3 Days till Christmas…

My favorite holiday is finally days away! Even with my hectic schedule, I have been nothing less than giddy while I await Christmas. I do not know what it is about the magical feeling that Christmas brings, but each and every year, for as long as I can remember,  I have always been the first one to get into the Christmas spirit.

My favorite thing to do in preparation for Christmas is of course, cooking. I love teaching Avery our family recipes and seeing how excited she gets for the holidays. Our favorite thing to make (and eat) is Butter Sugar Cookies. Here is our family recipe for you and yours (and Santa) to enjoy:

CHRISTMAS BUTTER SUGAR COOKIES (makes about 36 cookies)

Ingredients:

-16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature  (very soft to touch)

-3/4 cup sugar

-1 large egg

-1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

-2 1/2 cups all purpose flour, plus more the work surface

-1/4 teaspoon baking soda

-1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Preparation:

-heat over 350 degrees F

-beat the butter and sugar in a bowl of an electric mixer on medium high until smooth. Add the egg and beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla. Reduce mixer to speed low.

-Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and add it slowly to the butter mixture, mixing until just incorporated (dough will be stiff). Divide dough into 2 rounds balls and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

-Roll the dough on a floured surface (also dust with flour the rolling pin)  to 1/4 till 1/4 inch think. Cut into shapes and place onto baking sheets.

Sprinkle cookies with colored sugar crystals. The scraps can be combined and rolled out again. Bake 10-12 minutes until edges are golden brown. Cool slightly on baking sheets before transferring to cooling racks.

enjoy!!!

Me at work in the kitchen

Christmas Butter Sugar Cookies

My other favorite thing to do for Christmas is decorate my surroundings with the beautifully themed Christmas colors, intricate flower arrangements and one of a kind ornaments. Here are a few pictures of  my most memorable Christmas decorations:

Home made wreathe for our Hamptons home

12 Feet Tall Christmas Tree

A closer look at the ornaments

A lovely flower arrangement I had made for a holiday party

Avery and I with Santa picking out poinsettas in the South Hamptons

Now that I have shared my most memorable Christmas moments with you I would love to see your top three Christmas photos from your family. Please send your photos to my Facebook or Twitter and I will post them on my blog.

Merry Christmas to you from the Singer Family.

 

xo,

Ramona

My Family Vacation in Newport Rhode Island!

Mario, Avery and I all went to Newport Rhode Island for a week-long family vacation recently.

I had never been to Newport before and didn’t know what to expect. Upon arriving we were all staggered by the remarkable beauty and rich history of the town!

We joined my great friend and her family on her 150ft  yacht for our 6 day trip.  We were docked at 41N, which has a great hotel and restaurants inside and out. The outside restaurant played fabulous music and had an incredible almost life-size chess set which Avery and Mario enjoyed.

Mario and Avery playing Chess. Look at the size of the pieces!!

The best experience for us was doing the Cliff Walk. In fact it was so much fun we did it twice! We would start out on the very top by the ocean and huge cliffs, which was actually similar to hiking in Aspen. The views were so spectacular and so were the homes!!

Cliff walk.

View from the cliff walk.

We had the opportunity to tour a local landmark – The  breathtaking Breaker’s Mansion. Would you believe i was still furnished in the same manner as the 1800′s when the Vanderbilt family resided there?

I have never seen such opulence and decor. The house was larger than life with gilding and rooms upon rooms. Personally I would have been nervous to ever sit on a chair if I lived there!!

Breakers Mansion - The most majestic home of all!

We also got the chance to play tennis twice at the Tennis Hall of Fame. They have beautiful grass courts. Mario and I played against Avery and a pro which was so much fun and so different from playing on clay.

Heading to play tennis of grass courts.

Me on the top deck by hot tub - Needed after tennis!!

We really enjoyed being on the water. Avery would water ski and do wave boarding and we all went jet skiing. We would take the boat out for short day trips as the water was rough and even though one day it rained we still had the time of our lives!

Mario and Avery taking the Jet Ski out for a spin

Avery wake boarding.

Hanging out on the 3rd upper deck of the yacht.

Oh and did I mention the food on the yacht?!! The food the chef would prepare for us was so amazing that we only dined out twice locally! But we enjoyed our visits to the town because everyone was so nice and the stores and restaurants were all fabulous.

Mario and I enjoying the evening on the boat.

Amazing Newport sunset!

There’s nothing like eating el fresco and watching the sunset with family and great friends.

It was really one of our best vacations ever!!

p.s. – I will be posting many more pics from my trip and other summer events to my Facebook Fan page in the upcoming weeks. Become a member so you can view them!!

xo,

Ramona

Mario’s Vows…

Last night I got choked up all over again watching Mario and I renew our vows on the RHONYC.

I truly do love him more today than the day I married him.

Below are the vows he reaffirmed to me at our beautiful ceremony.  I had to share it with the world as they mean so much to me!

Ramona,

Probably the biggest decision one will ever make is the person to spend the rest of your life with. Sometimes it takes quite a while before you know if you’ve made the right choice. I was fortunate to have known very early that I had made the right decision. My mom had suffered a stroke and she would need care for the rest of her life. Since Dad had already passed away I asked you if it was alright if my mom could live with us in our home in Southampton. Not only did you take her in but you embraced her with love and kindness like she was your own mother. That is when I knew I had made the right decision. I had absolutely chosen the women I would spend the rest of my life with. After 17 years of marriage you have been at my side through everything that life has thrown at us, both good and bad. You have been a steady rock in times of trouble had a ray of sunshine when I could not see the light. You have applauded my achievements and comforted me in my setbacks. You have given me the most wonderful daughter a father could ever have. For all of this I am blessed and so I reaffirm my vows that I said so long ago. Ramona, I will love and honor you through good times and bad for better or worse in sickness and in health until death do us part. May God continue to bless our marriage.

After 18 years he still knows how to take my breath away. I am so blessed to be married to the love of my life!

xo,

Ramona.

Photos courtesy of Rob Rich.

New York Post

NY Post part 1

New York Post Part 2

Real Housewives

Here are a few of my favorite photos from this season of The Real Housewives of New York City!

I felt like a million bucks in this shot for the new Bravo promos!

Posing with new Housewife, Sonja Morgan

Family photo by Rob Rich

Welcome to my official blog!

Welcome to my official blog!

I have received so many requests for my opinion on business, beauty, health, fitness and family that I thought it was finally time to start the conversation with all of you in one centralized place.  I also wanted to use this platform to thank all of my fans for all of your support these last few years.   As we get ready for the premiere of Season 3 on March 4^th, I can tell you this will be our best season yet and it is chock full of surprises!

Be sure to bookmark this page and check back often, I will be updating my blog often with photos, stories and lots of tips.   Please comment!  I love to hear from all of you.

xo Ramona