Jeffrey Saad: A Finale Party that Marks the Beginning

After months of being sworn to silence, Jeffrey's Saad's secret was out last night.  The LA based real estate agent came in second place on The Next Food Network Star, losing top honors to stay-at-home, self trained cook Melissa d'Arabian.  Jeffrey, of course, has known the outcome of the show (which taped last winter in NYC) along with his wife and two children - but for his friends - it's been an excruciating cat and mouse game. "Does he seem any different?  Ok, if he won, why are the kids enrolling in school next year?  Wouldn't they be moving to NY to start taping his new show?  Why does he seem so happy if he didn't win? He must be the winner!"  While we played the guessing game, the entire Saad family remained completely mum on the topic, a feat for which they deserve serious kudos.

Texting and Toasting - A Recipe for Rudeness

I remember when texting devices came on the  market a few years ago.  Several of my close girlfriends got them.  I clearly recall sitting at lunch with them - trying to hide my puzzled look - as they texted away. They would dart their eyes off of me, pausing our conversation, to answer messages as they came in. Now, mind you, these were not surgeons or CEO's of Fortune 500 companies. These were stay-at-home mothers - most of whom spent the day doing errands, shopping and lunching with friends.  It used to peeve me to no end.

Nowadays, I am much more familiar with this trend (I even text myself!) and am not afraid to tell my friends to put their devices away when we are together.   I simply say,"love the one you're with!" and they get my drift.

Do You Hear the People Sing?

“Do you hear the people sing, singing a song of angry men?

It is the music of a people who will not be slaves again.

When the beating of your heart echoes the beating of the drums,

There is a life about to start when tomorrow comes!”

 

For a few weeks now, I have had the songs from Les Miz running through my head at all hours of the day and night. Some nights they keep me awake. I find myself singing silently as I struggle to sleep. Well, I can’t purge the music; nor do I want to. I spent Tuesday night in Grant Park, Chicago, with a quarter million others and I felt that we were a revolution of sorts. A peaceful revolution. A convergence of disparate souls with a common goal. Reaching, reaching, reaching for two years now…on the campaign trail…in our homes…at schools…at work…on the streets of our cities…we and the millions and millions of other Obama supporters around the globe who are finished with traditional American government. 

photo: Ken Solomon

Condoleezza Rice on Obama and Future Plans

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the Bush administration’s highest-ranking African American official, is hailing the election of the first black US President, an is pledging to do all she can to make the transition smooth for the incoming Obama administration. 

Today Rice called President-elect Obama “inspirational” adding “this is a country that has been through a long journey in terms of overcoming wounds and making race not the factor in our lives.  That work is not done, but yesterday was obviously an extraordinary step forward.”

Rice was here in California two weeks ago at the Governor and First Lady’s Women Conference in Long Beach. At a luncheon Q & A, said she will not seek public office. She plans to go back to Stanford University and teach.

So You Want to Start Your Own Business? Learn from Some Pros

 One of the sessions I attended at the Governor and First Lady's Conference on Women in Long Beach this past week was "So You Want To Start Your Own Business? How To do It & Enjoy It.”  Panelists included Arianne de Bonavoisin, Author of The First 30 Days: Your Guide to Any Change, model & Project Runway host Heidi Klum, Chiqui Cartagena, Marketing executive at Meredith Hispanic Ventures and Leslie Blodgett, CEO of cosmetics company Bare Escentuals.

Paper vs. Plastic: The Country Picks a President

Many Americans face one particular dilemma every time they go to the grocery store. Should they request paper bags or plastic bags? I’d like to compare this to the dilemma many Americans may have when they go to the polls next Tuesday. Let me see if I can help these voters out of their quandary.

Men We Love: Michael J. Fox by Linda Grasso

 

     Michael J. Fox was a panelist at the California Governor and First Lady’s Conference in Long Beach this week.  The onetime actor is now head of a foundation that raises money for Parkinson’s disease, having been diagnosed at the peak of his career in 1991.  The panel was entitled “Men We Love”, and also included surfer Laird Hamilton and hip hop pioneer Russell Simmons. The panelists were all described as “men who are using their voices to change the world.” 

      Fox, unquestionably, had the most riveting comments. In the past, one could barely tell he was afflicted with Parkinson’s.  But the disease has clearly progressed in recent years.  The once subtle trembles are now pronounced – and have spread to his legs and feet, which visibly shook throughout the hour-long symposium.  

Gov. Schwartznegger and 1st Lady's Women's Conference by Linda Grasso

 

         I just returned from the California Governor and First Lady’s Conference on Women in Long Beach. It was a worthwhile adventure (thank you Tracy Berglass for inviting me!).  In addition to meeting some wonderful women, I got to hear life experiences and wisdom from some of the most brilliant, brave dynamic women in the world - Condoleezza Rice, Madeleine Albright, and Gloria Steinem to name a few.  Okay, there were a few men, but they weren't just tokens.  Warren Buffet, Bono, Michael J. Fox and Russell Simmons were also speakers. There was also formidable star power if you’re into that kind of thing – with Heidi Klum, Sally Field, Jenny McCarthy and Jennifer Lopez.

Facebook Nation: Are We Losing Touch? by Margot Calabrese

A number of years ago, I was having dinner with some friends at a now defunct steak place in L.A. I remember a conversation we were having that night (over very dry martinis) that's stayed with me ever since. We were discussing the effects of technology on the ability to communicate verbally and physically and I put forth a hypothesis that the human race would eventually evolve into beings that did not need human touch.

J-Lo in The Daily Beast

Former Vanity Fair Editor Tina Brown is debuting her own saucy website The Daily Beast. Well done – bravo Tina! After you bookmark the site, check out Kevin Sessums article on J-Lo. It was supposed to be in “a major fashion magazine” but according to Sessums, J-Lo insisted it get pulled – as she didn’t like some of the topics addressed including her views on Scientology, hawking photos of her newborn twins for 6 million, and a