Images: Mr. Douglas Booth for MrPorter.Com

“My mother told me that if you have a choice between being respected and being loved, Always choose being respected. Because if you someone respects you love may come, but if they love you without respect it will go.” – Governor Chris Christie on Oprah’s Next Chapter

1. The Black Keys – Howlin’ For You
2. Charles Bradley & Menahan Street Band – The World
3. Charles Bradley & Menahan Street Band – How Long
4. The Black Keys – When The Lights Go Out
5. The Black Keys – Next Girl
6. Charles Bradley & Menahan Street Band – In You (I Found Love)
7. Amy Winehouse – Some Unholy War
8. The XX – Intro
9. Bedouin Soundclash – Brutal Hearts
10. Arcade Fire -Roccoco
11. Grizzly Bear – Foreground
12. The Middle East – Blood
13. Radiohead – House of Cards
14. The XX – Shelter
15. Arcade Fire – Haiti
16. Radiohead – Bullet Proof… I Wish I Was
17. The XX -Fantasy

I’m recently OBBSESSED with the band Givers. The best way to describe them would be if the best parts of Vampire Weekend and GroupLove made a baby! Every song on their album “In Light” from begging to end packs fantastic energy with a multitude of instruments. It’s hard to choose a favorite song, but if I had to it would be “Atlantic” since it leaves me feeling like I’ve just been on a Caribbean holiday. Givers so positively full of life and this album is the perfect reminder that Spring is just around the corner! iTunes $9.90 – Taryn Cox for THE WIFE

Every great wife should know how to throw an amazing dinner party. Organize all your best planning ideas in this entertaining book. Record 77 menus and seating plans plus sections for large parties, guest records, favorite caterers, florists and other helpful resources. Personalization available, $97.00.

www.graphicimage.com

Only a different kind of sex tape. This non-stick restraint tape inspires bedroom play and your romantic imagination. Explore the restraining arts and dare to tie one another up with this soft and safe tape. And the wonderful bonus… this non-stick tape will only stick to itself and not your delicate skin. $25.00

www.kikidm.com

All cards can be found at Minted.Com

The inimitable French style guru Madame Dariaux turns her attention (and her razor-sharp wit) to a subject of crucial importance to every woman: man. From Adultery to Zodiac, Madame Dariaux offers tips on every aspect of life with the male of the species. Whether it’s the battle of the bathroom or securing a diamond ring, Madame Dariaux has the right advice. From how to ensnare a man to how to keep him (or get rid of him), in the battle of the sexes the first rule is to be armed — and Madame Dariaux provides the perfect ammunition. $14.95, Amazon.Com

Reminder for The Husband! Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and every good husband should know this is the day to shower your beautiful wife with decadent treats and perhaps a romantic dinner. If Valentine’s Day dinner plans are in your future, you should in deed make the reservation as soon as possible before restaurants start booking up!

Rifle Paper Co. Global Greetings Note Card Set, $28.00

Anthropologie.Com

Set of 3 Chalkboard Canisters $29.99 and Set of 3 Chalkboard Bowls $39.99

www.WilliamSonoma.Com

LAX Airport… Lets get Christmas in New York Started!

Home for Christmas… Gansevoort Meatpacking District.

After a tasty breakfast at ABC Kitchen… We headed to Central Park.

My favorite spot in Central Park, The Bow Bridge… a must for family photos!

Richard and Mama Jam

Richard and I.

We stopped for treats at Momofuku Milk Bar. My favorite were the Birthday Cake Truffles!

Momofuku Sugar Rush!

Christmas Eve Dinner at The Carylye with a performance by Steve Tyrell. The perfect evening to get in the Christmas spirit!

Steve Tyrell sang some Christmas tunes and my favorite song “The Simple Life.”

Christmas eve window shopping on Madison and 5th Avenue.

Christmas Breakfast at Mercer Kitchen

Christmas morning was spent wandering around Soho.

No shopping on Christmas… So why not pose for some photos!

My favorite New York activity…. Giving Richard a make over at J Crew Men’s Shop! YAY!!!

Definitely an improvement! LOVE the new shades!

Spent an afternoon getting lost in the MoMA

A most delicious breakfast at Maialino in The Gramercy Hotel.

A walk in the rain on The Highline.

Our last night was spent seeing the show “Sleep No More”…. It was VERY Interesting!

A mask from “Sleep No More”

Good Bye New York!

The view driving into Aspen.

Apres Ski at Ajax. We devoured Truffle Fries, Marinated Olives and Hot Coco!

Ashley and I headed to Dinner at Il Mulino with her family after a screening of “The Iron Lady” at The Aspen Film Festival.

Also caught a performance of G Love and The Special Sauce at Belly Up.

Every evening we ended up at Caribou Club.

First Snowbaording Lesson at Buttermilk, Although I hated it and gave up after lunch. Definitely going back to ski’s!

Ashley and her Father Bob hit the slopes.

Ski Lift to Panda Peak a.k.a The Bunny Slopes!

Ashley, David and I head to The Laugh Fest at The Wheeler Theater.

David, Ashley and I gear up for a long hike up Tiehack Trail.

Beautiful Mountain Trees.

Ashley and David take in the views.

Snow Angels!

Which way to go?

There’s always time for photos!

New Years Eve in Aspen!

Celebrating New Years Eve at Caribou Club.

Ashley and Chase.

New Years Count Down!

Here’s to a Happy 2012!

Good Bye Aspen!

I’ll be traveling to Aspen to ring in the New Year with friends, learning to snowboard and fingers crossed a little sledding down a snowy hill. Happy New Year Wives and Wives To Be…. See you in 2012! – Taryn Cox for THE WIFE.

From the grape to the glass, Krug champagne is nurtured with painstaking care and attention to detail. The Krug philosophy is, first and foremost, about a passionate commitment to craftsmanship, defined by a series of uncompromising choices which, taken together, create a taste, a style, that is as legendary as it is unique. This is why I believe Krug is the only acceptable champagne to drink, especially when ringing in the New Year. So be sure to buy a few bottles for your guests or to bring one as a hostess gift. Cheers! – Taryn Cox for THE WIFE

1. Remove the foil capsule and tear away the paper around the neck of the bottle as well. You will remove the wire cage also, but only immediately before sabering.
2. Chill the bottle very, very well. Make a thick slurry of ice and water in a large bucket and chill the wine, making certain it is submerged entirely in the cold, for at least an hour. It must be extremely cold, or it may all just crumble in a heartbreaking explosion in your mitts. In fact, I turn mine upside down to make sure the neck is utterly cold. Dustin Wilson, the wine director of Eleven Madison Park — where they saber the house-imported Cuvée Vigneron from grower-winemaker Roger Pouillon only for couples getting engaged in the restaurant — stresses to his sommeliers that the single most import aspect of the process is “getting that bottle arctic.”
3. Once the bottle is brutally cold, remove the wire cage. Locate one of the seams and place your weapon flat along it, using the dull side. Hold it out from your body, at a 45 degree slant and pointed away from any onlookers. Run your blade flat along the seam, in a straight line up, striking the neck ring forcefully (and simultaneously shrieking “Sauve qui peut!”).
4. With any luck, or the merest practice, the ring pops off like nothing, and you should lose very little wine. It’s quite surgical. If the first go doesn’t get it, don’t be discouraged. Make some self-deprecating witticism, line it up and try again. Once you’re victorious, and understandably elated, refrain from the urge to swig from the open bottle. That, too, is surgical, but in a different way.
5. The outward force of the pressure releasing immediately blows any stray shards of glass out and away from the bottle. This means you needn’t worry about drinking glass shards, but you do need to pass the Swiffer around the dining room before traipsing about barefoot. Or better, saber your Champagne on a beach.

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This holiday season, acclaimed filmmaker Cameron Crowe (Jerry Maguire, Almost Famous) directs an amazing and true story about a single dad who decides his family needs a fresh start, so he and his two children move to the most unlikely of places: a zoo. With the help of an eclectic staff, and with many misadventures along the way, the family works to return the dilapidated zoo to its former wonder and glory. In Theaters Now!

This is the thing: When you hit 28 or 30, everything begins to divide. You can see very clearly two kinds of people. On one side, people who have used their 20s to learn and grow, to find themselves and their dreams, people who know what works and what doesn’t, who have pushed through to become real live adults. Then there’s the other kind, who are hanging onto college, or high school even, with all their might. They’ve stayed in jobs they hate, because they’re too scared to get another one. They’ve stayed with men or women who are good but not great, because they don’t want to be lonely. They mean to develop intimate friendships, they mean to stop drinking like life is one big frat party. But they don’t do those things, so they live in an extended adolescence, no closer to adulthood than when they graduated.

Don’t be like that. Don’t get stuck. Move, travel, take a class, take a risk. There is a season for wildness and a season for settledness, and this is neither. This season is about becoming. Don’t lose yourself at happy hour, but don’t lose yourself on the corporate ladder either. Stop every once in a while and go out to coffee or climb in bed with your journal.

Ask yourself some good questions like: “Am I proud of the life I’m living? What have I tried this month? What have I learned this year? What parts of my childhood am I leaving behind, and what parts am I choosing to keep? Do the people I’m spending time with give me life, or make me feel small? Is there any brokenness in my life that’s keeping me from moving forward?”

Now is your time. Walk closely with people you love, and with people who believe life is good and a grand adventure. Don’t get stuck in the past, and don’t try to fast-forward yourself into a future you haven’t yet earned. Give today all the love and intensity and courage you can, and keep traveling honestly along life’s path. -m.relevantmagazine.Com

Hello Wives and Wives To Be… May you have the happiest of holidays this season! I’ll be traveling for a very traditional Christmas in New York City filled with ice skating, window shopping on Fifth Avenue, Broadway shows and scrumptious dinners out! See everyone when I return from the Big Apple! – Taryn Cox for THE WIFE.

Ingredients:

• 6 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• Juice of 1 medium orange, (about 1/4 cup)
• 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons cognac, (optional)
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• Zest of 1 lemon, (about 1 tablespoon)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
• Pinch of salt
• 6 slices bread, such as brioche, sliced 1-inch thick, preferably day-old
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
• Pure maple syrup, (optional)

Directions:

1. Whisk together eggs, milk, juice, vanilla, cognac, sugar, zest, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a bowl; set aside.
2. Place bread in a shallow baking dish large enough to hold bread slices in a single layer. Pour egg mixture over bread; soak 10 minutes. Turn slices over; soak 10 minutes more or until soaked through.
3. Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Place a wire rack on a baking sheet, and set aside. Heat 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in a skillet over medium heat. Fry half the bread slices until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer to wire rack; place in oven while cooking remaining bread. Wipe skillet, and repeat with remaining butter, oil, and bread. Keep in oven until ready to serve. Serve warm with maple syrup, if desired. – Martha Stewart.Com