My favorite holiday is over with. Poof! All the anticipation is gone. 364 days to go until it happens again. Such is life.

My friend Marc picked me up at 6AM and we headed downtown and prepared for the Turkey Trot. The weather was great and a record 10,000 runners showed up. I ran the 10K a personal best time of 42 minutes.

We then headed to Wolfgang Puck for breakfast. Everything is homemade and although Marc and Mark (my son who showed up to the race late) chomped on incredible pancakes, my egg white omelette hit the spot.

The Detroit Lions were predictable but this game was the absolute worse game ever on TV. Even my #1 son Michael was playing with his i-Phone instead of watching.

But the real deal began at 6PM. The entire spread was there and waiting to be devoured. Even with my best intentions, the whole thing was done in a record time of 30 minutes. It was so good! After a break, we started over with desserts. They were so good! Yes, my 3000 calories were ingested and I felt it this morning. Ouch!

What I wanted to share on this day most people are shopping scooping up bargains instead of working is that on my way home from the Turkey Trot, we passed Henry Ford hospital. The ominous building’s windows were mostly closed and who knew how many people were inside those rooms on Thanksgiving Day  unable to celebrate, be with their family, and eat homemade turkey and pumpkin pie.

Yes, we are very lucky and as long as my luck continues, I will be running the Turkey Trot, eating breakfast at Wolfgang, watch the Lions lose and look forward to my favorite meal of the year.

Happy Friday!

Just in time for the biggest eating day of the year, SELF magazine released its annual Unhealthiest Survey of U.S. cities. Detroit came in dead last.

Categories included obesity, working out, smoking, eating, crime, safety, stress and overall personal management.

Truthfully, I’m tired of the city I live in being dead last in most statistics. After five painful years, all of a sudden other states that are now feeling pain are actually understanding what we have been going through.

What is it going to take for Detroit to move out of last place and into at least the middle of the pack? Let’s start with the SELF survey. Most women interviewed would most likely say they are healthy.

So the question of the day right before the best eating day of the year is: Are you healthy and what do you do to be healthy?

Happy Thanksgiving!

According to Gallup, less than 20% of the U.S. workforce is fully engaged. More than half the U.S. workforce is either fully disengaged or somewhat disengaged.

Now if you are thinking what the word "engaged" means in the workplace, think about the poor guy who gets on his knees and asks his girlfriend to marry him. She says "yes" and they are truly engaged. Pure bliss. Love is in the air. Smiles and laughter. The bedroom is used for more than sleeping. Arguments are short-lived. Communication is at its best.

And then the couple ends their engagement and gets married. They both say "I do" and life changes. With half of all marriages ending in divorce, it is safe to say more than half of marriages emulate the workforce: fully disengaged or somewhat disengaged.

Naturally we all love to be fully engaged. So here is my question to you. What characteristics in the workplace do you look for to be fully engaged?

Here are some to think about?

1. Recognition

2. Compensation

3. Enjoy what you do

4. Best friend at work

5. Challenging and rewarding

6. Feel safe

7. Have fun

8. I feel I make a difference

9. I am always learning

10. I feel empowered to make decisions

You might have additional variables to add. But what do you consider your "Top 3"? The results may surprise you!

Happy Tuesday, only two days left to FEAST!

If I had a countdown meter on my blog, I would use it now. 3 days and 7 hours remaining until I consume 3000 plus calories without care. Those that know me understand the implications of this.

Chef BUB has been planning the meal for 3 weeks and the 11 cookbooks and pages of recipes have been culled repeatedly. At the end, I know what to expect:

Turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes baked with marshmallows, pickles and olives, sausage stuffing, two kinds of veggies (one baked), rolls, a couple of starters, cranberry relish, tossed salad, and desserts.

I am thinking at least 4 desserts and I do know there are a couple of containers of whipping creme in the refrigerator, the ultimate no-no! Pumpkin pie, chocolate peanut butter pie, pecan pie, a cake of some sort, and who knows what else!

Worse, in 3 days, 7 hours and 30 minutes, it will be all over. So thanks to the BUB for planning, preparing, cooking and cleaning!

Thanks to Coach Dantonio who took the Spartans to 9-3 although we got beat bad by PSU.

Thanks to the store talent who worked all weekend doing inventory. I remember those days well.

Thanks to Lisa O. who is working 7 days a week getting thebeautybook done. Her team is working hard to get it done too.

Thanks to Kym R. who has taken Kemon to an unprecedented level in its first year.

Thanks to Eric R. and Hector B. for having a record month in the Florida Pavilion. Remember, records are made to be broken.

Thanks to all the TNG talent for embracing SAP and working through this difficult period of adjustments. As Detroit Lions fan say, "it can’t get worse!"

Thanks to Daniel G. for stepping up to the plate. Confucius says be careful what you speak.

Thanks to Liz M. for taking care of all my stuff.

And thanks to all those I didn’t mention that should have been!

Happy Monday!

U.S. lawmakers did what shareholders, company workers, customers and the public at-large could not do for the past 30 years: Tell the Big 3 that their way of doing business doesn’t work. And if you want to survive and get money, you best go back to work post haste and come up with a business plan that does work.

Private jets. Job bank. Entitlements. And that is what we do know. Here is what else we do know: The party is over for the Big 3 executives and management teams. Their complacency even in these times is remarkable and they need to read my latest book, A Sense of Urgency by John P. Kotter. If there was ever a time to have a sense of urgency, it is now.

The comments from my last blog were a record high and many were insightful. I was shocked that many Michigan folks didn’t want the Big 3 to get bailed out. The Michigan unemployment rate hit 9.3% and will surely crack double digits. But even with the economy in the tank, people are fed up with intolerable behavior and performance.

Perhaps we do need a "cleansing out process" to get America strong and proud again. We are living history and whatever predictions you think will be 6 or 12 months from now, no one really knows for sure if they will come true.

Here is what else know. We have to focus on what we do best and learn from this mess. Because at the end of day, if we don’t, we’ll need more than bail out. 

Happy Friday!

Lucky me is at jury duty for the next couple of days. So I thought this would be a good time to poll my readers on their thoughts about GM’s survival.

According to everything we have read and heard, GM can do one of three things:

1. Continue as is and shut down.

2. Continue as is and file bankruptcy.

3. Receive a bail-out loan from the government anywhere from $25-$100 Billion.

Without any of my comments on the subject, let us know your thoughts. I can then send to Mr. Levin and perhaps this will put the issue to rest in Washington. Who knows?

Happy Wednesday and Thursday!

I had the pleasure of spending a couple days in Florida last week. The weather was 86 and sunny since I know you were wondering that very thing. How come when it comes to places like Florida the first thing we want to know is the weather and if rain is in the forecast?

After visiting our Pavilion showroom, I checked into the Hilton Suites and quickly found the pool. After two minutes in the sun, I pounced to the vending machine for SPF30. After 15 minutes back in the sun, the sweat was dripping from all directions and when it landed in my eyes, it was time for the pool. I will say that if Florida has anything on us, it’s that their pools are open all year long (OK, so are their golf courses).

It was then back to the A/C hotel room. The door wall was sweating too. The A/C was cranked but I was still sweating. The best came the next morning. At 7:15AM, I went for my 6 mile run. It was 76 degrees, the sun was out and there was a wind. I’ve run in Vegas, Mexico and other places, but this was one of my tougher runs. People were shaking their heads as I passed them by thinking "poor soul."

After the run was another plunge into the pool. Steam came out and I am not joking! Then a cold shower and none of it helped. My hair was a mess and would not dry. Oh well.

My brother took me for lunch on the ocean at this place called Johnny G’s. They are famous for fish and chips and the 70-80 year olds were chowing away like it was their last meal. Of course I didn’t eat that but the broiled fish sandwich was great. We did have to move our chairs however several times for walkers, canes, wheel chairs and whatever else Florida is famous for.

Here’s the thing about Florida. It’s hot, humid and filled with old people that can’t drive. You risk your life every time you get in the car. The traffic lights are 4 minutes long. And everyone lives in A/C and never opens a window.

As my plane made it’s way into Metro Airport, the sky was gray, it was raining and looked cold. Why? Because it was cold. But you know what? It’s nice to have the four seasons and be cold–it keeps you conscious.

The next day I ran at 7:15AM and it was a wonderful 34 degrees. It was a delight and one thing was certain: I didn’t have to worry about heat exhaustion.

Happy Tuesday!

Who says you have to be in Florida or LA to have a great beach party? Not the folks at CTS!

Saturday was the annual Beach Party at our World Headquarters. Over 250 tanning salon attendees came to celebrate the start of the 2009 season. They all had high expectations and think consumers will turn to tanning to help reduce stress, anxiety and give them needed time to relax.

The CTS talent were busy all day long making sure the event was perfect. Kory, Kristi, Elisa, Laura, and Suzanne wore their CTS shirts and took care of business.

Rick Mahorn, director of ATI, was on hand conducting the certification segment. CTS has partnered with ATI and will be conducting certification programs throughout the USA first quarter of 2009.

The lovely folks from ETS showed off their new products from Australian Gold, California Tan and Designer Skin. Yet another $100 product looks like to be a best-seller!

The group feasted on Steve’s Deli for lunch. It seems that everyone is eating turkey and no one is eating corned beef or roast beef. That’s the good news. The bad news is that there wasn’t a chocolate chip cookie to be had.

With the demise of the ITA annual show and the fragile state of the indoor tanning industry, it is proof positive once again that leadership does make a difference and regardless how bad things are, rays of sunshine are always out there.

Happy Monday! (And yes, the Lions are 0-10).

We wake up in the morning and what is one of the first things we do? Turn on the TV or radio. We want to instantly know what we missed overnight, the current weather and what gossip we can talk about during the day.

We need to be updated 24/7. The media loves that we need to be updated 24/7. The Internet is 24/7. Heck, if you are reading this blog, you are connected and read this because you don’t want to miss anything and you love to read the comments.

But what if you woke up and the only thing you could turn on was the coffee maker? No TV. No radio. No Internet. No computers. In fact, no newspapers outside your door either (most don’t read them anyway).

Now think about this for a week straight. Now think about this for a month straight. What would the effects be?

The media makes us crazy. For one, we wouldn’t be crazy.

The media loves to focus on the negative. No one wants to read or listen about the person who won the lottery. We want to learn about the person who won the lottery and then lost it all.

We are all in a funk mostly in part because of the media. Most of us still get up in the morning, go to work, come home, do our thing and repeat the process the next day. That’s what we need to think about.

GM, Ford and such are huge media hits right now. Neither you or I are going to do anything about it. Let’s go to work, focus on what we do best and blast the media out of our minds. What an idea.

Happy Thursday (and Friday since I am off to Florida)!

The news isn’t getting any better and now it looks like we will be in this turbulent period of time at least until August 2009. So what should we do?

Indulge in comfort. The other day I mentioned "cocooning" and many agreed they love to wrap up in a soft blanket in front of a roaring fire and read a book. With daylight savings time over, I’m going to bed earlier and sleeping longer. The bed always comfortable is even more so.

For humans, there still remains nothing more comforting than food. Comfort foods include meatloaf, mashed potatoes, hot homemade Angie’s pizza bread, pasta and dessert.

Ah, the thrill of dessert. For me, it’s strictly weekends and even then, the desserts are monitored. Except of course on special occasions. And my most favorite of those is coming up shortly: Thanksgiving.

I used to love a box of chocolates. Remember Fannie May? Whitman’s Sampler? Sydney Bogg? Sanders? Now it’s Godiva which I think is OK at best. Regardless, I hate the cream centers and love the nut/caramel ones. 

Pie is my favorite and it’s a toss up between real pumpkin or warm apple with crumb topping and vanilla ice cream on the side. Yes, I also love banana and coconut creme, and peanut butter with chocolate topping is pretty good too.

But for Thanksgiving, one must be a traditionalist. The problem lies in portion control. Is it half a piece of each to start? Then sneak up and eat the other half of each? And then take the knife and cut a secret piece and eat that over the sink? You see, that’s why I only eat pie once a year. I can’t stop.

What do you prefer: A box of chocolate or piece of pie? And which is your favorite?

If you can’t talk about the news, comfort food is always a good option.

Happy Wednesday!