Westchester's Own ChickLit Author-- Susie Orman Schnall

   Book Launch Party

On Grace 
Book Launch Party 
on 7.17.13  

Susie Orman Schnall
and 
best pal, who owns Nest Inspired Home in Rye   

If nothing else, you will want to check out Nest Inspired Home in Rye.   Fabulous home furnishings.   But that is a blog for another day.   Hard to stay focused in that store!

A little background:

Susie Orman Schall and her friend from college both made some "pre-turning 40" goals for themselves and each one succeeded.  One wanted to open a shop and one wanted to write a novel.  

Both women successfully met their goal of finding something new and different to accomplish.

So fitting for the signing/book launch to be held here.    Friends supporting friends. 

Surrounded by college friends of theirs, some friends of friends and others who knew neither one but came out to support the pair.  Such a fun gathering to support Susie's first novel.

For more photos:

http://www.susieschnall.com/gallery/


So.....what is the book about??

Well....I can't give away the plot of the book, of course.   I will never forget when my husband was 9/10 of the way through "Sell" by Stephen King.   He was reading it slowly and carefully; making sure not to rush through it and miss any of the details.    One Sunday morning, he was sitting in the car, reading the NY Times Book Review and the review gave away the ending!  (Isn't that no-no numero uno??)  Naturally, I felt sooo guilty as he was sitting in the car as I food shopped, occupying himself w the newspaper and in the meantime, spoiled the last section of the book, that he was looking so forward to.  

So instead of summarizing the story and in turn, ruining the ending I will list some bullet points/themes:

- a perfect read for moms approaching 40, who have dedicated their lives, often putting off careers and/or advancement of careers to find the "balance" between being a mom and a career woman.    Every woman finds a different way to achieve balance and finds satisfaction in their own way.    This allows for reflection for most readers and we can personally connect to Grace's feelings.

- deals with (yes!) social media......"facebook flirting" which totally happens, infidelity whether physical or not.....and the importance of being your partners equal.  

- deals with finding a "sense of self" which is one that many moms go through.    Stay at home moms end their careers and strive to find a "purpose" for lack of a better word.   An old boss once told me, "You will never get an award for being the best stay at home mom."    We make this sacrifice for our kids and sometimes it deems unfulfilling.   Getting back into the workplace, reinventing oneself, failures and basically doing this all over again is a challenge.   

- differences between how women view things and how men view things.   Values, parenting styles, expectations to name a few.  Also how differently our parents, based on their experiences view marriage and family.

- the importance of friendships between women; always having a shoulder to lean on and a listening ear.   Despite all that went on in Grace's life, she was always true to her best female friend, which I loved.  

I think this book is one that most women can relate to.   The main character is named Grace.   (Title, On Grace)    I loved at the signing when Susie said, "Either you are Grace or you know Grace."  Very true.   I found myself thinking about the Graces in my extended circles of friends.   Marriage takes work and partners need to stay in communication and keep their marriage strong, regardless of who is at home, who is working, etc.    Not everyone really puts forth the effort that it requires and some assume that once they are married, they do not have to work at it, support each other emotionally.     

"It really hits home to this demographic," Susie said (meaning women in Westchester that are in the almost-40 category).   Most of us can relate to Grace which keeps us turning the pages in her book.    

As I read, I thought about it and realized, that certainly this plot might be a filled with problems of women living in suburban/city mom life and wondered if this same "juggling/balancing" existed in other parts of the country, with some varieties.   I am eager to see how people feel about it after reading it.   It is a great summer read.....fun, a page turner and really something we can relate to and take some small "marriage advice" away from.    

And best of all:  no British girls with glamorous but low-paying publishing jobs in the big city, bed-hopping, partying, shopping until they max out their credit cards.   A giant phew to that!

On Grace is available on www.amazon.com or at Arcade Books on Purchase Street in Rye.   Enjoy!!   

Frozen Yogurt Cake (Cups Included)

 Top View

  

Side View 

Every kid loves a birthday party.   And crazy moms like me, love planning them!   From the invitation on through to the thank you card......and every detail in between (themes, favors/goody bags etc.)

What kids don't care about is the food.  Every party seems to have the same menu.  Pizza, sliced in single skinny slices, juice boxes (which I hate) and cake.    Of course, places like Stew Leonard's serve ice cream with toppings and cake immediately following...which I have never understood; why not choose one or the other??  I guess they want the kids to try BOTH (and the parents to try both, so they will buy them in the future.)   But seriously, ice cream and cake (to me) is excessive.

Kids like ice cream, but who wants to transport it and where can it be stored until it is time to serve it?  It's messy and there is no such thing as bringing leftovers home afterwards.  Cake is easy and cupcakes are even easier.    I won't even bring up the sugar and calories/fat issue.   It's always great to leave a party with a kid (or worse, 2 or 3 kids) all sugared up from icing on a cupcake.   Usually, they lick the icing off and leave the yellow cake.   After bringing cupcakes to my daughter's class a couple of months ago, at $4 apiece....I was disappointed in myself for not realizing that most kids did this.  Icing and sprinkles were just fine for them.

So no ice cream cake, cupcakes are a waste (regardless of how cute they are) and a birthday sheet cake, unless it has a cool picture on it, is boring.   So what's a mom to do?   Have a frozen yogurt cake made!     Get this.  They can be made for 9 kids, 16 kids or 24 kids.    If you need 18 you will order 2 cakes made of 9.   If you need enough for 25 kids, you can get a 9 and a 16, because a cake of 24 is one short.    Why all this mathematical nonsense for cake???  Because they use CUPS.

They place the cups on a cookie sheet and fill them with frozen yogurt.   I had 48 made up recently and I asked for a "cake" with 24 vanilla cup and another "cake" with 24 chocolate cups.   Once the cups are filled with yogurt, they spread icing (yay icing!) over the top of the cups and they freeze it.   The icing gives the cool cake look, but underneath it is NOT boring, yellow, corn muffin cake....it's ice cream!   But actually, kids don't know that it isn't ice cream.  It's non-fat frozen yogurt.    How smart is that??  

Now, there is still the refrigeration issue which can be a pain depending on your location and your access to a freezer.   This cake can sit for 40-45 minutes once it's removed from a freezer.   It is SO frozen, that it needs to sit before it can be served.   If you can get around the refrigeration issue, you are good to go.    You can ask them to write on it, the way the old Carvel cakes were written on and they can make a border, designs, etc.  If your theme is Sesame Street, I am sure they will place your Bert and Ernie figures on it before freezing it.  

Where can you get this?  I am sure it is more common than I know of.....but my discovery of this was at Sedutto, on Garth Road in Eastchester/Scarsdale.
Address:
Sedutto
67 Garth Road  Scarsdale, NY 10583
(914) 374-0760


 If you are buying for kids, vanilla/chocolate or a mix of the two should work.   For adults, you can get coffee, tart, red velvet or my favorite, peanut butter.   And if you want to add the sprinkles, or the Oreo topping, you can do that too, I'm sure!    When I brought this to the event I planned last week, no one had seen anything like it.   These are parents with 2 and 3 kids, who probably average one birthday party every weekend.  

PS-- I do know for a fact that Sedutto delivers locally.   I would guess that for a fee, he would travel even further, if needed, to eliminate the refrigeration issue at your party location.   Wouldn't hurt to ask!  

Disclaimer:   As always, with any party menu, always have back up snacks and treats for those with allergies and/or food intolerances.   (A pack of Goldfish, some lunch bag sized Oreos, lollipops, gummy worms, etc.)