A girlfriend texted me the other day.  “Can we meet for coffee?” She asked.  We arranged to meet a few days later at Maison Kayser, home to the best French baguette in town.  I ordered a dry cappuccino, which means less milk and more foam than a regular cappuccino, and we launched into an introspective conversation.   This friend, I will call her Rachel, is very thoughtful. She grew up Midwest and middle class and now she lives upper west and upper class.  She reached out to me because she wanted to discuss a friend having a hard time financially and emotionally. … Continue reading Work and One-Percent Moms

Several years ago, my second cousin called me to chat while I was taking a walk.  The conversation veered, or was steered by her, to the subject of her stepmother and the fight over her Dad’s inheritance.  They had been married multiple decades and beneath surface civility, my cousins never liked their stepmother or her family.  “You and Steven need a blow job clause in your will,” she said.   As a non-practicing attorney, I was immediately interested.  “What’s a blow job clause?” “It’s a clause in the will to protect your kids.  If you die,” she said, “the first … Continue reading The Blow Job Clause – Every Woman needs it in her Last Will and Testament

There are many reasons not to give birth to twins.  I adore my twin girls, they are the energy pack of my life, but given a choice, I think I would have preferred, and they would have preferred, their own time line.  Certainly, when it came time to negotiate entrance into the exclusive NYC private nursery school system that most young parents think is an inalienable right, I ran into major parental headwinds. My babies could just barely hold their heads up when the questions began. “Where will you send them to school?” Which was followed by the even more offensive question “Who … Continue reading Surviving the NYC PreSchool Admissions Process

Owners of dogs are a designer breed.  We love our dogs beyond reason and beyond description. We brave fierce weather to make sure they get exercise.  Yesterday, in the blizzard, I walked each puppy separately trying my best to convince them to use the outdoor facilities, while they did their best to convince me it was futile.  I have three:  Licorice, an 11 year old. 10 pound black Havanese with a pure white belly; Shugar, a cream-colored 9 year old 11 pound Toy Poodle, and Corduroy, a black and white Shishon wiht a massive underbite.  Corduroy is not yet 2 years old and weighs in as … Continue reading Surviving my Designer Dogs as a Miserable* One-Percenter

Everything I Ever Needed to Know I learned at Loehmann’s The liquidation of the discount retailer Loehmann’s has left me in a state of shock. I grew up as a Reform Jew living on the Upper East Side of Manhattan; really reform.  Instead of going go to Synagogue on Saturdays, we went to Loehmann’s on Sundays. Instead of a Bat Mitzvah at 13 years old, My Mom took me to the Back Room. The Back Room of Loehmann’s was the holy grail of shopping. Knowing how to shop Loehmann’s was a skill my mother insisted I master. Shopping at Loehmann’s … Continue reading Loehmann’s

  Welcome to my blog.  I am writing my thoughts, observations and opinions from the point of view of living life in New York City as a miserable* One-Percenter.   You get to decide the definition of miserable . . . Continue reading Hello Everyone