Brownies at their best

From the NY Times:

DINING & WINE | April 11, 2007
Simple Pleasure, American Style
By JULIA MOSKIN
Bearing little resemblance to the tough bake-sale squares of yore, today’s brownie is a brilliant showcase for fine chocolate.

What not to wear

From the NY Times:

FASHION & STYLE | April 5, 2007
We, Myself and I
By RUTH LA FERLA
The demands of faith, family and Western culture test the fashion identities of Muslim women in the United States.

Power play

From the NY Times:

OPINION | April 4, 2007
Op-Ed Contributor: The Rich Are More Oblivious Than You and Me
By RICHARD CONNIFF
Without power, people tend to play it safe. Given power, we would end up living large and acting like idiots.

The other "b" word

From the NY Times:

BUSINESS | March 31, 2007
Shortcuts: Too Busy to Notice You’re Too Busy
By ALINA TUGEND
Being busy is part of our modern world, but there are some simple ways to wrestle back control.

The perfect equation

From the NY Times:

NATIONAL | April 1, 2007
For Girls, It’s Be Yourself, and Be Perfect, Too
By SARA RIMER
At Newton North High School, there are girls by the dozen who are high achieving, ambitious and confident (if not immune to the usual adolescent insecurities and meltdowns.)

Multitasking taxing

From the NY Times:

BUSINESS | March 25, 2007
Slow Down, Brave Multitasker, and Don’t Read This in Traffic
By STEVE LOHR
Think you can juggle the phone, e-mail, instant messages and work? New research shows the limits of multitasking.

Breakfast Club recap (3-31-07)

Dear Breakfast Club,

Thank you for the masterful culinary presentation on Saturday. Traditional breakfast dishes reached new heights under your auspices. In short, that was some good eatin'.

The discussion was insightful, as always. We talked a lot about spring cleaning — cleaning out our homes, hearts and heads! Carole led the way by inspiring us to think about how our lives might seem a little brighter if we cleared out the complaints. Check out acomplaintfreeworld.org to learn more about the purple bracelets and the 21-day challenge.

If your house and its contents are more your issue, you might enjoy the article "100 Reasons to Get Rid of It" at marthastewartliving.com/blueprint. Liz G. also mentioned the "de-clutter" guy from the Oprah show, who has lots of creative tips.

Overall, I got the feeling that many of us are in the midst of soul searching, whether it's how we run our homes, how our careers are unfolding, how we spend free time or how we see ourselves. I'd like to issue our very own Breakfast Club Spring Challenge: Use the Evite to send an e-mail to one of the other Breakfast Club members this week to encourage her. Let's sow the seeds of support in each other, so we can all enjoy the blossoming of confident, strong and happy women.

I love you all, and I appreciate the support you give me each and every day.

Kelli