How Much Should You Spend On A Wedding Gift?

"Mother." Tia’s voice, sharper than either of them expected, had Alma bunking. "This

vase isn’t an appropriate gift for the daughter of an acquaintance."

"Ellen is a dear friend..."

"Whom you see perhaps six times a year at social functions," Tia finished briskly.

"Your taste, as always, is impeccable, but this isn’t the right gift." 

Three Fates

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csss [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)]

Things To Consider

Ignore any "rules" telling you how much to spend on a present, 

wedding etiquette experts say.

HuffPost

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Carefully, she angled it, tipped it so she could check the tiny price tag. And breathed

a quiet sigh of relief. "What a wonderful gift this would be," she went on quickly as

she saw the sulk folding into her mother’s face. "You know, if you gave the other as a

gift, they wouldn’t know what they had, so they wouldn’t appreciate the gesture for

what it was worth. But something as gorgeous as this, at just the right price, will get

full marks."

"Well..."

"Why don’t I take care of having it boxed and wrapped for you? Then we’ll see if

Father has time to have some tea. It’s been a long time since we’ve been in Wyley’s

together."

"I suppose." Alma studied the vase more carefully. "It is very elegant."

"Gorgeous." And at less than four hundred, right in the ballpark.

Three Fates

Want to live longer? Have a blazing row

“And I'll remind you of the night you asked me to marry you, when you gave me

flowers and candlelight, then shouted at me and raged up and down the room,

making me love you even more.”

“If that's all it takes, you'll be delirious about me by the time I'm sixty.”

Suzanna's Surrender

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Brocken Inaglory [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) 

or CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]

Couples who argue have a lower risk of ill health and dying prematurely, study finds

It might not seem like it at the time, but having a blazing row with your partner could be good for you.

Those who argue with one another have a lower risk of ill health and dying prematurely, scientists have found.

DailyMail




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She glanced around. "God! There must be something to throw."
"Don’t think about it," he advised. "Just grab the first thing and let it fly."
She snatched up her hairbrush, heaved it. It cracked solidly against the jewel-toned
shade of her bedside lamp. "Damn it! Damn it, that was Tiffany. Can’t I even have a
successful temper tantrum?"
"You should have thrown it at me." He grabbed her arms before she could go clean
up the mess she’d made.
"Just let me go."
"I’m not going to do that."
"I’m stupid." The fight went out of her. "All I’ve done is embarrass myself and break
a beautiful lamp shade. I should’ve taken a Xanax."
"Well, you didn’t, and I prefer fighting with a woman who’s not hazy on some
tranquilizer. These are real feelings, Tia, and you’ll have to deal with them. Whether
you want mine or not, you’ll have to deal with them."


Three Fates

How to get a better night’s sleep

"Let me think about it. Why couldn't you sleep?"

 "How do I know? The doctor's got some sort of holistic tea he wants me to try."

 "Sex is a good sedative."

 "Maybe. Especially, for instance, if your partner's on the inadequate side. You can catch a quick nap during the act."

 "I can promise you won't sleep through it."

 She only smiled, and ate her salad.

Angels Fall

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By Édouard Vuillard - AAGyOnA867cXFA at Google Cultural Institute 

maximum zoom level, Public Domain, 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21880435

Most people know they need to eat right and exercise to be healthy. But what about sleep? We spend about one-third of our lives asleep, and sleep is essential to better health. But many of us are struggling with sleep. Four out of five people say that they suffer from sleep problems at least once a week and wake up feeling exhausted. So how do you become a more successful sleeper? Grab a pillow, curl up and keep reading to find out.

NEW YORK TIMES

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Out of habit, she switched on the white-noise maker on the bedside table.

When she moved away to adjust her bedroom air filter, Malachi switched it back off as he did every night. She never noticed.

Three Fates

Why Introverts Make The Best Leaders

She looked at him, then at Cleo. "Yes, I guess I do, but I intend to research if insanity

runs in my family. There’s a pull-out sofa in my office here. You can use that tonight."

"Thanks."

"It isn’t free," she told Gideon and lifted the tea tray. 

"From this point on, I stop being a tool and become an active participant in this little ... quest."

Cleo smiled as Tia carted the tray into the living room. 

"Translated, Slick, the doc just informed you she’s your fucking partner."

"Yes, I did. Lemon or sugar?"

Three Fates

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By r2hox from Madrid, Spain (Revolution Woman) [CC BY-SA 2.0 

(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

When you think about a successful leader, I’m sure a reserved, 

unassuming introvert is not what popped into your head. 

HUFFINGTON POST

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"You never stumbled, Tia." Standing behind her, Malachi laid his hands on her shoulders. 

"You’ve been rock-steady, through and through."

"That’s a dream in itself."

Three Fates

The Sense of ‘Mine’

Vanessa managed an answering smile. 

“Thank you. The house looks lovely. It seems bigger somehow. 

I’d always heard that things shrunk as you got older.”

Loretta turned off the radio. 

Vanessa regretted the gesture, as it meant they were left with only

 themselves to fill the silence. 

“There were too many dark colors before,” Loretta told her. 

“And too much heavy furniture.

At times I used to feel as though the furniture was lurking over me, 

waiting to push me out of a room.” 

She caught herself, uneasy and embarrassed.

Unfinished Business

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By Daniel Thornton - CeljeUploaded by sporti, CC BY 2.0, 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27075869

People get attached to their stuff. Two-year-olds, for instance, have verystrong opinions about what’s theirs (“MINE!”), and are suspicious about sharing, no matter what nonsense their adult caregivers spew about thiscaring thing. And although (most) people eventually learn to follow appropriate social norms, that relationship to stuff and things still matters throughout the life span, and even, in a way, beyond it — when you’re gone, after all, your loved ones will likely inherit your most prized possessions. If nothing else, at least your memory will live on through, say, a particularly nice set of dresser drawers you once owned.

People express their self-identity through their belongings, a notion that psychologists and neuroscientists are lately finding empirical evidence to support, though the idea itself is of course not a new one.

SCIENCE OF US

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When she was awake and wandering the apartment, she’d stop to touch

something—the back of a chair, the side of a table, the round dome of a

paperweight. She would think, Mine. My things, my apartment, my country.

Three Fates

Introverts Handle Heartbreak Differently

"Throw something, then," he suggested. "Punch me, yell at me."
"That would make it easier for you." She needed her cave, her solitude. And some
scrap of pride. "I asked you to go. If you have any conscience about what you’ve
done, you’ll respect that."


Three Fates

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By Stan Wiechers from New York (Sadness) [CC BY-SA 2.0 
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

When an introvert’s heart is broken, give them Netflix and ample time alone.

Heartbreak doesn’t hurt any less if you’re an introvert, an extrovert or a somewhere-in-the-middle ambivert.

Still, each personality type deals with the sting of a breakup a little differently. Below, experts share seven things that are true of most introverts going through a split.

HUFFINGTON POST

Things Only People With Anxiety Understand

He noted she took the glasses off for this portion, blinked like an owl in sunlight, and
seemed to take a very long breath. The way a diver might, he mused, before
plunging off a high board into a dark pool.

Three Fates

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According to Todd Farchione, a clinical psychologist at the Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders at Boston University, there are certain stigmas that society has created for anxiety sufferers, but even more opportunities to overcome them. From touchy phrases to intense fears, below find eight things people with anxiety know to to be true (and what everyone can do to help).

HUFFINGTON POST

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And one look at Tia had him biting back the rest of the oaths. She was white as a sheet, her  eyes already going glassy with shock.

She doesn’t deserve this, he thought. And he had no doubt it was his hunting her down that had brought this on her.

"You need to sit down."
"What?"
"Sit." 

Brisk now, he took her by the arm and pulled her to a chair, dumped her in it.

"We’ll call security. Can you tell if anything’s missing?"
"My computer." She tried to catch her breath, found it blocked. Fearing an asthma
attack, she dug in her briefcase for her inhaler. "My laptop’s gone."

He frowned at her while she sucked on the inhaler. "What was on it?"

She waved a hand as she drew in medication. "My work," she managed between gulps. "New book. E-mail, accounts— banking." She rooted through her bag again for pills. "I’ve got a disk copy of the book in here." 

But it was a prescription bottle she pulled out.

Malachi nipped it out of her hand. "What’s this?" He read the label, and his frown deepened. "We’ll just hold off on this for now. You’re not going to be hysterical."
"I’m not?"
"You’re not."

She felt the telltale tickle at the back of her throat that presaged a panic attack. "I think you’re wrong."

Three Fates

New York

She loved New York. Why hadn’t she ever realized how much she loved the city, with
its noise and traffic, its crowded streets. Its life. There was so much to see if you just
looked. The young women pushing baby carriages, the boy walking a group of six
little dogs that pranced along like a parade. The sleek, black, hired cars taking ladies
to lunch, or home again after a morning’s shopping. And look how gorgeous the
flowers were along the avenue, and how smart the doormen looked in their uniforms
as they stood outside the buildings.

Three Fates

_______________

Alicia Keys - New York

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Despite the heat, Cleo rolled down the window so New York could slap her in the
face. The blast of horns was music as the cab inched its way in jerks through crosstown traffic.
By the time they pulled to the curb in front of Mikey’s building off Ninth, she was
riding on such a high she didn’t think to complain when Gideon told her to pay the driver.
"So what do you think?" she demanded.
"About what?" he asked groggily.

"New York. You said you hadn’t been here before."
He looked around numbly. "It’s crowded. It’s noisy, and everybody looks annoyed about something."
"Yeah." Cleo felt sentimental tears clog her throat. "It’s the best."

Three Fates

anxiety can bring out the Best

How do you conquer phobia? Dr. Lowenstein had asked. By facing the phobia.
You’ve got chronic shyness with whiffs of paranoia? Get out there and interact with
the public. 

She wondered when a patient came to Lowenstein with a fear of heights
if his solution was a fast leap off the Brooklyn Bridge.
Had he listened when she’d assured him she was positive she had social anxiety
disorder? Perhaps agoraphobia combined with claustrophobia?
No, he had not. He’d insisted she was merely shy, and had suggested she leave the
psychiatric evaluations and diagnoses to him.
As her stomach churned when the first members of the audience walked up for a
word and a signature, she wished she could face Dr. Lowenstein right this minute. So
she could punch him.

Three Fates

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Actually, a little anxiety may be just what you need to focus your efforts and perform at your peak, psychologists say. 

Somewhere between checked out and freaked out lies an anxiety sweet spot, some researchers say, in which a person is motivated to succeed yet not so anxious that performance takes a dive. This moderate amount of anxiety keeps people on their toes, enables them to juggle multiple tasks and puts them on high alert for potential problems.

WSJ

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She trailed off,
flushing a bit when she realized everyone was looking at her.
"No." Malachi watched her. "Go on. Finish it out."
"All right." She steadied herself as she’d learned to do before a public lecture.

Three Fates