Words & Banter

Red & Black … Do Red, White & Blue

How we celebrate July 4th may change from year to year, but what should never change is remembering WHY we celebrate. And 250 years feels like the perfect time to reflect not just on traditions, but on the sacrifices made to build — and preserve — the freedoms we often take for granted.


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July 4th is so different these days with neither girl at home. Natasha always hated the fireworks, while Sawyer would insist we do all the traditional things – barbecuing, eating lots of watermelon, and then watching fireworks in the Texas heat and humidity. But this year, I plan to make it a very “cool” holiday … staying in the air-conditioned house, enjoying “Gone With The Wind” (this summer’s long read), and celebrating my own independence from any “mom” responsibilities with a big bucket of freshly popped popcorn!


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Well, everyone celebrates differently. I celebrate by being able to work uninterrupted. But, I do think about what it took for our Founding Fathers to draft the Declaration of Independence, especially as they did not always agree. The right to disagree, yet respect our differences and find common ground, remains one of our country’s greatest challenges today. Some things never change.
We want to wish everyone a safe and festive Fourth of July, but we also hope that we all take a moment to celebrate — and honor — the United States of America, and remember the best in us, as a people, and as a country.
holidays
Learning For Life

Life ... No Instructions But A List

Wouldn’t it be great if life came with instructions? Since it doesn’t, we thought a few good reminders could help … so we created this list.

For those who know us, it won’t come as any surprise that we each approach almost everything differently. But after decades of comparing notes, debating decisions, and occasionally driving each other crazy, we’ve learned a few things about getting through life.

Consider this list our practical, slightly (ok, maybe more than slightly) opinionated guide to approaching life.

Use it, tweak it, or trash it. The choice is yours.

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life advice
LIBRARY

It Started With A Smoothie?!

Photo by Kirby D., Design by Sawyer Pennington

There’s a funny story behind this photo. And the man who took it.

At the time, Kirby managed all the Jamba Juice locations in Houston, and Black had “accosted” him at one of them because we mentioned Jamba Juice in our book, What I Learned About Life When My Husband Got Fired! Then we ran into him at the Texas Conference for Women, where we were speaking, and Black mentioned that Jamba Juice was an important part of our presentation.

That got his attention. Of course, he wanted to know more. Red looked at Black, wondering if she was actually going to tell him. The story was about Red, who would mindlessly stop at Jamba Juice and buy herself a smoothie and two smaller ones, one for each of her daughters. And this happened at least several times a week.

One day, Red was on the phone with Black while driving to Jamba Juice, and Black nonchalantly asked how much she was spending there every week. Red had no idea. But she did know that she didn’t appreciate the question, so quickly ended the call.

Then she did the math. And she didn’t like the number.

But Black wasn’t telling Red not to buy the smoothies. She didn’t care how many smoothies Red bought. She just wanted Red to know where her money was going — and to make it a conscious decision. Or, as Black would say,

Think before spending.

Kirby thought the story was funny and later made a point of coming to our book signing, where he took this photo. And because Kirby is a brilliant marketer, whenever we did speaking engagements, he made sure we had coupons for free Jamba Juice smoothies to hand out.

Which meant our lesson about thinking before spending came with free smoothies. Not a bad deal.

money
Red & Black

Black Then. Black Now.

From back flap of our book, “What I Learned About Life When My Husband Got Fired!” Photograph by Fletcher Benton

Long before we had an ABOUT page, readers met Black through the back flap of our bestselling book, What I Learned About Life When My Husband Got Fired!and Got Fired! But a lot has happened since Neiman Marcus launched our book, including countless Red & Black adventures and detours.

Surprisingly, little about Black has changed.

WHAT WE SAID THEN

Black picked the photo, and our book editor summarized Black in about 80 words:

Black is all business. With an MBA in international Finance, she retired before she was 40 from a successful career in the oil and gas industry. She has been involved with The Make-A-Wish Foundation for over 20 years and has raised over $1 million. But without a day job, her life did not provide enough excitement and challenge, so she began racing cars. Black, the ultimate pragmatic, lives in Houston where she approaches everything with high-speed intensity and determination.

WHAT WE DIDN’T KNOW THEN …

We knew Black was all business. We didn’t know that, instead of becoming the basis of a sitcom, our book would take us into the world of education … and then criminal justice.

We knew racing would always be part of Black’s story. We didn’t know that her experiences racing Porsches and Ferraris would inspire countless car and racing analogies about navigating life.

We knew Make-A-Wish mattered to her. We probably should have known that she would still be involved decades later, and that the amount she has raised would continue to grow (it’s now approaching $2 million).

And we described Black as “the ultimate pragmatic.” Well, no update required.

AND THERE’S A STORY BEHIND THE PHOTO …

We have no shortage of stories, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that this isn’t just an ordinary photo. It was taken by artist and sculptor Fletcher Benton in 2003, when he came to cheer Black on during the Ferrari Challenge races at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California.

So, how did an internationally recognized artist end up at one of Black’s races? Although neither of them knew it at the time, years earlier, Fletcher and Black had both been racing at the same Porsche event. But they didn’t actually meet until Black started collecting art and spotted his race car at his studio.

And that may be the real story behind the photo — how so many seemingly separate parts of Black’s life have ended up connecting.

A lot has changed since 2009. Black being Black isn’t one of those things.

Red & Black