In My Stylish Yet Affordable Boots

Thanks, Starbucks Customer Dudes.

Last time I posted, I wrote about the kindness of strangers while I've been juggling mobility aids and doors. This morning, especially, people were so incredibly nice, and I just want to give a shout out to them.

On my way to work this morning, I stopped at the Racine Washington Avenue Starbucks for my beloved coffee. When I got out of my car to go inside, a man who was already at the door and about to go inside stood there and held the door while I walked from my car - not a long distance, but certainly enough of a time gap that no one would have faulted him for going inside and leaving me to fend for myself. As I entered the vestibule, another exiting man opened the inside door for me and let me go by. And then, as I was leaving, a third man got up from his table, opened the inner door, waited til I grabbed it, then went out and opened the exterior door for me to leave.

So, thanks, Starbucks Customer Dudes. You all totally made my morning, just by being kind.

Wordless Wednesday: Why I Shop Local

For a Cure

Last night, I participated in my third Light the Night walk, to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. After a rainy and chilly afternoon, it cleared up just in time for the walk to begin. Those of us at the Milwaukee lakefront were treated to a beautiful (and double!) rainbow and a spectacular sunset as we set off on our walk with lighted balloons.

(Yes, that is The Husband, making his first blog appearance. No, he doesn't REALLY have a Wal-mart smiley face, but he really does have a beard.)

A little bit of math today tells me that over the course of the last three years, my family has raised more than $12,000 for LLS, between memorials and LTN donations. While there are certainly plenty of LTN teams that raise a lot more than that in a single year, I think it's a remarkable accomplishment and a testament to our friends and family, who have dug into their pockets and supported us, Mom, and LLS. I'm proud of what we've achieved.

Happy-making things

Happy Valentine's Day! It's a lovely day here in Southeastern Wisconsin - the sun is shining, the temperature has risen above freezing, some of the vast quantities of snow are melting away. I stayed up way too late last night and probably should be crabby, but I'm not. So I want to share the things that are making me smile today.

This forecast - check it out; more sun!

(via Accuweather)

Fresh Brown Sugar eau de parfum - I love this scent!

(via Fresh.com)

Planning for spring clothes, including this sunny outfit:

(skirt, tank, cardigan: Old Navy; sandal: Lifestride; earrings: Lia Sophia; bracelets: nomorerack.com)

And last, but certainly not least, The Husband's Valentine's Day gift to me:

 

(bracelet: Trifari, via kohls.com)

What's making you happy today?

Thankful Thursday #2

You may notice that this is my second Thankful Thursday post, yet there have been more than two Thursdays this calendar year. This can be easily explained: I've decided that I'm following blogging rules similar to my friend Stinky's B52OMOLISBE rules. Mostly, I'm going to write about whatever I feel like writing, whenever I feel like it.

Which leads me to my second Thankful Thursday post. Today, I'm thankful for my collection of warm winter boots. They keep my feet dry and warm, which is important when it snows roughly every other day. Even if we're not getting hit here in Wisconsin the way they are on the East Coast this year, or like we did in 2007-08 or 2008-09, we've had a pretty steady stream of measurable precipitation over the last month.

Anyway, getting back to the boots -- when my mom died last year, and we sorted and donated her things, I snagged a pair of winter boots, since we wore the same size shoe. There's something kind of special to me about wearing those particular boots now, to shovel snow. It's almost as if my mom's helping me keep my feet warm.

So, there you go. I'm thankful for a pair of basic black Totes boots that are an awful lot like these.

Thankful Thursday #1

Today, when the 9 PM local news is predicting a low of 9°F, I'm thankful for my poorly-insulated, new-windows-and-doors-having, oil-fired-boiler-radiant-steam-heated home. As many headaches and woes as ownership of an 83 year old home can cause - most recently, spalled brick in our chimney, for which we are now collecting quotes - The Husband and I are fortunate to have a home with heat and running water and a bed. Many others, especially in the economic climate of the last few years, are not as fortunate.