Thanks to my “mommy dearest” for teaching me: how to cook without a recipe, her well honed gift wrapping technique, “you’re a work in progress don’t settle”, it’s better if you make your own vinaigrette, “when in doubt go for a walk”, how to read, to fold the laundry as soon as it’s dry, “mothers never forget”, pan searing, a good antique beats pottery barn any day, to love babies and old people and all people and most importantly that “if you ever meet a man as nice as your father- Marry him!”