ON Birthday Celebrating (& a Giveaway winner!)

This birthday was delicious. I wore my favorite new dress and my tiara, because birthdays are for tiara wearing. I celebrated all day with people I love, and met up with my twin for some twin-birthdaying at night. We went to Peacefood and Anfora to celebrate, and I recommend both if you're ever celebrating in the city. And after years (years!) of not seeing each other on my birthday, I got to end the day with my most favorite fella. He may or may not have made me a mix cd, and that, as we all know, is true love.

Over the weekend, I spent time with my family, and furry babies. Note the photo of Henry & I sharing a moment, and then please note Layla's reaction to that ;) We hang a Birthday windmill in my family's kitchen - no idea why, but we always have. My sister demanded one when she moved out, and she just hung it for her cat's first birthday yesterday. Yes, her cat. You may also note that a case of water is included in the gift pile, for that is the best gift ever for the rising temperatures of new york city. Additional gifts included beans and allergy medicine, and I could not make that up if I tried. After eight years of getting silverware as a birthday present, beans and allergy meds are like solid gold.

A giant THANK YOU to everyone who donated to Dollars For Doggies!

We raised $1087!!!

And the winner of the giveaway is.. Annie W! Congratulations girl!

You all truly made my birthday the best one yet, and I can't thank you enough.

Dogs Without Borders & Second Chance Rescue NYC will be getting the donations asap :)

xoxo

On Giving

As the holiday season nears, I often hear people talk about wanting to do something for their community. Love this kind of talk, right? But I also hear chatter of not knowing where to start.

Thus, I present to you, a darn good helpful little ditty from Real Simple (real simple addict over here..).

This list has pulled all of their charity related posts, featuring helpful sites like Volunteer Match

and lots of tips for when and how to give. Delightful, no? Yes.

If you're anything like me, you're like wait wait how can I help the arts and/or animals?!

(You guys, I did say if you're anything like me..)

How wonderful of you to ask! Petfinder can help you find shelters near you that need donations of money or supplies, or volunteers to help with the animals. AND, get ready here because I'm about to blow your mind.. but, if you can believe it, volunteering is FREE! Seriously, that just bowled me over, I had no idea we could get anything for free! And my, oh my, oh my, we sure do 'get' so very much from sharing our time by helping others, right? Right, right, right indeed.

this is one of my favorite pups at BARC, miss colleen

As for ye olde arts, I happen to big a big fan and supporter of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

This Broadway community staple raises money for what seems like an endless list - they truly cover such an incredible range of help. I highly encourage you to check out their site for more info.

with a cast full of people i love and a big ol' donation check to BCEFA

also, if you're not in the mood for gifts, you can sign up over at causes to ask for donations instead of presents for your birthday, a holiday, or even your wedding. you get to pick where the donations go!

and if you're like listen woman, i like presents.. perhaps you would fancy to make a donation to a charity in someone else's name. this will also mean one less tray of "i didn't know what to get everybody" brownies at your office. yes that's right: giving makes you skinny. you're sold, right?

happy beginning of the holidays, friends. xo

“I slept and I dreamed that life is all joy. 

I woke and I saw that life is all service. 

I served and I saw that service is joy.” 

- Kahlil Gibran