My Blog

When Celia Quillian began planning her first trip since the pandemic in mid-March, she had a few criteria as she searched for the right destination— temperate weather in spring, not crowded with tourists, and within the U.S. With all that in mind, Quillian, who lives in Atlanta, G.A., decided to try something new and plugged her wish list into ChatGPT. “I asked it to give me ten recommendations, just to see what it could do,” Quillian said. The AI [...]

How to solo travel - and why you absolutely should This article from one of my favorite newsletters - TPG The Points Guy - and it really speaks to me. I love traveling solo and do so often. I am divorced and presently single and with rare exceptions, instead of going through the process of syncing up schedules and travel desires with family or friends - I just go. Never happier than my rollaboard in tow in an uber [...]

A meditation on a few top-of-mind topics these days: Kindness - The quality of being friendly, generous, considerate  Random Acts of Kindness Foundation quotes. Gratitude - The quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness. Ever made a gratitude list?  Try it.  How to Practice Gratitude at mindful.org Acceptance - strive for excellence but move towards acceptance when things don’t work out as you would like. Letting go does not mean approval of an unpalatable situation, it [...]

Do you have a knack for connecting with people? Emotional intelligence is the ability to identify and understand emotions — both your own and the emotions of others. Research has shown that this is a rare and valuable asset. Emotional intelligence can help you build and strengthen relationships, defuse conflict, and improve overall job satisfaction. Psychology experts say that if you use these 13 phrases every day without even thinking about it, you have higher emotional intelligence than most people: "Could you tell me more about [...]

I started planning a trip in early 2020 to travel in May 2020 - and you know what happened then. Finally, May 16th 2023 we coordinated our schedules and set off on the resurrected trip to Africa. We being myself and my 2 kids in their 20’s. We were gone 19 days and from every perspective the trip was an amazing success - the itinerary, the execution and services, the places we went, where we stayed, what we did, [...]

The past few years have changed the way Americans deal with their homes and real estate, in general. Shelter-in-place orders spiked a renewed interest in home renovations to accommodate a new family dynamic of remote work and homeschooling. Then, a sudden spike in home prices and interest rates caused many would-be homebuyers to reexamine their plans to purchase a home. For many, the best option became home renovation instead. As this trend continues, it’s very possible that you might [...]

theSkimm - for news and culture delivered at an easier pace. Are you familiar with the skimm’s Daily Skimm? A daily subscription newsletter to your email inbox that reviews the news in short bite sized bits and some links to topics of interest from there. In addition to a review of the hard news topics of the day they have bits like this one on Wellness. Why is Sunlight important to regulate your sleep cycle?

Bedding. All those gorgeous pictures of the ultimate bedscape, whether Pottery Barn, West Elm or other lifestyle and furnishings brands, wouldn’t it be nice to know where to begin to create the look? Here is a great place to start with some Bedroom Ideas and Design. Bring your dream bedroom to life with one-on-one design help and hand-picked products tailored to your style, space and budget here.  The bed itself is the focal point so  21 very best Duvet Covers. [...]

It can be confusing what’s happening with the economy. The Fed raised rates but the economy is cooling.  And yet mortgage rates went down on the heels of the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) failure.  Here are a couple of articles to get some straight talk: The Fed Where housing inventory has increased the most (not in California!) Mortgage rates fall to lowest level in 6 weeks Abnormal Returns - compiling articles across many topics