It is holiday season which for many translates to gifting season. This is an unofficial poll question. Do you prefer to have input into a gift or is the surprise part of the gift for you? I know that many take hard positions on either side of this debate. For me, I’m caught in the middle. One of my favorite gifts (yes this is true) was the y …
I spent most of my Thanksgiving feeling blessed and grateful. This past weekend, we were able to spend time with both of our children. For those of you with grown children, you know that can be a feat of epic proportions. These days, spending time together often requires thoughtful planning since we are all in different cities and on differen …
The other day, someone was explaining to me the importance of good listening and said – “there is a reason that we have two ears and one mouth.” That resonated with me. The art of good listening comes naturally to some but it can also be an acquired skill. When you are meeting a new client for the first time, if you use your one mouth more th …
This time of year makes me happy. The excitement between Thanksgiving and New Year’s is special. The city sparks a different energy and focus. The lights, decorations, not to mention the sales. Black Friday is around the corner. And, of course, the tree at Rockefeller Center. This year, something particularly special is coming our way …
Thanks, son. Around 6:30 on Monday evening, my texts light up with that all important reminder. I wonder all the time why I can’t be more like Rona. I know her blog writing routine is a weekend endeavor on a quiet morning with a cup of coffee. For me, I like to wait until the end of the day to decide what topic has grabbed me. Of course, som …
Goes a long way for everyone around. I watched a scene unfold the other day on the other side of a crowded LIRR train. A woman joined the crowd who was clearly pregnant and the train was crowded. I will admit that I usually jump up for a pregnant woman on a train, plane or in an automobile. I remember what it was like to stand for two all the …
How many of you still pay your child’s cell phone bill? I know this is a regular conversation amongst my friends. Mind you, we are not talking about teenagers around this table but rather grown adults. This past weekend, out of the blue, my son called to say he needed our mobile account password because he was switching phone carriers and taki …
Well, he is pretty darned cute. You may all remember (or not) about two years ago we welcomed Hudson, my first grand puppy, to the family. Yes, I was and continue to be a little obsessed. Many of my friends are at the grandchildren stage. We are not. Instead, we have grandpuppies. And so with that, welcome Walter! Walter became a member …
Did you ever notice the energy in the room when a bunch of Gothamites come together? I have been taken recently by how comfortable and open our connections are when we are in the same room. You can’t pass any group conversation without hearing someone say – “You might want to meet . . . “ This observation was loud and clear to me last week at …
Here is my question for our Gotham family today. My grandmother lived until just past her100th birthday. Pretty amazing. My mom always believed that once you pass a certain age, the medical profession just stops trying as hard. [Feel free to ask me which age fit my mom’s theory.] She was always concerned that something fixable would be mis …
Tomorrow morning my daughter starts school. OK, it’s a PhD program so she’s had a first day of school for more years than I will count. But it still feels fresh. As she was brimming with excitement tonight talking about the start of the program, it took me back to all of those first day of schools for her. Remember the excitement of new scho …
We are all in the people business in one form or another. We all service human beings. Those human beings might represent a business, but they are nonetheless humans. As service professionals, our job is to make those human beings feel important and appreciated. We could accomplish that goal in any number of different ways. So, let’s take a …
This feels like the old days of blogs when Don Bernstein would start us off with a story line and we would each move the story forward one day at a time. Now I’m picking up from Rona’s blog picking up from Fred’s blog. To Rona’s point that it is too easy to respond by text, social media or what have you. It is. But what gets me are the soc …
When my son turned junior in college, it was COVID. We really did not like the idea of public transportation and its contamination and I wasn’t leaving the house very much anyway. So, off to college he went that year with our old but reliable and easy to drive Honda. For the next three years, for the most part I drove a 22 year old minivan (wit …
What did you think of Prime Day this year? Are you an Amazon shopper and did you indulge? I completely passed this year, and I have to admit I am a bit of an Amazon fan. The convenience is hard to beat. But, the Prime Day hype just didn’t call me this year. Apparently I was in the minority as it seems this Prime Day 2023 was Amazon’s most su …
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