This weekend’s New York Times magazine (p11) had a rundown of quirky items you could buy from vending machines around the world: Gold bars – Abu Dhabi (just how many coins would you need to put in?) Cupcakes – LA (sold!) Nail Polish – Paris. Hmm. Bras – Tokyo. Seriously. Live Bait – Reading, Pennyslvania. (eek). Marijuana – Boulder, Colorado. What would you like to find in a vending machine that would make your day easier? Here’s mine: A flask of uber-confidence, to be swigged before a big presentation, a job interview or when you’re about to meet your ex’s new partner. The perfect… [Read More]
Laughter
Laughter is surprisingly canny (as opposed to, say, canned laughter). On the surface, it’s just an amused reaction to something funny: lighthearted, guttural, fleeting. Yet it has surprising power to ease tension at the highest levels or seal instant friendships, and its healing benefits have long been touted. You can even enroll for laughter therapy. In California. Of course. A baby’s laughter is surely one of life’s intoxicating sounds. When little ones are amused, their joyous gurgles bubble up from within. They’re fully in the moment, sometimes unaware of anyone else, perhaps fully engaged in their own toes. And it’s… [Read More]
Handling Compliments
A lot of women struggle with compliments – and I was one of them for years. If you’re complimented on a dress, how do you respond? “Oh, this old thing?” We can make others feel silly for their seemingly questionable taste. Others think a compliment must be automatically volleyed back to the giver, something like a shuttlecock in badminton. “You look great!” gushes one girl. “You too!” squeals the other. It sounds like a scene in a slasher movie, right before the prom queen meets a grisly fate. And a Savvy Girl takes a moment to compliment an older lady…. [Read More]
A graceful breakup: is it possible?
“The lying, cheating husband sale”. A Canadian woman made headlines recently when she offloaded her husband’s possessions “while he is gone… with his floozie.” She placed an ad trumpeting the event, and offered, at no additional cost, for patrons to see her cheating spouse’s clothes. More specifically, the ashes of his clothes. In the driveway. You can’t deny her impact—she vowed he would return to a near-empty house. But it begs the question: is there a graceful way to break up with someone, or tell a spouse you want a divorce? I recall the campus lore of a scorned girlfriend… [Read More]
One Fabulous Tip on Public Speaking
Making a wedding toast. Presenting at work. Persuading a jury you really are an upstanding citizen (despite those drunken videos online). Public speaking is a fabulous life skill, and it needn’t be a daunting one to acquire. Whether we speak to agitate, educate or entertain, being able to speak in front of others helps across social and professional settings. What’s a Savvy Girl to do? I can’t recommend Toastmasters enough (& to be clear, I don’t get a cent for endorsement.) I thought TM was a stuffy organization, full of men in tweed suits and women in twinsets and pearls,… [Read More]
The Perks of Laryngitis (really).
I’ve just shrugged off a bout of laryngitis— and despite a red-raw throat, there were unexpected perks. First: not being able to talk at my usual 90mph. At the hairdressers’, our dynamic changed. We normally chat nonstop about life, movies, and the headlines—in between solving the world’s problems (if he’d added the ten-minute hot oil treatment, we would have nailed the mid-east peace process.) Instead, I listened. And without our rapid-fire volleys, we shifted gears. To the pain of seeing his elderly mother enter a home. To his worries that his son is struggling at school. Sure, we still laughed,… [Read More]
The women who live in my wallet
… and by wallet I mean purse. And by purse I mean bag. And by bag, I mean the leather monstrosity (big enough to move into) that fell on my head while spring-cleaning. In it, I found a stack of old ID cards. As I spread them out, they evoked my journey so far. A sample: LIBRARY CARD, circa high-school: fresh-faced, I gaze out, all straightened teeth and sparkly eyes. Pity about the perm. Yes. A perm. Shaped to my head (a moment’s silence, to reflect on just how bad that is). The card evokes water-stained taffeta dresses, an after-school… [Read More]
Mistaken Identity: I am *not* the Boob Blogger.
Some people share their name with rock stars, world leaders or Nobel Laureates. Not me. I call it The Case of the Curious Stats (as in statistics). Like most sites, this website allows us to monitor general data—which countries are represented, which pages are most viewed etc. I was curious to see a recent spike in hits from Spain. Lovely, I thought…someone had picked up my blog in Barcelona or Madrid? The numbers continued to grow. Within a few days I was tossing my hair in that slightly-self-satisfied way, worthy of a shampoo commercial (I drew the line at winking). Then… [Read More]
MY ELIZABETH TAYLOR MOMENT (marrying the same man twice)
His proposal came in the middle of a job interview. I had just returned from London and Jon wanted me to move into the boarding school where he worked and lived. The school principal agreed—on one condition. He was a tall man, and he spread his long arms out like wings to make his point as the verdict was delivered. “I’d love to have you here,” he told me, “but you can’t live in sin. I’ll give you four weeks to get married.” “I think not”, I sniffed, not about to forfeit our wedding day for a quick, drive-by affair…. [Read More]