No. Seriously. This was the line from a party invitation my husband George and I attended about 7 years ago thrown by some dear friends to celebrate a friend’s 40th birthday. It was a great party – a brilliant idea. I can still remember part of the conversation George and I had about our costumes:

George: "What is your life's lost ambition? Is there something you wanted to be that you will never be?"

Me (after a pause): "Tall"

George: "The costume?"

Me: "I’ll wear heels and bring a step stool."

George (concerned): "You’ll probably twist an ankle. Anything else?"

Wiley Publishers just sent me an advanced copy of a professional trade book I wrote with my colleagues Dave Lepak and Jaime Bonache entitled Managing the Global Workforce. The primary audiences for the book are Human Resource (HR) professionals and students in HR courses. (My Rutgers Master of HRM students who have already graduated just breathed a collective sigh of relief. Could you hear it?)

Here's an amusing publishing question for you: How could a book that has not yet been released be available to purchase "used" from Amazon.com? Talk about an industry with a short life span. Yeesh.

When people hear that I’ve written a career advice book, the #1 question I receive is “will you take a look at my resume”? At the risk of sounding unsupportive, I almost always say “no” unless the person making the request is someone I’ve known well, over a long period of time. I really am a helpful person (honestly), but without a good bit of knowledge about the competencies of both the person and the requirements of the desired position, my advice is always the same (and a bit predictable). Here it is:

1. Understand the key competencies necessary for the job you want.
2. Make sure a demonstration (e.g., education, experience) of each required competence appears (honestly) on your resume.
3. Triple and quadruple check for spelling and grammar.
4. Format professionally.

My husband George and I arrived in Hawaii very late on Monday night to start a well-deserved vacation in a place we both love. On Tuesday morning, I received a call that my dear friend Frank passed away -- cancer. He died in the arms of his wife Kylie and two daughters and is no longer in pain. He died having lived a fabulous life.

We visited Frank just before we left and he smiled widely when we told him where we were going. (The last time we vacationed in Hawaii was 2 years ago with him and Kylie.) At the end of our visit, I gave Frank a hug and a kiss, told him I loved him, said “good-bye” and that “I would miss him in Hawaii”. I guess I could have left off “in Hawaii”.

Research has found that listening to music makes endurance exercising more enjoyable and motivates people to achieve their goals (Wijnalda, et al, 2005).

This cannot possibly be surprising to you if you’ve ever in worked-out while listening to the music you find most motivational. (I, for one, didn't realize the extent of the energizing influence my music had on my own performance until the day I went to the gym and accidentally forgot my iPod at home.)

Over the past few months I have asked you, the readers of this blog on Facebook and Twitter, to help me develop my new playlist for the gym.

Here are your suggestions of songs to motivate and energize:

1. I Believe I Can Fly - R. Kelly
2. Eye of the Tiger - Survivor

Interactions today are fleeting. Information availability is overwhelming. Our attention is diverted easily as we are inundated with competing demands on our cognitive and emotional resources.

I, for one, want 2010 to be about quality (not quantity). My New Year’s resolution is to practice mindfulness – to live moment and be more present.

I was born and raised in West Seneca, NY – outside of Buffalo -- the rust belt and snow capital of the USA.

My holiday traditions for the week include borrowing my parents’ car to search for coffee shops with wireless internet access. My husband and I will sleep in the bedroom still decorated with a bit of my high school memorabilia. We will share 1.5 bathrooms (with 9 other members from the Caligiuri clan). I’ll eat several pounds of refined sugar and butter (disguised innocently as my mom’s delicious Christmas cookies) with no chance of seeing the gym.

I love my family dearly and enjoy being with them for the holidays. I have been blessed with a fun-loving, warm and loving family members who, unfortunately for me, happen to be physically-located on a geographic ice-cube. I guess one can’t have everything.

Did you ever notice that so many holiday movies have a “people matter more than money” theme? Think of Scrooge in A Christmas Carol or Buddy's father Walter in Elf. While always a nice feel-good theme, I don’t think we need to be reminded to put our loved ones before our bank accounts. For most of us, knowing our priorities isn’t the challenge -- living in the moment, however, is.

Have any of these situations ever happened to you?

• You are watching your child’s softball game or dance recital, but your mind is on what you need to do tomorrow.
• You are on the phone with a loved one but, rather than listening, you are thinking about what else you could be doing at that moment.

Congratulations to Michelle D. for winning the "Inspiration" drawing. Michelle shared that she will be using the $100 toward the purchase of textbooks for the Spring Semester (perhaps the singular, “textbook”, is more appropriate given the high cost of textbooks these days). Michelle is pursuing her degree, and eventual career, in the field of psychology.

Michelle was kind enough to share her sources of inspiration which include “the stories and experiences of others, in music, art, and the beauty of nature, and in solitude”. In her words “all of these things awaken thoughts and feelings of inspiration within me.” Her words offer a beautiful reminder of the many sources of inspiration around us all.

OK, I admit it. I love classic Christmas TV movies; Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) is one of my favorites. Yes, I do realize the title of this blog will likely make most of you think I’ve been enjoying too much mulled wine.

I have been writing a lot about work-life balance and work values these past few years and believe we all tend to underestimate the role of our loved ones in our career success. Their role is tremendous because they help build our self-efficacy, inspire us, and support us.