Lian Dolan's Blog, page 11
September 30, 2021
Satellite Sisters Top 13 New York City Travel Must-Dos
To celebrate our special New York City Extravaganza Podcast, we asked the Satellite Sister Community to contribute their own favorite spots to see in the Big Apple. And You delivered. Below is a compiled list of must-dos, must-sees, must-eats and must-drinks. Plus a few extra activities for the kids in NYC.
Top Thirteen!
Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge
Visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Ride the free Staten Island Ferry for views of Manhattan
Explore Central Park, especially the Conservatory Garden
People watch in a park like Bryant Park or Washington Square Park or Prospect Park
Cruise the Highline
Make a stop at Grand Central and see the great room
Visit the Empire State Building at night for bright lights & no crowds
Take in a Broadway show, any show
Ride the Circle Line around the island of Manhattan
Take the Ferry to Governor’s Island and rent a bike to the see great views of Manhattan
See a ballet and opera or music at one of the Lincoln Center theaters
Christmas in New York, seeing the tree at Rockefeller Center, and visit the Top of the Rock, the Rockettes at Radio City and the Holiday Windows on Fifth Ave.
Museums
All the Biggies: The Met, MOMO, The Guggenheim, The Natural History Museum
The Specialty Museums: The Frick, The Cloisters, The New Whitney
The 9/11 Museum
For History Fans: The Tenement Museum, The Irish Famine Memorial, Ellis Island,
Schomburg Center for Black Culture in Harlem, The Lower East Side Museum
Restaurants & Markets
Luke’s Lobster
H&H Bagels
Katz Deli
The Oyster Bar in Grand Central
Pomme Frite in Greenwich Village
Chelsea Market
Arthur Ave. Market in The Bronx for an authentic Italian experience
LeVain Cookies
Balthazar
Jacob’s Pickles
Ellen’s Stardust Diner- touristy but fun
Wafels and Dinges
Meyers of Keswick for British specialities
Go for a Drink
The Algonquin
The Oak Room at the Plaza
The Brooklyn Brewery
McSorley’s, the oldest pub in NYC
Bemelmans Bar
Pizza
Artichoke Basil Pizza
Unregular Pizza
John’s Pizza on 44th
Architecture
St. John the Divine
Check out the tile arch system of Rafela Guastavino
For Kids
Seredipity 3 for Hot Chocolate
The Seaglass Carousel at Battery Park
The Intrepid
The Queen Museum with a miniature NYC
The Bronx Zoo
The Brooklyn Botanical Gardens
More New York City on Satellite Sisters:
Listen to our NYC Special Podcast Here
Find Our All New York Special Newsletter Here
The post Satellite Sisters Top 13 New York City Travel Must-Dos appeared first on Satellite Sisters.
August 4, 2021
A Short History of the Satellite Sisters: The Slide Show
Happy 20th Anniversary to us! If you enjoyed the podcast version of our 20th anniversary celebration, you’ll enjoy the visuals to go along with the history section of the show. You Tube choose the slide as the title slide. How perfect is that?
The post A Short History of the Satellite Sisters: The Slide Show appeared first on Satellite Sisters.
June 27, 2021
Satellite Sisters Best Beach Bag Books 2021
Headed to the beach? The lake? The backyard with a long cool glass of iced tea? Be sure to pack a book in your bag. We’ve been reading, listening, laughing and cooking (!) and here’s our annual list of Best Beach Bag Books for 2021. We’ve got memoirs, thrillers. cookbooks, historical fiction and contemporary fiction. Hardbacks, paperbacks & audiobooks. Some may be better suited for a rainy day by the fire; others are perfect with sunscreen and sand.
The 2021 List
The Guncle by Steven Rowley
Red Island House by Andrea Lee
Lady Sunshine by Amy Mason Doan
His Only Wife by Peace Adzon Medie
Incense & Sensibility by Sonali Dev
Clark and Division by Naomi Hirahara
Arsenic and Adobo by Mia Manansala
The Photographer by Mary Dixie Carter
The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris
The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline
The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams
The Hour of the Witch by Chris Bohjanlian
Daughters of Sparta by Claire Heywood
Libertie by Kaitlyn Greenidge
Last Chance Texaco by Rickie Lee Jones
Sunshine Girl: An Unexpected Life by Julianna Margulies
Just As I Am by Cicely Tyson
Thanks For Waiting by Doree Shafrir
Lush Life: Food & Drinks from the Garden by Valerie Rice
Ottolenghi Simple by Yotam Ottolenghi
Blueberry Love: 46 Sweet and Savory Recipes by Cynthia Graubert
All books are available at Bookshop.org
Contemporary Fiction
The Guncle
Warm, funny and unexpectedly moving, The Guncle is the story of a family finding themselves again after tragedy, with the help of the fabulous and flawed Gay Uncle Patrick, who the youngsters in the book call GUP. Some big truths about grieving and love with cocktails and caftans. A delight. If you like this one, check out Steven’s previous book, The Editor. (Lian)
Listen to our interview with Steven here.
Red Island House
by Andrea Lee
A captivating and powerful novel about marriage and loyalty, identity and freedom. Meet Shay, a Black American professor who marries an Italian businessman from Milan with a flamboyant vacation villa in Madagascar. A fascinating read about the collision of cultures. I really enjoyed this book. (Julie)
Lady Sunshine
Rock n’ roll fiction with sexy, Seventies vibes that digs a little deeper into the darker side of fleeting fame. This book takes you to a bucolic, music-driven compound on coast of California filled with folk legends, hippie hangers-on and two teen cousins who spend the summer running wild and free. But there are consequences as we learn when one of the cousins returns 20 years later. Languid and vivid. If you like this one, try Songs in Ursa Major by Emma Brodie, a fictionalized retelling of the Joni Mitchell/James Taylor love affair. (Lian)
His Only Wife
by Peace Adzon Medie
A witty ,smart and moving novel set in Ghana about a woman traversing modern life and its taboos and injustices. (Julie)
Incense & Sensibility
by Sonali Dev
The third of Sonali Dev’s Jane Austin-inspired series about the loves and lives of the Bay Area Raja family. Filled with food, family, more food and more family, romance and regret and then another helping of food & family, Dev’s portrayal of this Indian-American clan is deeply layered and rich with humor. The whole series– Pride, Prejudice & Other Flavors and Recipe for Persuasion–– would be a fun summer binge. (Lian)
Mysteries, Thrillers
Clark and Division
Part historical fiction, part thriller, Clark and Division is the moving and fast paced story about one sister seeking justice for another sister, against the backdrop of World War II. You haven’t read anything like this before. Set in 1944 Chicago, Edgar Award-winner Naomi Hirahara’s brings to focus the struggles of one Japanese American family released from mass incarceration at Manzanar during World War II while telling a very human story. An atmospheric and heartbreakingly real crime fiction plot with rich period details and delicately wrought personal stories. We’ll be talking to Naomi in July about Clark and Division. (Lian)
Arsenic and Adobo
(A Tita Rosie Kitchen Mystery Book Number 1)
The first book in a new cozy mystery series with fun characters, delicious food and some deadly action that’s all in good fun. Set is a family Filipino restaurant in a small town, with lively characters and sharp observational humor. A great audiobook with a terrific narrator that really adds to the story. PG-13 sensibilities and warm female relationships make it the perfect listening material if you’re taking a road trip with your teen or college daughter? If you like this one and you like cats, try Mimi Lee Gets a Clue by Jennifer Chow. (Lian)
The Photographer
They wanted the perfect family photo. She wanted the perfect life. That’s the hook of this domestic thriller that sucks you in from page one, as the Mary Poppins of family photographers inserts herself into the life of one picture-perfect Brooklyn couple. If you like this one, check out these other domestic page-turners: Kaira Rouda’s The Next Wife and Greenwich Park by Katharine Faulkner. (Lian)
The Other Black Girl
Described as Get Out meets The Devil Wears Prada. And it is! This book was an ‘instant bestseller,’ whatever that means, and lives up to the hype. Smart, funny, timely, this debut novel by a former publishing assistant unfurls when two young Black women meet against the starkly white backdrop of New York City book publishing.Highly entertaining , well plotted. Bright new voice. Terrific as an audiobook. If you like this one, check out another page turner set in the publishing world, Who is Maud Dixon, by Alexandra Andrews (Lian)
Historical Fiction with a Feminist Twist:
The Exiles
Christina Kline Baker
Fans of historical fiction will recognize the author’s name as a master of the genre and as the person who wrote The Orphan Train, the huge international bestseller that every bookclub in America read. Kline Baker is back with a powerful, emotionally resonant novel that captures the hardship, oppression, opportunity and hope of four women’s lives—three English convicts and an orphaned Aboriginal girl—in nineteenth-century Australia. Stunning, vivid, heartbreaking. It’s not always great being a girl. We’ll be talking to Christina on the podcast on 6/29. (Lian) For more about the author and her book tour schedule, visit here.
The Dictionary of Lost Words
by Pip Williams
A satisfying and unexpected retelling of the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary with a feminist twist. Set during the height of the British Women’s Suffrage Movemet when Euope is on teh cusp of WWI, this book is moving and engaging. The story of a young woman who loves words, but believes in herself more. Evocative in setting and language. I loved this one. (Lian)
The Hour of the Witch
Billed as The Crucible meets The Handmaid’s Tale for good reason. Set in 17th Century Boston, the plot involves a forward-thinking wife, an abusive husband and a cast of suspicious and pious Puritans who look for witchcraft in every tiny aspect of day-to-day life. An Audiobook winner for me, narrated by the author’s daughter, an actor, if a very straight-forward reading. (Listen to a sample first to see if she is your cup of tea. She was mine!) Terrific storytelling. (Lian)
Daughters of Sparta
Where my Madeline Miller fans at? Finished The Song of Achilless and Circe and need more ancient tales reclaimed in a modern voice? Meet sisters Helen and Klytemnestra through the eyes of Classicist-turned-novelist Claire Heywood. Yes, those sisters! The One Who Started the Trojan War and The One Who Revenged-killed Her Spouse. Heywood does the work to make us see the circumstances through their eyes. I loved this book. Accessible to those who don’t know much about Homer or Troy or Greek Mythology and special treat for those of us who do. (Lian)
Libertie
Save this book for a rainy day and savor this exquisite work of historical fiction, that is both personal and universal. Set in post-Civil War Brooklyn, Libertie imagines the story of a young black women who is expected to follow in her mother’s footsteps but chooses to move on her own path. Inspired by the life of one of the first Black female doctors in the United States and rich with historical detail, Kaitlyn Greenidge’s new and immersive novel will resonate with readers eager to understand our present through a deep, moving, and lyrical dive into our past. ( Lian)
Memoirs
All chosen by Liz who loves to hear women tell their own stories in their own voice
Last Chance Texaco
by Rickie Lee Jones
Singer/songwriter Rickie Lee Jones is not just a hippie chick. She’s a true artist. Her quirky voice and poetic observations about life’s sadness and joy in the book reveal so much about where her great songs and performances come from. There’s some definite heartbreak here, throughout multiple generations of her family. And some occasional singing which is why the audiobook is a special treat.
Sunshine Girl: An Unexpected Life
By Julianna Margulies
Of course, we knew Julianna Margulies as Carol Hathaway in early ER and Alicia Florrick in The Good Wife, but I always suspected she had an even more interesting personal tale. She does, including an unconventional childhood, much of it spent in Europe, some of it living in a camper van. I like her smart observations about work and art and George Clooney. Audible version here.
Just As I Am
by Cicely Tyson
Narrated by Viola Davis and Robin Miles, with the introduction provided by Tyson herself.
What a life. This memoir by the Oscar, Emmy and Presidential Medal of Freedom-winning actress and activist came out just before she died this year at the age of 96. Cicely Tyson was on the cutting edge of so many things, including the Black theatre in New York in the 60’s and 70’s and the civil rights movement throughout her life. Her relationship and marriage to Miles Davis is fascinating as are many of her behind-the-scenes stories of making Sounder, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and Roots.
Thanks For Waiting
by Doree Shafrir
Doree Shafrir is the host of Forever35, one of my go-to podcast-and-chill shows. Her new memoir is Thanks for Waiting: The Joy (& Weirdness) of Being a Late Bloomer. I like her voice and her reflections on work, dating and measuring yourself against others. Not psyched about being an intern at 29? Nothing is forever. Doree has also written about culture, women’s issues, parenting, media, and celebrity for publications including The Cut, The New York Times, and Slate, and was formerly an editor at BuzzFeed and Rolling Stone. Audible version here.
Cookbooks
Check out these cookbooks for fresh recipes for food, drinks and entertaining tips for Summer.
By Cynthia Graubert
Lush Life: Food & Drink from the Garden
By Valerie Rice
By Yotam Ottolenghi
Links for Book Lovers
Want to see last summers list? Here you go.
Want to learn more about Lian Dolan’s writing and her latest novel, The Sweeney Sisters? Smash this link.
Listen to our recent podcast interviews with some best-selling novelists;
The post Satellite Sisters Best Beach Bag Books 2021 appeared first on Satellite Sisters.
May 25, 2021
From the Archives: 28 Signs You’re Dealing with a Youngest Child
28 signs you’re dealing with a youngest child
by Lian Dolan
Ah, to be the oldest child. All the attention, the new clothes, the pressure to succeed in everything all the time. Social scientists have told us lately that firstborns are actually smarter than siblings born further down the line because Mom and Dad simply spent more time with them, enforced homework rules and, frankly, cared more about their success than subsequent siblings. As the youngest of eight siblings, I quote Edna Krabappel and say, “Ha!”
Firstborns may have the good SATS, but they also have some unfortunate personality traits to go along with their high verbal scores. In response to that study, the HuffPost Parents editors put together a crowd-sourced list of 28 signs you’re dealing with an oldest child.
I felt compelled to represent the other end of the sibling spectrum: the neglected, jaded, free-range youngest sibling in a big family. I think we’ve done just fine for ourselves, even if our GPAs don’t match up to our older siblings. I’m no Ph.D., but I have a few theories on the traits of youngest children.
Here are 28 signs you’re dealing with a youngest child:
1. Entitled to nothing. Really. Not even a seat at the dinner table is guaranteed.
2. Happy to sit in the back seat of the car well into adulthood. The way, way back? Totally fine with that, too.
3. Buys used cars, second -hand clothes and “vintage” furniture. What is this thing you call “first-hand?”
4. Will never make fiancée sit through the traditional post-engagement evening of Going Through the Family Photo Album to Look at Pictures of Childhood because there are no pictures of childhood.
5. Answers to almost any name. Literally, any name.
6. Constantly surprises older siblings with references to “playing on the high school tennis team” or “going to college,” as older siblings have no recollection of any of these events.
7. Has photographic memory of every event that happened to older siblings, including what they were wearing and what Mom yelled.
8. Rarely expects a bed at large family gatherings. Prefers futons, couches or tent in the backyard, just like childhood.
9. Has a record collection that includes four copies of Boz Scaggs’ “Silk Degrees” inherited from older siblings.
10. Has a book collection that includes seven copies of The Catcher in the Rye and four copies of Go Ask Alice.
11. Never expects to be served first.
12. Does expect to do have to do the dishes anywhere, anytime, at any event.
13. Occasionally stuns family with competency…
14. …But still treated like 14-year old.
15. Pleased as punch to finally make it to the Grown-Up Table in mid-thirties.
16. Personal motto: I wasn’t born yet.
17. Will never bore you with stories of family trips to national parks because the car wasn’t big enough for the entire family, if you know what I mean.
18. Barely got a word in edgewise until age 15. Now a very good listener.
19. Enjoys being decades younger than siblings in adulthood. Really, really enjoys it. Like not in a healthy way.
20. Leaves the room when older siblings reminisce about “the Christmas we all got new skis.”
21. Keeper of all the family high school yearbooks for some reason.
22. Thrilled at spacious college dorm room and awesome bunk bed.
23. High levels of proficiency in laundry, sandwich-making, entertaining oneself and waiting.
24. Large vocabulary.
25. Never even reaches for the remote. Why bother?
26. Learns from others’ mistakes.
27. Stays under radar.
28. Gets away with murder.
The post From the Archives: 28 Signs You’re Dealing with a Youngest Child appeared first on Satellite Sisters.
April 18, 2015
By: Blue Coaster33
The Absent Game
Concerning me and my husband we’ve owned extra MP3 gamers over the years than I can count, such as Sansas, iRivers, iPods (basic & touch), the Ibiza Rhapsody, etc. But, the last few many years I’ve settled down to one line of players.
March 17, 2015
Satellite Sisters 031715: The Jinx, Murray’s Cheese Shop, Cinderella, The Royals and 10 Surprising uses for Lip balm
It’s the Tuesday show. Like a Restorative Broth. Lian Dolan and Julie Dolan on St. Patrick’s Day:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/satellitesisters/SS031815.mp3
Meet Furry Murray. Ellyn's Treatment Partner for Animal Assistant Therapy
Urban Nana versus The Stroller
Updates on Murray’s Cheese Shop and Restorative Broth, Plus the story of Furry Murray.
News from Ikea: Let’s all play Hide and seek.
Media Block:
The Jinx. Watch it, even if you’ve missed it the first time
Cinderella: Go
Ther Royals: To Re-Cap or not to Re-cap?
Plus, 10 Unconventional uses for Lip Balm
The themed song from The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Google it! It’s worth it.
Plus, website news, a Satellite Sisters Shout-out and more
Listen to last weekend’s show: All five sisters on the show
Stay tuned for a big announcement this weekend. And Share the Sisters!
March 15, 2015
Satellite Sisters 031515: All Five Sisters on the show with Email Scandals, Triscuit Trends, Where it Putin, School Galas and Santa Ana Syndrome
Why, Triscuit, Why would anyone put a Triscuit on a grill?
All five sisters on the show today:
Julie Dolan, Lian Dolan, Liz Dolan, Sheila Dolan and Monica Dolan on the Satellite Sister podcast today. Listen here:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/satellitesisters/SS031515.mp3
Santa Ana Winds Wacky Medical Diagnosis: Santa Ana Syndrome
Where in the World is Putin? Julie has theories
Charles & Camilla Come ot America
Hey, Triscuit, Nobody wants to Grill a Cracker
Who is Murray and why does he have a Cheese Shop in La Canada?
New Dinner Motto
Restaurant Trend we can all get behind
School Gala Update
All the Cool Kids have Non-disclosure agreements
And WHY is email so, so hard. Liz reports from the frontline of Outlook Express
Listen to last Tuesday’s show:
Satellite Sisters Tuesday Show: Apple Watch, Poisoned Dogs, Royal Report
March 10, 2015
Satellite Sisters 031015: The Royals, Book Nook, Poisoned Dogs, Narcissistic Kids and the Apple Watch
Lian Dolan and Julie Dolan on the Tuesday Podcast!
Odds n’ Ends Tuesday
http://traffic.libsyn.com/satellitesisters/SS031015.mp3
Election Day Madness in Pasadena
Poison Report: Dogs and Russians
A New Study on Narcissism and Parenting, plus the Neiman Marcus baby gift catelogue
The Apple Watch
The Royal Report: The TV show, the Play, The Movie. The Royals are makin’ it happen all over the media.
And Book Nook! Julie recommends Dear Committee Memeber by Julie Schumacher. Try it on our special Audible URL:
March 8, 2015
Satellite Sisters March 8, 2015: Julie, Liz, Sheila and Lian tackle International Women’s Day, Dark Movies and Bright Television
Check out today's Google Doodle for International Women's Day. Celebrate with your own Satellite Sisters.
Lian gives us a complete rundown of her International Women of Courage event in Washington, DC. Working with the State Department, they honored some Satellite Sisters we can all admire. Her meeting with FLOTUS was cancelled due to snow but she managed to take in our nation’s capital on her one-woman Iditarod.
Julie gives us a heads-up about a nightclub in Greenwich Village, New York that she managed to visit during her current Urban Nana assignment in Brooklyn.
Liz has a recommendation of a fun new Tina Fey television show on Netflix she binged on this weekend called Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. This seems the perfect antidote to the plane movies Lian was tramatized by: Whiplash and Foxcatcher.
Plus, Liz has a sticky situation of the month that involves her dog Ferris. What would you have done?
Plus Sheila drops in with a quickie report on some surprises in her mailbox lately. Yes, she got a new mail key and now a new world of snail mail is opening up.
Don’t forget to vote for Satellite Sisters in the Genereal category of Podcast Awards. You can vote every day until March 24.
And please Share The Sisters. Recommend and Retweet our show to your own Satellite Sisters. Join us @SatSisters on Twitter and LIKE our Facebook page for the latest news.
March 2, 2015
SS030215: Downton Abbey Season Finale Special! Grumpy Butlers, Grouse and Restorative Broth
Don't get in that car and drive away, Matthew Goode!
Lian and Julie do a special Downton Abbey Re-Cap. All Downton, all day.
http://traffic.libsyn.com/satellitesisters/SS030215_Downton_Gabbey_finale.mp3
Headline from the show:
The Grumpy Butlers !
Matthew Goode chums Lady Mary!
Restorative Broth for All!
and no one died.
