THE LATEST FROM FRAN BERGER
Friendships
A Handy Tipping Guide for the Holidays
The easy “how-to” for tipping during the holidays. We all have service people that help us throughout the year, but sometimes it’s confusing on how much to tip or even whether you should tip at all during the holidays. I’ve...
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Tips for Wrapping Presents for the Holidays
Isn’t it time to change up your Christmas wrapping skills? I was always the gift wrapper at my house while growing up. The rest of my family thought it was a big chore, but I loved it. I turned every...
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How to Plan Your Holiday Shopping
SIX SHOPPING TIPS to help you from being “cyber-crazy” this holiday. It’s that time again – time for the year-end holiday traditions: the Christmas office party, finger foods, holiday decorations, and gifts. OMG, did you forget the Secret Santa...
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The Perfect Holiday Gift Guide for Women
All you have to do is think about what you’d want as a present. We all want to give the perfect holiday gift to our friends – especially our girlfriends. Last week, I posted a holiday gift guide for our...
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The Perfect Holiday Gift Guide for Men
Don’t settle for predictable – get an early start and go for the unexpected! One of the most difficult things to do is to find the perfect holiday gift for the man in your life. Maybe you’re thinking, “OH, it’s...
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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...
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The 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...
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End 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...
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I 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...
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Say 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...
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Practice 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...
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A 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...
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S__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...
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The 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 –...
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Don’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...
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I 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...
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A 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...
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You 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...
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How 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,...
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Online 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,...
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