Last week began with a lunch with Marsha Firestone, Founder and President of the Women's President Organization, an organization comprised of women leaders of businesses grossing over 2 million annually. WPO has 80 chapters nationwide "Members of the WPO take part in professionally-facilitated peer advisory groups in order to coax the 'genius out of the group' and grow their businesses to the next level." The statistics on job creation (mostly from small businesses), small business entrepreneurs (more than 60% women) and the contrast to the large corporate business environment could not be more jarring. And while there are efforts to increase minority presence in and purchasing from, by corporations with commitments to supporting diversity, it is an uphill battle - and Marsha and her organization are leaders. Their work also aims to create the next generation of leaders through education via conferences and events.

New York is a tough town. Hard to make it here and the hometown critics are hardest on their own. Witness the love-hate relationships between the fans and their sport teams; the owners and their players; politicians and electorate. Everyone has an opinion; right or wrong. But somewhere, embedded in this unique insanity is a sense of justice. Somehow, in the end, the good and the righteous find truth and redemption.

Liz Neumark

CEO, Great Performances

Posted: March 2, 2010 09:56 AM

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New York is a tough town. Hard to make it here and the hometown critics are hardest on their own. Witness the love-hate relationships between the fans and their sport teams; the owners and their players; politicians and electorate. Everyone has an opinion; right or wrong. But somewhere, embedded in this unique insanity is a sense of justice. Somehow, in the end, the good and the righteous find truth and redemption.

It is fashion week in NYC and our focus turns to a fashion 'plate' of a different sort. Food is fashion. And though there are timeless classics (like a Chanel jacket, the perfectly cooked pig in a blanket) culinary innovation is a year round project.

Wintertime visits to Katchkie Farm are maybe twice or three times a month compared to weekly trips or overnight stays during growing season. There is no harvest bounty to lug back, or ripe produce to assist in picking. The children's garden is barren and there is no pot of harvest soup simmering in the open-air field house. The skeletons of the last crop stand frozen in place - bizarrely beautiful. Instead of t-shirts, sunscreen and sneakers, it is layers and boots and ski gloves in place of garden gloves. And yet, there is something alluring about our farm in winter. Saturday was a farm day and I drove up with friend and locavore, Barbara Warren.

Everyone will have a Super Bowl tale to tell. Mine is simple. It the annual Vilda Chaya gathering at our house, a tradition started several years ago when Sam began to invite his buddies over to watch the game.

A son, following 2 daughters, and this testosterone-in-training gathering has tested our ability to embrace the male spirit with the same understanding and joy with which we enjoyed the gathering of little girls. Hence the term - Vilda Chaya's - loosely translated from Yiddish as The Wild Things. "Let the wild rumpus begin."

January 2010, done and not so bad. Memories of last January, and the deep freeze of the economy, are receding but it is good to remember how different things were a mere year ago. I would not have been caught dead with a shopping bag, and corporate clients were not even tempted to pick up the phone to talk about planning a party. Today, I shopped a little (taking advantage of a great sale at Eileen Fisher) and our phones are ringing, events are being planned again.