Welcome to Five Things that Make Life Better. As we slither towards the end of 2019 – and head to the new 20s, I am pleased to welcome to the podcast restaurateur, cookbook author, entrepreneur, and a man who revolutionized restaurants in the 21st century, Danny Meyer. He also is the man who invented Shake Shack.

We just wrapped up Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is not just known for eating turkey and discussing our gratitude or trying to avoid Uncle Ray’s breath, it is notorious for being the time of year that families grate on our nerves. They may not feel like good problems, but even if we don’t feel equally affectionate towards all our relatives and their friends when we gathered together last week for the big meal, it’s wonderful to have a family – even a small or weird one. We get to live freely. Our babies aren’t locked away in cages, and at some point there was a debate about cranberry sauce. I’m #TeamJellied, in case you were wondering.

I was a guest this year, of my son Exhibit A and daughter-in-law, with an assist from Exhibit B. They did an exceptional job. (I confess I love a meal that’s mostly shades of brown and taupe.) And I wasn’t allowed to lift a finger. I was spoiled.

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But before I relapse into a turkey tryptophan coma, let me give you my list of five things that made my life better this week:

1. Last week I attended the Miami Book Fair, the largest book fair in the country, now in its 36th year. I had always wanted to see what it was all about, and it’s a prolonged street fair / book readings / panels / parties / signings, and so on. I was there to interview some authors, which I enjoyed. I loved the audiences. They needed no invitation to participate in the conversations.

2. One of my favorite aspects of Miami Book Fair was hanging out with numerous guests of our Five Things podcasts. Though this show isn’t about writers only, it certainly is a great platform for writers, and it felt like we belonged there.

Here I am at the Fair with some of my previous guests - Adrienne Brodeur, Lori Gottlieb, E. Jean Carroll, and Chip Kidd.

3. I took a jewelry making class and I had a fantastic time. It was through some kind of cybermagic that I found a link to a small ring-making class on Instagram. Caroline and Krys, artists who work together as Icarus & Co. happened to have a pop-up shop/classroom on Elizabeth Street on the lower east side. I was the only one who was enrolled that night. Krys and Caroline make jewelry in Brooklyn and in Nantucket in the summers. Separately they are photographers, ceramicists, illustrators, and stylists. They print their designs on silk scarves. The three of us laughed, and I learned how to carve a wax mold, which will eventually be cast in metal. By the way, these women are available to bring their tools, their wax, and everything you could need to make gold or silver charms or rings. If you have friends who are interested, they’ll bring the party to your house or office.

Perfect Organic Thanksgiving Turkey - L.jpg

4. Exhibit E’s first Thanksgiving. He surely doesn’t know who I am (he cried when I first tried to hold him last week), but as he got used to me, he treated me to big, droolly smiles. Droolly smiles are pretty, pretty good.

5. The impeachment hearings. They are not just for anti-Trumpers; they are for all Americans, to better understand what the framers of the Constitution intended when they created this most precious document. Just because we were born here, or grew up here, we must not take our democracy for granted.