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If you’re in the mood for an adventure that’s totally out of your comfort zone may we suggest a visit to Madame Tussauds Wax Museum in The Big Apple.

In 2010, the French government created a better-than-five-star classification for Paris hotels. Now, eight hotels can proclaim “palace” status. Is this the famous arrogance that the French are often described as having – or is it simply a 21st century fact of life?

My very favorite newspaper, bar none, is the Weekend Edition of the Financial Times ­(sorry, New York Times). The paper has a number of terrific columnists and one of the best is Simon Kuper and his column Opening Shot.

In his column of May 27, 2017, he writes about a recently published book, titled The Sum of Small Things by Elizabeth Currid-Halkett, a professor at the University of Southern California.

High-rise denim has been lurking around for awhile now. I would look, turn away and wouldn't see them again for some time, not knowing when or where they would turn up. As with trends, one doesn't ever know if they'll stick. And, if they do stick, how long they will actually stay around for. 



Last September, I had a conversation with a NYC teacher who handles second graders. I was astounded when she said, “Only ___ days to go to the end of the school year.” Then she added, “And four years until I retire.” Recently, one of my West coast relatives, who’s a therapist in private practice said, “When the new school year approaches, I have a number of teachers who tell me they are dreading the first week of school.”

As I write this, it's an unusually chilly night in New York City. As the rain continued all day, I got thinking about summer. It's August, and the days are already getting shorter. In turn, we need to maximize the rest of summer while we have the sunshine and warm days.

Remember the 1990 movie, Pretty Woman, with Julie Roberts playing the hooker with a heart-of-gold? The scene where she goes shopping in Beverly Hills’ Rodeo Drive and was snubbed by snooty saleswomen caused A LOT of comment. And the reason is this: at some point every female shopper has had to deal with this situation.

Recently, I was able to attend an American Ballet Theatre production of Swan Lake at New York City's Lincoln Center. The dancers, the costumes, the lighting and the venue were all superb. I went with two friends - one who was a seasoned ballet observer while the other was new to the art. It allowed for dynamic conversations that even made me think about ballet.

It’s empowering to do a task, or take on a project, that seems overwhelming. If you succeed, you feel absolutely terrific. That’s why I’ve decided to write about “Women Who Are Firsts.” I’ve listed nine here – all are different – but they have one unifying theme: they did it BEFORE ANYONE ELSE.

In these unsettling days, we all seem to think that Amazon is taking over the world. Not quite. At least not in New York City, according to a recent article in the New York Post of 4/25/17 by Lois Weiss, who sums up the current situation this way.

I put Emily Post’s Etiquette, 19th Edition by Lizzie Post and Daniel Post Senning on reserve at the library in late May. On June 5th, I went to pick it up and almost fell over when I lifted the book off the shelf. It was huge!

We planned to see the Kawakubo exhibit on May 25th so I decided to prep for it by reading a write-up on the web titled “A Sneak Peek at the Met’s Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons Show” by Matthew Schneier that appeared in The New York Times on March 6th. “The Met exhibit has definitely been a talking point of the Paris Fashion Week,” Schneier wrote.