Tag Archives: Valentine’s

A Valentine’s Day Card From “Loveland”?–Free Courtesy of the U.S. Post Office

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Loveland, OH (PRWEB) January 31, 2005

Are you a true romantic? Like to make just the right impression this year? Then you’ll want to have a “Loveland” postmark on your Valentine’s Day card. Thirty minutes’ drive from Cincinnati, Loveland is a quiet, old-fashioned town with a post office that began operating in 1775. There’s even a castle, Loveland Castle. While making a film in and around the castle, New York writer-producer Barbara Briggs discovered a little-known “re-mailing” program. You can send your card to the Loveland Post Office and they’ll postmark it “Loveland” with a special Valentine’s Day stamp and send it on for you. Postmaster Gerald Kellner told Briggs they’re now getting cards from around the world for re-mailing to addresses in the U.S. Locally, he noted NCAA superstar UC basketball coach Bob Huggins. And as February 14 approaches, thousands of romantics, men and women from other parts of Ohio and surrounding Kentucky and Indiana, also descend on Loveland Post Office, some having driven hundreds of miles before the re-mailing program, to mail their Valentine’s Day cards.

Postmaster Kellner also told Briggs that as the “re-mailing” has begun catching on, they’ve started taking the cards to the senior citizens’ home, where volunteers do the postmarking and re-sending. “Next year,” he added, “we’re going to have a special ceremony with the oldest couple in Loveland.” With Loveland often referred to as the “Sweetheart of Ohio,” there’s also a Valentine’s Day-style story behind Loveland Castle. It was built by hand by one man, Sir Harry Andrews, from 1929 through 1981. Among the newspaper, television, and radio features done on him, it was once mentioned that he was single. The result was over fifty marriage proposals from women who wanted to live in Loveland Castle with him. Sir Harry, it seems, preferred his memory of a woman to whom he’d been engaged. He and his bride were to be married and move into the castle once he’d reached a certain stage in building it, but she died unexpectedly before that came to pass. She’s rumored to have stayed on as a ghost in the castle, and the cast and crew of the film Briggs shot in the castle, a ‘romantic drama of loss’ Lives No Longer Ours, say they had encounters while there that would be hard to explain any other way.

Uncannily, the film itself is about an adventurer, Capt. Jameson Macaulay, played by Australian actor Paul Sanderson, who in 1650 returns to his castle to keep a promise to his new fiancée–that he’ll take down his deceased wife’s portrait. But she may or may not be a ghost in the castle and during his long first might back he finds that “certain memories can mean more than life itself.” In other words, a romantic who probably would have ‘ridden’ hundreds of miles to get the “Loveland” postmark. The official Errol Flynn site in fact has a link to the film’s website saying Jameson Macaulay is in the vein of Flynn’s ‘sensitive’ swashbucklers. The award-winning site for the yet-to-be-released Lives No Longer Ours is at http://www.PhaethonWorld.com. As for how to get your Valentine’s Day card “re-mailed,” stamp and address the envelope with the card in it (37 cents for cards, 23 cents for a postcard, or international coupons if you’re overseas) and mail it in a larger, stamped envelope to Postmaster, Loveland Valentine Re-mailing, Loveland, Ohio 45140. To ensure re-delivery, it’s best to get your card there by February 10.

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Workhouse Publicity: Valentines & Wedding Tips by Great Performances

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(PRWEB) February 2, 2005

Need a perfect spokesperson for dreamy Valentine’s or Wedding event tips or a source quote for your romantic food trend story? Looking for a pro seasoned at organizing special events and answering key questions your readership wants to know? This Valentine’s Day, turn to Great Performances, New York’s largest full-service catering and event planning company, for practical information on planning romantic high-profile or private gatherings for 2 to 200. Great Performances has successfully fashioned romantic ambience for sophisticated and eclectic gatherings to delicious acclaim for over 25 years. Who could possibly have more experience staging romantic affairs than a caterer whose events have included some of the most talked-about weddings in New York including former New York City Mayor Rudy Guiliani’s wedding to Judith Nathan? Creating what the New York Times termed a “fairy tale extravagance,” Great Performances’ passion has no limits and weaves fine food with genuine service setting the stage for romantic adventures of a lifetime. And when Martha Stewart Weddings, leader in all things romantic, wanted some practical information about planning a wedding, its editors turned to Great Performances.

Ever since Liz Neumark launched the company in 1979, Great Performances has helped many a bride and groom declare their love. Its stock-in-trade goes far beyond weddings, of course. To name just a very few of the high-profile events it has pulled off to delicious acclaim, Great Performances has catered Michael J Fox’s star-studded fund-raisers for Parkinson’s research, the 50th Anniversary of the United Nations, Mayor Bloomberg’s inaugural celebration, and the Warner Music Grammy Party; it also runs the stylish new restaurant at the Asia Society, the café (and all catering) at Riverdale’s lovely Wave Hill, the foodservice at the chichi Hudson Hotel, the Mae Mae Café enoteca di vino, and a number of other fabulous venues around town. Wherever the event, “this ‘exceptionally creative’ caterer/event-planner specializing in classic American fare garners raves for everything.” Zagat wrote last year. It is well-known, Zagat added, for “tasteful events that are lovely all around.” Great Performances regularly puts on distinctive events for thousands, and it is used to feeding elegant meals to the rich and famous. Food Arts credited much of Neumark’s success to “the wisdom to bring equal enthusiasm and attentiveness to both huge and small bookings.” Great Performances celebrates its 25th Anniversary this year. Isn’t it romantic?

We are now scheduling interviews on behalf of Great Performances and would love to hear from you!

Speak to an experienced leader in stylish, romantic events and lavishly satisfying feasts for your upcoming story.

For more information please contact Anna De Souza directly by telephone at 212. 645. 8006 or via email at anna@workhousepr.com

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Valentine’s Day Murder Mystery

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(PRWEB) February 2, 2005

Valentine’s Day Murder Mystery

It’s a treasure trove choked full of clues like Dan Brown’s, “The DaVinci Code.”

The treasure hunt book maps the way for readers and treasure hunters who enjoy hunting for clues. – Article by Heather White, Entertainment Reporter

Wes Newman, a former Galveston County Deputy Sheriff, whose mafia friends included Joe Bonanno, Vincent Fertitta and the Maceo Brothers, Sam and Rose, are brought to life in his daughter’s new book, “No Deception, A True Texas Story.”

The food isn’t the main attraction at the Petronella Brothers Italian restaurant in Galveston, Texas. You go for the Sicilian ambience, the white linen tablecloths and The Godfather atmosphere. Of course you must make reservations in advance to get past the matre’d at the front door.

The brick and tile interior set it off as a well-protected fortress from the world outside. Even so, visitors will likely sit with their backs to the wall to get a good view of the new arrivals. The walls lack snapshots of the owner’s uncles, the Maceo brothers. But, thoughts of mobsters, gamblers, bootleggers and prostitutes readily come to mind.

At a round table sit five men in black suits discussing something rather serious over a plate of spaghetti. Two other men, probably drivers or bodyguards, sit at a table closer to the front door. They stop talking briefly as strangers enter the restaurant and are seated across the room. Murderous bloody thoughts of Tony Soprano and his gang on “The Sopranos” come to mind. It’s just another afternoon at the Petronella Brothers where everyone is treated like family.

Today, there are four people dining in private at a round table in the corner – a Galveston County Deputy Sheriff, one of Sam Salvato’s daughters, a League City socialite and Sydney Newman Dotson, the author of “No Greater Deception.”

Dotson’s father, Wes Newman, led a secret life in Galveston County that many would describe as a double life. His job was to keep the peace while serving as a Texas City Police Officer, Galveston County Deputy Sheriff and Chief of Police of Kemah. But, with close friends like Joe Bonanno and the Maceo brothers, some may think he was more than their bodyguard. Perhaps he was a “made man” and was involved in the JFK assassination. Particularly since he was close to LBJ and Kemah was the bayfront town where Jack Ruby stored guns and ammunition in a two story house while operating a gambling casino in Havana.

Over lunch, Dotson tells her companions about her book and what she knows about her father. But, it’s what she “doesn’t know” about him that keeps her up at night.

What did he do with the will that he made at the ranch in East Texas? Did he give it to his sister-in-law Sally? She was there. Or, did he lock it safely in a safe deposit box that his second wife, Betty, found and destroyed?

So where exactly did he hide his mineral rights and assets he planned to leave his six children? And, do some of Wes’ gangster friends hold some of the answers to the author’s questions? Who were the elderly men dressed in black suits that attended her father’s funeral in their own black limousines? Was the unknown lady sitting in the back of the courtroom sent there for a purpose Dotson may learn about at a later date?

Dotson’s father owned several businesses and properties in the county. She believes them all to be legitimate businesses, but would not be surprised to learn there were some illegitimate activities going on as well. Extortion, loan sharking, illegal gambling, narcotics and murder were rampant in the county during the Maceo years.

The tentacles of their vast criminal empire stretched up and down the Galveston Bay. Their organized crime family business mirrored that of the Capone, Giancana, Gambino, Genovese and Gotti families. Attorneys, judges and law enforcement officers were often paid off or bribed. And, women played a major role in their success or failure.

The women also led rather secretive lives. Of course being told to “shut up” had a lot to do with it. Like Josephine Massino and Joanne Vitale, Betty and Sally Newman keep their mouths shut about their husbands’ business. Joseph “Joey” Massino and Tony Soprano would be proud of them.

From rags to riches, Betty and Sally “almost” got away with their crimes. In “No Greater Deception, A True Texas Story,” Dotson’s stepmother, Betty, forges wills of several family members and is implicated in their mysterious deaths.

Sally, Dotson’s aunt, is one of Betty’s accomplices who has accomplished many forgeries of her own. Dotson exposed their tangled web of forgeries, secrets and lies in her debut book, “No Greater Deception, A True Texas Story.” And, this #1 best-selling true crime autobiography and biography is just the beginning. Dotson will write two more books about her family saga to complete the trilogy on identity theft, forgery and murder.

Dotson, now a sought after CSI Forensic Identity Theft Expert, has been seen on The NBC Today Show and PBS in Houston. She’s currently speaking on television and radio station Talk Shows across the country. Many are interested in learning how identity theft of wills, insurance policies, pension plans, notary seals and checking accounts were accomplished. The message is clear that senior citizens and the elderly are prime targets of identity theft by family members.

Detectives, profilers, the FBI and handwriting experts are using her book as a textbook case study on identity theft. They are particularly interested in learning more about the criminal mind of Dotson’s stepmother, a suspected Black Widow serial killer.

Like many who have become familiar with her true story, Dotson’s lunch partners want to help answer some of the questions posed in the book. They also want to help spread the word about identity theft in the community. Dotson is offering a $ 5,000 Reward to the person or persons who locate her father’s Last Will and Testament dated June 10, 1995. The lost Will was prepared by several attorneys at the Newman family ranch in Karnack, Texas. The names of the attorneys are unknown. Dotson’s sister will be listed as the executor in this missing document. Dotson’s book is a treasure trove choked full of clues like Dan Brown’s, “The DaVinci Code.” In this case, Wes Newman’s Will is the treasured artifact. It’s a treasure hunt that many readers can’t stop talking about. Hundreds of women across the country have formed new book clubs to join in the search.

Massive reform is needed in the Legislative and Justice Systems to prevent others from becoming victims of identity theft by family members. Dotson hopes her book will bring these issues to light. The Texas State Bar Association and Houston Bar Association are currently reviewing her book for this purpose.

Tillman Fertitta, the owner of Landry’s Restaurants and cousin of Lorenzo Fertitta of Station Casinos in Las Vegas, is buying up all the restaurants along the Galveston Bay in preparation for the legalization of gambling in Texas this year. He hopes to do what his Maceo uncles couldn’t do. He wants to operate gambling casinos on a legal basis.

Although many residents fear the return of the Godfather to Galveston Island, Dotson’s luncheon ends on a positive note today. No guns, bullets or blood are in sight. Her luncheon partners are now on the case and wish to beat detectives and bounty hunters to the $ 5,000 REWARD. It’s as thrilling as hunting for Jean Lafayette’s buried treasure chest filled with gold, silver and jewels in the sand along the beach. Anyone can join in the hunt. Read the book and follow the map.

Movie producers are swarming the author with offers to purchase an option on Dotson’s book to take it to the big screen. See http://www.NoGreaterDeception.com for more information on Dotson, the book and her family.

“No Greater Deception, A True Texas Story” is available on 360 websites in 12 countries today including Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble.com.

See http://www.NoGreaterDeception for more information on the author and her true story.

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1922 Stanley Steamer Limo Linked to St. Valentine’s Day Massacre to be Auctioned

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(PRWEB) February 3, 2005

Chicago’s infamous St. Valentine’s Day Massacre happened seventy-six years ago, February 14, 1929. Now a survivor is about to appear in public for the first time. It’s a 1922 Stanley Steamer 740D Informal Limousine, owned by one of “Bugs” Moran’s mobsters, Albert Kachellek. Kachellek, who used the alias James Clark, was one of the seven men gunned down in the SMC garage on North Clark Street by thugs disguised as cops.

Though no one was ever convicted in the most famous mob hit in history, “Scarface” Al Capone was linked to the massacre by the intended target, bootlegger Bugs Moran. It might have been, in part, revenge for an attack three years earlier on Capone’s headquarters in Cicero, Illinois. With side window glass removed and gunmen blasting away, seven big touring cars and limousines rolled past the Hawthorne Hotel. A thousand bullets riddled the building, but Capone escaped.

Though documentation has disappeared or been destroyed through the years, the “Valentine Steamer” is thought to have been part of that caravan drive-by shooting. In fact, one of the re-installed rear side windows is still crooked.

No one knows where the car was on the Valentine’s Day Kachellek died, but the car disappeared into private hands. A steam engine aficionado in central Texas eventually bought it, restored the body and updated the boiler system, all the while trying to conceal the car’s shady past, apparently to avoid sullying the reputation of steam-powered automobiles. For years the car sat in a corner of a working auto garage, forgotten.

Now the current owner is about to sell it; and for the first time, the public will see one of the most unusual vehicles in American crime history. The auction sale will be concluded on the 76th anniversary of the massacre. Details and the vehicle auction can be accessed online at http://www.collectorcarcentral.com

And what would a story like this be without a ghost? Al Capone eventually died, haunted, it’s said, by a ghost–the ghost of Albert Kachellek, aka James Clark–the man who owned the Valentine Steamer.

Collector Car Central’s president, L. C. Mixon, is managing the sale and the search into the car’s murky past. He’s available to talk about the car and point out what’s known, what’s suspected, and, maybe even more importantly, what’s not known about it.

Collector Car Central LLC

4218 S. General Bruce Dr.

Temple, TX. 76502

254-771-5414

http://www.collectorcarcentral.com

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Nearly Blind Psychic to Appear Live on Georgia Radio Show to Provide Valentines Romance and Relationship Readings for Listeners

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(PRWEB) February 8, 2005

“Since Valentines Day is less then a week away, many people will be focused on relationship and romantic issues. I am honored to be invited back to WQPW as a guest and look forward to providing entertaining and intuitive insights into people’s relationship questions” Michael says.

“We all are intuitive,” Michael says. “It is a matter of learning to listen to the internal signs, signals, and clues offered to us.” Spremulli’s own intuitive experiences began at a young age when he was diagnosed with a congenital vision problem that left him legally blind. “As a child, I had to learn new ways to see,” he says. Spremulli honed his intuitive abilities through practice and reflection, and as an adult began to share his ability with audiences and individuals across the country.

Spremulli, a resident of Valdosta, GA, is a professional psychic entertainer and intuitive reader. He performs across the country as “The Intuitionist.” His interactive, audience-centered show features mind reading, mentalism, and psychic entertainment for corporate functions, fund-raising events, and private parties.

Besides entertaining audiences and offering private readings, Spremulli appears also as a motivational speaker, using his own story to show how adversity can become a challenge that pushes someone to seek new avenues of success.

Michael has performed his show “Intuition — It’s More than What You See” across the country, including shows in California, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island, among others. He is also a frequent guest on radio talk shows where he responds on-the-spot to callers. For smaller groups, Spremulli can include personal readings that provide a guest with a customized intuitive analysis. In addition, Spremulli works one-on-one with people and provides private intuitive consultations on issues such as relationships, career/business, finances, and life transitions.

Michael is available for radio and television interviews nationally by phone.

Contact Information:

Michael Spremulli – The Intuitionist

Web site: http://www.TheIntuitionist.com


Phone: 229-257-0665

To sound bites of Michael in action, visit:

http://www.theintuitionist.com/radio_psychic_sound_bites.htm

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Happy Valentine’s Day: Chocolate and Love/Aphrodisiac Tips and Recipes from Sensual Cooking Diva, Shani Castri

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(PRWEB) February 9, 2005

This Month’s Aphrodisiac is Chocolate:

Chocolate, ooh the queen of temptation. Chocolate tempts us with its rich, luscious flavor, its thick creamy texture and its power to soothe our minds. It is for some a “gift from Mother Earth”- her creation that has over 1,000 flavor components and 300 chemicals which affect brain chemistry and mood. Chocolate has been the “Diva” of Aphrodisiacs since its first use over 3,000 years ago in the Mexican state of Vera Cruz. Montezuma would drink 50 goblets of “chocolate water” a day to give him the potency to handle his harem of more than 600 women.

How does it work? Chocolate affects the central nervous system, thanks to Anandamine, (a neurotransmitter or brain chemical) this chemical heightens sensory perception, increases relaxation and produces a feeling of euphoria. In addition, other chemicals extend this high and also increase the levels of dopamine (lovely little chemical that elevates the mood and increases sexual arousal and response).

So many chocolates and such little time…As most things in life, the best are the most simple. The mind blowing chocolates are the one’s with a high cocoa content (these are rarely found at the deli), the good stuff, has a deeper flavor, smoother texture and a lot less sugar!

I suggest, ordering some fabulous chocolates (maybe with cocoa beans from various countries), turning down the lights, turn up the heat, light a chocolate candle, take your loved one and blindfold them and share with them these amazing goodies, savor each bite as it slowly dissolves in your mouth and discover which types you and they most enjoy. Now that your senses are heightened, feel free to run a feather or fur scarf over their body and don’t forget the Brachetto d’Aqui to wash it all down.

8 Ways to Enjoy Chocolate

Mental:

1. Read “The Bride wore Chocolate” by Shirley Jump

This is fun tale that begins three weeks before Candice’s wedding. She blatantly ignores the signs sent by the universe; thinks nothing of the fact that the DJ has a heart attack, the priest runs off with the church secretary and a fire burns her wedding gown to a crisp. Even blinded to these hints, she is also sent a good-looking, carefree, sexy Michael Volgner to help her see that Boring Barry is not her soul mate and that he just might be. Candace is three weeks from the big day and must deal with her mother-in-law-to-be, her own mother, her friends and their “Baskets to die For” company, Mr. Wonderful and her grandmother that is concerned that she finds her real soul mate. With so many questions in mind, one answer is for sure- it can all be cured by CHOCOLATE! Thanks to Candace, the book is filled with luscious recipes.

2. Rent “Like water for Chocolate” Director Alfonso Arau, adapting a novel by his former wife, Laura Esquivel

This is a beautiful story of a young woman, Tita. Her evil mother denies her from her true love, Pedro. The selfish mother goes so far as to arrange the marriage of Tita’s sister, Rosaura, to Pedro, thus allowing Tita to live a spinsters’ life free to take care of her mother forever. Tita’s only release and outlet for her emotions is through cooking. As she prepares every meal for her family, the feelings she secretly holds inside are magically released into the food she makes. Her love, her pain and her desire is evident in every delightful and decadent dish she creates, and ultimately her feelings manifest themselves in those who enjoy her meals.

The film is fabulous, rich and sultry. It will inspire you to put your feelings and desires into your next meal and to reap the sumptuous rewards that follow. (minus the psycho mother). It has a much more seductive feel when watched in the original Spanish with English subtitles- (I’m a sucker for an accent!)

Physical:

1. Aqua Dessa

Chocolate Espresso Body Scrub

A combination of delicious chocolate and invigorating coffee. The chocolate provides potent antioxidants that protect and heal from the sun and environmental damage. The heart pounding aphrodisiac that it is, espresso beans rev up your skin, increase stimulation and impart a healthy glow.

2. Hershey PA, Hershey Spa

The Spa At The Hotel Hershey is located at 100 Hotel Road in Hershey, PA. 17033

The Spa at The Hotel Hershey

717-520-5888

Toll Free 1-877-772-9988

Whipped Cocoa Bath*

25 minutes, $ 45

A foaming chocolate milk bath for a soothing and softening signature Hershey experience. Plus it’s a fantasy we’ve all thought about living out!

Chocolate Fondue Wrap*

60 minutes, $ 105

A combination of moor mud and cocoa essence that relaxes the body and revitalizes the skin. Your body is first brushed to remove all the dead skin, then it is covered with the chocolate mud and you are wrapped in a soft warm blanket to enhance the total effect.

Edible:

1. Fonduta di Cioccolata Piccante

¼ cup heavy cream

½ bar Good Dark Chocolate (2oz or 50grams)

1 stick cinnamon

1 pinch red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon coffee

2 cloves

In a small saucepan over low heat combine cream, cinnamon, red pepper, cloves and vanilla. Let ingredients steep for 5 minutes, don’t let boil. Remove from heat, stir in half chocolate until melted, then second half.

Use for dipping… or drizzling…

Suggestions for Dipping

banana

simple biscotti

dates or dried apricots

sliced pear

macaroons

marshmallows

2. Chocolate & Banana Martini

1 chocolate candy bar, chopped into pieces

2 tablespoons cream

(This is enough chocolate for 2 glasses)

2 oz Godiva Chocolate Liquor

1 oz Banana Creme Liquor

1 oz Vodka

Nutmeg

Creme Soda

Mini Marshmallows

(the amount of alcohol is for one martini)

In a small bowl, heat cream in microwave until it just starts to boil. Mix in half the chocolate, continue to add chocolate until it is very thick like molasses. Using a butter knife, spread the chocolate on the inside of two martini glasses (7-8oz glasses). Set in freezer.

In a martini shaker, add ice, Godiva, Banana Crème, Vodka, tiny pinch of nutmeg, shake (remember to double alcohol for 2 maritinis). Pour half in each chocolate glass. Top off glass with crème soda, add marshmallows for garnish.

3. La Maison du Chocolat

1018 Madison Avenue (78th St), New York, NY 10021 212.744.7117 http://www.lamaisonduchocolat.com

The Upper East Side of New York City is blessed with the most luxurious chocolate boutique a neighborhood could have. The chocolate created by La Maison du Chocolat is extremely different than the rest- it’s pure, evenly balanced and perfectly crafted. Their cognac truffle is the perfect combination of dark chocolate and French Cognac, as it melts in your mouth the two distinct flavors of complex chocolate and heady cognac that pleases the taste buds like nothing else. You actually feel more chic and sophisticated as you enjoy every morsel. All of their chocolate is made with a combination of five different kinds of cocoa beans, a different combination for every chocolate made. To understand this further, La Maison du Chocolat and their manager, Nora Hovanesian-Mann, has created a course, Tamanaco, that is offered once a month at the Madison boutique. “Tamanaco is a session designed as a journey in the heart and the art of the product”. The course cost $ 50.

4. Jacques Torres Chocolate Haven

350 Hudson St. New York, NY 10014 212.414.2462

http://www.mrchocolate.com

This is a great way to feed your mouth and your eyes! Jacques’s Chocolate Haven is a specialty chocolate boutique and espresso bar surrounded by a chocolate factory. Through the glass windows you may enjoy an amazing cup of hot chocolate made by very entertaining barristas, Onika and Thad, while you watch the staff create the artisan chocolates and hand wrap them! This is where you can indulge your desire to experience “death by chocolate”. The bar offers original Hot Chocolate, Wicked Hot Chocolate (made with Ancho & Chipolte peppers) and for February- Hot White Chocolate with Raspberry.

About Shani Castri:

Shani Castri, the “Sensual Cooking Diva,” knows that the first ingredient in any dish is Love. Appetite for Seduction combines this ingredient with aphrodisiacs in any menu that will induce romance, stimulate seduction and spark love. Shani’s first TV appearances have been in Italy on “La Prova del Cuoco,” a popular Italian cooking show, nationally broadcasted on RAI1, and as a co-host for a demonstration on “Questo ho fatto io,” where she prepared one of her succulent recipes for Italy’s Gambero Rosso channel. Shani conquered the New York City restaurant industry by managing some of the cities most successful and popular restaurants, including Le Bilboquet, il Buco and Fiamma. These led her to assisting her husband, Dino, in opening his own restaurant, EVVIVA! in the East Village, where he is executive chef and owner. Currently, Shani is teaching classes for Appetite for Seduction at EVVIVA! on Mondays. Please visit http://www.AppetiteForSeduction.com for more information.

http://www.AppetiteForSeduction.com

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Bad Weather Coming this Valentine’s Day? Here’s A Dozen Romantic Rentals to Cuddle Up With at Home

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(PRWEB) February 10, 2005

This Valentine’s Day, if you’re still in those early stages where impressing your date is important (or in those late stages where getting back into your lover’s good graces is imperative), then by all means reserve that table at the Four Seasons. But if things are going so well that the intimacy of being home alone with your honey, the TV and a tub of popcorn sounds like the most romantic evening of all, then your only challenge should be: what to see?

Here’s a list offered by UCLA Romantic Comedy Screenwriting instructor Billy Mernit, author of the Valentine’s Day Classic “That’s How Much I Love You”:

Annie Hall

One of the great dysfunctional couples ever (you think you’ve got problems?), a love song to Manhattan and more wit per minute than most movies made since. (Alternate: for more primo Woody, try Hannah and Her Sisters.)

Black Orpheus

An ancient myth brought to vibrant, haunting life during Carnival in Rio, with unforgettable music, color and passion. (Alternate: for another classic tale magically transformed, see Cocteau’s Beauty and the Beast.)

Breakfast At Tiffany’s

The incandescent Audrey Hepburn in the epitome of glamorous urban ’60s sophistication, with “Moon River” to hum along to. (Alternate: for Hollywood glamour of an earlier era, check out Grace Kelly and Cary Grant in Hitchcock’s To Catch a Thief.)

Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind

Cutting-edge quirkiness, wild narrative leaps and laughs, and an unusually clear-eyed look at romantic relationships in modern times. (Alternate: another recent left-of-center approach to romance can be found in Lost in Translation.)

Four Weddings And A Funeral

One of the smartest, funniest, fractured courtship comedies ever contains some of the most memorable screen dialogue ever scribed. (Alternate: for sophisticated humor and an ultimate wedding triangle, see Hepburn, Grant and Stewart in The Philadelphia Story.)

Moonstruck

Mr. Passion (Nick Cage) meets Ms. Needs Passion (Cher) in an Italian-American family saga that’s loaded with life, laughs and amore. (Alternate: for a poetry-embracing classic that’s 100 percent Italian, try Il Postino [The Postman].)

Pretty Woman

This guilty-pleasure fairy tale is nonetheless pleasure-full, with Gere for the girls and Julia’s teeth and gams for the guys. (Alternate: for more Julia and the added fun of an addled Hugh Grant, see Notting Hill.)

Romancing The Stone

A priceless combination of rip-roaring adventure and bodice-ripped romance, this eye-filling ride holds up better and better as time goes by. (Alternate: another genre hybrid, mixing romance with crime and yielding real eroticism, is The Big Easy.)

Say Anything

Teen passion has rarely run so deep and humorously rueful, as in this quintessential portrait of adolescent angst. (Alternate: an older but not much wiser John Cusack makes High Fidelity a winner.)

To Have And Have Not

Bogart and Bacall were falling in love for real when they made this Howard Hawks pic in the Forties, and their chemistry hasn’t dated one bit. (Alternate: for the best of Hepburn and Tracy, another real-life couple, see Adam’s Rib.)

The Way We Were

No, it doesn’t work out in the end, but nostalgia’s never been quite so gorgeous as it looks on Streisand and Redford here. (Alternate: for more Sidney Pollack-directed Redford, washing Meryl Streep’s hair, go Out of Africa.)

When Harry Met Sally

As it tops many folks’ favorite rom-com list, you can’t go wrong with this very funny, knowing exploration of age-old male v. female issues. (Alternate: more Meg Ryan and Nora Ephron, plus Tom Hanks can be had with Sleepless in Seattle.)

Extras: If the two of you are TV fans and would like a smaller portion of romance, try the final episode of Sex and the City (Season 6, Part 2), wherein Carrie finally lands Big, in Paris, no less. Or for the best of Ross and Rachel, see Friends (Season 2, episodes 7 & 14) for their memorable first kiss, and their first… you know. Enjoy!

Billy Mernit, a teacher at UCLA Extension Writers Program, is the author of Writing the Romantic Comedy (Harper/Collins) and, with artist Claudia Nizza, That’s How Much I Love You (Tallfellow Press).

Tallfellow Press is an eclectic book publisher located in Los Angeles. Its predecessor, Price Stern Sloan, is best known for publishing the popular word game “Mad Libs,” the ever-true “Murphy’s Law” and the melodious “Wee Sing” Series.

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More Valentine Storie Press Releases

On Valentine’s Day Send a Free Text Message to Someone You Love – Or Love to Hate

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Pittsburgh, PA (PRWEB) February 10, 2005

In today’s digital lifestyle the traditional Valentine’s Day card is being replaced by a quick “LUV U” text message. Couples are even calling it quits by sending a text message. Now the amorous and the jilted can both tell their lovers what they really think this Valentine’s Day by sending them a “Kiss or Diss,” a pre-written text message available for free at http://www.txtmsg4u.com

Can’t find the right words to say to your Valentine? You can select from one of the pre-built lists that include ‘Love Messages,’ ‘Propositions,’ ‘Break Ups,’ and the popular ‘Tell ‘Em Off’ text messages. The tone of the text messages range from the traditional, “Will you be my Valentine?” to the romantic, “You’re top of my list, I wanna give you a kiss” to the sassy, “You must be Jelly, cause jam don’t shake like that.”

Registered users who send a TXTMSG4U “Kiss or Diss” text message during February 2005 are entered into a new Apple iPod Shuffle Giveaway. All text messages are supported by 40 characters of advertising per text message. Standard text message service charges and carrier fees apply to text message recipients. Full detail about the terms and conditions as well as details about the Apple iPod Shuffle Giveaway are available online at http://www.txtmsg4u.com

TXTMSG4U.com is a free text message service provided by ZAP Solutions, a web and mobile solutions company headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA. For more information about this “Valentine’s Day / Digital Lifestyle” story contact Zach Hraber at 412-901-3355 and zach@zapsolutions.com.

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“Oprah’s Valentine’s Day Secret”

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Loveland, OH (PRWEB) February 11, 2005

Want to send your Valentine’s Day card the same way Oprah Winfrey has and make just the right impression this year? If you’re a true romantic, you’ll want to have a “Loveland” postmark on your Valentine’s Day card. Thirty minutes’ drive from Cincinnati, Loveland is a quiet, old-fashioned town with a post office that began operating in 1775. There’s even a castle, Loveland Castle. While making a film in and around the castle, New York writer-producer Barbara Briggs discovered that Loveland had a “re-mailing” program for Valentine’s Day. One of a group of towns with romantic names that perform the service free under the U.S. Postal Service, not only has the “re-mailing” program been used by Oprah, it was at Loveland Post Office that the popular “Love” stamp was officially launched in 1994.

Once you send your card to the Loveland Post Office for re-mailing, the Valentine Lady from the Loveland Chamber of Commerce will stamp it by hand with a Valentine’s Day “cachet,” a specially designed seal, and then the postage stamp is hand-cancelled at the post office with the “Loveland” postmark before your card is sent on for you. Postmaster Gerald Kellner told Briggs that they get cards for all fifty states and from around the world for re-mailing. Executive Director of the Chamber of Commerce Paulette Leeper added that they get all kinds of little notes, even chewing gum in one envelope, included as thank-you’s. And as February 14 approaches, thousands of romantics, men and women from other parts of Ohio and surrounding Kentucky and Indiana, also descend on Loveland Post Office, some truer romantics having driven hundreds of miles to mail their Valentine’s Day cards.

Postmaster Kellner also told Briggs, “Next year, we’re going to have a Valentine’s Day ceremony with the oldest married couple in Loveland.” With Loveland often referred to as the “Sweetheart of Ohio,” there’s also a Valentine’s Day-style story behind Loveland Castle. It was built by hand by one man, Sir Harry Andrews, from 1929 through 1981. Among the newspaper, television, and radio features done on him, it was once mentioned that he was single. The result was over fifty marriage proposals from women who wanted to live in Loveland Castle with him. Sir Harry, it seems, preferred his memory of a woman to whom he’d been engaged. He and his bride were to be married and move into the castle once he’d reached a certain stage in building it, but she died unexpectedly before that came to pass. She’s rumored to have stayed on as a ghost in the castle, and the cast and crew of the film Briggs shot in the castle, a ‘romantic drama of loss’ Lives No Longer Ours, say they had encounters while there that would be hard to explain any other way.

Uncannily, the film itself is about an adventurer, Capt. Jameson Macaulay, played by Australian actor Paul Sanderson, who in 1650 returns to his castle to keep a promise to his new fiancée–that he’ll take down his deceased wife’s portrait. But she may or may not be a ghost in the castle and during his long first might back he finds that “certain memories can mean more than life itself.” In other words, a romantic who probably would have ‘ridden’ hundreds of miles to get the “Loveland” postmark. The official Errol Flynn site in fact has a link to the film’s website saying Jameson Macaulay is in the vein of Flynn’s ‘sensitive’ swashbucklers. The award-winning site for the yet-to-be-released Lives No Longer Ours is at http://www.PhaethonWorld.com.

As for how to get your Valentine’s Day card “re-mailed,” stamp and address the envelope with the card in it (37 cents for cards, 23 cents for a postcard, or international coupons from your post office if you’re overseas) and mail it in a larger, stamped envelope either to Postmaster, Loveland Valentine Re-mailing, Loveland, Ohio 45140-9998 or directly to The Valentine Lady, P.O. Box 111, Loveland, Ohio 45140. (For next year, to ensure re-delivery overseas it’s best to get your card there by February 8.).

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Two Choices – a Valentine’s Day Release

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(PRWEB) February 14, 2005

Karyn and Meghan began their senior year like any other year, but they soon find themselves making choices that are changing everything. Discovering that they are both pregnant, Karyn and Meghan weigh their options. Their boyfriends struggle with their own choices involving drug addiction and supporting (or not) their girlfriends’ decisions. Two Choices brings to life the consequences teenagers have to face regardless of choice.

The author, Sarah V. Richard, graduated from the University of New Orleans with a degree in sociology. After working eight years in health care, she is now a freelance writer. She grew up with four younger brothers and is now raising two year old twins.

The read more about Two Choices or the author, please visit http://www.publishedauthors.net/sarahvrichard


Two Choices is available through

http://www.publishamerica.com


http://www.barnesandnoble.com


http://www.amazon.com


81 pages

ISBN 1-4137-5676-X

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