I really had high hopes for sending out Christmas gifts to my clients this year, but it looks like I’m going to have to settle for sending cards instead of gifts. I’m having a tough time trying to figure out which cards to send as well.

I want a card that stands out and is fun, but it has to be environmentally sensitive. I’m in love with these cards from Bloomin’ Flower Cards. Each holiday card has a snowflake or dove or snowman or tree that is a removable ornament which can also be planted.

But I’ve gotten plant-able cards before, and I’ve never planted them. So I doubt my clients will either.

Cards Direct has recycled cards as well, but I don’t necessarily like the fact that they offer a line but aren’t really an environmentally sensitive company. And besides, many of their offerings have cowboy boots and Western themes. Not my style.

These aren’t my style either.

I love these from this Swedish manufacturer, but you have to order 200.

I like these, but I don’t want to be too preachy.

My new favorites are here — a talented artist using recycled paper. Hmmm…. We may have a winner.

Today is Black Friday when everything’s on sale. Here’s my shopping list of things you might want to buy to equip your office.

Becoming a professional writer doesn’t take very much equipment. You can really get started with the very basics of tools…

1. A laptop computer with a ton of memory and a fast chip. I have a Sony Vaio.
2. Amazingly fast internet access. I have cable.
3. An all-in-one office machine with a printer, scanner, fax machine and copier. Mine’s an HP Officejet.
4. A phone with speaker phone (mine doesn’t have it, darn it), call waiting, a robust long-distance plan, call forwarding and voice mail. You should also have a cell phone to forward calls to.
5. Microsoft Office (I choose office because it’s the most common — all your clients probably use it).
6. Stapler, tape, pens and pencils, paper clips, etc. These are very cheap at back-to-school sales.

Once you have the basics, you can add a few extras as you see fit. Here are the items on my second tier of needs…

1. Steno pads for notes.
2. A nice portfolio for face-to-face visits with clients.
3. Other note pads for daily to do lists.
4. A highlighter (I have only one — I love them and need more).
5. Labels for direct mail efforts. I like the Avery Easy Peel Clear Mailing Labels.
6. Thank you notes for clients.
7. Accounting software — I use a free program called Microsoft Accounting. Works just fine.
8. Organizational tools like color-coded folders and color tabs for the steno pads.
9. A big-screen monitor and separate keyboard and mouse for the laptop.
10. A shredder.
11. Recycled paper (I use both sides).
12. A backup system for files. I use Mozy.com and love it.
13. A time-tracking system. I use Pelotonics, which is also a project management system.

More of my favorite freebies
More about what’s on a copywriter’s desk

Since it’s just me in San Diego this year, Thanksgiving is going to be pretty quiet. I’m not cooking anything, so I thought I’d share my family’s most treasured holiday dish. I promise it’s always the biggest crowd pleaser.

Note: No one has written this recipe down. Ever. And each year we have to struggle to remember the ratios for the sauce. So each year we guess how it’s supposed to bake and make the sauce to taste.

Family Ziesenis Green Beans with Mustard Sauce

2 lbs fresh green beans
1 lb bacon
1 stick butter
1 tablespoon vinegar
3 tablespoons yellow mustard

Pinch the ends off the green beans and keep them long. Cut the bacon strips in half, and wrap small bundles of the beans with bacon, using toothpicks to secure. Place green bean bundles on a cookie sheet lined with foil and bake in the oven. My mother says she’d try 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. You want to cook the bacon thoroughly without destroying the green beans.

To make the sauce, melt the butter slowly in a saucepan. Add the mustard first and the vinegar last, stirring constantly. We usually make the sauce after the green beans have baked because it doesn’t take long, and the sauce will separate if it gets cold. Mom says to make sure you don’t boil the sauce so it doesn’t curdle. My sister says to start with two tablespoons of mustard and add more to taste.

Serve the green beans and sauce separately, since some people (my sister, for example) aren’t fond of mustard.

I treated myself to an expensive haircut today, thanks to my generous mother’s birthday check. I walked in and told the stylist that I really had no idea what I wanted.

“Fix it,” I said. And boy did he.

I have thick hair, and now it’s thin, thin. I had split ends that needed to go, and he took them off and ADDED split ends, calling it “shattering” the ends for volume. My hair is a thousand different lengths and will never look good in a ponytail at the gym. And the ends are dry as sticks and look dead.

My immediate thought: THIS GUY SUCKS! But then I thought for a minute about how he came to the conclusions he did about what would work.

Here are two places this relationship went bad…

One, as the customer, I didn’t know what I wanted. I came in with a problem and said I’d like a solution. And he gave me the solution he thought was best.

Two, when I didn’t know what I wanted, he didn’t ask any questions that would perhaps help him to help me figure out what I wanted. “Are you looking for something more professional?” he could have asked. “Are there any people who come to mind with hair you like?” But he didn’t ask any questions. He just went forward as an expert and assumed he was doing what I wanted.

This is what happens with professional service providers if we don’t ask enough questions. “I have a problem” a client will say. As a professional writer, I need to help the client to define the problem, to identify what solutions would solve that problem, to recognize concepts that would solve the problem in a way that fits into their business. But sometimes I’m guilty of saying, “Right. You’ve got a problem. I’ll give you my solution.” And this doesn’t work, which is why I was summarily dismissed by a recent client.

So, for now I’m going to wear a hat, and I’m going to use the lesson I learned to make my business thrive so I can afford to find a better stylist.