Category Archives: Holidays

Posted on February 20, 2012 at 11:37 pm

Muses and beads: Happy Mardi Gras

Muses float

When my now husband and I started seriously dating, the topic of Mardi Gras came up very early on in our relationship. I had always heard about this New Orleans celebration, I thought I knew what it was all about (beads, right?), but over the last few Mardi Gras, I have truly learned to appreciate the meaning of this special day, really, this special week-end.

Of course, the clichés about Bourbon street, beads, and what ladies (and gentlemen) are ready to do to get the really good ones are only partially exaggerated. But truly, Mardi Gras is about friends, about fancy beaded dresses, about celebrating life and its many pleasures, before the arrival of Ash Wednesday.

In learning about Mardi Gras, I have learned a few new English words, such as “krewe.” Prounounced as “crew,” krewes are the organizations that put on parades and/or a ball during the Carnival season. Being a member of a krewe has quite the social cachet, and is quite expensive. One of my best friends, Angie, is in Muses.

Catching beads on St. Charles Avenue

While most krewes are men-only, there are three that are exclusive to women. My favorite, of course, is Muses. First off, its symbol is a shoe, and it really has the best floats. And while strange things happen on Bourbon Street to catch beads, the excitement of seeing the parades on St. Charles Avenue has nothing to do with showing skin, and everything to do with catching the best possible bead.

My Mardi Gras started on Thursday evening, when Muses rode to kick-off to the really fun parades. The festivities continued on Friday, the day of my friend Angie’s annual Mardi Gras Luncheon. Hosted in a private room at Arnaud’s, Angie brings together 11 of her best friends for a 5 hour lunch filled with champagne, famous dishes such as Shrimp Arnaud and Turtle Soup, and lots of laughs. Arnaud’s (and Antoine’s and Galatoire’s, the other two classic New Orleans restaurants) is taken over by Mardi Gras festivities and ladies in hand-made beaded dresses.

Angie's lunch

After lunch, around 4 pm, we stroll through the French Quarter, with stops at two of my favorite bars, Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop and Cosimo’s. Overall, the perfect ending to a Friday afternoon filled with more pleasure than work. Luckily, Cosimos’s is literally across the street from my New Orleans home, and while by then my feet hurt, I make it home thrilled to have experienced another successful start to Mardi Gras week-end.

The rest of the week-end was slightly mellower, with visits to Frenchman street for some fabulous live music and dinners (not 5 hour dinners) with friends. By the time you read this, it will actually be Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, the last day of Carnival. At midnight precisely, the New Orleans streets will be cleaned, broken beads will be thrown away, and people will focus on Ash Wednesday – and what to give up. I have only started giving something up for Lent since I have started partaking in the Mardi Gras celebration; if I do one, I must do the other, right? This year, I am giving up artificial sweetener in all its forms (Splenda, Equal, whatever is in Diet Coke). Wish me luck…

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Posted on December 31, 2011 at 10:26 am

My 2012 New Year’s resolutions

I love the last day of the year, for a variety of reasons. First, more than any other day, champagne reigns supreme. Second, it is the occasion to wear something red and new. Mom always said that wearing something red and new would bring us good luck in the New Year, and this was always the perfect excuse to buy a new dress, new underthings, a new necklace (tonight I will wear a beautiful new red dress from my favorite store in Geneva, Apostrophe). Third, the last day of the year is the day to take stock of the previous 364 days, and to plan for the next 365. Last, but not least, the 31st of December is no longer “only” New Year’s Eve, it is also the eve of my wedding anniversary. Tomorrow will be the first…  

I also love the last day of the year because it is the day to think about New Year’s goals and resolutions. Here are mine.

  1. Read one book per month. (In continuation of my 2011 “read more” goal – this time it is more measurable and thus more actionable).
  2. Have one spa treatment per month. I will count eyebrow waxes and pedis as spa treatments… this should be one resolution that is fun to work on. An expression of my belief that we all need to take better care of ourselves, and that I need to live what I preach.
  3. Continue to reduce clutter. I am a firm believer in quality over quantity, and I commit to purging more and buying less (but always nicer things).
  4. Develop a better morning routine. This is the same goal as I had for 2011 – I failed miserably at this this past year. Maybe it is because I don’t quite know what a better morning routine is. I just know that waking up to my phone’s horrible buzzer, checking email before getting out of bed, and immediately having my mind race about everything I need to do, every fire I need to put out, is not very zen. Maybe I should split this goal in two and say the first part is “figuring out what a better morning routine is,” while the second part will be implementing this new morning plan.
  5. Practice one random act of kindness per week. Kindness to my family, my friends, to perfect strangers, and to myself. Just because.
  6. Drink 16 ounces of water per day. In 2011, one of my goals was “drink more water” – like “read more,” it was too general and not quantifiable enough. Hence I failed. I will try again in 2012. 16 oz. may not be enough, but it’s a start. Baby steps.
  7. Continue to work at my personal relationships. Be the best wife I can be. The best sister I can be. The best friend I can be. The best daughter I can be. And more. Never take anyone I love for granted. And show/tell the people I love that I love them. Early and often.   

It is only 9:30 am in New Orleans, and I have my 2012 resolutions figured out. This leaves me the rest of the day to get a head start on some of them… Happy New Year to you, may your 2012 be filled with love, happiness, health, and peace.

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Posted on December 21, 2011 at 1:41 pm

The pleasures of holiday travel

I love to travel. Good thing, as I just realized earlier today that this calendar year I will have travelled just over 100,000 miles. And that’s just on US Airways (which is 80% of my travel, Southwest gets the rest…). Good thing I do love to travel, I am on the plane, my second plane of the day, from Philly to Zurich. I am taking the roundabout route from DC to Geneva (DC-Philly-Zurich-Geneva). A few minutes aog, I had to get my passport checked at the gate check-in desk. The nice US Airways flight attendant looked at my boarding pass and said “Wow, Chairman, you must travel a lot, that’s a lot of miles.” I smiled, nodded, as she continued: “Are those your dad’s miles… you look so young…” I assured her they were all mine, and was somehow happy she asked if they were my father’s instead of my husband’s. May I don’t look like the globe-trotting beauty entrepreneur that I am, but at least I still look young enough that I must be getting perks from my father, not from my husband… Small victories.

One of the reasons I love to travel is the people watching at the airport. Have you ever noticed that airports seem to be these “unreal” spaces, out of time, out of space, out of our usual accepted behavior? Hence beer drinking at 7 am (which I have most seen at BWI airport). Or meltdowns at ticket counters where we forget all decorum and behave like 3 year olds. And the sweeter scene that I just witnesses, two sisters on my flight, one about 20, absolutely European, the other about 15, European but “Americanized” as my Mom would say. The older is encouraging the younger to drink Evian (did I say she was European?) and do some pre-overnight-flight stretches. So sweet. We smile at each other, that smile of older sisters taking care of younger sisters, and I think about Roxane, my young “Americanized” sister whom I will see tomorrow.

Today, I am particularly excited to sit on this plane for what I hope will be 7 hours. I can’t wait to sleep. No internet, no cell phone, just quiet time 30,000 feet up in the air. I am comfortable in Coach, and I wanted to share with you my travel tips. I know I share travel tips often (I do travel constantly), but the ones today are geared to overnight flights during the Christmas holidays.

  1. Extra time. I got to the airport in DC 90 minutes before my flight to Philly. I booked my flight from DC to Philly to have a 2.5 hour layover in Philly – just in case we would be late… which happens. Especially over the holidays. I love the US Airways lounge, and always thought the $40 day pass was the best investment even before I had access for free. Space. Quiet. Outlets to charge various devices. Nice bathrooms. Free wi-fi. Free wine. Free food (the warm kind). It is worth every bit of $40 if you don’t have automatic access.
  2. I can’t travel in sweatpants. I can’t even travel in yoga-wear. Not even for overnight flights. Instead, I have an all-cashmere outfit. Cashmere pants from White and Warren, which I bought years ago this time of year from my BFF’s boutique, Treat. A gray cashmere turtleneck from Apostrophe, my favorite boutique in Geneva. I can’t give up my heels – my travel heels are Lillybees of course. But at least I do take them off on the plane, to put on my bright pink Life Is Good socks. The whole outfit feels so good I get excited the day before knowing that I will get to wear all of this.
  3. My favorite eye mask – pink, silk, and so used that the elastic is a bit loose… I got this as a gift a few years ago from BFF Virginie, and haven’t used another since.
  4. My own bottle of water. There is nothing more uncomfortable than being thirsty on a plane, and while US Airways service is great even in coach, I hate to have to rely on someone else for water.
  5. Raw almonds. I don’t eat on overnight flights – I just get on, and go to sleep. So I need my emergency food.
  6. My very own Kantic+ intensely nourishing cream. Last night, I did our Kantic mask (as does Sharilyn Abbajay before every flight J), but throughout the flight, I need to moisturize.
  7. Judith Jackson Luna Body Elixir. It’s a roll-on, travel-friendly, and it smells so calming and soothing. Helps me relax, helps me not smell like plane.
  8. A toothbrush. Have you ever left your house in the morning without brushing your teeth? No. I don’t do it off a redeye either…  
  9. Similasan Dry Eye Relief eye drops. Next to being thirsty, having dry eyes is the most uncomfortable feeling on a plane.
  10. A pashmina (which I think of as the adult woman’s blankie). More cashmere – a girl can never have enough cashmere. The one I have tonight is pink. Just in case it gets cool. Or in case I need a pillow.

The pilot just came on to say our flight will be 7 hours and 5 minutes. And boarding is complete, I have no one next to me. Tonight, coach feels very luxurious! And I need to turn off my computer.

By the time I post this, it will be Wednesday morning and I will be in Geneva, hopefully with my two suitcases filled to the brim with holiday gifts…. Is this how Santa Claus travels? In disguise? Happy holidays!

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Posted on November 26, 2011 at 1:37 pm

Only in Louisiana…

On January 1st of this year, I married a man from Louisiana. A southern man. I am still learning about southern traditions, and this Thanksgiving week-end, I experienced a few new ones. I guess I’ll start with the end, namely LSU beating Arkansas. My husband is a long-time LSU fan, as was his father, and his father’s father before that. So I have the privilege of going to Tiger Stadium. I have learned about the Bowls. I have learned about the rules that separate college football from the NFL. And little by little, I have learned to love Saturdays during football season almost as much as I love Sundays. So what, you say? Nothing Louisiana-specific about college football. Perhaps. Please take a look at the picture below.

LSU cheerleaders cutting the pig's head

This is post-game tailgating. An entire pig was cooked in the tailgate area made up of three RVs. Well, it was Arkansas Razorbacks… As the pig comes out of the smoker, the LSU cheerleaders arrive. To cut the head off. Apparently, this was not the first time they did it either.

I am also learning about the southern Thanksgiving traditions.

Family Thanksgiving

Turducken (turkey in a duck in a chicken). Fried turkey. And my favorite, Spinach Madeline, a la Edwin. A few of you have asked me for that recipe, which he reluctantly shared.

Spinach Madeline (double this)

Ingredients:

2-pack frozen chopped spinach (no leaf)

4 tbs butter

6oz Roll Kraft jalapneno cheese (or substitute – apparently they don’t make this anymore)

2 tbs flour

2 tbs chopped white onion

1 tsp Worcester sauce

½ cup evaporated milk

Red pepper to taste

½ cup vegetable liquid (leftover from boiling the spinach)

½ tsp black pepper

½ tsp salt

¾ tsp garlic salt

¾ tsp celery salt

Breadcrumbs

Directions:

Cook spinach; drain; save liquid.

Melt butter, add flour. Stir until smooth, not brown.

Add onions; cook until soft, not brown.

Add vegetable liquid slowly.

Add evaporated milk.

Cook until thick.

Add seasoning and cheese.

Still until melted.

Add spinach.

Place in casserole dish; cover in butter and breadcrumbs.

Bake in 250 degree oven for 20 minutes.

(Best if prepared a day before)  

On that note, I am going to heat up some leftovers for lunch… and get ready for the Iron bowl. And call my Mom to let her know I am really still Swiss, through and through…

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Posted on November 21, 2011 at 7:11 am

Time to reflect and be grateful

Thanksgiving week is always a very special week for me. While I grew up in Switzerland, this is my favorite holiday – good food, good wine, family, and of course football. It is also a week of reflection – reflection about all the people and things I am grateful for; reflection about the New Year that is almost upon me; reflection about life in general. And reflection requires quiet time and stillness of mind and body. Time not doing, but time thinking. This special week, which technically according to the calendar starts today, for me really started this past Friday.

Indeed, last Friday something happened to me which hasn’t happened since the fall of 2004. I missed a meeting. Not any meeting, a work meeting. And not any work meeting, but a meeting with Mei Xu, of Chesapeake Bay Candle, a woman whom I admire, and whom I had contacted after we were featured in the Washington Post Magazine together. A woman who runs a multi-million dollar company, and who has no time to waste. I didn’t forget about the meeting… I went to the wrong Starbucks. And of course, of all mornings, that was the morning I left my phone on my desk.

Now, if you know me at all, you know that this is totally non-Ada behavior. I was rushing. I had too many things on my mind. I was reading my emails in diagonal instead of paying attention to what I was reading. The last two months have been so busy, I forgot to take the time to think, to reflect, instead of always running around to “do” things. My body was trying to tell me to slow down (I have been sick for almost a week), but I am of the opinion “mind over body.” So I don’t listen to my body. But I do listen to missing a meeting with a CEO. My personal pet peeve… that I inflicted on someone else.

Lesson learned. I spent the week-end reflecting, not “doing” much at all, but listening to everything that was going on in my head, making to-do lists and holiday gifts lists, calendaring, quietly organizing my apartment (as if I weren’t busy enough, I moved 20 days ago – and this was my first week-end at home!), and spending time thinking. The result: I am starting this holiday week feeling “zenified,” grateful, and organized. Nothing better than that (except having Mei Xu forgive me for Friday’s mis-hap of course…).

Happy Thanksgiving week to all.

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Posted on July 10, 2011 at 4:31 pm

The magic of Tinos – a letter to my grandfather

I am in terminal F of the Philadelphia airport, trying (not very successfully!) to ease my way back from paradise to reality. And I am thinking of my maternal grandfather, Yaya, as I called him. He has been gone for over twenty years, yet this past week he was with me every day. Every day I thanked him for finding Tinos, a beautiful island in the Cyclades in Greece. For finding this paradise, for designing and renovating the house we still have there, for making this island a part of my life.

While we used to go there as a family when I was a child, I re-discovered this magical place last year. I loved it so much that I returned this past week – I hope this trip can now become an annual tradition. On the 11 hour flight from Athens to Philly, I could not help but re-live this past week, trying to remember every detail, every moment, every memory.

Tinos is not an easy place to get to – there is no airport on the island, which is part of what keeps it quiet and unpopulated. An eleven hour flight form the Northeast is followed by an hour cab ride to the Rafina port, which is followed by a two-hour ferry (if you take the fast ferry). Paradise awaits when you step off of the ferry. The island is a small mountain, it rises above the water, with patches of white and blue, the various villages visible behind the town of Tinos. Mykonos, Delos, and Syros are the neighboring islands visible in the distance.

Our house is in the village of Triantaros, known for its beautiful views on the town and the sea. Watching the sun rise at 6 am (jetlag…) and set at 9:30 pm from the terrace are two of my favorite things to do. Listening to the sounds of nature (mostly silence, crickets, church bells, and once in a long while a car or Vespa) while enjoying Boutari rosé wine is one of the most peaceful, calming activities. The lack of internet, TV, radio is one of the house’s best features, the ultimate luxury in terms of disconnecting from the modern world.

Our days on Tinos (after jet lag subsides) have a very regular rhythm to them. We wake up around 10:30 am, spend time on the terrace, eat Greek yogurt and have some strong coffee. All outside. Slowly, we make it to the Para Pente Café in town, where the Wi-Fi always works and is really fast (my capacity to disconnect is still quite limited). After making sure the world has not stopped turning while I was enjoying the lack of connectivity of the house, we enjoy an iced coffee while watching the ferries zoom across the sea.

After about two hours at Para Pente, we drive 30 minutes through the windy mountain roads to our favorite beach, Kalivia, near the village of Kardiani. Along the way, we marvel at the Tinos aromas, which range from figs to rosemary to juniper. We count the churches on the way… there are 750 on this island!

We discovered Kalivia beach last year, and we would never dream of going to another beach. The beach bar is owned by Marco, who is from Kardiani and is known as “The German” to his friends (he is Greek, but blond-haired and blue-eyed). Marco is the best host, offering a plethora of beach-side cocktails, all home-made (he also makes his own honey-raki), as well as interesting tidbits about Tinos. The beach is flanked by two hills, which creates the perfect bay to swim in. And swim we do. Back and forth, across and back again. We discuss the wind, the water temperature, the size of the waves, the best technique for rock skipping… We read… We practice our Greek alphabet… We nap on the beach, listening to the Greek conversations around us (vacationers here are mostly Greeks from the mainland) and the sound of the waves… We watch the start of sunset.

Around 8 or 9 pm (sometimes as late as 10 pm), we head to dinner. Our favorite restaurant on the island is Bourou, where the owner Dimitri remembered us from last year. His food is amazing, his wine list surprising, and his attention to the beauty and ambiance of his restaurant, unlike I have ever seen.

Our days usually end around 1 am… although this year we discovered a few of the local bars, which really don’t get going until 1 am… and don’t get really fun until around 3 am….

I have been trying to think of how I can incorporate some of the magic of Tinos in my everyday life. Is it the amount of time spent outdoors? The time spent without connectivity? The quiet? The swimming? The aromas? The Greek salads? Or is it that this trip was a bit like a honeymoon, with Edwin and I by ourselves, spending all of our time together, 24/7? Whatever it is, I wish I could bottle it and bring it back. I am already dreaming about going back next year… and thanking my grandfather…

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Posted on March 8, 2011 at 9:46 am

Happy Mardi Gras!

It is 9:40 am and I just drove two hours from NYC to Delaware for a sales meeting with a fabulous beauty boutique. I love my work, and I love Alchimie for more than I can ever say – but today, I wish I was in New Orleans. Case in point, while at Cosi sipping on a large coffee (my third of the day), I just got a call from my husband who is walking around the French Quarter in a blond mullet wig sipping on a bloody mary. What? Well, of course, it’s Mardi Gras. Over the last three years, I have learned to love Mardi Gras. Mardi Gras season, Mardi Gras week-end (which I am still recuperating from), and Mardi Gras Day. In my heart and soul, I am in New Orleans today. (more…)
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Posted on December 31, 2009 at 4:49 pm

Happy New Year!

I love the 31st of December. It is the promise of a New Year, of endless possibilities, of a clean slate. To me, it is a bit like Friday night – the week-end is ahead but has not yet started. And, of course, December 31st is the day to make New Year’s resolutions. At the end of every year, millions of us (50% of Americans, actually!) resolve to live better, be better, and abandon our vices.

From Entrepreneur Magazine, December 2009, here are a few New Year’s resolution factoids:

- 99% jump in web visits to Weigh Watchers in January, more than in any other month
- 1 million boxes of smoking cessation gum, lozenges, and ptaches sold in January 2008
- 42% jump in traffic on career sites in January
- 12% of gym memberships are sold in January, more than in any other month

My list of goals (I like that word better than resolution) for 2010, both personal and professional, is long. You can read about some of them on Inc.com (nice to end the year with a homepage photo!). Others include reading more; taking up running again; and for a third year in a row (is there an expiration date for goals?), learning to play pool!

Whatever your goals for 2010 may be, I wish you a New Year filled with happiness, success, and beauty!

With love,

Ada

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Posted on November 23, 2009 at 3:41 pm

What I am grateful for this year

A girlfriend of mine (who shall remain nameless so as not to completely spoil the surprise) is eloping the day after Thanksgiving. She told me she wanted to have something fantastic to remember 2009 by. Indeed, many of us would rather forget about 2009 alltogether. As she was telling me about her plans, I started to think about all the great things that happened this year, positive things that I should be grateful for and that make up for the economy…

It seems particularly appropriate to think about this during this holiday week. So here goes. I encourage you all to make your own list and celebrate 2009.

I am thankful for:

(more…)

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