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Last October we asked my 2 year old grandson what he wanted to be for Halloween. Without hesitation he responded: "The Maytag Man.....he scares me every time". Ok, so I know you're wondering how in the heck a 2 year old knows about the Maytag repair man.  As it turns out, there is a life-size cardboard cut-out of him at his grandfather's house and he sees it all the time. Apparently it also scares him every time. And while his answer caused us all to laugh, it made me think about the fears we have and how much energy is consumed when we live within them. At no other time in my life can I remember when we've been bombarded with more fear than we are today. The media constantly tells us how bad the economy is, how bleak our future is, how futile are any attempts to better ourselves. Even when something positive happens, there is always the caveat that the improvement could be temporary or is subject to failure. A Japanese Proverb: Fear is only as deep as the mind allows The thing about that cardboard cut-out of the Maytag repair man is that he is a façade. There is no substance to him. On the surface he looks like a man, but a peek behind shows there is nothing there. So too it is with our fears. Fear is a waste of energy and can be identified by the emotions it evokes: doubt, worry, indecision, and procrastination just to name a few.  Fear is paralyzing and it is the single best manipulation tactic around. If we allow ourselves to accept what we're being told, if we live in a state of fear, we are virtually unable to change things for the better and may even perpetuate the situations that cause us pain simply by making fear-based choices. Our way out of paralysis is to ignore the fear-mongers, set clear intentions, identify how to accomplish our goals, visualize positive results and believe in our ability to be successful. A very dear friend of mine recently posed this question: "If you could see your future and see that it is filled with abundance, that all your dreams come true and that you are happier than you ever imagined, how would you live your life right now?"
That simple sentence resonated with me. No matter what we're being told, no matter what we're experiencing, we are in charge of our own life and must take responsibility for our success and happiness. We must express our gratitude for that which is good in our lives. Abraham Lincoln once said, "Most people are as happy as they  make up their minds to be". So as we enter this Holiday season, let's make the effort to appreciate what we do have and to share that joy with others. A genuine smile will brighten someone's day. A simple act of kindness will lift another's spirits. Believe in your ability to truly have whatever it is you want in this life and take the steps that will get you there. Spread positive words, thoughts and emotions and watch as they bounce back to you as joy, opportunity, prosperity, and success.
For more information about Executive Errands,
please visit our website
www.executive-errands.com or call us today at 760.469.2487 |
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Our Favorite Things
Rich & Famous Celebrity Jewelry Salon
Executive Errands does a lot of personal shopping and we love to find unusual and unique gifts. We especially love that the Desert is full of one-of-a-kind boutiques and Rich & Famous, located at 78-015 Main St in Old Town La Quinta is definitely a shop like that. When you first walk into Rich & Famous, you are struck by the sheer beauty of their inventory and the lovely layout of their store.
 Rich & Famous offers high quality, exact replica jewelry of famous movie stars. You can wear the gems of Lana Turner or Natalie Wood or any of about a dozen other beautiful women. In addition, they have a large variety of other items like handmade silk jackets (perfect for the Desert), hand embroidered shirts & hats, and loads of fun trinkets. And with most items under $100, you can afford to splurge!
If you enjoy unique gift giving or would just like to treat yourself to something special, please visit Rich and Famous. They are one of our "Favorite Things". You'll be glad you stopped in!!!
For more info or operating hours: 760.771.8917 or let Executive Errands shop for you. Just call us at 760.469.2487 www.executive-errands.com
[we're starting a new feature for our newsletter - Our Favorite Things. This feature gives us an opportunity to share people, places, events and things that we truly love and that you might too. We have no business affiliation with any company or individual featured here. We just want to share good things with you and if our recommendations help build business for someone else, GREAT!!!] |
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Ho Ho Ho - Elf & Holiday Services
With only two more weeks until Christmas, are you running out of time? Would you enjoy delegating all or part of your long task list to someone else? Executive Errands Personal Elves can help!
Shopping: Christmas, Kwanzaa and Hanukkah shopping can be a formidable chore. We'll take your list, check it twice, do the  shopping and put all the groceries or gifts away - all while you're working or making time for yourself!
Holiday Packages: We can wrap your packages and even pack & ship them to far away friends and relatives.
Holiday Decor: Need lights? A tree? Wreaths, or Garland? We can do both commercial and residential holiday decorating, customized to your color preferences!
Party Support: We have caterers, event planners, personal chefs, and bartenders to suit any size event. If you are mid-party and run out of supplies, give us a call - we'll provide replenishment services so you don't need to leave your guests.
Transportation Support: If you need a limousine or towncar for a special event or just a designated driver, we can assist with both.
Holiday Pampering: We offer mobile spa services that can do your hair, nails, facials and makeup all in the privacy of your home. We can even provide a masseuse to ease your holiday stress.
Executive Errands is your Personal Elf Service this Holiday Season. Call us at 760.469.2487 or visit our website at www.executive-errands.com
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Service Provider Spotlight
Excel Cleaning Services
Executive Errands already offers mobile car wash, auto detailing, window washing and housekeeping services so with Excel Cleaning Services, we are adding:
~Move in/move out cleaning for realtors and private individuals
~Janitorial services for commercial spaces
~Construction cleanup
~Foreclosure cleanup
This family owned company has been successfully doing business since 2004 and services the entire Desert. We are pleased to add Excel to help round out our cleaning services.
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Pet Sitting/Walking Services
Pets are great companionship and they enriche our lives with their unconditional love. However, we need to be mindful to devote enough time to their requirements for adequate attention and exercise.
 A dog whose exercise needs are met may rest more calmly at home and be less fretful when left alone. The modern dog-management mantra of "A good dog is a tired dog" is gospel to many people. Exercise can improve bone and joint health as well as heart and lung function. And by providing an opportunity to expand your pet's environment beyond your home or yard may improve their socialization skills and/or reduce separation anxiety. Sometimes our busy lives preempt giving the regular exercise our pets require or we need to be away from home and don't want to submit them to an unfamiliar kennel environment.
 To help with these situations, Executive Errands is now offering special rates for pet sitting and walking. These rates are separate from our standard Personal Concierge service rates and are designed to offer you an affordable way to improve the quality of your pet's life and or keep him/her at home while you're away.
Pet Sitting rates start as low as $25 per visit per day to an overnight stay in your home (12 hours) for just $95.
Dog walking rates range from $20 for 30 minutes to $35 for 60 minutes. Discounts also available for multiple walks per week.
For more information about our pet care services, please contact us at 760.469.2487 or
www.executive-errands.com |
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Give the Gift of Time
Don't know what to buy for the person who has everything? What about time? Time is probably the most valuable commodity available today. We all need more of it but we don't often think of it as something tangible that may be given to another.
Executive Errands gift certificates are available for two or more hours and are the perfect gift for baby showers, birthdays, anniversaries, thank you's, holidays and client appreciation.
If you really want to be generous, we also offer the ability to give a year's worth of monthly service at 2 hours or more per month.
So give us a call - even the gift certificate is customized! Tell us what you're giving it for and we'll offer situation-appropriate suggestions for use to the recipient.
As an example: For a baby shower gift certificate, we might suggest new mommy support in the form of laundry assistance, emergency diaper pickup, grocery shopping, transportation assistance, errands, etc. so the new mom has more time to bond with the baby.
Executive Errands is a Personal Concierge service. We manage the details of your life so you have time to recharge, relax and refresh yourself. We help Free Up Your Life!!
Executive Errands is licensed, insured and bonded and as we are not a franchise, we're able to tailor a program to suit your needs. One phone call is all you need make - we'll take care of the rest.
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Employee Benefits
Achieving Work/Life Balance
As many companies downsize and rightsize, they are demanding more from the employees who remain. There are conflicting beliefs about the amount of time employees should be spending at work. There are those who believe employees need to work harder and/or more hours, and those who believe employees should work fewer hours and be permitted to achieve better balance between their work and personal life.
 Conflicting beliefs exist among executives/managers as well as among the general employee population, and companies need to get in touch with the personal beliefs and needs of their entire workforce to effectively manage employee relations, productivity, and (most important here in the Desert) retention.
It's hard to find good employees and often harder to keep them, especially if they feel that they are not in control of their schedule and time at work. Employers in need of increased productivity from their workforce should be wary of placing demands for overtime on employees, especially when making overtime work mandatory. Surveys indicate that overtime hours were on the rise during the past few years but that employees' interest in working overtime is on the decline. For many people, additional pay is less of an incentive than additional time off to tend to their personal demands.
There is a solution to this problem. Employers who offer  Personal Concierge services provide their employees the ability to get their personal lives tended to while they work the overtime the company requires. It is a win-win: The employer increases throughput and productivity while the employee can use their remaining off time to focus on family, rest, and mentally recuperative activities which are so important to long term well-being.
Executive Errands offers onsite and offsite Corporate Personal Concierge services that may be sponsored or subsidized for your employees.
Call for a consultation to customize a program that will fit your needs, your budget and that will result in improved work/life balance for your company.
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What's In It For Me?
People love the concept of our company but more often than not we hear 'wow, that's great, but what could I use you for?'
My response to that is "everything"!! We make our clients lives easier, pure and simple. Our errand services are nearly unlimited. Our insured service network is broad and reliable.
From small jobs to jumbo, whether it's routine tasks or luxury services, we're here to help simplify your life.
 Perhaps what's needed is a paradigm shift that says 'my time is too valuable for mundane chores'. Why not save your time for fun activities? And why should you search for contracted help when it's available right here?
What other company allows you to make one single phone call to get whatever you need? What other company guarantees all Service Providers are insured, reliable and understand Customer Service? Give us a try! You will be amazed at the variety and quality of our services. To give you an idea of the types of services we offer, here is a sample list:
Home: Housekeeping, window washing, carpet cleaning, granite & tile cleaning/preservation, garage door maintenance, pool cleaning, landscaping, floor & window treatments, interior decorating, remodeling contractors, handyman, tv installation, audio hookups, flood remediation, leak detection
Pampering: Let us come to you! Mobile Spa, mobile jewelry services, closet organization, mobile notary, mobile car wash, auto detailing, flowers, candy, balloons, gift support
Green Services: Paper Shredding, Solar systems for home, office or pool, recycling services (pickup/dropoff), donation deliveries (pickup/dropoff)
Luxury: Private Jet service, personal chef, limousine, global ambulance insurance
Special Events: Catering, party planning, RSVP management, wedding assistance, mobile bartenders, entertainment (band), singing telegrams
Errands: Shopping, pet sitting, house sitting, personal banking, DMV, courier documents, absentee home maintenance, post office, replenish parties-in-progress, exchange propane tanks, baby sitting, organizational tasks, airport pickup/drop off....
The list is only limited by your imagination. Don't see something you need? Give us a call and we'll do our best to satisfy your request. Let us help Free Up Your Life!!!!
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January Preview
January is "Get Organized" month!! To that end, we'll be offering several ideas on releasing some of your attachment to things, clearing the clutter out of your life, shredding your excess files and paper, donating unwanted items to charity and generally starting 2009 off with a simpler life.
So start thinking now of what you need done, how you can be a better you. It's always exciting to have a clean slate!
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Have you ever witnessed a miracle? Miracles come both big and small. Oftentimes the small miracles bring the greatest joy and awe into our lives if we are only aware enough to recognize them.
 I have been blessed with one of these small miracles. Last Spring I bought a white canary and named him Mojo. As you probably know, canaries are fragile and delicate. So much so that coal miners used to take them down into the mines because even the smallest gas leak would cause their demise and allow the miners to get out safely.
Mojo was a fat and happy bird but about a month after I got him, a large growth appeared on one of his legs. His leg broke at what would be the knee joint and had to be amputated. The prognosis was bad. The vet said this kind of cancer in dogs and cats travels to their lungs with death soon to follow. If it did that to dogs and cats, what would it do to a tiny little bird?
I took Mojo home and gave him the antibiotics and holistic pain meds the doctor provided. I added raw food to supplement his bird seed to encourage him to eat. At first he was understandably depressed, hobbled around the bottom of his cage and refused to sing. It wasn't long though before he was back on his perch and I thought maybe he was getting better.
Then, about two months later, another large growth appeared, this time on his beak. It was so big he couldn't see around it and it popped up literally overnight. His feathers fell out and he looked scrawny despite how much food he ate everyday. I resigned myself to the inevitable but continued to feed him lots of raw food (broccoli, spinach, cantaloupe, ground flaxseed, etc) because he never stopped eating and even if he wasn't going to make it, I wanted him to be as happy as possible for the days he had left.
And then the miracle happened. I went to clean his cage and the tumor was gone! I'd noticed it had dried up some and that he'd been rubbing it on his cuttlebone but suddenly it was completely gone. No evidence whatsoever that it had ever been there! It's now been only a few weeks, but his feathers are back, including all the way down his little pegged leg and he is once again singing. A true miracle!
Every time I look at him, I am awestruck that he survived and it makes me ponder how sometimes we humans give up when the going gets rough rather than fighting to get to a better place. Mojo believed in himself. He never gave up.
And neither should we. Yes, times are tough for lots of people and yet it is prospering for lots of others. What is the difference? Is it just luck? I think not. The people who prosper refuse to succumb to the negativity. They make meaningful actions toward their goals. They continue to market or even increase their marketing in a soft economy because once it gets better (and it will), they will be already positioned at the forefront and won't have the start up learning curve to deal with.
If you're struggling financially or emotionally - believe in yourself, stay positive, be happy and you'll get your Mojo back too.
============================================= Wow, another year gone. Is it just me, or are they going by faster?
We have been so blessed this year with new clients and positive publicity and good friends and successful events. Our company continues to grow steadily and we are thankful for it.
The charity fundraiser for the Coachella Valley Friends of the Boys and Girls Club was a huge success - great fun and for a very worthy cause.
The Executive Errands family wishes you a pleasant and family-oriented holiday season and hopes that your 2009 will be productive and prosperous.
If you've missed any of our newsletters, back issues are available in our newsletter archive, available through our website. If you know of someone who could use a few more hours in their day, please forward this email to them.
This is a kitten in two martini glasses, in case you can't see it - very cute and fun for New Years! Thank you to Penn for sending it to me :-)
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Happy Kwanzaa, and a very Happy New Year!!!
Sincerely,
Leslie Spoor 
760.469.2487 |
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Are you a Realtor? These 2-hr gift certificates are offered to anyone who buys a home. They are addressed to your client specifically and include your name as the person from whom the gift certificate originates. It also includes a 'congratulations on your new home' message.
