Hurricane Thanks

I wanted to thank my friend Lauren for being a warm, generous person in general, and particularly, for housing me and keeping me from smelling too much during what I like to refer to as The Dark Days, the week when I had no power or running water in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.  

I spent the better part of last week gathering some of my favorite treats to fill this big bag with.  I put in Japanese green grape gummies, Swedish truffles, all sorts of delicious Godiva goodies (including a tin of to-die-for dark chocolate hot chocolate!), gourmet rainbow cookies, etc.  I love the sophisticated yet cute black and silver herringbone bag.

The card is kind of an inside joke:  The night I stayed over, Lauren (who is from Georgia) had a crockpot full of peanuts boiling - the lid of the crockpot jumped up and slammed down every few minutes and kept me up all night.  It added to the whole fun experience, and when I saw my "Jar of Fun" stamp set from Stampin Up!, I knew I had to memorialize those damn peanuts.

Here's the stamp set; I can think of endless things to do with all the options.  For this card, I just used the jar and the peanut image.

I punched a couple of tiny holes at the top of the jar, and tied a cute piece of red-and-white striped baker's twine into a bow, which was a touch I really like.

I hadn't spent a hugely significant amount of time with Lauren before the hurricane; she joined a Red Hook food truck tour I led over the summer, and I liked her so much that I invited her to my birthday dinner, but that was about it.  I'm really glad that in the couple of weeks since the hurricane, we've done more fun things together and I've gotten to know her better.  She's a really smart and fun person, and I love how she has a high energy level and likes to take advantage of all NYC has to offer.  For instance, this coming weekend, she mentioned getting a group together to go to the holiday train show at the New York Botanical Gardens that I haven't been to.  I can't wait!

Thank you, Lauren, not just for the showers but also for being really generous to someone you didn't even know very well.  You are a role model for how I aspire to treat others.