Monday, January 28, 2008

Crazy Mixed-Up Monday

A Seminar with Fuzzy Bunny Slippers:

What a great weekend. It only rained at night…yeah…and I attended a great seminar in fussy bunny slippers. OK before you think I am complete nuts let me explain.

Attending any seminar across town or across the country is difficult with the busy schedules that most of us keep. Taking the time and money to sit for three days in a hotel may not be time well spent. That is one of the reasons that I was excited about this seminar.

I attended the virtual Wealthy Girl Summit put on by Alicia Dunams www.wealthygirlsummit.com . Alicia will be on the Amazing Women’s brains, beauty & style Show www.amazingwomenbbs.com on February 20th. I discovered first day this summit was going to be well attended as I logged on just a little late and the summit was totally full. Alicia fixed that immediately. The following day was a blow out event. The speakers were exceptional and the information they gave was useful and timely. Adryenn Ashley is a ball of fire. About the same as when I meet her during a Summit in New York. Marci Shimoff and Loral Langemeier are tops in their fields; and the list went on. My suggestion is to buy the MP3’s of the Summit if they are available. Alicia great job!

My Complaint with a Local Media Writer:

Maybe you have one in your town also. There is one in a magazine I receive, I would like to meet to see if he has ever had to lose weight or go through the psychological process of losing weight. Usually he isn’t too far off on most of his information, the problem I have with this ‘guy’…is he is coming from a man’s perceptive on eating plans. In a two week period he managed to put out two lists and part of one list was contradictory to the other. He said tell everyone that you are going to lose weight and what your goals are. Two weeks later he says “You let family and friends tempt you with bad choices” GOOD GRIEF…let’s get real! If you don’t tell anyone that you are on a diet, they won’t tempt you! They may not even know you are on a new way of eating. And if they do notice, that is all you tell them. You have decided to eat healthy. (Period!) Don’t give them one little inch to get into your head to change your mind.

Every year the majority of the people that go on diets are women. Why? First… men don’t have the stigma of gaining weight that women do. Second…when was the last time that anyone heard that any male actor needs to be a size 2!! If a male actor gains a pot belly, they just put loose shirts on him. If you look closely you will catch the bulges not matter what camera angles they use.

With women being the majority of people on diets at any one time…why do we listen to men on how to diet??? Our bodies are different!! If you want to learn what one women has done try my book The Thinking Side to Thin at www.thinkingsidetothin.com or on Amazon. Not that I know it all. Each person is different, but some weight loss problems are all the same. One is telling others you are dieting.

Old habits are hard to break. Once you start using new rules to break old habits why let anyone change your path to success!

Amazingly Yours,
Dr Marlene

If you want another book on sales, marketing and a new segmentation on both check out my other book Marketing’s Silent Language at www.silentlanguage.com . There is a limited supply of books left so hurry.

P.S. Congratulations to Tony Orlando on losing 103 pounds. I saw him in a diet ad and he looks like the mature version of the heart throb he use to be. Keep up the good work Tony.

Monday, January 21, 2008

OKAY Now What Do I Do to Clean Up This Stuff!!

When I have Regina Leeds http://www.reginaleeds.com/ on my Amazing Women, brains, beauty & style show http://www.amazingwomenbbs.com/ it is always a pleasure for me; because I am somewhat of a neat nick. That doesn’t mean that I go around after people and clean up at a party. What it does mean is that I like to have things in place so when I need to find something, I can find it quickly. As a business owner when I had many, many employees, having that kind of order in my office to me was necessary. It just seemed to overflow into my home life.

However, when you are the only person in the home who wants neat order it can be a challenge. Instead of getting order, you store everything because no one wants to part with ANYTHING. So for years, I have been a hide it and forget it person. No one wanted to make a decision of what is needed and not needed, so I stored it. Now that we are organizing just for us I have another problem. What am I going to do with all this stuff?

We are a society that is drowning in stuff…stuff that in most cases is not important. I see more and more storage locker companies being built in this area, where stuff can be stored. What good is it to just pay money to just keep it hidden? The more I think of that crazy logic, the less it seems logical. Some people say they don’t want to get rid of things because they don’t want to fill the landfills. Okay, so at least they have a reason. But is it logical? We all keep buying but many of us don’t throw away.

Today I read a story about a large company that was getting rid of all the‘ad gifts’ stuff http://apnews.excite.com/article/20080119/D8U8U5C80.html that was being delivered to all the employees by potential products manufacturers. These manufacturers wanted the company to buy these products so they give little gifts of every shape, size and color with company and product names on them. This stuff was being taken out of the office and instead of just trashing it, they were shipping to Africa where the products were not sold, but the gifts could be used effectively. What a great concept!

Now if the rest of us just could have that same concept when it comes to our personal stuff! Part with it happily and know that whoever gets it after you will be very happy with what we have parted. I am starting spring cleaning early in fact if we all started now, we would be free to have a spring to remember. Spring is an amazing time of the year to be out in nature’s wonderful tapestry of foliage and flowers.

Amazingly Yours
Dr Marlene

P.S.
You can learn the secrets about my weight loss of 170 lbs. with the mental methods that I used in my book: The Thinking Side to Thin: available on Amazon or http://www.thinkingsidetothin.com/ . Or if you want to learn more about color, my book Marketing’s Silent Language includes how to use it to your business and sales advantage see more at www.silentlanguage.com

Monday, January 14, 2008

Blood at the Rude Guerrilla

The other evening we attended a networking event and play put on by the British American Business Council www.babcoc.org at a small theatre called the Rude Guerrilla www.rudeguerrilla.org . An interesting thought, have a great time networking with business minded people then ‘rest your feet’ during a provocative and thoughtful play called: The Cut. What a great concept, networking before the play and after with the actors included.

The British American Business Council is one of the top networking groups in the area. The group has a variety of people that are actually interested in doing business. In fact I met Anne Berryhill at a BABC event and we are now collaborating on my radio show Amazing Women, brains, beauty and style to do the next two weeks shows on how to get the weight off and get healthy. See the information on the shows at these sites.
www.amazingwomenbbs.com or www.marlenesiersema.com or try this link for my book on how I lost 170 lbs after 50 with simple changes to years of bad habits. www.ThinkingSideToThin.com

The Rude Guerrilla is a typical small theatre in a store front with a loyal following and some really good actors. As we came into the theater there were only a couple of seats left in the front row at the far left of the theatre. We took our seats and the play started…as you can tell from the title someone or something is about to get cut.

At the end of the first act, I found out what and who that person was that was getting cut. But more important I discovered WHERE! Right in front of me! The cut was made and the stage blood came squirting out right on me, my pants and shoes. Red sticky stage blood…actually no problem if the pants and shoes had not been suede! I couldn’t help myself; the words came out before I could even stop…“Oh Sh_t!” As I watched the actors, only their body language told the story. Oh No…we got someone! Plus they got several feet of stage blood on the stage, which was fun watching because they had to avoid that part without seeming to avoid that part of the stage the rest of the show.

As the actors came out for coffee after the show the “cut” actor and director of the show came over to me. My first words were…I will never sit in the front row at a play again. My foot still looked like I needed stitches, my hands were sticky (stage blood is mainly sugar water) and to my luck the pants were black. It will come out. But the actor won’t forget the two words uttered at his big moment. We all had a good laugh and I think I made some new friends. I also discovered that champagne works great at getting the sticky off.

But more important I learned never sit in the front row is you even think blood will flow!!


Amazingly Yours,
Dr Marlene

Books are also available on Amazon, Borders and by special order at most bookstores.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Open Letter to Pajamas Designers

Dear PJ Designers:

The other day I was in a large national store looking for PJ’s as a gift. I was having a hard time finding anything. As I wandered the department I noticed other women with scrunch noises, a-gasp mouths, scrunch eyes and just plain rotten looks.
Finally I said to one woman; “Having Problems?” Her comment was just my thoughts. “Everything is ugly! There is nothing worth buying!” I went to the next woman; “You look like the rest of us…having problems?” Her answer was the tops: “Did they get this department mixed up with the pre-teens?” The next one wasn’t so nice: “This is garbage!”

Designers… how long has it been since you have walked the floor of a PJ’s department in any store that is not in New York City? How long since you were in any other state but New York? Or are you just sending the junk out to the other states? The one woman had it right…we are not pre-teens and pre-teens should not be dictating what adult women wear to bed!

Just because we are going to sleep doesn’t mean that we have lost our fashion flare. Scotty dogs, ducks, lambs, bears, moose or any other animal on our sleeping or at times, our lounging attire we left years ago! And by the way there are more colors in the rainbow than, pink, blue, extra pale purple oh yes, and GRAY. And why do most of you think we all like to get ready for bed in pastels? I prefer something just a little sexier in colors.
Oh Please, we have been setting the fashion curve for decades. Including the mod designs: which, came to some designer in London on an acid trip during the late 60’s. But the PJ’s of today are an actual shame.

We are not trying to look like our pre-teens, or our teen daughters. You might think that is ‘cute’ but most of us don’t. We want stylish, designs with great interesting fabrics. You can’t tell me that they can’t print almost anything on fabric these days? They print the moose don’t they? Designers; watch what stores are putting on sale and how soon they go on sale after the item hits the stores. This should help you in what you design.

We don’t want the cramp your style, but the last thing my husband wants to see is me coming to bed in PJ’s with ducks on them. It is demining to women that have been setting the style longer than most of the new designers are old. We might have worn and made the mod designs a hit; but that was back in the 60’s when our mothers were still wearing full skirts.

Happy Holidays
Amazingly Yours
Dr Marlene

I sincerely hope that you and yours have a wonderful holiday season. No matter how you celebrate it the only thing that is important is that you do celebrate and enjoy life.

Monday, December 10, 2007

Decorating like Chanel

This is my most favorite time of the year. Almost everyone is in a good mood. Stores are in their best finery, houses are lit up with sparkling lights and there is a mood in the air that can be felt and best described as wonderful.

In the local newspaper last week I read an article about what an interior decorator would do for Christmas in a particular home. One line that stuck in my mind was “Decorate for Christmas like Chanel. When you think you are done, remove something…or know when to stop.” That statement got me to thinking. Why?

When you looked at the house, you can see why the decorator said what they said. The house was huge and the decorations were the same. The fireplace alone had decorations on the mantel that most homes would only be able to put on the floor. And the floor decorations were life size. If I had a place where I could put up a life size Nutcracker like the one that is taller than me at Costco, I would have a great time decorating. The wreath above the fireplace was 4 feet across. But most of us don’t have homes of that size.

How many of us can put a 25 foot tree in one room? My neighbors could; where the ceiling in the living room is two stories. But the width of the bottom of the tree would take up most of the rest of the room. So it is not practical.

What is wrong with a little excess this time of year? Isn’t Christmas the time of the year when we over do almost everything? It is a season of excess! An extra bow here and a tad bit more garland there and more lights…more lights! So what if it takes you all year to pay off the electricity bill! Isn’t it worth it? It is fun and beautiful.

Besides it gives all of us a chance to be kids again. The wide eyes, the hopeful thoughts, the music, the tastes; this is the time of year that feeds all of our senses. Including thoughts that take us back to our childhood.

Decorate like Chanel…not…go ahead add that extra bow, garland or whatever. It’s that short time of the year when we adults can become kids again. ENJOY!!

Amazingly Yours,
Dr Marlene

This would make a great New Years gift. And be a fun read that can also teach you the secrets I learned on losing over 170 lbs. pick up my book: The Thinking Side to Thin: available on Amazon or under links to my other sites. It will be a good one to have around just after the holidays. Or if you want to learn more about color, my book Marketing’s Silent Language includes how to use what the eye sees first, to your advantage.

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Decorations from What??

Yesterday I had Bonnie Dell from Design Style Taste on my radio show. What a fun show. What was even more fun was all the similarities we have. What really hit home was the story of her Father bumping into furniture when he came home because her and her Mother kept moving it around. Oh my; what memories. My Father would do the same because my Mother and I were always moving the same furniture around, and I was always changing the decorations in the house.

This is the season of memories. The ones I love the best are the stories behind all the different tree decorations that have been handmade. My Mother made decorations from almost anything and I am sure I got her love of the season and her ‘different eye’ to seeing that almost anything (within reason) could be made into a decoration.
My most fun story is a couple of lovely decorations that I have done from what could be called box throw-a-ways. The story starts with was I received for that Christmas. It seemed that I got enough perfume to last me about 8 years! Talk about like minds! That was the year that perfume manufactures were presenting the fragrances’ in interesting boxes.
As I was cleaning up and getting rid of the papers (etc.) from the openings…these boxes caught my eye. One looked like a little gold treasure chest. It seemed such a shame to just throw this away.

So with box in hand off I went to find something to decorate it with. About 2 hours later I have conjured up a lovely little gold box with several red ornaments stacked in the box with a few greens for balance. It turned out great. And what could be better than instant Christmas decorations. Take out of storage…sit on table…bingo…holiday!

Looking to almost anything to become a decoration with a sprig of holly or a bit of ribbon gives a different perspective. Yes I caught my Mother’s eye. And that eye takes me through the season with the wonderment of a child at times. Thanks Mom.

Oh…that decoration came out of the storage box this year with a broken ornament on top. I already knew the color of those ornaments were difficult to get. So this year in place of that broken ornament, I placed a silk red rose. Voila fixed and beautiful as ever and still an instance table decoration.
Amazingly Yours,
Dr Marlene

If you want to learn more about color, my book Marketing’s Silent Language includes how to use what the eye sees first, to your advantage. Or if you want a fun read that can also teach you the secrets I learned on losing over 170 lbs. pick up my book: The Thinking Side to Thin: available on Amazon or under links. It will be a good one to have around just after the holidays.

Monday, December 3, 2007

Remembering Those Who Serve Us

We are all rushed and stressed this time of year. Most of that is self-imposed. All of it is not others reasonability. This is a wonderful time of the year and it is also the time to remember all of those who help us get all our goodies; the salespeople behind ever counter regardless of the store or restaurant.

It is a wonderful time of year to remember the salespeople are stressed also. In fact probably more so then us as they must deal with ‘us’. Wouldn’t it be a great time to Thank them for doing a great job and putting a smile on their face? Let me tell you how this started.

Many, years ago I was in line during the holidays and behind one of the rudest shoppers I had seen ever. By the time she got finished with the salesclerk the poor person looked like they lost their best friend. (You know the look) So I stepped up, with a smile on my face and chatted with them how great a job they were doing. How I could not do what they are doing, it takes a special person to handle their kind of job and all ‘Us’ shoppers really appreciate them; as I left the counter with my goodies, the person was smiling and happy! Not only did they feel great, so did I!

No matter how many problems I have during the holidays, I complement the salespeople. They feel good and because it makes me happy my holiday shopping goes easier. Happy is a wonderful feeling!

Years later, I tried something new. Each year I buy more cards then I need. (They are all so great!) And I always have left-over’s. So I have taken to carry several with me to hand out to the salespeople with the simple phrase written in them “a grateful shopper”. I handed the salesperson a card as I left the counter. Wow…what a high!!!

Sometimes I feel like that “Secret Santa”. Try some of these this season. It can make your season brighter.

Amazingly Yours
Dr Marlene

Give the gift for the New Year

The Thinking Side to Thin”
7 Mental Secrets to Successfully Winning the Weight Loss Game
Available on Amazon or www.thinkingsidetothin.com