Two years after she published her bestselling book Don’t Forget the Soap (And Other Reminders from My Fabulous Filipina Mother), Filipina-Canadian-American banker, speaker and author Marie Claire Lim Moore unveils its sequel featuring more heartwarming stories and tips for a happy life.
Entitled Don’t Forget the Parsley (And More from a Positively Filipino Family), Lim Moore picks up from where she left off after receiving overwhelming requests from the fans of her first book. According to her, writing the sequel was a big commitment and discipline that she did for the people who are genuinely interested in what she shares.
Same as its prequel, Don’t Forget the Parsley is a family memoir that chronicles entertaining stories about Lim Moore’s life and her family that she believes readers can appreciate and connect with. She takes her readers on a journey – from her parents’ migration from the Philippines to their experiences living abroad.
“There are a number of books that methodically try to measure and dissect happiness. I just wanted to share stories about my family,” she says pertaining to her books.
Lim Moore uses parsley – a popular herb used for garnishing – to remind people to always put a garnish, a spice, a color to every aspect in their life, however silly or mundane it is. The author shares that the idea came from her mother, Lenore, who always makes it a point to garnish each dish she serves to them.
Lenore would then tell them that a garnish doesn’t only apply to the dinner table, but also in other places like in the office. Lim Moore explains that one can always and should always find a way to make one’s job exciting, like getting involved in other activities in the company.
Another way of adding color to all events and tasks one does, according to the author, is finding balance. This especially applies to working mothers who want to spend more time with their kids without having to give up their job.
After speaking with a number of women who are trying to balance their career and family, she discovers that many of them get to the point that they need to choose. But she thinks that a working mom should have confidence to impose rules on herself and her co-workers that would allow her to finish her job in the office and attend to her family at home.
She recounts that her parents always remind her to “Don’t forget the parsley” because it keeps things exciting no matter what age, status and situation a person is in. As her mother and father put it, “You don’t have the best of everything. But no matter what you have, make every thing as best as you can.”
In 2014, Lim Moore received the 100 Most Influential Filipina Women in the World Award that recognizes Filipina women who are influencing the face of leadership in the global workplace. Her over 15 years of international experience managing global consumer banking and payment products across different countries has earned her the recognition of being one of the leaders in the Asian and Filipino-American professional communities.
Don’t Forget the Parsley is now available on Amazon.com through bit.ly/dftp-amazon.
