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We recorded Episode 34 about a week before Valentine’s Day, so “love” was on the minds of our guest editors, dating coach Ronnie Ann Ryan, entrepreneur Danyel Aversenti, media personality Matt Scott, and freelance writer Sarah Kyrcz.

Making matters even more romantic was the fact that we recorded our gathering at John Davenport’s on the 19th floor of the Omni New Haven Hotel at Yale, which possesses what I believe are some of the best views of New Haven.

We discussed topics ranging from spinsterhood to dating mistakes and the meaning of love…

Sarah, Duo, Ronnie, Bruce, Danyel and Matt (Photo by Cindy)

Sarah Page Kyrcz is a freelance writer based in Madison. Her bi-weekly series, “Moms’ Talk” – designed to address issues that affect parents, neighbooods and the community at large – ran on eight local Patch sites in Southeastern Connecticut. When she is not writing she is spending time with her two active teenage daughers and her husband.

Ronnie Ann Ryan woke up on her 40th birthday and realized she might be single for the rest of her life. It was at that moment she decided to turn things around. After dating 30 men in 15 months, she met her husband Paul. Having figured out the key to midlife dating, she knew others could too – which was why she became a Dating Coach and founded It’s Never Too Late for Love. Ms. Ryan is a Certified Coach, marketing consultant, writer, professional speaker and workshop leader. She has worked in Marketing for 20+ years with Fortune 500 companies, agencies, small businesses, and individuals to develop strategies and implement programs.

Danyel Aversenti is the founder and CEO of Our Empty Space, allowing owners of empty city-spaces (mainly storefronts) to showcase empty space to people in their community for use as a temporary venue. She has also launched a Kickstarer campaign for a restaurant concept called r-evolving restaurant.

Matt Scott is a washed up broadcaster. Seriously. Since 1995, he’s been a likeable, and somewhat irreverent weatherman. He’s worked from West Virginia to Boston, recently on WTNH in Connecticut. Now, he’s recovering from all that. He still delivers sassy (and sometimes odd) forecasts on social media, on the not-yet-award-winning “Meteorologist Matt Scott” fanpage on Facebook, and @themattcast on Twitter. He occasionally appears on Cablevision’s News 12. His latest project is”Matt Scott Productions”, which takes old school broadcasting, moving it onto new platforms. As creator of “Twivia”, he has launched Twitter’s first Trivia game show (follow it at @twiviact).

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We had a lively editorial board meeting over delicious Mediterranean cuisine at The Greek Olive in New Haven’s Long Wharf section. (They’re a neighbor to the renowned  Long Wharf Theater!)

Our guest editors this week were Erika Horne, Gaye Hyre, Sallie Kraus, and Paul Schatz, and the conversations ranged from coping with family dramas caused by aging parents to cars, commuting and renovation nightmares!

Erika, Duo, Gaye, Sallie, Paul and Bruce

Erika Horne is a life-long Connecticut resident; she grew up in Guilford, but recently moved to Suffield. She is a Supervisor of a Client Service Department for a large medical laboratory, where she has been employed for over 25 years. She has been married for 15 years, and is a mother to one 12-year-old son, James.  In her spare time, Erika is a self-proclaimed “foodie,” and she and her husband like to entertain and cook for friends. She frequently likes to read cast-off books from friends’ book clubs (that way she doesn’t have to participate in the discussion and gets to save loads of cash by borrowing the book).

Gaye Hyre is a cancer survivor, and an organizer of last October’s successful ArtBra New Haven auction to raise funds for the Breast Center at Smilow Cancer Hospital.  She is already beginning work on the encore, coming this October. Gaye took the Sustainable Building Advisor class (two sessions taught by Duo), and is working on turning her passion for sustainability and conservation into her next career, using her own home as a lab project. At this time of year, she is eagerly awaiting the return of the flea market season. Gaye and Sallie are lifelong friends, have shared various visisitudes, and have lived to tell the tales.

Sallie Kraus is a lawyer and urban planner specializing in complex environmental/toxic tort insurance claims. She also writes on  issues like climate change.  Sallie grew up in Stratford and met Gaye Weinstein Hyre in Hebrew School. They have survived  high school German, career crises, home renovation, aging parents and lately, breast cancer.  Sallie’s favorite gift ever was a toolbox from Gaye.  Sallie lived in NYC, now resides  in Stamford, recruits Stamford Symphony volunteers and loves the arts. She never sits in the quiet car on her Metro-North commute. She says: “six degrees of separation is for amateurs.“

Paul Schatz is President and Chief Investment Officer of Heritage Capital, LLC, an award-winning personal investment management firm dedicated to growing portfolios and protecting the assets of individuals, trusts, and corporations. As a 21-year industry veteran, Paul has managed over $100 million in collective assets for a broad range of clients. Paul lives and works in Woodbridge Connecticut.

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We recorded this week’s episode at Bentara in New Haven’s Ninth Square (thanks to Niza for hosting us!), and our guest editors were Mary Elliot, Amy Nawrocki, Eric Lehman, and Paul Sessions.

Niza, Paul, Eric, Mary, Duo, Bruce and Amy (Photo by Cindy)

Mary is a stay-at-home Mom with four children, one husband and no pets unless you count that ant farm on the dresser in her son’s bedroom.  She has a Yale B.A., a Ph.D. in English from Boston College, and—in her old life—taught writing, English and American lit courses at B.C., Gonzaga University & Whitworth College in Spokane, WA.  Upon the birth of her twins in Colorado, she perished rather than published, but has written a couple of novels that need serious rework before they see the light of day.  She likes to play the fiddle, hike, bike-ride and unwind with good friends.

Poet Amy Nawrocki teaches English and Creative Writing at the University of Bridgeport. She is the author of three poetry collections, “Potato Eaters,” “Nomad’s End,” and “Lune de Miel” (forthcoming) and two prose works, of “A History of Connecut Wine: Vineyard in Your Backyard, and “A History of Connecticut Food” both coauthored with her husband Eric D. Lehman. You can reach her by email at nawrocki@bridgeport.edu or Facebook.

Eric D Lehman is a travel and history writer, and Director of Creative Writing at the University of Bridgeport. He dabbles in many genres, and has been published in a wide variety of journals and magazines, from the International Henry Miller Journal to Antiques Trader. His books on Bridgeport, Hamden, and A History of Connecticut Wine are available from The History Press. Forthcoming books include A History of Connecticut Food and the Insiders Guide to Connecticut, both of which will be out in Spring 2012.

Paul Sessions is Director of the Center for Family Business at the University of New Haven. He is also a trusted advisor to a number of family businesses, dealing with succession, communication and conflict, and has been spending a fair amount of time lately coaching individual family members and key employees. He loves his work with families, his partner Gayle, his son Gabriel, his music, great books and good food and wine.

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This week’s conversations took place at one of our favorite restaurants in New Haven: Union League Cafe (thanks Jean-Pierre!), and our guest editors were Cynthia Lyon,  Susan Jacobs, and Cynthia’s sister, food critic Todd Lyon.

Cynthia, Duo, Bruce, Susan and Todd (Photo by Cindy)

Cynthia is the founder and leader of Eight To The Bar, where she is also the primary songwriter and arranger. She has also played with Amyl and the Icons and The Dirty Blondes of New York City.

Susan has practiced law for more than thirty years, devoting her practice to Divorce Mediation and Collaborative Law.  She is active in community theater and has served on numerous boards and commissions in the Town of Woodbridge.

Todd  has been covering the local restaurant scene for 20-plus years, for The New Haven Register, The New Haven Advocate, Connecticut Magazine and now the newly-launched Daily Nutmeg. She has authored, co-authored and/or ghost-written 17 books on subjects as diverse as Champagne, business and kissing. For the last seven years, she and co-owner Nancy Shea have run Fashionista Vintage and Variety, a clothing store for eccentrics.

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We gathered to record Episode 30 at Cafe Romeo, the hip, delicious East Rock coffee shop. We were joined by Anne Witkavitch, Kristin Huffman, and Mark Branch, and hosted by Chris Mordececai.

Bruce, Anne, Mark, Kristen, Chris, and Duo (Photo by Cindy)

After getting her MFA, Anne Witkavich left Corporate America and started her own communications & change management consulting business. She also compiled and edited the award winning book, Press Pause Moments, and began teaching writing at WCSU. Anne is a health and wellness enthusiast and stays active with her husband, two children, dog and cat. Her philosophy is that if you have a vision and a plan, you’ll get where you’re going no matter what life throws at you.

Kristin Huffman is a multi tasker who really doesn’t like to multi task.  She is a producer, Broadway performer (in the Tony Award winning show “Company”), Artistic Director and founder of The New Paradigm Theatre which is hosting the “So ya wanna be a Broadway Star” competition Jan 28/29th in Stamford. Kristin is a professor at The University of Hartford (Hartt school) and Western CT University.  (She was also Miss Ohio and a runner-up to Miss America which paid off all her student loans at Northwestern University!)

Mark Alden Branch is the executive editor of the Yale Alumni Magazine and a writer with a special interest in architecture and design. He is the father of two boys and lives in the East Rock section of New Haven.

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Episode 29 was recorded on a busy Sunday afternoon at the incredible Modern Apizza on State Street in New Haven.

Ted, Duo, Bruce, Debby and Cristin (Photo by Cindy)

Our guest conversationalists were Debby Wan, Cristin Siebert and Ted Koppy.

Debby is a Connecticut native but has recently moved to the New Haven area. She’s a mechanical engineer by trade and is also the Vice President of the Friends of the New Haven Animal Shelter.

Cristin moved around extensively both in the U.S. and abroad before settling down in New Haven seven years ago. She is the Director of Yale Academic Programs Abroad, which means she spends her time sending undergraduates to study all over the world.

Ted Koppy served as an anchor and general assignment reporter for News 8 [in New Haven] from October 2004 until April of 2011. Prior to joining News 8, Ted was in Phoenix, Arizona, where he anchored KPHO’s morning and noon newscasts. Ted is currently a financial advisor at Waddell & Reed.

We talked about this week’s featured questions – conquering vices, exercise, winter power outages, tax documents, heating costs and civic duty – while munching on a few of Modern’s truly amazing pies…

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Episode 28 was recorded on December 28th, 2011, as we dined on sustainable seafood at Miya’s Sushi on Howe Street. (Thanks, Bun!)

Gary, Bruce, Duo, Kristen and Ed

Our Guest Editors were Kristen Cusato, Gary Choronzy and Ed Bartlett;

As this new year begins, Kristen Cusato begins a new gig. No longer on News 8 in the morning, she is now following her passion, and working as the Southwest Regional Director for the CT Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. Her main goal is education, in that many people get diagnosed with dementia, go home and say…now what? She wants to make sure people know there are resources out there, like the helpline, support groups, help for caregivers. (Here is the website.)

Kristen credits her Mom, who has younger onset dementia, as giving her a second career, and a chance to help people dealing with this mind robbing disease.

And Personally, she is a huge fan of sushi and sake.

Gary Choronzy is the Chief Web Guy at Connecticut Websites, and has built projects for folks like Ann Nyberg’s Network Connecticut, Ed Bartlett’s CT Out and About, and most recently, George Gombossy’s CT Watchdog.

Gary became a “friend of the Guide” in 2009, when he redesigned the website and programmed it to run on WordPress, the leading content management system on the web.

Ed Bartlett  is President and CEO of Shoreline Out and About LLC publishes two Arts, Entertainment, and Event websites, CT Out & About and Shoreline Out & About. Both websites focus on anything and everything fun to do in the State of Connecticut.

In this episode, we talked about information overload, winter vacations, and social networking (a lively discussion!) - as well as tasty (yet healthful) foods and New Years resolutions…

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Episode 27 of The Real Life Survival Guide was recored at historic Lyric Hall in the Westville section of New Haven on December 18th.

We were hosted by Colin Caplan - the creator of the Taste of New Haven eating and drinking tours – and joining the conversation were Marcia Simon, Holly Adam, and the aforementioned McGuires, Ann and Gerry.

Holly, Colin, Duo, Ann, Bruce, Gerry and Marcia (Photo by Cindy)

We talked about how to tell someone you’re returning their gift, the etiquette regarding thanking someone via email, and the McGuire family tradition of “licking the nativity”. (Yes, you read that correctly.)

Merry Christmas!

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Episode 26 was recorded on Sunday December 11th at Zafra Cuban Restaurant and Rum Bar.

Our guest editors were Ken Sperling, Jon Crane, Joy Gathers, and James Mapes. (You can learn more about them here. Duo was at the session, but left before Cindy took the photo…)

Jon, Bruce, Joy, Ken and James (Photo by Cindy)

We talked about gifts, relatives and managing expectations.

Please join us in the Comments!

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Episode 25 was recorded at Chips Family Restaurant in Orange (there’s also a Chips in Fairfield) where we feasted on award-winning pancakes. (Thanks to Dina for her award-winning hospitality!)

Our guest editors were Susannah Bailin, Jaki Valensi-Lauper, Randye Kaye, and Helen Kauder.

Susannah, Randye, Duo, Jaki, Helen, and Bruce (Photo by Cindy)

We talked about talked about moderation at holiday parties, how much to tip people in the service industries, and what to do when someone gives you a present unexpectedly.

I hope you enjoy the episode, and if you have any ideas for questions, locations, or future guest editors, please feel free to share them in the Comments section…