THE LATEST FROM FRAN BERGER
Friendships
The Delicate Etiquette of the Last drop of Wine
Some customs just make the whole art of entertaining that much more fun! When I was very young, my parents were pretty serious about teaching customs and manners to me and my siblings. We learned how to be polite and...
Read MoreThe Art of ordering from a menu
Don’t covet your neighbor’s dinner – order for flavor and experience! Reading a menu at your favorite restaurant can be a lot of fun (especially if they’ve added new items that you haven’t tried) unless you’ve waited too long to...
Read MoreEnd of Another Year, Start of New Possibilities
Time to bring your Friends and Family together around your table! Wow! How did it get to be January already? I’m always surprised by how quickly the year flies by and yet they are moving quicker and quicker and here...
Read MoreI Propose a Ban on the word “Should”
Stop saying “should” when you really mean “must.” My Mother was a very smart lady. I didn’t realize it growing up. To be honest, we never realize how smart our parents are when we are young. By the time I...
Read MoreSay What You Mean and Mean What You Say
What happens when you put meaning behind your words. I had some very interesting requests over the more than 20 years I owned my restaurants. The strangest one came from a mother who was eating brunch with a large group...
Read MorePractice Makes Perfect? Not so fast.
Practice something imperfectly, and you’ll be worse off. We’ve been told since we were very young that if you want to be good at something, you’d better practice. What we often miss is the fact that if you practice something...
Read MoreA Friendship Can’t Rely on Mind Reading
Can your friends levitate at will? Why should they read your mind? I’m always surprised when someone is upset because a friend didn’t “just know” what they wanted or what they would do in a given circumstance. “Why didn’t he/she...
Read MoreS__t or Get off the Pot!
Why complain if you’re not going to do anything about it? My father was a really smart guy. He was actually a rocket scientist when that was a new thing in the 60’s and 70’s. But, he had very little...
Read MoreThe Answer Will Always Be “NO”
Leave a question unasked, the answer will always be “NO” – #Justsayin I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard from friends, family and co-workers who say, “I was afraid to ask,” or “I didn’t want to seem –...
Read MoreDon’t Worry, Be Happy!
I am always telling people to be present, deal with what’s on their plate at that minute, try to plan ahead but always move forward. If you’re always moving forward in a positive way and completing tasks and goals you...
Read MoreI Want To Be Just Like You
I was out with a really good girlfriend last night. When it comes to my “group” of girls she’s a relative newbie- I’ve known her less than 2 years. BUT, and this is a really big but, she’s one of...
Read MoreA Chinese Food Memory
It’s amazing what will trigger a Food Memory. I was speaking with a friend the other day about family dinners and we got to talking about our food memories growing up and what we’ve done with our own families to...
Read MoreYou Might Have to Give Up on a Friend
Sometimes, You Have to Let Go and Move On This took me a long time to figure out but I’m going to share it so it won’t take anyone else forever to realize this truth. You cannot, and I mean...
Read MoreHow a Foodie Eats the Perfect Meal
I always find it funny when someone asks me if I’m a foodie. I guess I am, I love eating both at home and out. It doesn’t matter how close or far away, how casual or fancy the place is,...
Read MoreOnline Dating? Skype Before a Visit!
Dating sucks but online dating can REALLY suck. I thought, though, for a hot minute that it was a good idea for me, so I signed up for a couple of sites. I was cruising along checking it all out,...
Read MoreThe First 10 Minutes, Why They’re So Important
I’m reminded regularly of one of my basic truths. A person will tell you who they are within the first 10 minutes of meeting them. It’s funny but we all do the same thing when we meet someone for the first...
Read MoreHow Many Full Moons Do We Have Left?
It’s funny. We all find ourselves getting cranky over something that someone else has said or done to us that we perceive as mean. I know for a fact that I’m guilty of that. I’ve always said that I may...
Read MorePushing Through the ‘Fear of Failure’
Thrilled to be asked by LivingBetter50 to kick off their series on Extraordinary Women, on February 10. These interviews came at a great time for me – during the launch of my brand expansion! The interviews themselves: a truly humbling experience. Just to...
Read MoreMirror, Mirror on the Wall
There are days when we all hate the mirror. I agree that whoever said that the mirror doesn’t lie was actually telling the truth. I’ll look in the mirror and think I’m either “fat” or my skin doesn’t look good...
Read MoreRelationships and Love: The Only Constant in Life is Change
For this Valentine’s Day, I thought it would be appropriate to bring up Heraclitus, the ancient Greek philosopher who said that the only constant in life is change. He was SO right – thank goodness! I have found in my...
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