Yes, yes, I know. Grief has only seven stages. But this is more complicated. Stage 1: Regret: Why am I taking this trip? Why? Because it’s a cruise on the Queen Mary 2 (a dream of mine), that’s why, and it leaves from Brooklyn, a cab ride away. No plane! No security lines! No being trapped in a flying sardine can with people who mess up the bathroom in...

Ah, Rome, the Eternal City. Forget about San Francisco: you can leave your heart here faster than you can say, “Ciao, Baby!” I, however, held on to my heart, but left my underwear. Let me explain! I was in Rome with my business partner, Diana, and we went shopping for tennis outfits at this really nice store near the Trevi Fountain. They had good prices...

The e-mail message from Rome said simply: Bring Colace. The reply from NY was equally succinct:  Relief is on the way! If this isn’t the most the most effective communication in the history of the Internet, I’ll eat my cappello. But wait. What’s behind these messages between the Old Country and the New World? Isn’t Italy famous for great...

If there are no fireworks in your relationship, you’re in trouble. I was in trouble. The guy I eventually married — the key word here, folks, is “eventually” — and I were about to have our first Fourth of July together. Yes, that SUCH a girly thing to say. But I take these things seriously and I wanted there to be, well, fireworks! Literally....

 Nobody doesn’t like Betty White. Hell, she inspired an unprecedented Facebook campaign to get her on SNL, where she said — with wide eyes and perfect timing  — that before all this she didn’t even know what Facebook was. And now that she does, it sounds like “a huge waste of time.”  She’s saying worse things than that:...

No matter how colorful they are — and they are very colorful this year — buying a bathing suit will give you the blues. What can I say? A few adjectives spring to mind: Dreaded, humiliating, humbling (not exactly the same as humiliating), life-negating, tiring, stressful. (Please feel free to join in!) And then there are the nouns: Disaster, failure, disappointment,...

I wasn’t afraid of getting married. I had, after all, lived with this guy for 19 years. But I was terrified about planning a W-W-W-Wedding! Be afraid, be very afraid. Let’s face it: You are expected to have what is essentially a coronation, complete with engagement parties, rehearsal dinners, and an elaborate reception that would make Don Corleone proud....

Samantha doesn’t have sex until the end of this not-so-hot sequel, and then, it’s not even in The City  — but on some sand dune in the Hamptons with a guy she met in Abu Dhabi, played in the movie by Morocco. You know what? That steamy scene seemed gratuitous. The most sexual thing in SATC2 til then was a kiss between Carrie and Aidan. And Carrie is...