How to Fit In…Without Being Put Out

Posted on June 2, 2014 by Deirdre Maloney

With a month of living in Paris now behind me, I can definitively say that this city has got a few things figured out. They know good art, they know good pastry, they know good coffee. It’s made fitting in not just fairly easy, but also a pretty great learning experience. I mean, who would have known that this… ...beats this? (Mon dieu - did I really...

How to Handle the Cranky, Miserable People Around You

Posted on May 19, 2014 by Deirdre Maloney

Well, it’s here. After much build-up and prep, our six-month overseas adventure officially began just over a week ago when our plane touched down in Paris. And, it turns out, my first life lesson based on this little adventure followed that very morning. We’d gone to a store to stock up on some known culinary entities to ease us gently into our new world of...

The Totally Avoidable Way We Mess Things Up

Posted on May 5, 2014 by Deirdre Maloney

So this past week I hit a wall. Literally. Behold... The good news, beside the fact that I’m uninjured and therefore able to write this blog, is that it happened because I was exhausted from our exciting move. To Paris. France. It happened at the tail end of moving day. We’d spent weeks getting ready and were finally in the home stretch, which included...

The Problem with your Problem-Solver

Posted on April 21, 2014 by Deirdre Maloney

I’m writing this while in the midst of an emotional whirlwind. The cause: an impending, temporary move overseas. Anyone who's moved knows that things can get a bit...overwhelming. Needless to say, I’ve needed lots of people to figure lots of things out. Actually, I’ve needed more than people. I’ve needed experts. Here’s just a sample: I needed an expe...

The Very Unexpected Leadership Lesson Learned from my Very Italian Mother

Posted on April 7, 2014 by Deirdre Maloney

A visit from Mama brought lots of excitement to the Maloney home last week. A full-blooded Italian from New York, Mama is just as lovely and cute as they come. Exhibit A: She’s also got an energy that is hard to beat. And as a direct descendent I’ve also been known to reach similar levels of enthusiasm. In the past, that is. Now that I am a hybrid Ne...

Lessons from Dunkin’ Donuts’ Big Day

Posted on March 19, 2014 by Deirdre Maloney

It was a wildly anticipated event. For months we watched the signs go up next to our building, the ones announcing the impending arrival of the new Dunkin’ Donuts in town. Despite its reputation for its delectable pieces of sugary wonder, I couldn’t help but question if a health-conscious, avocado-lovin’ place like San Diego would welcome a Dunkin’ Donuts ...