Sunday, May 17, 2015

Ladies Seriously! Let's treat one another with some respect, celebrate success!

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen seriously!  Happy Spring into Summer.  It was a lovely day in Chi-Town yesterday.  Ruby Caroline got a chance to enjoy a bar patio yesterday as we got the dogs together so some friends could socialize and MAYBE have a few drinks.  :)  I am busy packing for my next trip to Australia for another three weeks with the gorge blonde.  I am so looking forward to the trip...highlights include:  Vivid in Sydney and dinner with Sara (who lives there), selfie with a Quokka (google it), wine tasting in Margaret River, diving at Ningaloo Reef, snorkeling with whale sharks, overnight at Saffire Freycinet (google it) and ending with a private two wildlife tour in Tasmania where I WILL hold a wombat, see a platypus, quoll and Tasmanian devil. I am very lucky lady!

As many of you know, I work three jobs (two are paid, one is unpaid).  In all three of these jobs, I work mostly with women.  And recently I have been thinking...it's funny, we all preach sisterhood and talk about how we support other women.  However, how come so many of us bag on other women?  We are SO good at tearing each other down...in our work, relationships, behavior, clothes, hair, makeup, size, etc, etc.  We gossip about one another (and as a classy female, I am guilty of this).  We act like we are friends, but then we talk about one another behind the others back.  I have been in situations where another woman actually sabotaged my personal success just to make to herself feel better and appear to better at her job.

Ladies seriously!  This has got to stop.  In this day and age, women have so much pressure to be a super woman....good at her job, great at raising her kids, successful, a good wife, a good friend, a good daughter.  That is a lot of hats to wear and the last thing we need is to spend time cutting each other down.  We are still earning less than men and we still have to deal with harassment at work.  So stop trying to sabotage one another.  In the work place, one woman's success should be celebrated by all women.  Show some respect.  Classy ladies make other ladies feel good about themselves.  I am always so surprised when I compliment a woman on her dress, handbag, jewelry, etc and she is surprised by the compliment.  We all need to do a better job with this.

This past week was alumnae spirit day with Gamma Phi Beta and I had lovely posts on my facebook page of women celebrating me and my relationships/work with them.  This is what we should be doing ladies seriously!

Well, that's all for me and my little soap box for today, I am off to a land down under!  Keep it classy!

....keep your chin, heels and standards high....
BONSOIR, CHEERS AND CIAO BELLAS!

Sunday, May 3, 2015

Ain't nobody got time for that!

Hello ladies and gentlemen seriously.  Happy Spring!  Soon to be Happy Mother's Day (and my dear mother's birthday).  I hope you are all keeping it classy this spring.  It has finally warmed up in Chicago and we actually got to enjoy the sunshine this weekend.  My sister was in town with my nephew.  We participated in the Ovarian Cancer Walk on Saturday morning in honor of my sister's friend who is a 5 year survivor!  My sister shared a story about when her friend was diagnosed and my sister came to see her in the hospital.  The friend had stage 4 ovarian cancer in her mid 20s!  My sister got into the hospital bed with her and she said was asking what she could do for her and the friend said "You think I am dying?  Oh, I am not F***ING dying"  And she didn't.  So we got to walk on the field at US Cellular Field which was cool, even though I am a Cubs fan.  Of course, we went out for Mexican food for lunch to celebrate Cinco De Mayo.  And then we had to watch the Derby last night and broke in the gorge blonde's (previously redhead) amazing rooftop deck.

As we were chatting about life and what not, we were all chatting about dating and friendships...texting, emailing, calling, etc.  And it got me to thinking about how a classy lady handles all of that these days.  In this day and age, with texting and FB, there is an expectation with many men and women regarding how quickly you need to respond.  Many not so classy women out there get CRAZY if someone (and a man in particular) doesn't respond with three minutes.  Really?  I am pretty sure anything being said in a text message doesn't require a response in three minutes, and if it does, you should probably pick up the phone call that person.  So ladies seriously!  CHILL OUT!  Texting can be a fun, flirty way to chat with someone but don't make it life or death.

And here is another thing, ladies and gentlemen seriously, you don't really need to talk to anyone every day (spouses and kids are excluded from this)..... I mean I can't think of enough to say to someone every day, really, I am not that interesting.  My life isn't that exciting.  My best friend and I basically skype once every few weeks and I still feel connected to her.  My good friends in Chicago....I speak/text to maybe once or twice a week.  My mom....once a week.

And lastly, ladies and gentlemen seriously, if you want someone to respond to a message, make it something that is respond-able to....a SMILEY face or other various emoticon doesn't make me want to respond.   Not saying you have to be witty ALL the TIME, but a simple question like how is your day....makes me want to respond.

So with all of the technology out there today, we are getting less and less connected with one another, so the last thing I want to do is to tell you to not talk to one another, however, you can stay connected with your friends and family once or twice a week, not every day.  Let's take the time to have more real conversations with people a few times a week and fewer surface conversations via text message or facebook every day.  As my dear nephew says, ain't nobody got time for that.

So I am headed back to Australia in a few weeks with the gorge blonde in the next three weeks.  I know, it is a tough life for me, but I am really looking forward to the trip.  Everyone, keep it classy this spring as we move into summer and the clothing gets more skimpy.

....keep your chin, heels, and standards high....
BONSOIR, CHEERS and CIAO BELLAS!