Chalet Shelves • Reading Recs 9.16.26

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Friends I love to take deep dives into subjects or authors. Today I’m sharing books about the Bouvier sisters - Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and her sister the wonderfully stylish socialite Lee Radziwill. Enjoy!

Happy Times: Happy Times was the way Ms. Radziwill chose to look at life. She wanted to only remember what was beautiful.Through anecdotes and pictures, personal notes and drawings, Happy Times offers readers a very personal perspective on a highly publicized life.

Lee: In Lee - Ms. Radziwill shares her unique perspective as a witness to history, recalling friendships with cultural figures such as Rudolf Nureyev and Truman Capote. It is filled with her personal photographs.

The Fabulous Bouvier Sisters: Tells the complete story of these larger-than-life sisters. Drawing on new information and extensive interviews with Lee, this dual biography sheds light on the public and private lives of two extraordinary women who lived through immense tragedy in enormous glamour

Mrs. Kennedy: The Missing History of the Kennedy Years: Drawing from recently declassified top-secret material, as well as eyewitness accounts, Secret Service records, and Jacqueline Kennedy’s personal letters, the author addresses the question: What was it like to be Mrs. John F. Kennedy during the dramatic thousand days of the Kennedy presidency?

These titles capture the most stylish and sought after images of Jackie.

My Travels with Mrs. Kennedy: Former Secret Service Agent Clint Hill shares rare and never before published photographs of Jacqueline Kennedy traveling through Europe, Asia, and South America.

Camera Girl: Before meeting John F. Kennedy, Jacqueline Bouvier was the Washington Times-Herald ’s “Inquiring Camera Girl,” posing compelling questions to members of the public on the streets of DC and snapping their photos with her Graflex camera. She turned their answers into a daily column. In reading this we are introduced to a self-assured young woman who went on to be one of the world’s most famous people.

One Special Summer: In 1951, eighteen-year-old Lee Bouvier and her twenty-two-year-old sister Jacqueline took their first trip to Europe together. As they traveled, they sketched and kept notes, creating an illustrated journal of their time abroad, which they presented to their parents as a thank you upon their return; this is that wonderful journal.

These volumes are both reading and coffeetable books in one! Til next time friends Happy Reading! I’ll see you on the Gram!

Chalet Shares • September Edit 2026

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Hi Friends well here we are - Summer break a memory and the school year has begun. This month I decided to add recipes to my monthly share: Cauliflower Taco and Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. They are also in my Insta Highlight Recipes. Here’s to a great start friends - Happy September!

The Tacos are a hit with my whole family and the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies are delicious and faster to prepare than basic ones. I sometimes double the entire recipe and freeze cookies prepping for the holidays.

Til next time friends be well and I’ll see you on the Gram!

If you’d like either of these recipes emailed to you. Please drop a comment below or DM me through Instagram with your email address.

Get Away to Ocean City, NJ

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Friends our favorite beach destination is Ocean City, NJ. For years we spent a week there with family enjoying the beach and boardwalk. 2022 was the last year we did - we had other places to visit and the cost of rent has skyrocketed since 2020. We rented a property that went up $2,000.00 in a single season. In 2024 and 2025 we Day Tripped which are fun but OC is far more than 2 hours and depending on Garden State Parkway traffic it can be 3! So last week we stayed overnight. Our last hurrah before school started today.

I grab a pic of these houses every time I visit. Our first stop Browns Restaurant for yummy donuts - they celebrate 50yrs this year. My favorite are powder.

I always want a capture of the beach in front of Browns at St. Charles Place.

We made our way to our hotel the Port O Call and got onto the beach!

I couldn’t get over the depth of beach from the hotel. They have been working on sand replenishment in OC this summer and you can tell.

There were several games of horse shoes before my sister and brother in law arrived in the afternoon. My son boogie boarded for hours.

A view from above… my husband snapped this from our 9th floor balcony and I can pick us all out in the image.

Our balcony view was really amazing of the coastline. I don’t like heights but, I braved a few minutes to grab images.

For dinner there was only one choice - Manco & Manco! They celebrate 70 years this year and have three locations on the boardwalk. Our favorite is 9th.

Then onto Mini Golf… at Seaport Village Where the five of us clocked twenty-seven holes in one!

The view from our balcony was incredible. Look at the lights in the distance.

We woke to hazy skies and rain in the forecast. But, this view!!!

After another breakfast at Browns - where our party grew by one with the arrival of our nephew - we made our way to Congo Falls Mini Golf and chose the Lost City course which is inside and air conditioned :). Not as many holes in one as last night at Seaport Village but a ton of fun as always!

By the afternoon the stormy weather moved in… I just missed capturing a lighting strike in this image.

Being in a place we love with people we love was terrific and far too short. I hope you all had wonderful get-aways this summer friends. Til next time be well I’ll see you over on the Gram.