In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I recently purchased Margaret Visser’s latest book, “The Gift of Thanks: The Roots and Rituals of Gratitude.” Anticipating this would be a light and educational read about Thanksgiving and its traditions, I was pleasantly surprised. The book was filled with so much more. Visser explores virtually everything one could ever imagine in relation to gratitude and thanks. Margaret’s book is an examination of what gratitude is and how it functions in our lives. “Gratitude is a moral emotion of sorts,” explains Visser, “one that is more complicated and more vital than we think.”
In “The Gift of Thanks,” Visser acknowledges that simple politeness is the grease that keeps society running. She also believes being grateful is not natural but, rather a learned behavior. Visser writes about the humility required to be genuinely grateful and carefully details the kind of gratitude that is not compulsory or self-interested.
“Gratitude is always a matter of paying attention,” Margaret writes, “it’s deliberately beholding and appreciating the other.” She admits that gratitude is fundamentally, about not taking things for granted. “Gratitude arises from a specific circumstance – being given a gift or done a favor – but, depends less upon that, than on the receiver’s whole life, her character, upbringing, maturity, experience, relationships with others, and also on her ideals, including her idea of the sort of person she is or would like to be,” exclaims Visser.
This was a timely and influential book and I am “grateful” to have read it.
The way you dress sends messages and affects how others view you. Women are often judged by the way they dress and present themselves at work. Many professional women are guilty of several fashion mistakes when it comes to getting dressed for the office. Often their lack of judgment can lead to being passed over for a job or promotion.
Gino Velardi , a Denver native and self taught fashion designer, is hosting his first fashion show since suffering a stroke in 2006. The event will be held Friday, November 13 at Invesco Field. The fashion show will benefit Dress for Success Denver, a nonprofit organization promoting the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing them with professional attire, a network of support and the career development tools necessary to be successful in work and in life. 
The story is called, “What Everyone But You Sees About Your Body” and features a model that certainly looks as if she is comfortable in her own skin. “The woman on p. 194” is pictured in her underwear, proudly showing her belly and looking absolutely radiant. She is 20-year-old model Lizzi Miller, a size 12-14, softball player and belly dancer. Lizzi moved to New York City from San Jose three years ago to become a model. She is a “plus-size” model by modeling industry standards, though at size 12 she is actually “normal size.”
July is National Cell Phone Courtesy Month, an event founded in 2002 by Jacqueline Whitmore, author of “Business Class: Etiquette Essentials for Success at Work” and President of The Protocol School of Palm Beach, Inc. The goal is to help people learn how to be more courteous while using their cellphones. This is very timely as Monday, June 29, a journalist’s cell phone, which had a quacking duck ringtone, interrupted President Obama’s speech. Please see the link below to view this mishap.
In the United States today, there are 40 million women who wear a size 14 or larger. These women spend over $25 billion a year on clothing, or a quarter of all clothing sales according to American Demographics. With this in mind, would you believe there has never been a “Fashion Week” dedicated to showcasing the latest fashions available to these curvy consumers? That is until now. Finally, fashion’s “Invisible Women” have their week. For the first time in history a partnership of independent fashion designers, retailers, event producers, models and plus size businesses will join forces to bring the Fashion Week experience to these plus size consumers. Full Figured Fashion Week (FFFWeek) will launch in New York City, June 25-27, 2009.
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