my mailbox choked me up

It's not really that surprising, is it? Happy tears, of course :)

It was a trifecta of unexpected and lovely gifts that did it to me this time. After arriving home from my 10 days on the east coast  I checked my mailbox and had to cat-like-reflexes catch the letters and packages that poured out (a gal could get used to that!). Kind words, insanely and unnecessarily generous Amazon gift cards, awesome stationary and personalized return address labels. Holy gosh, right?

First, the kind words are always my favorite. You can send me a piece of snail mail with one sentence of something nice and I will be a puddle of gooey love in your hand. Put an Amazon gift card in that baby (seriously, I buy everything from Amazon) and I am humbled (and excited!) beyond words. Second, the note cards courtesy of my friend Sara (her mom, Anne, makes them!!) are super rad. Here is the set she so thoughtfully sent to me based on a Food For Thought I posted a few weeks ago:

beautiful.

And third, the personalized return address labels from my amazing college roomie, Ashley...I think these were the ones that really did my welling-up eyes in. Not only was it very observant of Miss Ashley Anne to notice I typically hand write all of my return addresses but it was so simply...uplifting...to see my little address printed there. Tricia DiGaetano. San Francisco, CA. It was a tiny reminder of how far I've come in creating this beautiful life for myself; of the sacred space within my cozy apartment that I oh so love coming home to. This is my tiny corner of the Universe and, while it is still a work in progress, I am overjoyed to call it mine. Are you working to feel the same about your corner? I hope so. You and your corner are more than worthy.

There is a comment on an old Facebook photo of the Golden Gate Bridge I posted from a high school friend of mine that says "wow. so jealous. and so proud of you- crazy gal you did it!". I think about this comment sometimes when I'm suddenly struck by the fortunate life I lead--about the struggles it took to get here and the gratitude I feel on a daily basis for it all. I think this is what rose up within me when I saw the address labels...a feeling of crazy gal, you did it.

How cool is it that I was able to send thank-you's using both the cards and the labels?

Everything really is so connected.

In Gratitude,

Trish