Photo by Michael Yarish

I have been consumed by Mad Men madness. I think what’s so compelling about the show is witnessing a way of life that is so foreign from our lives today. A way of life that included a three martini lunch followed by a scotch on the rocks afternoon meeting; cigarettes being smoked everywhere including the doctor’s exam room, by the doctor, nevertheless; and a diet of meat, potatoes and canned vegetables.

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I’m a member of Women Business Owners and am on the Ambassador Committee, which is essentially the committee that greets and orients new members. We had a committee meeting last week and the topic of thank you notes came up. 

One member mentioned she had sent her nephews on both sides of the family high school graduation gifts. One nephew hand-wrote a lovely note thanking her for the pen and the gift card. The other nephew neither wrote a note nor thanked her.

She said she chided the unmannerly nephew and said that the other nephew would be the one who goes further in life because a handwritten thank you note helps you stand out as a job candidate, friend, etc.

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The other day my husband, Eric, and I grabbed a fast dinner at Whole Foods Market. We love the variety of options and how easy it is to get a quick meal.

As I was enjoying my chicken mole I noticed a very nicely dressed family sit down near us with their dinner. They must have been at a formal event because they definitely stood out amongst the rest of the jeans and t-shirt crowd. The family was a mom, dad and their son, who looked to be about 11 or 12. I had to laugh because the boy had chosen a sensible dinner of salmon but no vegetables. I surmised that the parents had given up fighting him to eat his veggies because they didn’t seem to be bothered by his choice.

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My husband Eric and I received a high school graduation announcement for our neighbor Catherine, who lives across the street. It’s hard to believe this young woman will soon be leaving home and heading to college. It seems like just yesterday she was a little girl playing with dolls.

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If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook you may have read in a post or two that I don’t like to cook. Thankfully my husband Eric doesn’t mind too much being the house chef. However, we agreed Sunday dinner is my one night to cook. To make cooking my Sunday meal more fun, I listen to upbeat music on my iPod. I dance around the kitchen as I measure, chop and sauté and I sing at the top of my lungs. Poor Eric.

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I recently taught a social skills etiquette class to some high school students from Puget Sound Community School. One of the topics I covered was poise. I asked my students what poise meant to them. They replied “good posture”, “being confident” and “grace”. While those are part of poise there is more to it.

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I stopped in the grocery store the other day, looking for a special item in addition to the ginger snap cookies my husband had requested. I didn’t find what I wanted but in addition to the ginger snaps I grabbed a bag of potato chips that were calling to me and some jelly beans for my kid’s etiquette class. 

As I paid for my three junk food items the clerk, who kept staring at me, asked me if I was feeling alright. He said my skin color didn’t look right. I thought of saying “Oh don’t worry, I eat an apple once a week to make sure I get my vitamins.” Kidding aside, I was both angry and embarrassed he asked me such a personal question. While he may have meant well, it was not his place to comment.

It is rude to ask questions of such a personal nature. Do not ask people things like how they broke their arm, got their black eye, if they color their hair, etc. While you may be dying to know the answer, be mannerly and forgo the curiosity. People will share their stories with you if they want you to know. Make sense? Good, now I’ve go to go and eat an apple.

A second cousin of mine, who I have been corresponding with via email and through letters, mentioned she was coming to Seattle for her grandnephew’s baptism. I was excited to see her as it had been probably 30 years since I’d seen her last. I invited her over for afternoon tea.

I have a cute yellow teapot that I bought years ago at an antique store and some lovely china my mom gave me, so I decided this was a good excuse to have a tea party. I knew I wanted to serve traditional tea fare, but wasn’t quite sure what that was. In my search for ideas, I found a recipe for cucumber mint sandwiches. They were very easy to make and so delicious.

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