Endorsed by Who What Wear’s Katherine Power and Hillary Kerr, this nifty web app lets you collect, organize and track online purchases in a fun, much simpler, and more visual way than ever before. Trendsetters, trust us. It’ll make your lives much easier. Rightcliq plays a role in every step of the online shopping process, from the moment you first start browsing to the package’s arrival at your doorstep. Simply download the Rightcliq plug-in, and while you browse merchant sites, add any items of interest to your “Wishspace,” where you can store all potential buys and visually compare them, as well as see relevant offers and what else is out there from other merchant sites in the big World Wide Web. Maximize your “social shopping” experience by sharing your wish list with other fashionable friends via email and Facebook.

Then, when you’re ready to buy (and thanks to the Wishspace, you’ll be more confident about your more informed choice to invest in the item at this point), Rightcliq features a digital wallet that securely stores multiple credit, debit and prepaid cards in one safe place. It’ll also automatically fill in all the checkout info needed to save you the time and inconvenience of manually entering in the data yourself.

Finally, literally watch all your purchases make their way to you on a map as the site tracks all your packages. By addressing all the problems and concerns people have about online shopping, Rightcliq helps you make smart buying decisions, putting you in control over every aspect of hunting online. “Power to the shopper” indeed!

by Jessica Chang

Attempts at scrapbooking can easily end up looking like a child’s art project gone wrong. But now, creatively chronicling your most special moments just got a whole lot easier, thanks to How Fast Time Flies, a Digi-Scrapbook service that provides an easy-to-use alternative to old-school scrapbooking without all the hassle and expensive supplies.

Cathy Bennett, whose goal was to let her customers grow their books a few pages at a time, created the site from her home in 2007.  Now, thousands of aspiring scrapbookers can choose from the company’s 624 digital scrapbook template designs to produce professional-looking pages and share them with friends. In addition to blank templates (for all those artistes out there!), How Fast Time Flies also offers ready-made pages designed for babies, vacations, special occasions and weddings. Just in time for June wedding month!

If you’re still a little iffy about either your scrapbooking or computer skills, don’t fret! There’s a simple drag-and-drop demo on the site’s main page. After becoming a member (all you have to provide is your name and email), you can get started right away on uploading photos from your digital camera to your account and dragging and dropping them onto any template. It takes less than seven minutes to fully assemble a page with your own photos and text. The pages are kept in your account automatically for two months, and the site is completely free and unlimited to use. What more could you ask for?

But if sharing via email isn’t enough for you, hard copies of your customized pages can be ordered too. For $5.50 each, pages are printed in high quality on durable 12×12-inch cardstock paper and can be slipped into any standard scrapbook album, which you can also find on the website.

Just wait five to eight days for your order to arrive, and with proper storage, you’ll have beautiful scrapbook pages that will last for years to come.

But the fun doesn’t have to stop there. Enter the site’s page of the month contest and you could win a $100 How Fast Time Flies gift certificate.  And to think, you can do all this without getting your fingers all sticky with glue!

Dr. Christina Grant

We don’t get much training in dying, being with the dying, or what to say to those who have just lost someone very close to them. The subject is generally feared and met with much resistance. We often hear the standard line, “I’m so sorry,” while people languish in their discomfort.

I am interested in how we can approach the subject of death with more reverence and respect. How can we treat it with the sacredness it deserves, rather than something terrible to quickly move beyond?

I’ll not forget the time I spent in the hospital with my dying friend whose body was being ravaged by a rare blood cancer. I sat on her bed, listened to her concerns and life stories, and did myriad tasks at her request. Just before she passed her cousin came to say hello. The cousin stood about 6’ away, purse over shoulder, arms crossed in front of her chest. She had brought her husband and they both had the same look on their faces – a look that said, “Good God, get me outta here.” They scrammed after about seven minutes. This as well as other encounters I witnessed during that time revealed much about how uncomfortable we are with death and dying.

Twice in my life I faced my own mortality – experiences that forever changed the way I look at both life and death. I’ve felt the cutting harshness when friends’ lives ended abruptly, and have helped people heal from painful losses they weren’t ready to accept. Perhaps it is because of these experiences I delve further into this subject, to explore it more deeply, to step into a much-needed role: that of being fully present in the face of dying.

Yesterday, I learned of the death of a sweet friend. He was 80, had lived a long, colorful life, and was fortunate to be at home among the people who love him most as he passed. My heart feels the pang of this loss. In the last several weeks, three people came to me after losing their beloved dogs. One of these touched me so deeply, my tears flowed out mid-session. When we are in relationship with others or when we are serving them, our human side must lead. How can we be fully engaged otherwise?

Two weeks ago I went to a daylong retreat led by Joan Halifax Roshi, a woman who has devoted much of her life to the importance of conscious awareness around dying. She teaches how we can evolve ourselves beyond the current reflex of avoidance to a place of having what she calls a “Strong back, Soft front.” Most of us have this reversed. Our hearts are quite armored and guarded, our backs are slumped and weak.

We can practice being present with a soft front to benefit those passing, those who have just lost someone close to them, and to deepen our wisdom around our own passing. The question is how? How can we put into practice something we know very little about? We begin by being aware of the desire to escape or avoid the inevitable. We can be more aware of our discomfort around this very normal human condition. We can recognize the inclination to say rote things such as, “I’m so sorry,” instead allowing our human side to lead.

When we allow our human side to lead, we have no choice but to have a soft front. We must give the dying or their loved ones the gift of having our full presence with them, not in fear and anguish, but with compassion. This is no easy task, but if you can enter a room with no expectations, setting your own fears aside for a time, with no attachment to the outcome, then you’ve got it. If your arms are crossed over your chest and your purse is hanging on your shoulder, keep practicing.

We are not taught to honor the aging, to bear witness to the suffering of those we love, or to be with death with a strong back. We must learn to do this on our own. So the next time you have the opportunity, go in with a strong back and a soft front. Be fully present in that atmosphere of death, whether it be your own loved one or the loved one of someone you know. When you say something, speak from your heart, leaving behind the canned clichés we know so well. Stop thinking you don’t know what to do or what to say. You aren’t being asked to walk barefoot across hot coals. You are being asked to listen to your soft front and go with that.

Dr. Christina Grant is a holistic healer and spiritual counselor who helps people attain well-being, greater insight, and peace in their lives. Her writing is published nationwide. To leave a comment or contact her, go to www.christinagrant.com.

Why: Patrons who loved The Lodge Bar & Grill and Bamboo Sushi Lounge will love restaurateur Michael Gluckman’s latest establishment. Steer your yacht into the restaurant’s dock and experience the Hamptons’ first nightclub raw bar. Newly revamped, this waterfront restaurant is open for brunch and dinner. After 11pm, this venue turns into a lounge offering guests a chic nightlife scene. Gluckman tapped Matt Levine, owner of The Eldridge, and his team to run the nightlife operations.

Dishes to Order: Start off with Rock Shrimp Tempura with creamy spicy mayonnaise, $14. Enjoy the Sushi Grade Soy Ginger & Sesame Crusted Tuna with wasabi mashed potatoes and baby bok choy, $28.

Signature Cocktail: Grey Goose L’Orange Ice Tea: Grey Goose L’Orange, iced tea, simple syrup, fresh mint and orange rounds

Reservations: TheBoathouse@BrandswayCreative.com

The Boathouse Restaurant & Lounge
39 Gann Road
East Hampton, NY

Lorelei Marfil is an editor and style maven based in New York City and is the creative force behind InsideMyCloset.

Here are a couple recipes to try:

Absolut Brooklyn Stoop Party

1 part Absolut Brooklyn

1 part Cranberry Juice

1 part Ginger Ale

Build over ice in highball glass. Garnish with a lime wedge.

Absolut Brooklyn Ginger

1 ½ parts Absolut Brooklyn

2 parts ginger ale

Squeeze of lime

Pour over ice in a highball glass. Garnish with a lime wedge.

The other is Matthew Williamson for Belevedere Pink Grapefruit. When you think Williamson, you think bright, colorful, fun, whimsical, bohemian. And when you think Belvedere, you think ice, glass, mixer, swallow, smile. The grapefruit is actually soaked in vodka (“maceration”) so it has a very natural (read: not sweet) taste. I recommend this one with soda or diet tonic for a light, refreshing summer cocktail, but here are some recipes as well:

Belvedere Pink Salty Dog

1.5 oz Belvedere Pink Grapefruit

4 oz Premium or freshly squeezed pink grapefruit juice

Rim a rocks glass or small wine goblet with Malden sea salt. Fill glass with ice and pour over the ingredients. Garnish with a pink grapefruit slice.

Belvedere Pink Sour

1.5 oz Belvedere Pink Grapefruit

½ oz lemon juice

½ oz simple syrup

Dash egg white

Dry shake, add ice and re-shake. Pour over cubed ice into a rocks glass and garnish with a lemon or pink grapefruit wheel

courtesy of the boston globe

This is beyond heartbreaking. A few weeks after the devastating spill, the animals are now perishing. The anguish we feel for the wildlife affected by the Oil Spill is eating away at us all. But REMEMBER you can help here by texting “wildlife” to 20222.

Soon Sam gets fed up and the downward spiral begins. He finds out that his next-door-neighbor and best friend’s older brother, Yosef Zimmerman (Justin Bartha) has been importing “medicine” from Europe and making money to support his family. He recruits Sam who brings along his friend Leon (Jason Fuchs) and they travel to Amsterdam to help Yoseph. At the end of the trip they find out that what they were doing was not helping heal the poor but smuggling ecstasy.

This story is long and complex but it is interesting to see how easy it is for someone who has always been good to become bad. Sam’s discomfort with his new job slowly fades away and he soon becomes the  best in the business, even surpassing Yoseph. However, when he finds that he has gotten himself in too deep, there is no way for him to get out of this dangerous business.

Courtesy of First Independent Pictures

At the end of the movie, you learn that this story was inspired by true events in the late nineties when Hasidic Jews were recruited as mules to smuggle ecstasy from Europe which gives it a dose of reality. A very interesting and intense movie, it won’t be for everyone but the story will consume you and make you wonder about how quickly it is for a person’s life to change.

From a church to a well-known nightclub, this iconic hotspot has been revamped once again to offer Manhattanites a new shopping venue. This three-tiered arena offers over 60 shops. Brocade Home, Caswell Massey, Grimaldi’s Pizzeria, LeSportsac, and Sue Devitt are among the many retailers sharing the newly redesigned space.

Designer James Mansour was commissioned to revamp and create a space truly unique for shoppers. The19th century stained glass windows were meticulously restored by the design team. The Limelight Marketplace also offers new entrepreneurs and retailers a turn-key solution to establish themselves in the New York market.  “When I found out they were going to maintain the integrity of the architecture, I thought it would be something really good and new and fresh.” said Lisa Versacio, founder of Brocade Home. Versacio was interested in the unique retail experience. “From the eclectic mix of businesses to the iconic space, I thought it would really make it a compelling and interesting retail concept.”

“We were actually one of the first ones to sign up.” says Caswell Massey’s Michael Miarecki. “Caswell Massey is one of the oldest retailers in the United States; we’ve gone through a lot of different changes over the years. In a sense, so has this building. This building from all of its different lives. It’s had so many different high points; it’s evolved with the times. For us it was a neat symbiotic fit because as a brand that is so old, we need to constantly renew ourselves and find a new customer base. We think the eclectic mix of retailers will attract you. You’re the customer we want to reach. We already have your mom, your aunt, we have your grandmother. So we need to reach a younger, cooler demographic. We think it’s a cool fit here for us.”

Limelight Marketplace

656 Avenue of the Americas at 20^th Street,

Store hours: Monday-Saturday from 10AM-10PM, and Sunday from 11AM-7PM, with the restaurant spaces remaining open later.

www.LimelightMarketplace.com

Lorelei Marfil is an editor and style maven based in New York City and is the creative force behind InsideMyCloset.

Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) decides to travel to Verona with her fiancé Victor (Gael Garcia Bernal) for a sort of pre-wedding honeymoon so they can spend time together before wedding craziness and the opening of Victor’s new restaurant sets in. From the start of their travels it’s easy to see that they are not on the same page as Victor only wants to meet with suppliers for his restaurant and Sophie just wants to explore Verona with her fiancé . Victor will remind you of that boyfriend you had that just never really listened but ultimately, his intense nature and love of food produce some of the funniest lines of the movie.

After Victor leaves once again to meet with yet another supplier, Sophie decides to explore Verona by herself and stumbles upon the Casa di Giulietta where women of all ages write to Juliet for advice. An aspiring writer for the New Yorker, Sophie is fascinated to find out that a group of women who call themselves Juliet’s Secretaries actually write back to every single letter from the wall. While helping collect letters one day, Juliet finds a letter written from Claire (Vanessa Redgrave) to Juliet about her beloved Lorenzo (Franco Nero) from 50 years ago and decides to write back.

Upon receiving Sophie’s letter, Claire decides to come to Verona along with her very hot grandson Charlie (Christopher Egan) to find her Lorenzo. As a hopeless romantic and with the insight to see a chance for a story, Sophie asks to accompany Charlie and Claire on their search for Lorenzo. Travelling through the Italian countryside, each hopeful Lorenzo creates humorous encounters as Claire charms them all.

Besides the obvious romance that unfolds in the story which I’ll try not to give too much away, what’s really special is the bond between Claire and Sophie. Having lost her mother at a young age, Sophie quickly develops a relationship with Claire that is really heartfelt. What also adds to this movie is the chemistry between the characters. Although I love Seyfried, she had horrible chemistry with Channing Tatum in Dear John but she remedies this here as her chemistry with Egan is goosebump worthy.

The two love stories in this movie give the film depth and create twists and turns beyond your average romantic comedy keeping it fresh, sweet and full of romance. You’ll get swept up in beautiful shots of Italy and trust me by the time the credits are rolling you’ll be ready to dust off your passport and take your own romantic adventure.

No More Wedding Mags

Martha Stewart, InStyle Weddings (RIP), Elegant Brides (RIP) and The Knot are piled high on my bookshelf.  Even though most of the wedding details were finalized months ago, I felt compelled to buy the latest issues of my favorite wedding magazines.  After about a year’s worth of magazines, it’s time to give it a rest.  There isn’t anything in there that I haven’t figured out or decided on.  The only thing it does is create more of a mess for the fiancé to get annoyed about and occasionally cause me to second guess myself.  Bye Bye Magazines.

Crash Diet

The dress fits.  Really well.  Would I like to be more sculpted or trim?  Perhaps.  But why try to lose 5-10 pounds and risk an ill-fitting dress that took nearly a year to perfect??  I work out 4 times a week already – and I might increase the arm exercises, but as for losing weight before the wedding?  Nah… I look like me and I feel like me.  That works.

Agonizing Over the Invitee List

I have spent a lot of time feeling stressed and overwhelmed as the number of invitees kept growing and growing.  I also agonized over all of the people that I could have/should have invited.  Not everyone is going to be happy.  Some people might be annoyed that they feel obligated to go to a wedding on a holiday weekend.  Others might be hurt or annoyed that they didn’t get an invitation.  I hope that everyone who comes to the wedding has a great time and I hope that those who were hurt about not receiving an invitation are able to forgive me.  There is only so much I can do – it’s a little late to worry about it anymore.

Checking the Registry

Yes – brides do it.  I have been doing it.  It’s quite exciting (albeit very self indulging) to watch the gifts you handpicked get crossed off the list as they are shipped to your door.  But I hate myself a little bit every time I check my wedding registry – and especially when I think “why hasn’t anyone gotten me this yet?”  I am even embarrassed to be writing about it – but I know all brides do this.  It’s normal…right?!  But I miss the element of surprise.  I want to get a box and not really know what is inside of it.  And I don’t want to feel like a totally selfish, bratty Veruca Salt.