Inspiration

I am sure everyone knows what today is!!! It’s Friday and my favorite day of the week :) I know I said this week flew by, which it did, but I am still pumped that it’s the freakin weekend and I’ll drink to that! Not yet though, because I’m still at the office and I’m pretty sure drinking while on the clock is something they frown upon. And it’s not even 10:30…  ANYWAY, it’s Friday and I am in a great mood despite a little alarm clock ‘problem’ this morning. The problem, however, was not as much a problem with the actual alarm as much as a problem with my bf hitting the off button instead of the snooze button. Normally I would just jump out of bed and send a quick text to let my co-workers know I would be a little late, but I had a breakfast this morning that I just couldn’t miss. On the first Friday of the month, I wake up extra early to meet this breakfast group at a downtown restaurant and we listen to a guest speaker. The speaker changes every month, but I always leave feeling changed. Often the speaker is someone who has given back to their community, or who has worked hard to make positive changes in the world. Sometimes they are old, sometimes young, but they share their stories and always leave me feeling inspired. What’s funny is that the theme of this morning’s speech was simply that: inspiration. The speaker was a retired psychology professor who touched on many topics, all of which came back to inspiration. He was a terrific speaker and his message truly resonated with me. It is important for all of us to have things that inspire us in our lives, something that drives us, because without it, we will never push ourselves to do better and be better. Definitely a good way to start my Friday morning :)

Speaking of inspiration, I’ve been having a little trouble getting inspired when it comes to Christmas shopping. Don’t get me wrong, I’m busting at the seams with Christmas Spirit (it’s officially December making my Christmas Spirit level more than acceptable) but I just hadn’t caught the Christmas Shopping Bug. That is, until last night. As I said yesterday, my dad and I had plans to go on our annual kick-off to Christmas Shopping evening and we followed through with our plan. We hit the stores after dinner and definitely got off to a good start. Though we (or I) are not close to being done, it was a great start and I am really happy with the gifts we purchased. I love thinking of how excited my sister/mom/dad/boyfriend is going to be when they open up their gift. I just get such a high off of seeing others enjoy something I spent time and effort looking for for them.  Giving trumps receiving on Christmas morning and it makes me appreciate everything that much more knowing that they are just as excited as I am when I open up my gifts. LOVE. We had dropped my mom off at a girls night dinner before our shopping and had to pick her up on our way home. We got there a little early though, and decided to kill some time in a store we know nearby.



Though a little overpriced, it has to be the cutest, quaintest, most original store I know. I don’t even know where to start when explaining it… Just to give you an idea, at Christmas they decorate every inch of the store. Not one shelf is left without a snowflake, a snowman, or Santa Clause.

 Deck the freakin’ halls. I think they may like Christmas (almost) as much as I do.

The store is divided in different sections: there is a kitchen section that features all different kinds of gourmet dips, oils, salts, spices and original kitchen tools, then there is a section with hand-made original jewelry and ornaments and then, my personal favorite, the kids section. The kids section is the best part of the whole entire store. There are all kinds of original toys and gadgets and trinkets. Not the kind of toys you would find at Wal-Mart or Toys R Us, but old-school toys and some of the strangest (but coolest) toys I have ever seen.



 Then, just when you’re thinking to yourself ‘this place is awesome’, you go to the back and see their ‘Candy Corner’ sign and you think you’ve died and gone to heaven. They have a mixture of candy from the 60’s, 70’s and some new favorites too. I could buy all of it. Take a few more steps, and there is an old-fashion fudge counter. I’m in love.



 



As you can see in the pictures, the floors are old, worn-down hardwood floors that truly are the cherry on top of the quaint cake. Because it was about to close, we didn’t have time to look at everything, but I’ve been here enough times… I’m pretty familiar with the store. So we left to get my mom just as they were turning over there open sign. Needless to say, I’m in full Christmas Mode. I wish I liked egg nog, because it would go perfectly with the jingle jammies and Christmas carols tonight.

Just when I thought I couldn’t get any more Christmas inspiration, I came into the office to find this going on at the front desk.

 

Turns out, the head of marketing in my office is as much of a Christmas freak as I am. So we listened to Christmas music while I helped her put a few branches on the fake tree (our office put their foot down when we asked for a real one) and we will decorate it over lunch. I also opened my e-mail to find one from The Bay with 50 gift ideas under $50 and I love all of them.  Maybe I’ll head over there after work to see what else they’ve got.

Have a great Friday everyone and an amazing weekend! I hope you’re all in the Holiday Spirit, but if you’re not, try and find inspiration this weekend.

With love,

S