I knew Alex J. Hart; he was a customer in my Los Gatos antiques store and longtime friend of my late husband’s mother. Mr. Hart was the epitome of a gentleman, with elegance and class, Mr. Panache, I called him—and he always smiled his inimitable, shy smile. I recently learned that he died last August, …

I have always loved the month of June. The sun is typically out and the temperatures are consistently warm in this geographic region. The daylight hours are peaking as we near the summer solstice (June 15th -26th) and summer officially begins June 21st. People tend to spend more time outside gardening, going to ballgames or …

Ever notice how our personal lives sometimes mirror challenges that are happening around us? After all, there is a unifying “thread of life” that connects us with all aspects of nature as well as with one another. So, when worldly relationships and natural disasters rumble around us, it makes sense that we might experience some …

Swimwear. This word strikes fear in the hearts of women every summer. Not anymore! This season, be ready for the beach, the pool or even your backyard hot tub with a few simple tips to help you discover your inner “bathing beauty” and take her out for a dip. The savvy swimwear shopper knows how …

Sometimes you just have to shout about something or someone good. Well, here’s my shout-out about Dr. Ben Carson, the man and Gifted Hands that tells his story. Gifted Hands is a Johnson and Johnson Spotlight Presentation that was originally aired on TNT. Thank you Johnson and Johnson! Gifted Hands is based on the true …

Who is going to take care of my child if I cannot? That is the first and foremost consideration of Estate Planning for parents with children under the age of 18. This brings up the question of Guardianship. There are two types of Guardianships in California. A Guardian of the Person is someone who is …

There are few times that a car rolls across my roadway that is too hot to let lay on the shelf. This review is just that. I had the opportunity to spend a week bathed in the beauty and power of the 2011 Jaguar XKR. We are talking about a car that is stunning in …

We had our annual tournament at WPLJ in Walnut Creek in April. Since I did the questions, I have some I can use on you nice folks. Here are this month’s questions: When hearing the Star Spangled Banner being played before a game, why did famous baseball flake Rocky Bridges say “I hate that song”? …

Investor optimism has greatly improved over the last two years and it is easy to see why. The world’s equity and commodity markets have enjoyed a dramatic charge upward since the darkest days of the financial crisis in late 2008 and early 2009. While such positive sentiment is by no means unanimous, optimism clearly has …

Q. Tom, we are planning to sell our Alamo home. We have lived here for over 15 years so we have no recent experience working directly with a Realtor. My recollection from years ago is that the interview process used to meet and select an agent was tortuous in that the agents just went on …