Do you want to experience riding your bike through a rugged forest or the serene countryside without taking your bike to the forest or countryside? Well, you can’t…but the Expresso Fitness S2 Exercise Bike is probably as close as you can get while in the comfort of your home gym.  The Expresso bike provides a virtual and interactive training environment with integrated fitness and computer systems.  You can follow your progress through 30 interactive routes on the 17-inch LCD monitor.  Resistance of the bike automatically changes with the terrain, and the handle bars move to create a realistic feeling as you negotiate curves or other riders.  Yes, other riders- the Expresso allows you to race against a ghost rider that replays you best performance on a route, or you can ride side-by-side with other Expresso owners, as machines can be networked together.  Finally, a peaceful and scenic ride without having to constantly scream or hear “on your left!”.

The bike has a multitude of other features and functions that you can check out here.

Back when I was a little younger, my friends and I would go camping quite regularly.  We’d load up our trucks with the essentials - tents, cookware, lanterns, hiking boots, fishing poles, etc. Everything we needed for an adventure in the woods; at least I thought we had everything.  How could we forget to pack the Platinum Swiss Army Knife?  Maybe it’s not that we forgot…maybe it’s the fact that at the time (or even now) my friends and I together couldn’t afford the $70,000 multi-tool.  The executive instrument has a shell of pure platinum inset with 430 diamonds.  All of the tools, with the exception of the tweezers, feature diamond engraving.  Hopefully in a future edition of the luxury multi-tool, the tweezers will receive the attention they deserve.

Speaking of tea, I just found a home that actually has a tea house!  As I began daydreaming about hosting Mighty Leaf tea parties (with scones and clotted cream, of course) in this English manor’s tea house, I read more about the property and discovered there are even more things about it that I love.

First, it’s in my hometown, Summit, New Jersey.  Allow me to wax poetic about this perfect town:  It is the best place in the world to raise children, with some of the highest-ranking public schools in the country (read: Ivy League breeding grounds), a non-existent crime rate, a warm sense of community and a picturesque downtown with boutique shops and fine restaurants (chains are discouraged).  Perhaps more importantly, Summit is close to New York City - just a comfortable 40-minute train ride to Midtown Manhattan - and all its cultural offerings.  My childhood friends and I are always amazed at how lucky we were to grow up there - and many of us plan to move back someday with our own children.

…But back to the house.  It was built in 1930 by the original owner, C. Henry Jagels, as a bridal gift to his daughter.  He wanted it to be a beautiful, secluded haven for her - and he certainly succeeded.  Gorgeous formal gardens with patterned brick paths lead up to the home - a great space for quiet contemplation or lively outdoor fêtes. It’s the kind of picturesque backyard in which one might have a wedding - following the bridal shower in the tea house, as I like to imagine.

The inside of the home is also full of lovely surprises - such as the living room with antique pipe organ, or the exceptionally designed cook’s kitchen with painted hardwood floors, Dutch tile wall, granite counters and butler’s pantry.  The bright and spacious master bedroom suite has vaulted ceilings, a fireplace and French doors that lead out to a mahogany deck overlooking the gardens.  And of course, what luxury home would be complete without a temperature-controlled wine room (perfect for all those wine-tasting parties, as I like to imagine)?

This one-of-a-kind manor is listed with Lois Schneider Realtor.  Read more about it here - and for more photography, click here.

Just a quick note:  I saw this picture of a listing in Tiburon, California and swooned.  How lovely it would be to live there…