Find Your Chances

I was very excited to find my order from Goods for Goodness’ Sake waiting for me when I returned home from work yesterday. Goods for Goodness’ Sake donates 100% of profits to customer-selected charities through the sale of products created by small businesses. I originally heard about Goods for Goodness’ Sake via the Operation Nice blog.  And, I’m happy to say, it was a great find.

I purchased a mix of 6 love themed flat note cards designed by Marzipan Inc. The cards have a cute little illustration with a saying.  For instance, the cards have a guitar with “Your rock my world” and a birdcage with “You’ve captured my heart” and a honey jar with “You’re the sweetest”.

The other pack of note cards I purchased were personalized flat letter cards with a little owl sitting on a tree branch designed by Three Wheels Design.

The best part: I didn’t feel as guilty as I usually do typing in my credit card number on the Goods for Goodness’ Sake website!  Guiltless shopping? How could you pass up an opportunity like that?!

I finally finished my 29-Day Giving Challenge.  I must admit it was a worthwhile experience as it forced me to think each day about what I could be doing for other people. I also wanted to try to “give” something different each day so that requirement made me be more creative and search for giving opportunities that I would not necessary have thought of before this challenge.

So, to wrap things up, on day #27 I brought home dinner from Cosi for me and my Dad.  Cosi just opened a year or so ago, and I love having it so close to my house.

On day #28, I donated some old eyeglasses I had to the Moorestown Lions Club, which has a drop off box on Main Street.  I hope someone else who is near-sighted with a -3.25 prescription for each eye gets to enjoy them

My final day of the 29-day giving challenge! On day #29, I made a donation to the Melanoma Foundation of New England, the foundation I am running on behalf of in this year’s Boston Marathon. Since so many wonderful people (including many of you reading this blog) have donated after my appeal, I only thought it appropriate that I make a donation to the cause I am running for on Marathon Monday.

I hope you enjoyed following me on my 29 days of giving. If any of you decide to do the 29-Day Giving Challenge, let me know as I would love to follow your progress!

While perusing my favorite blogs, I came across a sweet review of Butter Lane on The Haystack Needle. I thought I had been to every specialty cupcake bakery in The Big Apple, but evidently, I was wrong.

Butter Lane is actually a cupcake bakery with a twist: they let you create your own cupcake! That’s right, this “Choose Your Own Cupcake” bakery allows guests to choose French Chocolate Buttercream icing on Banana cake or Blueberry icing on Vanilla cake or Cream Cheese Vanilla Bean icing on Pumpkin Spice cake or…well you get the picture.

Butter Lane also lets you taste test their icings so you’re absolutely sure when you commit to your cupcake combo.

Sadly, I don’t live in New York City anymore, but you can be sure Butter Lane will be one of the first places I hit up the next time I visit.

I’ve been thinking about friendship quite a bit recently. Moving out of New York City meant leaving behind wonderful friends who made my experience in the city unforgettable. I’ve reconnected with a grade school friend I hadn’t spoken to in over ten years for the simple, but inexcusable, reason that we lived far apart. And, I am very much looking forward to a much overdue visit to Boston this weekend to see my wonderful group of friends I met in college.

Plus, just a couple weeks ago on my 28th birthday, I was feeling a bit old.  There’s no getting around it–I’m approaching the big 3-0!  But, as my birthday wore on, I was inundated with phone messages and emails wishing me a very happy birthday.  I realized it’s not so bad getting older because as more and more time passes, the more friends I meet along the way and the more opportunities I have to enjoy the time I do have with my friends.

“Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.” –Anais Niin

BC Girls

Continuing my quest to catch up on my 29-day giving challenge reporting:

I am definitely not a phone person.  It’s just so impersonal, and I’ve never claimed to be any good at idle chit chat. I much prefer to hang out with loved ones than gab on the phone with them for hours and hours.  Unfortunately, my friends and family are spread out across the Northeast so I have learned I must rely on the phone to keep in touch. On day #24 of my 29-day giving challenge, I called a few friends and family members I had not spoken to in a while.  It was well worth the time!

On day #25, I paid for the tolls along the Pennsylvania Turnpike as Jared and I toured the Poconos. And let me just say–the PennDOT likes to  pick your pockets clean at every turn…or maybe we just got on and off the Turnpike a lot since we had no idea where we were and had convinced ourselves we had entered the Twilight Zone.

I purchased some very cute note cards from Goods for Goodness Sake on day 26.  The proceeds from my purchase will be directed to a charity.  You’ll get to see these goods for goodness sake in a later post–promise!