Writing a book right now!! Back in a Jiffy!!!
much love, Danielle

Hi Everyone,

I hope all of you are well and enjoying life.

Whirlwind time for me again, working on several books at once, in various stages, re-writes, edits, corrections, fact checking, outlines, first and final drafts, and a set of ‘text proofs’, which is the last stage before a book goes to press: they send the printed pages, and it’s my last chance to make changes and corrections. So that has been keeping me mega busy!!! Throw in the usual travel between the two cities where I live (six thousand miles apart), and New York halfway between to see my daughters there—-and I have been Busy!!!

I want to thank all of you for buying my new hardcover book The Mistress, it was on the bestseller list at #1 for two weeks in a row. That is ALWAYS a thrill!!! I never take it for granted, and I am always grateful for it, and the sign that you are enjoying my books!!! Thank you with all my heart!!!

I spent a weekend in New York, and gave a baby shower with two of my daughters, for another one of my daughters who is having a baby. It was really fun and very sweet, it’s her first baby and we’re all excited for her. It was a very sophisticated baby shower, without the usual games and decorations. She works in fashion, so the young women who came to the shower were very stylish, and my daughter looked beautiful in a white lace dress, and the two daughters who hosted it looked knock out too (one in a long pale blue pleated dress with a pale blue top, and the other in a gray and white wool check Vintage Chanel Couture coat dress, with black pants with it. It was fun talking to the guests, not much baby talk there, it was all about the business of fashion, and upcoming fashion week, which is always a madhouse of hard work for anyone in fashion. For two weeks before the shows, they work til 2 am every night, and are back at work at 7 or 8 am the next day. There were several well-known young male designers at the shower too, Alexander Wang (whom I’ve known since he was 14, he went to high school and design school with my girls) and Joseph Altuzarra, two of my daughters work with them. It was also fun seeing what they were all wearing, some great very stylish looks on the young women there. We held it in the afternoon, for a British style high tea, with little tea sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and jam, and assorted cookies and cakes—-which they all ate very sparingly, if at all. Some of the young women there already have children, and are facing the challenges of working Moms, which I still face today, even with grown children. My children live in 3 cities, thousands of miles apart, and when they need me for a fun event, like the shower, or a problem, I need to be able to instantly reorganize my life and schedule, get on a plane and go to them, in spite of deadlines or whatever I’m working on. Motherhood is a forever job, with all its responsibilities. Hopefully we can be present for our children forever. In any case, the baby shower was really fun, and a happy event. And I got back on a plane the next day to head for my desk and the work waiting for me there. I have my readers to keep happy too!!

I do a lot of writing in winter, it always seems like a good time to stay home in the bad weather, and it was freezing cold, rainy and even snowy at every stop on my travels.

I hope you’ve been busy doing fun things, and interesting projects, or just keeping up with the things we all have to do, which can be overwhelming at times. Sometimes it’s hard to get everything done!!! We’re celebrating my youngest son’s birthday this week so that will be fun too!!!

My new puppy Lili is settling down a little, though not too much yet. She took her first long trip with me, with my other two Chihuahuas, Minnie and Blue, and she did pretty well. She’s full of fun and mischief, and still driving the other two crazy wanting to play all the time. My youngest son got a puppy at the same time I did in October, and so did my oldest daughter. My son sent me a photo last week—-his puppy, a Boston Bull Terrier with an adorable face, named Francis, ate his couch while he was at work. He wasn’t too thrilled!!! Mine isn’t eating couches, but she wants to play ALL the time (much to her new sisters’ dismay, who get tired of wrestling with her!!! And having her steal their toys!!)

Take care and have a great week and I hope you’re enjoying whatever you’re doing. I work so hard, and have always been a ‘duty’ person—I always do my ‘homework’ before I play, and have all my life, and take care of others before I take care of myself, and by the time I get it all done, there’s rarely time to indulge myself. And I am discovering as time goes by, that it’s important to do things for yourself too. I put a sign in my office last year that says “Do More of what makes you happy”. It’s actually good advice…..I’ll try to keep it in mind!! You too!! Have a great week (and do something nice for yourself!!)

much love,

Danielle

Hi Everyone,

I hope January rolled out nicely for you, and you got some things done, and managed to stay warm. It was freezing cold everywhere I went, or pouring rain, or both, or snowing. Definitely a rugged winter in the places where I go!!!

It’s not a glamourous subject, but I wanted to share with you an experience I had over the holidays, which was a bit of a wake up call for me, and led to some useful thoughts. I managed to catch a nasty cold (people talk about a “bad” cold—-is there a good cold? Definitely not!!), travelling from Paris to New York, and home to San Francisco for the holidays with my kids. Between plane travel and freezing cold weather along the way, and being busy, my cold was bad by the time I got home, and I was taking lots of Vitamin C. I was rushing around, all my kids and their partners were home, many of them brought their dogs, meals took a lot of planning, every outing and meal involved a large group, and I was really busy. I was getting ready to go out for dinner with them one night, and thought, oh I’ll pop another vitamin C for good measure, tossed it in my mouth, took a small sip of water while doing 10 other things and rushed out of my bathroom, AND OMG, the damn vitamin got stuck in my throat. I mean REALLY stuck. Not the kind of coughing and spluttering where you choke for a minute and tell everyone that it went down the wrong way, it lodged right in my windpipe and not a wisp of air could get in or out. That has never happened to me before. It was like being strangled, and I knew instantly that I was in BIG trouble. NO AIR AT ALL. Zero. Apparently, the normal reaction of many choking victims is to run away, like leave a restaurant table and rush to the bathroom—-because it’s embarrassing—-where often choking victims die alone with no one to help them. Fortunately, I didn’t do that, and had the opposite reaction. I knew I needed help and fast, before I passed out from lack of air, and might have died in my bathroom. I rushed out of the room and ran to where most of my kids were congregating in the hall with husbands and boyfriends, and some employees, about a dozen people or so. I pointed to my throat, and they could see my distress immediately. It took a few seconds to register, and then literally everyone started to scream, really scream, “OhmyGod, she’s choking!! What do we do?!!” A few people screamed call 911, which they did, but mostly they panicked and so did I. I was still getting absolutely no air at all, and one of my daughters grabbed me, and started squeezing me. She had heard that’s what you do for a choking victim, didn’t know how to do it but tried (you’re supposed to stand behind them, put your arms around them and press hard, forcing air upwards to dislodge what is stuck). She’s strong and squeezed hard and I tried to push her away, and not knowing what else to do, she started lifting me off the ground, and banging me back down on my feet. I tried to get out of her grip and couldn’t, and suddenly the nasty little vitamin flew out of my mouth onto the floor, and I could breathe again (it had the effect of a cork in a bottle, and sealed out all air). Although she didn’t know how to do the Heimlich maneuver for choking victims, and did it in a very rudimentary style (squeezing me, which pushed air up from my lungs to where the pill was stuck), and banging me up and down on my feet on the floor, she created enough momentum to dislodge it and save my life. The experience scared the hell out of me!!! And all of them. I could easily have died, by the time the paramedics would have come, I would have choked to death, which happens to many, many people every year, with food. It was a real wake up call to all of us. I’ve taken many, many first aid classes when my kids were younger, I know how to do the Heimlich for a choking victim, but have never had to use it. Of my 9 adult children, only One has taken a first aid class, and she was out at the time. Of the employees standing by, NONE knew how to do the Heimlich, and only one of my kids figured she’d better do something, anything before I died, and it worked. After it happened and we stood around, we all talked about what you’re supposed to do, but no one knew. Another of my employees used to be a nurse, but she was out too. Everyone resolved that night to go to a first aid class, it’s a really smart thing to do, you might save a friend, a stranger, a child, one of your parents, or someone in a restaurant, (or yourself with the methods they teach you to use when you’re alone, which I didn’t think of in my panic) with just minimal knowledge and a class you’ve taken. If my daughter hadn’t squeezed me and banged me around, desperate to help, I would have died, from something so dumb as a vitamin C. It can happen to anyone, I was rushing, not paying attention, and swallowed wrong. VERY wrong.

It REALLY scared me. For about 2 weeks after, I didn’t take a vitamin or even a Tylenol when I felt lousy from my cold. After that, I would only take a vitamin with someone present, and would say loudly “I am taking a vitamin now” in case I choked. A month later, I’m still too scared to take a vitamin alone. What if no one was in the house??? I would have died. I bought signs to put in our kitchen in San Francisco and Paris, usually used in restaurants, to show what to do for a choking victim. And everyone who saw it happen has decided to take a basic first aid class, it’s a really smart thing to do.
I mention it only because it was a wake up call to us. Would YOU know what to do if someone were choking in front of you? Can you do the Heimlich maneuver? It’s easy to do if you know how. Anyway, I thought I would share this experience. You could save a life sometime, or someone could save yours. I will never forget the screams of panic that night, the look of terror on my kids’ faces, and my own terror when I could NOT breathe. So maybe a good idea is a first aid course this year (The Red Cross has them, and other places). It might serve you well. And I am going to be sooooo careful taking vitamins or any pill from now on. Scaaaarrrryyyy!!! And I am soooo grateful to be alive, and grateful to my daughter, for saving my life!!!

Have a great week!!

love, Danielle

Hi Everyone,

I’m busy writing, trying to avoid the cold weather outside, and cozy at my desk, with my typewriter and notes all over the place, things to munch and a cup of tea, working on a new book. I’ll get back to the blog next week!! Stay warm and have a great week!!!

love, Danielle