This post is based on a presentation I created for work regarding business email etiquette, but many of the same principles can be applied to personal email as well.
First, there are a few things you should already know, but just incase you’ve been living under a rock:

Don’t SCREAM. In the electronic world, all caps is the equivalent of shouting, and we all know that it is impolite to shout.
Word messages carefully. Sarcasm can be easily misread, so use it sparingly and only in situations where you know it will be …

UPDATE: Congratulations to Rebecca & Ashley H. on winning this giveaway! I hope you enjoy!
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So, there are few things more satisfying than when a product you loves proves itself worthy of your admiration. So goes St. Ives.
Frequenters of Lit&Leisure may remember my very first “Love” post about St. Ives Green Tea face scrub. It was the product that inspired this theme of reoccurring posts for me.
Enter December when I purchase a new tube of the scrub and experience a product fail – the tube splits at the sides. I was …

I love games, but especially card games. Last year when we moved into our home, our new neighbors taught us a card game that we were immediately addicted to. We started teaching it to everyone we knew, and quickly the running joke became, knowing this game is a prerequisite of friendship. (Not really, but we may see you more often if you play!)
Over the recent holidays we had one such couple over. They couldn’t remember all the rules and had tried to find it on the internet, but couldn’t find …

I do hate that I had to keep this post until after Christmas, but today’s Things I Love Thursday is what I gave my parents, and since my mom has a habit of stopping by Lit&Leisure, I couldn’t spoil their surprise.
Raise your hand if your parents are hard to buy for. [Looking at all the hands raised.] Mine aren’t always – often they help us out with ideas – but let’s face it, most of us buy for ourselves the things we need (or want) so sometimes coming up with …

Welcome to the October series of Manners Monday where we’ll hone our table manners in preparation for hosting and being hosted at numerous holiday gatherings for the next two months. And while I’m sure I’ll reference her many times, I’d be remiss if I didn’t go ahead and mention in advance my mom. Everything that I know and love related to entertaining is straight from her heart – as she is the quintessential hostess. So, thanks Mom. This is for you.
As Maria said in The Sound of Music, “Let’s start …

No “Manners Monday” today. Instead, I’m gearing up for a big October about table manners. In the meantime, enjoy the past posts and send table manners questions to me at readbabbette (at) yahoo (dot) com.
Previous Manners Monday:
Manners Monday :: Addressing Familiar Names Properly
Manners Monday :: Making Introductions
Manners Monday :: Thank You
Manners Monday :: Introduction
Also, afraid you might miss a post? I’ve added a tool for subscribing at the bottom of the page. Just enter your email address, and you can receive Lit&Leisure straight to your inbox.
See you next Monday where …

This may be the single most common rule infraction, mostly because people don’t know that such a standard exists or why. In fact, I believe that most of time when it is kept, it is either by accident or for the wrong reasons.
This is the rule: when using the familiar (first) names of a couple, the woman’s name goes first. Example: Jane and John Smith.
As evidenced by this month’s Architectural Digest, this rule is broken broadly and often. This doesn’t make it OK. At Manners Monday, we strive for excellence.
Many …

My sweetie and I took a road trip to the Holy City last week to celebrate our fourth anniversary. We were trying to decide between Charleston and Savannah, knowing that either one had the potential for being hot as hades, but something about Charleston had a little more appeal to it. We’re happy with our choice. The heat wave broke, and though it was in the 90′s, it was bearable.
When researching a place to stay, I had  a few “must haves”: location, king-size beds, and charm. There were other things …

This is a NO BOYS ALLOWED post. That’s right, fellas. Just skip on over to my review of I Know This Much Is True or the post about Quail Hollow Gardens, but read no further here! Today’s “Things I Love Thursday” is for girls only.  If you do keep reading, let me just say that you were warned.
************No Boys Beyond This Point ************

Now that we got that out of the way, this is that post. Yes, the post I alluded to in my first “Things I Love Thursday” that I …

Because it is Sunday and about this time every Sunday I begin to dread the work week, this is what I’d love to say:

Swestie and I were raised like cousins, so I’ve known & loved her literally my whole life. You can find more of her art here. (You can always find her as one of the links on the right.)
Thanks for sharing your art with me, Swestie!