Month: March 2024

Click Here for Additional Stock in Her Pants / Here for More Stock

Photo: @lisabarlow14

Originally posted at: Lisa Barlow’s Gold Pants and Asymmetric Black Top

At the last second, my husband had to bail on an upcoming cruise.

Family couldn’t swing it either, so I asked – as one does – the busiest woman on the planet if she’d like to be my plus-one. As busy women do, she quickly said yes and went about shutting down her life for that particular week (cue Enjoli perfume ad).

Pam and I’d raised our boys together in Virginia. She and I were “fly-by friends” glimpsing each other in flashes and blurs when dropping off, feeding, picking up kids and so forth.

But an entire week to ourselves?

Color us stoked.

If you haven’t heard of MSC cruises, you’re in good company. Long known as a European line, MSC is now expanding her flip-flopped footprint into the U.S. market, and currently has five mega-ships homeported on our shores. MSC’s stretch goal is to become as ubiquitous as Carnival or Royal Caribbean (code for prices rock).

Destination? Bermuda!

Two Country Mice

Pam and I were booked into the MSC’s Yacht Club which is the line’s ship-within-a-ship experience. The Yacht Club regulars will tell anyone who’ll listen: “Once you go Yacht Club, you’ll never go back.” (Truer words etcetera.)

Fast-forward a few weeks, and there we were, looking in awe at our spacious stateroom, when a beautifully dressed man knocked and introduced himself saying that he would be our butler for the week.

We were all, “Butler? You mean like Lurch?”

Larry smiled politely and went into the ins and outs of the Yacht Club, beginning with, “Everything – food, cocktails – is included in the one price you’ve already paid.”

“The elegant Yacht Club spans three decks at the top of the ship’s stern (back). On the rooftop – if you will – you’ll find a (quiet) pool, luxury chaise lounges (nice and empty), and an upscale patio-dining (excellent). Indoors is the Yacht Club’s exclusive restaurant and a marvel of a lounge that offers views for miles along with seriously great bite-size food.”

Larry finished by telling us that as Yacht Club members we’d have daily access to the thermal spa.

Thunk. (That’s me falling over.) Have you heard of a thermal spa? Think: heated beds, saunas, steam rooms and so forth. Even if you aren’t a spa-fan, you’ll dig the thermal (“yes” to bathing suits).

The Luxury of Effortless Fun

The all-inclusive part made Pam and my time together just plain easy – there was no thinking beyond “Which dessert would you like ma’am? A sample plate of all four? Not a problem.” And that’s when it dawned on me. We’d stumbled on the perfect Golden Girls pajama party.

For the entire week, Pam and I talked a-mile-a-minute and had a blast drinking chocolate martinis (me) and eating a daily filet mignon (Pam). We had massages in the spa (spectacular) and ate at the ship’s restaurants (all excellent). We were bummed for a second when a storm laughed at our Bermuda plan, telling us to try the Bahamas instead. But our attitude? “Hey, it’s all good.” As each day raced by, something unexpected unfolded: Pam and I were deepening our friendship.

The Magic of Friendship on a Cruise Ship

Take one night, when Pam and I were watching the Broadway-like show with young women singing their hearts out, Pam turned to me and quietly opera-sang into my ear, and she somehow did it in a whisper-sing. Now that’s voice control!

I’d always wanted to hear Pam sing, but long story short, Pam has some PTSD around singing in public and never felt comfortable belting one out. I was beyond touched that mid-cruise, Pam felt safe enough to sing for me into my ear. A precious gift.

We also came up with the perfect ending to each day. Every night after the Broadway-ish show, Pam and I headed straight for the Yacht Club lounge to scoop up three or four small-bite desserts before returning to our stateroom planning to pair champaign – ordered earlier – with our beautiful desserts.

You know those statistics that lament how lonely our planet is? I mean, we baby boomers remember when loneliness stats weren’t even a thing. We all remember the days when the phone was attached to the wall, and we talked with girlfriends for hours until an adult kicked us off. Today we text “to stay in touch.” Which isn’t even close, to being close.

In these high-tech times, give your friends a wondrous gift: put out some feelers and then organize your own Golden Girls party at sea. You’re headed for one of the most memorial experiences of your life. (And please have a chocolate martini for me.)

Ready to Throw Your Own Golden Girls’ Party at Sea?

Here’s how to go about it:

Choose Your Goldens Carefully

You don’t want anyone who bristles easily, has a drinking problem, and/or is a narcissist. You want the friendliest in life who love to travel. If three of you hang together all day, but a fourth is in the casino into the wee hours, nothing good will result.

How Many Goldens Should You Invite?

I suggest an even number. Plan two Goldens to a stateroom (when you book ask for staterooms next to or near each other). Or consider an out-of-the-box idea: it might be cheaper to book an extra-large Yacht Club suite that’ll hold all of you (but you’d need to do the math).

Consider Personality Specifics

Pam and I are both INFJs on the Myer-Briggs. You don’t need to be an exact match with your Goldens, but the “introvert” vs. “extrovert” distinction is a big deal.

What Might Not Fly

If two of you are in the main part of the MSC ship while you and a friend are in the Yacht Club, you can visit your friends on the larger ship like to get massages at the spa, hang at the pool and have lunch or dinner together in the main dining room. But only those who’ve paid for the Yacht Club can use its endless food, drinks and amenities.

Combat our culture’s loneliness: pull together a Golden Girls at sea party with your friendliest of friends and have a ship-within-a-ship experience like no other.

Let’s Have a Conversation:

Is loneliness a part of your life? How have you best managed it? Do you think that the Silicon Valley-era is part of the loneliness problem? What do you think about organizing your own Golden Girls slumber party? Where would you go? What would you do?

Amanda Batula’s White Graphic Tank Top / Summer House Season 8 Episode 3 Fashion

If you blinked at the right time on Summer House last night you may have missed Amanda Batula in her graphic tank top at Paige’s apartment. But don’t worry we got you and also got the deets on her Champagne Gang tank. Which means we can all raise a glass our credit cards to shop it below.

Sincerely Stylish,

Jess

Originally posted at: Amanda Batula’s White Graphic Tank Top

This is the first question every business owner asks when I talk with anyone about exiting her business. There are two answers:

1. A business is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.
2. It depends.

If you were expecting a simple formula, these answers are not satisfying. But both are true and, if you’re thinking about exiting your business, I suggest you accept this reality. In other words, you’re not going to KNOW the value of your business until someone buys your business. You can get a rough idea, but you won’t KNOW.

That leaves us with the second answer. When I write that the value of your business “depends,” I mean there are many factors to consider. Let me use a comparison between two businesses to illustrate.

Two Sample Businesses

My wife and I go to the local farmer’s market at least once a month, and we usually end up buying lunch from the same vendor. It’s a stall that offers Turkish-style grilled chicken pita sandwiches, and they’re great! The owner is a woman I’ll call Debi. She has a grill person doing the cooking, and Debi is the counter person. There is always a long line of potential customers, and I can see Debi does a plate-full of business every weekend.

The second business is Donna’s yarn shop in a small town. She sells many types of yarn, knitting supplies, patterns, and some finished items. Donna’s business took a big-hit in sales when the pandemic happened because people weren’t shopping live much. Donna pivoted and started to sell kits and supplies on-line through her website. She even started a subscription service called the “kit of the month club.” Through this service, customers receive a kit to make a different item each month. Donna’s retail business has recovered, and she has kept the on-line store.

While very different types of businesses, Debi and Donna have some similarities in their businesses too. They both have recurring customers, and both have labor costs, fixed costs, and the cost of goods sold. Let’s assume both Debi and Donna make the same gross revenue each month. How would we determine the value of both businesses?

You Only Have Two Choices

You can imagine the answer depends on many factors, not just gross revenue. This is what I mean by the value of your business, “depends.”

However, “it depends” doesn’t answer your #1 question while you contemplate whether to go through the effort of selling your business.

I know you need to have a rough idea of your business’ value before you think about selling your business. Your subsequent actions depend on the answer.

If your business is worth very little, you’ll take one set of actions. If the business is worth enough to make it worth your while to sell it, you’ll take that road. Like Robert Frost wrote in his poem, “The Road Not Taken,” the business owner faces a decision and can’t go both ways.

How Do You Decide If Your Business Is Financially Worth Selling, at Least in the Short-Term?

First, look at your business from a potential buyer’s perspective. Just like selling a house, the buyer dictates the final selling price and terms. You can think your house is worth $X, but a buyer may think it’s worth $Y. Unless you, as the seller, and the buyer can bridge the gap, you won’t sell your house.

Thus, the key to figuring out the value of your business is considering what a potential buyer would value. Every business is different, of course, but buyers generally consider these factors when doing a preliminary estimate of your business’ value:

• Financial performance, including gross and net revenue (profit) currently and trends, sales growth, operating expenses.
• Market opportunity including market size and growth potential, competitive landscape trends.
• Reputation and brand.
• Customer/client base and relationships, including lifetime value of a client or customer.
• Operational efficiency, including experience and competency of existing team members, roles and responsibilities, written standard operating procedures.
• Potential synergies with existing operations.
• Intellectual property, for example, trademarks, service marks, copyrights, patents, contracts, agreements, and proprietary processes.
• Goodwill (intangible value that a company earns beyond its tangible assets such as industry and vendor partnerships, specialized knowledge, community involvement, thought leadership).

While a formal valuation by an independent expert is a requirement when you sell your business, you can obtain a reasonable estimate of your business’ worth on your own. There are three methods you can use and next time we’ll look at the different approaches.

A good exercise is to look at each of the above factors and rate your business with a +, – or 0 as a potential buyer might rate your business.

Previous article in this series, 5 STEPS TO SELL YOUR BUSINESS.

Let’s Have a Conversation:

Let me know what insights you receive from this simple approach by making a comment. Are there any other factors I left out that you think are important to consider?

Paige DeSorbo’s Gold Cutout Bikini / Summer House Season 8 Episode 3 Fashion

These Hampton hotties had themselves a nice beach day on Summer House last night and Paige DeSorbo of course showed up in an ensemble. She wore a gold ribbed cutout bikini, a gold crochet cutout cover up dress, and topped it off with a big straw tote. Added all together they created the prefect beach babe vibe.

Sincerely Stylish,

Jess

Click Here to Shop Her Bikini in Other Colors

1st Photo: @amandabatula

Originally posted at: Paige DeSorbo’s Gold Cutout Bikini