Archives - Weekly Update

Monday night I was a presenter at the Books for a Better Life Awards. I always enjoy this evening as we recognize authors who have written books that motivate and change people’s lives. Now having an awards ceremony the night after the Oscars had me in a mindset where I had perfected my “may I have the envelope please” line.

As I was gathering notes for this newsletter last night, a close friend sent word that my very first boss, Nonnie Moore, the fashion director when I was at Mademoiselle magazine, had passed away at the age of 87. Nonnie was a legend in the fashion business and worked at Harper's Bazaar and GQ as well as Mademoiselle. She was so much fun to be around as she had this marvelous energy that surrounded her, an enthusiasm for life that was contagious and a smile that lit up the room. Now I was not a fashionista --- unlike most of the women in the fashion department --- so when I started there I had a very funny epiphany. In many conversations, Nonnie, Edith Raymond Locke, the editor in chief, and Sandy Horvitz, the senior fashion editor, would talk about Willi, Perry and Ralph. I thought these were their husbands. No, they were designers Willi Smith, Perry Ellis and Ralph Lauren. And, oh, sometimes they threw in Calvin, you know Klein, in there just to mix things up.

The wind over the past 36 hours in the New York area has me feeling like I could end up in Kansas at any moment passing Dorothy on her way to Oz. The weather has been warm, which has ensured that all the snow has melted. I am hoping it does not snow next week as my husband is traveling and I have no clue how to run the tractor/snow blower. If I have to deal with this, I am sure it would unfold like an "I Love Lucy" episode. The lawn would get plowed and I would hit a few trees. Yes, the boys will oblige if needed, but I am not sure that they will have more fun riding or clearing. I know, I know, I could read the manual, but I confess that while I love to read books, somehow reading instruction manuals is something that just evades me, so I never know what half the buttons on most of the electronics that I own actually do!

My last two weeks have been more hectic than I want to think about. If I think about them too much, I may need a nap. But each day I still have found time to read before I fall asleep. I gave some thought this morning as to why this happens, because with me everything has to have a reason, and came up with this. Reading before bedtime allows me to escape into a world with characters who have their own stories to share. And for a lovely few moments, minutes, hours, I am able to drop into their lives and mine fades away. And then I can sleep. These past weeks I have been grabbing my nighttime book in the morning as well, reading a few pages before my day gets started. I like starting the day with a book as much as I liked ending it this way. I wonder how many of you have ever found yourselves doing the same thing.