Join us for this very special event. Ashley Davis Bush (formerly Prend) will be leading a discussion about how to cope with grief during the holidays, which can be for many people the hardest time of the year to deal with the loss of a loved one.

Transcending Loss: Understanding the Lifelong Impact of Loss and How to Make it Meaningful  has helped thousands and thousands of grievers understand how to grieve and how to live with loss. Unlike other grief books that imply there is an “end” to the process, this book acknowledges and honors the lifelong process of integrating loss into life. It also shows how to channel pain into avenues that make meaning out of loss.

Ashley is a licensed psychotherapist and grief counselor in private practice in Epping, NH. Her work focuses on coping with losses, searching for meaning, maximizing one’s potential, finding inner peace, and navigating transitions.   Ashley shares her thoughts on her own experiences in her weekly blog “Transitions….where endings meet beginnings,” which can be found on her website, www.ashleydavisbush.com. Currently she is working on a book entitled “Peaceful Divorce.”

We'll be circling our chairs in the back of the store for an informal discussion. If you are concerned about how you'll cope with grief during the upcoming holidays, or you know someone else who is, please join us.

As head of her celebrity sister's production company, Gesine Bullock-Prado had a closet full of designer clothes and the ear of all the influential studio heads, but she was miserable. The only solace she found was in her secret hobby: baking. With every sugary, buttery confection to emerge from her oven, Gesine took one step away from her glittery, empty existence--and one step closer to her true destiny. Before long, she and her husband left the trappings of their Hollywood lifestyle behind, ending up in Vermont, where they started the gem known as Gesine Confectionary. And they never looked back. 

The ingredients of her story will appeal to anyone who has ever considered leaving the life they know and completely starting over.

This book is laugh out loud funny and full of amazing recipes. Gesine has a relatable, youthful voice that you will love!

Stop by the store for a recipe card for Starry Starry Night cookies before the event. You can make them in advance and come on December 3rd with questions for Gesine or to share your take on the recipe.

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER.  THE NH SLAM TEAM WILL BE THE FEATURED READERS AT OUR JANUARY OPEN MIC NIGHT ON 1/13/10. SEE YOU THEN! 

Now in it's fourth year, the New Hampshire poetry slam team - a.k.a. "Slam Free or Die" - calls The Bridge Cafe in Manchester it's home.  In August of 2009, the team traveled to West Palm Beach, Florida, to take part in the National Poetry Slam, where they finished 35th out of just under 70 teams, the best since it's inception. 

The team consists of: Matt Biondi, Ari Cameron, Ryan McLellan, Cara "Rollergirl" Losier and Mark "The Colonel" Palos (also the team's coach and venue slam-master).  The team produced a CD of poetry from the Bridge Cafe, titled "Defenders of the Cause 2: Rockstars Against the Forces of Evil" and their team chapbook, "The Great American Rodeo Massacre", is available from Sargent Press.

After the featured readers, we will open the mic for any and all to read. Join us to share or just to listen. Always a good time!

Mary Ann Esposito, cookbook author and host of the long-running PBS cooking show, Ciao Italia, will be here to sign her latest cookbook, Five Ingredient Favorites: Quick and Delicious Recipes from an Italian Kitchen. We'll also have her other best-selling cookbooks on hand, like Ciao Italia Pronto and Ciao Italia Slow and Easy. Her signed cookbooks make great gifts for the gourmets in your life!