Tag: gratitude


I am grateful for: excellent contest entries

As part of the Month of Thanksgiving, I’m running two — TWO! — contests: what are you grateful for? who are you grateful for? Readers have submitted some excellent entries already but I’m greedy. I want more more more! The deadline is Saturday, so take a few minutes to share who or what makes your life better by going to…

I am grateful for: my iPad

When I pull out my iPad in public, it’s interesting how consistently I get the question, “Do you love it?”
Not “Does it live up to the hype?” or “Do you like it?” Almost without exception, “Do you love it?”
And without hesitation, my answer is yes.

I am grateful for: a few of my favorite things

Yesterday I asked you to tell me what you’re grateful for — you could win PRIZES! To get you thinking, here’s a sampling of some posts I’ve written in the past about things I’m grateful for: kitchen gadgets including our mandoline, automatic coffee maker and the SodaStream seltzer maker farmers markets New Orleans Jazz Fest And if you’d like a…

What are you grateful for? Contest #2

  A week ago, I asked who you’re grateful for and some of the great responses that came in ranged from “my husband” to “my daughter’s bus driver.”   There’s still time to enter that contest – and now let’s add another to the mix. Besides the people you’re grateful for, what inanimate objects are you grateful for? What things…

I am grateful for: public art

John has an art show tonight in Brooklyn and I will beam like the proud wife I am seeing his paintings showcased by ContaminateNYC. But one of the things I love about New York is that even when you aren’t at a gallery, museum or other designated art event, you’re surrounded by art. Last Friday we were headed to an…

I am grateful for: changing seasons

Typically I love summer. I love going to the beach and eating at outdoor cafes and wearing little sundresses. This summer was rough on me, though. It was so stinkin’ hot for so long that I felt like I was melting. But even if this summer hadn’t served up week after week of sweltering heat, there’s something cozy about fall’s…

I am grateful for: home cooking

In New York, it’s not uncommon to meet people who don’t cook. At all. They proudly talk about using their fridge only for beverages and maybe leftovers, and keeping shoes or sweaters in their ovens. I’m thankful not to be among them. As much as I do love going out for a good meal, I take serious pleasure in the…

I'm grateful for: people I've never met

A guest post from the ever-fabulous Lara Zielin:   I probably spend too much time online and, if my increasingly strobe-light-like brain is any indication, it might not be doing me as much good as I think. But I will say one thing about the experience: being online, and utilizing social media tools in particular, has connected me to some…

Who are you grateful for?

In the first week of Month of Thanksgiving, I’ve expressed gratitude for things including democracy, traditional jazz and New York City. I also gave thanks for my trainer, and there are plenty more people in my life who make me grateful.* Who are you grateful for? And why? Maybe you thought of your spouse, or your best friend, or the…

I am grateful for: traditional jazz

Preservation Hall Jazz Band plays New York tonight and I’m such a geeky fan girl that I’m going even though I think I’ve seen them five times already this year. Traditional jazz is my soul music. It never fails to make me happy. Whether I am covered in mud on a rainy day at New Orleans Jazz Fest or packed…

Month of Thanksgiving is coming

Thanksgiving is about a month away — on Nov. 25, in case you haven’t checked your calendar. That means I’m getting ready to do another Month of Thanksgiving. Maybe you recall that last year I did a post every day leading up to Thanksgiving, focusing on gratitude and getting in a thankful mindset. What’s so cool is that Paul Taubman,…

Are you being polished by life?

I subscribe to the Quote of the Day e-mail from All About Gratitude. Most of them are pretty good, but this one recently really struck me: “The diamond cannot be polished without friction, nor the man perfected without trials.” ~ Chinese Proverb I love a blog about gratitude reminding me that life’s trials aren’t to be avoided but a path…

Day 31: How will you celebrate your gratitude tomorrow?

Leading up to Thanksgiving, each day I will blog about what I’m doing to be more grateful. I invite you to join me in a Month of Thanksgiving, and to share your thoughts, observations, suggestions and ideas. Day 31: How will you celebrate your gratitude tomorrow? Is it a long tradition or a new idea? When I launched the Month…

Day 30: Giving thanks, social media style

Leading up to Thanksgiving, each day I will blog about what I’m doing to be more grateful. I invite you to join me in a Month of Thanksgiving, and to share your thoughts, observations, suggestions and ideas. Day 30: Tweeting about thankfulness and getting ideas from a blog Thanksgiving is this week and that means lots of other people are…

Day 29: Life's messy and that's OK

There are certain life events that seem to amplify our natural tendencies toward perfectionism — planning a wedding and hosting Thanksgiving dinner among them.
We pull out a Martha Stewart yard stick to measure our efforts and almost certainly fall short. In real life, most of us don’t have a staff of dozens invisibily helping and we won’t make five turkeys so we can photograph whichever one looks most perfectly golden, then Photoshop out any flaws.
In short, real life is messy.

Day 28: Giving thanks for my family

Leading up to Thanksgiving, each day I will blog about what I’m doing to be more grateful. I invite you to join me in a Month of Thanksgiving, and to share your thoughts, observations, suggestions and ideas. Day 28: Giving thanks for my family The New York Times had an article earlier this week about breathtakingly bad behavior family members…