flower – Have you eaten?

They Are a Great Start for Problem Solving: Flowers

March 2, 2015March 2, 2015by have you eaten?Leave a Comment

It is true, flowers actually do not solve any one problem you may have. However, flowers remind you that you are being thought of by someone, the beauty of life, that you are loved and to smile. Someone special in your life, whoever that may be, is thinking of you, which lifts you up, not the flowers themselves. It has been hard to accept that I am special to someone because I grew up convincing myself that I was an ugly duckling and no one cared about me.

My friend Ayako Gordon, (also an artisan jam maker) made this gorgeous bouquet. Archie goes to see Ayako every other Sunday at Marigold and Mint where she works as a florist. She knows exactly what I like so he doesn’t have to tell Ayako what kind of bouquet he wants to get for me. Every time Archie brings me those flowers, my heart gets filled so much and it almost explodes.

The bonus to that is that when you give flowers to someone special, your best friend, your spouse, your boss, your direct report, your mother, your brother’s wife…whoever that is, you will experience the same effect as much as when you receive them. You will get to feel the beauty of life, how much you love that person, how much you think of him/her.

Flowers=the first step to world peace (at least your inner peace)

life

Superhero: The Awesome Man

February 12, 2015February 12, 2015by have you eaten?Leave a Comment

Have you seen him before? He is quite cute and powerful. He is a super hero who can make me cheerful instantly. Just like snapping fingers.

I hadn’t eaten my lunch for a while at work only because I didn’t have enough time. Everyone, I mean EVERYONE is moving 100 miles per hour because of the major re-org. It feels quite unsettling.

Around noon yesterday, I got a call from reception saying that I have a guest. I was not expecting any visitors yesterday so I wondered who it could be but I headed to reception area anyways. Then there was Awesome Man! With cape, masks and everything…no, not really. Instead, he had a tiny bouquet of flowers in this cute glass vase, salad and canele from London Plane in Pioneer Square, Seattle (one of Emily Dann’s restaurant. http://www.thelondonplaneseattle.com/london-plane As soon as I received those from him, he quickly kissed me (yes, he kisses) a good-bye and left.

I barely had time to thank you, Awesome Man. Your gift brightened my day and lunch satisfied my stomach and soul.

If you see him somewhere, please thank him for me.

personal view

Spring Came Early This Year: Daffodils and Kathy

February 6, 2015by have you eaten?2 Comments

Spring has come this morning.

Working in a corporate environment is challenging. You enjoy working with intelligent, knowledgeable, dedicated, passionate and friendly co-workers and you become friends with some of them. It is a challenging time for all of us at work. I am about to lose someone who is very close to me and who is nothing but helpful, always willing to assist me and always there as a good friend. I won’t be able to work with him any more in the same group. We get a cup of coffee together every morning, joke around a lot like brother and sisters. I have been quite confused, sad and emotional since I found out about the news.

Kathy came by this morning with a hint of spring. She was holding a bouquet of daffodils (so delightful and charming!) and said to me that I looked quite down for a last few days so she bought something to cheer me up. What a thoughtful person she is. If the world was full of these people, I guarantee it would be a better place.

Like Dalai Lama said, “The planet does not need more successful people. The planet desperately need s more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers and lovers of all kinds” Kathy, you are truly one of them.

I decided today is the 1st day of spring this year because of the daffodils I received this morning. It has been raining 3 days straight in Seattle now but who cares. Let’s celebrate the arrival of spring together.

Happy Spring!

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coffee

Hey, you are late for 1 on 1 meeting with your boss: Anniversary

January 8, 2015January 8, 2015by have you eaten?Leave a Comment

I thought I disliked surprises. I found out today however that I enjoy them.

Do you love coffee? I sure do. I love everything about coffee, smell, shape, different flavor and taste depending on regions, history, romance of preparing coffee…list goes on. I work for this coffee company and every day and every hour, someone is leading a coffee tasting. Meetings-coffee tasting, birthdays-coffee tasting, welcoming new employees-coffee tasting, we have new crop-of course, coffee tasting, someone leaving the company-coffee tasting, someone getting married-coffee tasting. Anyway, you get a point.

My boss sent me an email yesterday with this message, “Hi, can we please meet at 11 am on Thursday. I’d like to talk a couple of things.” She and I are tight. She knows she can talk to me any time and on anything. This message sounded a little strange to me because we do have regular 1 on 1 meeting every Monday. I started to get nervous and I thought that she was going to leave the company (no!) or I was going to get let go (NO!!).

So today is Thursday. I was having the meeting at 10:30 am with different team member and it was supposed to last only 30 min but the meeting went longer. I sent a text message to my boss letting her know that I was running a little late. She replied to me “you need to come see me now.” Oh crap, I thought “this must be serious” She will let me go.

I ran back to her office and she was waiting for me outside the door. Oh great. We are going to go to HR now to complete the exiting process. She took me to this area where people can hang out, drink coffee, eat lunch, whatever that may be. What I heard was, “SURPRISE!” “CONGRATS!” Oh yeah, Today is my 1st year anniversary at work.

They prepared a big French press pot of Ethiopia coffee, dark chocolate to accompany with,a a gorgeous bouquet of flowers and a thoughtfully written card by my boss.

I will never forget the taste of coffee I had on the day of my 1st year anniversary at work and the day I found out I didn’t get let go.