The August place to be!

In our family, that means SARATOGA! The race track is probably one of the prettiest in the country, and both women and men are expected to dress up for the races, so it's my kind of place.

The women even wear hats, not that you'd see me in one! Years ago it was only open for August, some of the richest people in the world had a mansion somewhere nearby in upstate New York so as to attend the Whitney stakes and get out of overheated Manhattan for the month.

Now, the track is open almost 2 months, and the town is lively and filled with restaurants and fun things to do. There are art galleries, and lots of little boutiques, and I even bought a pair of earrings! It's hard to even think about jewelry when the buy one, get one free has been doing so well- we even added 2 more weeks thanks to the great response. One person was stocking up and bought 6 items and got 6 free 'pony balls' for her hair (or perhaps her friends hair as well).

We saw real ponies at the track, or tracks as there is also a harness race track in Saratoga that now has (Yippee!) slot machines and gaming. For me, it's a family tradition to go to the harness race track and have dinner at the track-side restaurant. Unlike regular horse racing, harness racing is unpredictable and my betting strategy is to bet on the cutest horse!

Then, after dinner, it's off to play for a while and then go to the racetrack again the next day. At Saratoga, they walk the horses in a beautiful park and you can see them up close, then watch the jockey get on and go off to race. Sometimes, if the horse is really jumpy or nervous I figure they are in a hurry to get back to the stables so that's the horse who will win. I know, not much of a strategy, butit works once in a while.

Mom and Roberta at Lake George

So, if you are in the mood for a little get-away, check out this beautiful town, and the nearby attractions like Lake George. We've been coming here since we were kids, here's a picture to prove it!

The lake is beautiful, the water fresh and cold. Considering all the heat in New York, a break from the weather does wonders. Please don't think I've stopped shipping, after the fantastic response to all our new friends on the "O" list, the Oprah customers are enjoying their purchase, and there is still a (small) backlog for some colors.

People have really enjoyed the RC2 Brava Bib Necklace, and the Dolcetti necklace is an unbelievable hit, we've just received another shipment from the factory and these are already mostly spoken for. Necklaces are big this summer, so we added some more to the "get one free" part of the website. I keep looking at the Millifiore and the La Luna Necklaces and think, WOW these are good buys!

One of the fun things we do at

robertachiarella.com is play with the selection of free gifts, adding things daily or giving people a special treat, at either 'under $25' or as the free gift you can't go wrong. Our postage meter is on it's second ink cartridge, the packages are flying out the door, and it's 6:00 so time to go out to eat.

 There's a great mexican 'super trendy' restaurant called 'dos caminos' and my brother is waiting so I can't be late. Ciao!

July 31- the last entry has been recorded

and the summer of luxury contest entry period has ended. We are amazed at the response, so many entries have come in, I worried that the database would fill up. Fortunately, it did not, and we have heard from the hosting service that the final entry was recorded at 11:59:23 tonight. The excitement of the contest has livened up what has been a strange summer in new york.

My friend Janice Huff, meterologist at WNBC TV tells me there has been almost 20 inches of rain in june and july, which is not a record, but it is a lot of rain. There have been floods, and if I was in the umbrella business I'd be a millionaire. You see these guys all over manhattan the moment a drop of rain starts to fall, with their cries of "ummm-brella, ummm-brella 3 dollars, 3 dollars". Rain does keep you indoors, so that means my place is cleaner than usual, we've watched countless netflix, read every book on my reading list, all the things one does when they are not outside enjoying summer.

But, being August, we're happy that the horses are running at Saratoga Race Course. Our favorite race track is known as "the august place to be". I didn't get any reservations this year, though, so likely won't be going up- this is a track where you really want to have reserved seats and have your meals planned well ahead of time, otherwise you sit on benches and eat hot dogs. If you plan ahead, it is so much fun as it is one of the few race tracks I've been to where you can walk right up to the horses and say hi to them before the race. As a handicapper who decides who's going to win by the cuteness of the horse or the color of the tail, Saratoga is really the perfect track for me.

So, we will be staying close to home for a while, maybe visiting friends and relatives and just enjoying new york city. Next week, I've got an appointment with the folks from the Wendy Williams show, she is coming on strong and it seems she likes my jewelry. If I get the chance to work with her that will be really exciting. Meanwhile, check out this week's issue of OK magazine, they are featuring my medium emerald CZ earring, one of my favorites. I've got my magazines and am going to relax, waiting for the sun to come out. Ciao!