Where is Mr. Miyagi when we need him? The Japanese-American actor Pat Morita played the fictional character Mr. Miyagi in one of my favorite movie franchises - The Karate Kid. In the movies, Mr. Miyagi was responsible for training a young man named Daniel LaRusso (played by the actor Ralph Macchio) to become a competitive martial artist. You may recall the “unconventional” training methods that Mr. Miyagi used to teach Daniel karate, for instance waxing cars, sanding floors and painting fences. I have watched the original movie from 1984 (and its sequels) so many times over the years and each time I am struck by the wisdom and messages filled within. There was a method to Miyagi's madness and it wasn't to get his household chores done by Daniel. As a matter of fact, there are so many life-lessons and words of wisdom from the extremely wise and wonderful Mr. Miyagi that they have come to be known as “Miyagisms”. One of the brilliant pieces of advice given to the Karate Kid was Mr. Miyagi repeatedly telling Daniel “you need to focus Daniel-San. Always look (in the) eye.” When he got frustrated with Daniel, he told him “Daniel-san, your focus needs more focus.” The reason that Mr. Miyagi did not want Daniel to lose eye contact is because he knew that the minute that Daniel looked away, he would get distracted, lose his focus and not be able to see his opponent coming. He taught him the importance of living a balanced life and not letting distractions prevent him from reaching his goals. Read More

Do you have a boss that emails you about work after hours and on the weekends? Have you ever said to yourself - “there ought to be a law against that!”? Well then you will be happy to hear that a NYC legislator has recently proposed legislation that will prohibit your boss from having an all-access pass to your time. While we don’t all live in NYC, it is only a matter of time before other law makers follow suit. After all, we are several years behind other countries on this issue. Two years ago a law went into effect in France that gives workers the legal right to to avoid responding to work emails or texts at night and on the weekends. In NYC, the superhero working on this issue is Rafael Espinal, who is a city council member from Brooklyn. He recently introduced the “disconnecting from work” bill that will make it illegal for businesses to contact employees via email or instant message when they are off duty, on vacation, using personal days or home sick.  Read More

Today is Major League Baseball's Opening Day and for just the second time in history, every baseball team will begin their season on the exact same day. All 30 teams are on the schedule to play today. Many people look forward to this day with great anticipation as the excitement mounts for a new season. 'Hope springs eternal' in the heart of every baseball fan since, as of today, every single team is in first place. I hear people saying things like "the lineup looks good this year", "they looked great in Spring Training", "I'm so glad we signed that free agent!" However, when a baseball fan hears the expression "he dropped the ball", positive images are not conjured up. I am married to a life-long, die-hard Red Sox fan, so the phrase "dropping the ball" invokes a PTS-like response and brings him right back to Bill Buckner in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series against the New York Mets (if you don't know what I am talking about, google it). The phrase "drop the ball" is defined as "making a mistake, mishandling things" as in "I really dropped the ball on this one." So you may be surprised that my advice to you today, on this Opening Day, is to intentionally DROP THE BALL! Read More

I recently realized that I was buying fresh herbs from the grocery store every week. I love adding fresh basil, rosemary and parsley to my meals and I think it's wonderful to be able to add fresh mint to lemon water. When I looked at several months' worth of my grocery receipts, it occurred to me that if I grew my own herbs, that I could save a lot of money. Then I remembered that I live in the northeast and winter seems to last forever (especially this year) which is not conducive to cultivating a year-round herb garden! What a coincidence it was when I turned on the television and my favorite tv shopping channel was featuring a countertop herb grower! When I first set the thing up, I was skeptical about my green thumb potential because there is absolutely no soil involved in the growing process. The herbs come in pods and are grown completely in water...lots of water and nutrients that are added weekly. In addition to a full spectrum lighting system, the countertop growing process is supported by a reservoir of water that, at various times throughout the day, you can hear "swishing" through and around the roots of the herbs. In a matter of weeks I had a fantastic supply of basil, mint, thyme and dill. The best part? NO WEEDING NECESSARY! There is practically no work involved in this process...just filling it up with water every few days. Read More

There are many benefits to using technology – traveling around the world, connecting with loved ones, learning in the classroom, and even saving lives in hospitals! However, like anything else, technology can be overused and even abused. Read More

65 is definitely the new 30! You don't have to look very far for proof. Did you watch this year's Academy Awards? If you did, then you saw Jane Fonda and Rita Moreno (who are both in their 80's) and Helen Mirren and Faye Dunaway (both of whom are in their 70's)...all four women looked absolutely fabulous, defying their ages and defining red carpet grace, glamour and elegance! How about Eva Marie Saint? It is hard to believe that she is 93 years old!! Even though this year's award winners were predictable and the show ran almost one hour overtime, I was glad to have tuned in and inspired by the aforementioned timeless beauties.For years you have heard the saying "age is just a number", but do you actually believe it? When you count the candles on your cake each year, are you grateful for the life journey you have been on or do you go into an annual birthday meltdown? You may not like the fact that I entitled this blog "65 is the new 30" because it should be okay for 65 to be 65! There is a reason for this title and the reason is: Kathie Lee Gifford... Read More

...these are a few of my favorite things! Do you recognize these lyrics? They are from my favorite musical "The Sound of Music" starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. The calendar says that Spring will be here in less than two weeks even though Mother Nature obviously has other plans. Before we got sacked this week with yet another Nor'easter, the snow was beginning to melt. Something happened in my neighborhood as the snow was melting that literally stopped me in my tracks. Read More

The 2018 Winter Olympics are now in our collective rear-view mirrors. There were so many memorable moments and if you tuned in, you probably had your favorites. Did you stay up until the wee hours of the morning to watch the Women's Hockey team capture the Gold medal? Were you as exhilarated as I was to watch Mikaela Shiffrin win the Women's Giant Slalom and 17-year old Red Gerard win the US's first Olympic medal when he took the Gold in the Snowboarding Slopestyle? Perhaps you tuned in to watch the extremely entertaining banter between NBC's Figure Skating Analysts Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir, two former world champions themselves. Whatever your take-away was from the games, we can probably all agree that there were many inspiring messages and stories that we can learn from the elite athletes who represented our country so well Read More

Earlier this week, my dear childhood neighbor had a huge milestone anniversary - 50 golden years on Public Television. No, of course I did not really live in the same neighborhood as the beloved Mister Rogers, but he sure did make me feel like I did. There are several generations of people who know exactly what I am talking about. Was it the catchy opening theme song? Was it because he broke the "4th wall of television" by looking us straight in the eye and speaking directly to his audience? Could it be that there were only 4 or 5 television stations back then and there wasn't much else to watch? I truly think it is because Fred Rogers knew exactly what we all needed...a warm and friendly welcome, a very calming and soothing demeanor, and the comfort of knowing that our dear friend and neighbor would be there to greet us each and every day. Given what is going on in the world right now, we sure could use a warm and friendly face reaching out to soothe us during these turbulent times. Read More

Do your friends refer to you as "the life of the party"? That is not something that I was ever known as since I was typically the one planning, cooking for and serving at the parties. It's a great thing to be known for, because it ensures repeat invitations and a booked social calendar. I was recently thinking about the phrase "life of the party" because it is the title of a soon-to-be-released movie written by one of my favorite comedic actresses, Melissa McCarthy and her husband Ben Falcone. The premise of the film is that McCarthy's character decides to recover from the breakup of her marriage by doing something for herself that she has always wanted to do...go back to college and get her degree. She ends up on the same college campus as her daughter and, in typical Melissa McCarthy fashion, hilarious antics ensue! Read More