An Attitude of Gratitude

I have always considered myself a very gracious and thankful person. For a long time, I even thought my name meant “gracious” in Hebrew. Upon Googling the meaning today while writing this post, I learned that my name means “Lilly” in French. Good enough- I’ll take it.

Despite this new information, I will still consider myself a gracious and thankful person. One of my favorite things to do to show my appreciation is to write thank you notes. As a child, my mother wouldn’t let me hang out with my friends until I wrote any thank- you notes that needed writing. After many tantrums, they always got done. But boy, am I glad I had all that practice. Now that I have a career in philanthropy, I write a lot cards and notes. I average about five a week on a good week. On a personal level, every time I get a thank-you note or a handwritten letter, my heart swells with happiness. To get something so intimate in the mail is so rare these days.

But for me, writing thank-you notes are a family affair. My father who also works in philanthropy spends a great deal of time writing notes and letters to donors, volunteers, families, and community partners.  My mother on the other hand, spends time writing notes to personal contacts. I can’t tell you how many times that I have found my mother on a weekend morning in her pajamas writing thank-you notes at our kitchen table. Hell, my cousin just sent my mother a handwritten letter last month. Trust me, we’re old school.

Nevertheless, what takes the cake for me is the use of personalized stationery. As a child, my loving and daughter-less aunt would buy me personalized stationery and post-its for Hanukah. To me, this was such a thoughtful and practical gift. After finally running out of supplies, I recently decided on and ordered monogrammed embossed stationery that fits perfectly into my lifestyle. I couldn’t be more pleased with my choice.

Now, I’m off to write thank-you notes for a charity function I hosted a few weeks ago. Maybe, if you’re lucky you’ll find a note in your mailbox!

The Wheels on the Bus

Every morning I saunter on to express bus with my monogrammed Tervis Tumbler of iced coffee. Since I now live in Chicago, I have traded my beloved “sorority row bus” for the crowded city bus. But let me tell you the patrons on the CTA are not as gracious as my lovely Panhellenic sisters from college.

With this said, I just about died of shock last week when a man offered me his seat on the bus one evening.  This happening is about as rare as spotting Haley’s Comet. But what really took the cake was what happened this morning.

This morning, I was gearing up to read “50 Shades of Grey” on my Nook this morning. As an aside, if you haven’t read “50 Shades of Grey” yet, I suggest you start immediately. As I was about to dive into my novel, an acquaintance of mine took a seat right next to me on the bus and began to chat my ear off. Let’s be honest, you can rarely shut me up but it’s a little too much for a Monday morning. For the rest of my commute, I learned everything about her participation in couple’s counseling to her office politics. Did I mention she works in my building? Whew!

This got me thinking even more about bus etiquette. Below are some of my favorite tips to be the most polite commuter possible:

• Don’t make personal calls on the morning commute. No one wants to hear you paying your credit card bill or refilling your birth control prescription.
•  Don’t sit too close. And don’t sit on anyone’s coat either.
• Always give your sit seat up to pregnant ladies, the disabled, and the elderly. Hell, you should always give up your seat to women with kids with them.
• Please don’t talk to loudly. No one wants to her your voice in the morning.
• Also, don’t air your dirty laundry on the bus. It’s in poor taste.
• Don’t file your nails or do your make-up on the bus. This is just gross.
• Be pleasant.
• Be courteous to the bus driver- they are responsible for your safety and well being on your journey.

Who know what or whom I will encounter on my journey to the office tomorrow. All I know is that I will be prepared with my book.

Summer of Fun

Every spring, I say the same thing to myself. What is it? I always remark, “This will be the summer of fun! I just love summer- it’s my favorite season. But let’s be honest, I say that about every time of year.

Every summer, I went to camp with my very childhood best friend. I was happier than a clam going to day camp and coming home in the evening to eat dinner with my parents and shower in my own bathroom. As I got older, I would eventually become a counselor at the same day camp where I taught canoeing. No sleep-a-way camp for me!

Now as an adult living in the city, summer no longer means day camp and vacation with my parents. It translates to outdoor patios, Summer Fridays, festivals, and long walks along the lake.

This spring, one of my closest friends and I joked about making a sharable Google calendar of fun things to do this summer. Our hope is to collaborate and share as many great ideas with each other as possible. There will be no room to be bored this summer. I plan on spending my summer by bbq-ing and exploring new neighborhoods. I also plan on having the best summer ever.

What do you plan to do this summer?

Happy Anniversary To Me!

Hello friends- I’m back from my writing hiatus!

Today marks my second anniversary of graduating from the University of Florida, the finest institution in the country. I can’t believe that a mere 730 days have flown by since then. 

Aunt Sunnie and me on graduation.

I have been nostalgic over the past few days as I look at graduation photos and pictures of friends posing in front of the Swamp. But the truth is- I don’t miss college. I loved attending the University of Florida with every breath in my body. To me, it doesn’t matter if I raise my future children as Jewish or not. What matters to me is that we raise them as “Gators.” All kidding aside, but what I have realized is what I really miss is the South.

I miss hot, lazy days. I miss driving with the windows down. I miss good manners and hospitality. I yearn to sit on the swing in my parent’s porch and read books all afternoon.

But right now, this is not the course that I’m on. For the time being, I have resigned myself to listening to country music at my desk during work. Maybe I will return to the South one day. Maybe I won’t. Only time will tell.

One thing is for sure, I have never been more sure that I’m on the right path. I didn’t feel this way when I walked across the stage exactly two years ago today. I had some vague idea of what my plan was but I wasn’t entirely clear of where I was headed. But that’s the beauty of the journey. We don’t know where we will end up. Over the last few months, I have the phrase, “keep your heart and your mind open,” my own personal mantra. And that is what I suggest for all those graduating this weekend.

And with that- good night, good luck, and go Gators!