmot Road, Scarsdale; 914-472-3300, jccmw.org.

FEB. 21 Merging their country roots with strong melodies and rich vocals, Lonestar has topped the charts for more than 20 years with several No. 1 hits – “No News,” “Come Crying to Me,” “Amazed” and “I’m Already There.” 8 p.m., Ridgefield Playhouse, 80 East Ridge Road; 203-438-5795.

FEB. 16

FEB. 26

Presidents’ Day. Although most often associated with Lincoln and Washington, whose birthdays are this month, Presidents’ Day is set aside to honor all those who have served in the office. Hail to the chiefs!

Step up for cancer support at the second annual “Gilda’s Stair Climb,” which will be held at the tallest building in Westchester County – Westchester One, 44 S. Broadway in White Plains. Check-in and expo start at 5:30 p.m.; climb starts at 7 p.m. For registration and more, visit GildasStairClimb.org or call the Stair Climb hotline at 914-274-1772.

FEB. 19 “An American in Paris on Broadway” at the Jacob Burns Film Center. The evening starts with a screening of the Academy Awardwinning film with Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron.

After the film, meet some of the team behind the spring Broadway production in a Q&A. 7:15 p.m., 364 Manville Road, Pleasantville; 914747-5555, burnsfilmcenter.org.

FEB. 28 “British Invasion - 50th Anniversary Tour.”

Iconic singers of the 1960s music revolution, featuring Peter Asher (of Peter and Gordon), Denny Laine (of The Moody Blues and Wings), Chad & Jeremy, Billy J. Kramer, Mike Pender’s Searchers and Terry Sylvester (of The Hollies).

8 p.m., Tarrytown Music Hall, 13 Main St.; 877840-0457, tarrytownmusichall.org.

for movies and the performing arts

80 East Ridge, Ridgefield, CT (203) 438-5795

ridgefieldplayhouse.org

MICHAEL BOLTON Wed, March 25 @ 8PM

Grammy Award-winning Singer, with hits “How Am I Supposed To Live Without You,” “When A Man Loves A Woman,” “Soul Provider,” “Time, Love and Tenderness” and more!

ART, WINE & JAZZ SERIES Complimentary wine tasting courtesy of 109 Cheese & Wine and reception with local artist in the lobby at 7:15pm.

Kat Edmonson

Sat, March 7 @ 8PM

A great night of jazz and vintage pop with this newcomer and her new album “The Big Picture” – which debuted at #1 on Contemporary Jazz Chart!

ROCK SERIES

David Cook

Wed, February 11 @ 8PM

Season 7 American Idol Winner with hits “Light On”, “Time of My Life” and “Come Back to Me”!

Cassandra Wilson

Marc Broussard

Cassandra Wilson, perhaps the greatest living jazz singer, comes to The Playhouse to offer a special tribute concert to Billie Holiday on the centennial of Lady Day’s birth.

His only CT show! Bringing the Bayou to Ridgefield with a great night of rock, blues and soul!

Thurs, March 26 @ 8PM

Preservation Hall Jazz Band Wed, April 1 @ 7:30PM

Partially underwritten by the Rosa/Beresford Family The French Quarter comes to Ridgefield with New Orleans Jazz!

A WHOLE NEW YOU SERIES

Thurs, February 19 @ 8PM

Rick Springfield

Stripped Down - Solo Acoustic

Thurs, February 26 @ 8PM

With hits “Jessie’s Girl,” “I’ve Done Everything For You,” “Don’t Talk to Strangers.”

James Van Praagh

One Night of Queen

Performed by Gary Mullen and The Works

Fri, March 20 @ 7:30PM

NORTHEAST BUILDERS OF RIDGEFIELD COUNTRY SERIES #

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Fri, February 27 @ 8PM

The Original Ghost Whisperer! The Renowned Psychic Medium and Best Selling Author returns to the Playhouse for a night of live readings!

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Sat, February 21 @ 8PM

With original lead singer Richie McDonald, and their #1 hits “Amazed,” “I’m Already There,” “No News,” “Come Crying to Me” and more!

Wynonna and Friends: Stories & Song

Fri, March 6 @ 8PM

Joined by her band – hear the stories that inspired the hit songs!

Lee Ann Womack Sat, April 18 @ 8PM

Singer-Songwriter, Lee Ann Womack, is best known for "I Hope You Dance”, “Last Call”, “Think of a Reason Later” and “Mendocino County Line (featuring Willie Nelson)”.

“Bohemian Rhapsody,” “We are the Champions,” “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” “Another One Bites the Dust.” This show will ROCK YOU!

Uriah Heep

Sun, March 1 @ 8PM

Performing all their Classic Songs: “Easy Livin,” “Gypsy,” “Lady in Black,” “Bird of Prey Look at You,” “Sunrise,” “Stealin’” and More!

Don Felder An Evening at Hotel California Wed, March 18 @ 8PM

Felder originated the music and co-wrote The Eagles’ biggest hit – “Hotel California” – along with “Victim of Love” and “Those Shoes.”

Andy Grammer and Alex & Sierra

Sun, March 22 @ 7:30PM With special guest Paradise Fears

The singer of “Keep Your Head Up” and “Fine By Me” is joined WAGMAG.COM

by X Factor Season 3 winners.

FEBRUARY 2015

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A PASSION FOR FASHION More than 250 fashionistas gathered at The College of New Rochelle Jan. 14 for “Powerful Women in Retail/Fashion,” hosted by the college and Westfair Communications Inc., WAG’s parent company. Guests enjoyed a buffet lunch before listening to a panel made up of FIT’s Joyce F. Brown, Neiman Marcus’ Julie Gaynor, the LaMonica-Baas Group’s Barbara LaMonica and cooper & ella’s Kara Mendelsohn discuss the effect of the digital age on fashion and the challenges for the industry in the current economy. Elizabeth BrackenThompson served as moderator.

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Photographs by John Rizzo.

1. Model Lauren 2. Model Candy Frisbie 3. Elizabeth Bracken-Thompson 4. Judith Huntington 5. Joyce F. Brown 6. Barbara LaMonica 7. Kara Mendelsohn 8. Julie Gaynor 9. Guests

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All identifications are from left unless otherwise noted.

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WHAT’S COOKING AT UJA?

THANKS, RUTH!

Chef, author and restaurateur Einat Admony conducted a cooking demonstration and discussed her culinary journey during a luncheon held at Willow Ridge Country Club in Harrison sponsored by UJA-Federation of New York’s Westchester Women’s Philanthropy Nearly 100 guests attended the event, dining on Israeli dishes and bringing nonperishable food items to be distributed to families in need.

Friends of the Yonkers Public Library recently honored longtime volunteer Ruth Swetz at a luncheon at Outback Steakhouse in Yonkers. Swetz has been coordinating book sales at the Yonkers Public Library Grinton I. Will Branch for more than 30 years.

1. Lois Kohn-Claar, Wendy Zoland, Einat Admony, Jill Weisfeld, Michele Budoff and Leslie Goldberg

2. Mina and David Crasson, Eric W. Schoen, Arline and George Wood and Ruth Swetz

ONE REAL ‘HOUSEWIFE’

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Close to 500 people turned out early on a Sunday morning for a Bloomindale’s White Plains “Makeup Date” with Kristen Taekman, one of “The Real Housewives of New York City.”

Taekman, who grew up in Farmington, introduced makeup artists, new products and raffles from the store’s top makeup lines. The former Trish McEvoy model says she’s most passionate about family (two kids plus hubby Josh, who has his own energy drink company, EBOOST) and fashion. At kristencarrolltaekman.com, she writes a blog called “Last Night’s Look.” She also has a new nail polish line.

Guests enjoyed meeting her, posing for pictures, noshing on breakfast goodies, sampling products and getting makeovers and manicures.

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3. Kristen Taekman 4. Tianna Cortes 5. Julie Perez 6. Robert Jones 7. Jamala Gray 8. Stefanie Safier

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BUZZ-WORTHY Buzz Creators Inc. recently celebrated five years of providing PR and marketing campaigns, media relations, communication programs and more to local businesses in Westchester and Fairfield counties and beyond. The reception at Sonora Restaurant in Port Chester featured hors d’oeuvres and cocktails.

1. Alexandra Alvarez, Daniella DiMartino, and Molly Yetman 2. Mario Mirabella and Bridget Gibbons 3. Diana Costello and Natasha Caputo 4. John Turiano, Philip Garrity, Kate Walsh and Scott Simone 5. Laura Palomino 6. Rafael Palomino and Christina Rae 7. Gina Cappelli, Nanci Gunthert and Marcia Pflug 8. Ernie Garcia

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A PERFECT 10 FOR JCCA

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More than 300 people attended the Jewish Child Care Association’s 10th anniversary cocktail party in Pleasantville recently. This year’s fundraiser, “A Tree Grows in Pleasantville,” benefitted The Cottage Schools’ programs and services for children with serious emotional and family problems.

9. Jennifer Leventhal and Rachel Rader 10. Lee and Stephanie Spiegel 11. Dawn Paris 12. Tema Bomback, Peter Hauspurg, Phyllis Neider, Judy Shapiro, Richard Altman and Julianne Cohn Metzger

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FEBRUARY 2015

HAPPY 100TH, WCA!

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The Westchester Children’s Association held its recent annual benefit gala at the Tappan Hill Mansion in Tarrytown. The White Plains-based children’s advocacy organization celebrated its centennial along with the 20th anniversary of its executive director, Cora Greenberg. The event also honored the late Patricia Lanza’s legacy of philanthropy and raised more than $200,000.

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Photographs by Lynda Shenkman Curtis.

1. Bobby Anacarico 2. John Mara and Sally and Vince Gianatasio 3. Amy Paulin, Michael Kaplowitz and Kevin Plunkett 4. Cathy Draper and Cora Greenberg 5. Jerry and Janet Gutterman 6. Catherine Marsh and Art Rich 3

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A WINTER FROLIC Holbrook Cottage in Briarcliff Manor recently sponsored “The Festive Stroll of Homes, A Winter Frolic” to benefit the Ossining Children’s Center. The event and luncheon, for which four area homes were decorated for the holidays by four local decorators, raised more than $148,000 for the center.

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Photographs by Maryann Van Hengel.

7. Sandra Galef and Sue Bicksler-Taub 8. Julie Duff y and Stephanie Ricciardi 9. Madelyn Ricciardi and Christine Chure 10. Carol Welsh, Natalie Gorlin and Joan McGinty 11. John Chow 12. Barbara Cochran Kostman, Lynn Puro, Debra Kittay Parker and Missy Murray 13. Shawn Cribari, Meg Curry and Jill Lerner

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A FARE TO REMEMBER The 17th annual Food Allergy Ball, presented by Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE) was held recently at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan. More than 400 guests attended the event, which raised approximately $2.6 million for food allergy research, education, advocacy and awareness. The nation’s leading organization working on behalf of the 15 million Americans who have food allergies, FARE is committed to improving the quality of life and the health of these individuals and to providing hope through the promise of new treatments.

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Photographs by Julie Skarratt Photography.

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Photographs by Patrick McMullan.

1. Alex and Lori Stokes 2. Debbie Hansel, Jayme Lipkin, Linda and Jeff Bauman and Nicole Lenner 3. Martha Stewart and Jane Heller 4. Martin Edelman and Norma Kamali

5. Lisa Niccolini, Margaret Zakarian and Julian Niccolini 6. Geoffrey Zakarian and James Baker

A STAR IS BORN

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Thanks to a grant from Make-AWish, Hudson Valley, Olivia—a talented 13-year-old from South Fallsburg in Sullivan County who loves to sing—had her dream of living the life of a pop star come true at the annual National Believe Day held at Macy’s Herald Square flagship in Manhattan.

Her journey started when she dropped her wish in the Believe mailbox. Then she went to a recording studio to cut her first album, received star pampering and was professionally photographed for her album cover. On the day of her debut, as cameras flashed, she was greeted by many fans who lined up to have Olivia sign copies of her CD. You go, girl!

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PUT ME IN, COACH Dozens of business leaders and executives heard from a panel of top-tier NCAA basketball coaches recently at Tappan Hill Mansion in Tarrytown.

The coaches shared strategies, insights and lessons on success as part of the KeyBank Speaker Series.

9. Back row: Stephen J. Jones, Marsha Gordon, Tony Justic, John Ravitz, Ruth Mahoney and Walt Fowler; Front row: Pat Kennedy, Stephanie Gaitley, Tim Cluess and Brian Giorgis

Photographs by Rand Faure.

Photography Fiber Foto LLC. 7. Olivia, her mother Mary and her sister Rebecca 8. Olivia’s fans

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TULLE-ING ABOUT AT MJD

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It was a whirl of tulle and sequins as Mary Jane Denzer in White Plains presented a trunk show of sparkling cocktail dresses and princess and goddess gowns by Monique Lhuillier. Account executive Blair Harbour was on hand to help MJD manager Anastasia Cucinella style such lovely confections as this ocean ombré embroidered strapless structured dress, which will be featured in the shop.

10. Blair Harbour and Anastasia Cucinella

Elegance and Modern Luxury

This home, one of Westchester's majestic manors, is a retreat of solitude and beauty with spectacular distant views of the country side. The shingle style Colonial residence is offered on 15+ acres, and is surrounded by additional 150 acres of nature conservancy, making it one of the most private properties in the area.

6,800 square feet include custom designed interiors amidst the highest standard of aesthetics and craftsmanship. A beautifully appointed first floor master suite is only one of the many features that makes this home the ultimate environment for gracious living and entertaining.

For more information about this South Salem, NY masterpiece,please call Lia Grasso at 914-584-8440 or email her at lia@liagrasso.com WAGMAG.COM

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WHAT MAKES YOU FEEL ROMANTIC?* WIT WONDERS:

Katy Delgado

Gaby Dioguardi

Elizabeth Durand

Avery Hopkins

Sylvia McDavid

Kat McKee

Joanne Palmer

Gary Stern

Michele Roque Tarazi

Lisa Woods

“AS A WOMAN, WHEN A GUY REMEMBERS WHAT YOU LIKE. THAT’S VERY MOVING.”

– Katy Delgado,

deputy chief of staff for Rob Astorino, Peekskill resident

“THE OUTFIT I HAVE ON (A BLACK AND RED COCKTAIL DRESS). IF I DRESS GOOD, I FEEL GOOD.”

– Gaby Dioguardi,

social media and events coordinator, Thompson & Bender, Armonk resident

“A WALK ALONG THE BANKS OF THE SEINE RIVER.” – Elizabeth Durand,

trustee, French-American School of New York, Larchmont resident

“GOING SOMEWHERE ON A WHIM. DOESN’T MATTER WHERE IT IS.” – Avery Hopkins,

“IF I COULD GET A HALF-HOUR ALONE WITH MY WIFE. AND THAT’S THE TRUTH.”

graphics designer, Thompson & Bender, New Rochelle resident

editorial page editor, The Journal News, White Plains

“BEING IN TOUCH WITH BEAUTY.” – Sylvia McDavid,

trustee, French-American School of New York, Rye resident

“A HOME-COOKED MEAL AND ROSE PETALS STREWN TO THE DESSERT.” – Kat McKee

project manager, Mount Kisco resident

“I’M A SIMPLE GIRL AT HEART. FLOWERS NOW AND THEN. THAT’S IT.”

– Gary Stern,

“LYING IN BED WITH MY HUSBAND, WATCHING A MOVIE.” – Michele Roque Tarazi,

owner, You Can Do Better Than That, Personal Styling and Shopping, Pelham Manor resident

“WHEN (MY HUSBAND) MAKES ME DINNER. HE MAKES HOMEMADE CHINESE FOOD AND SUSHI.” – Lisa Woods,

director of marketing and communications, Salem Golf Club, LaGrangeville resident

– Joanne Palmer,

brand stylist, Carrie Hammer Custom Clothing, White Plains resident

*Asked at Thompson & Bender’s holiday party and The College of New Rochelle and Westfair’s “Powerful Women in Retail/Fashion.”

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