ONE DAY WITHOUT SHOES or baring our soles this Thursday

TOMS Shoes was founded on a simple premise: for every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need.

The TOMS one for one business model transforms customers into benefactors! Don't we love that!

Why shoes?

Many children in developing countries grow up barefoot; at play, doing chores or going to school, these children are at risk:

•A leading cause of disease in developing countries is soil-transmitted diseases, which can penetrate the skin through bare feet.

•Wearing shoes also prevents feet from getting cuts and sores.

•Many times children can't attend school barefoot because shoes are a required part of their uniform.

I love TOMS and their great business model- my hubby has a pair of their canvas classics that he loves. Check out their link for events near you, spread the word or just do like me and spend as much time as possible sans shoes this Thursday.

This is reminding me also of the need for a proper pedicure and my own sole baring horror story last week.

Let me set the stage- it was one of the first really nice weather days here. I had been in slippers all morning and was about to make a run to the post office. I couldn't find my sneakers and it was way too warm for boots.

I spied a pair of sandals and even though I knew I needed that pedicure I decided to grab them anyway.

(I mean how vain am I really and who the hell would be checking out my feet in the 5 minutes I would be in the post office, right?)

so, I get to the post office and it is more crowded than usual and there is a cute little girl in front of me and her cute little mom

and the little girl is talking about her new sandals and then she says to her mom "why aren't you wearing your new sandals mommy?" and the mommy answers "I need a pedicure first Kaylie"

(or Kylie or Kayla or some such name that sounded so cute at the time, but kind of sounds like fingernails on a chalkboard to me now)

and then the little girl looks at my feet and sees my sandals

(at this point the post office is very quiet and everyone is watching the little girl)

and I see her mouth opening and I am thinking (oh, no- a kind of OMG premonition is causing my vision to go all black and I can just see the little girl's mouth)

and she says "that lady doesn't have a pedicure"

and suddenly there are 10 sets of eyes on my feet

the feet that should have been safely tucked into my sneakers

the feet that have not been out in public in six months

the feet that will have a pedicure before Thursday.

(just need to pop for some new polish and a few cotton balls)

Happy Easter Everyone!

“when Rabbit asked, "honey or condensed milk with your bread?"

Pooh was so excited that he said, "Both" and then, so as not to seem greedy, he added,

"But don't bother about the bread, please." .... A.A.Milne

Wishing you a Happy Easter filled with all things milk and honey....

xo

Thoughtful Thursday - you rock, no, seriously you do ...

"No one is a rock star, superstar, world-changing artist all the time. In fact, it's a self-defeating goal. You can't do it.

No, but you might rock five minutes a day....

And five minutes of rocking would be enough, because it would be five minutes more than just about anyone else."

Five minutes sounds good to me (leaves me time for a nap)

Conversation by Seth Godin, Illustration by The Black Apple

No Whining on Wednesday or to bee or not to bee, that is really the question

I am a semi-retired almost-spelling champion.

well, I got 2nd place in our school spelling bee in the 4th grade and maybe that doesn't exactly spell c-h-a-m-p-i-o-n, but I really was just one letter away from the title ... (c-h-a-m-p-i-o ?)

and yes (I can hear my sister snickering right now) I am going to tell that story .... again

now I am not just randomly mentioning this fact (and I will get to my 4th grade devastation in a moment) but several things have happened to me in the last 48 hours that have brought all these sordid memories back to me to deal with ... again

(and maybe finally get some closure ... maybe)

#1 - I collect Trixie Beldon books.

(it's kind of a sickness)

Trixie was my childhood heroine. She was sort of a younger, spunkier Nancy Drew. My aunt gave me an old collection of Trixie books when I was eight or so and I fell in love with her.

She was a horse rider and mystery solver and I was a bike rider and mystery solver.

(well, my sister and I did once figure out that my brother was allergic to plums by secretly stuffing him with a huge amount while my mother wasn't looking ... it wasn't pretty, but we solved the mystery of his itchy rashes once and for all)

Anyhoo, flash ahead to Ebay and I started bidding on and collecting a particular series of Trixie books (in the style that I used to own) - I had collected maybe 18 of the 30 or so volumes. I bid on one every month or so and picked up a few at flea markets, so my little collection has been slowly and steadily making its way across my bookshelf.

Then, yesterday morning I accidentally typo'd Trixie Belden instead of Trixie Beldon (e for o) when doing my monthly Ebay search for my missing treasures and ...

there were hundreds of them! Like 1600 and something instead of the 20 or so I usually spot.

My heart started racing and I thought I might need medical attention, so I started motioning for Olive and she jumped in my lap ready to perform whatever kind of medical maneuver this situation required

(I've said before how smart she is. Please take this seriously)

All the books I could ever want to own were right there waiting for me, but wait a minute how could all these people be spelling Trixie's name wrong ...

(I am a bit slow on the uptake sometimes)

After dropping Olive and racing to my little Trixie collection to confirm, I realized that I had been misspelling my beloved Trixie's last name ... for 2 years! for 24 Ebay searches! for an almost spelling champion like me this was a devastating blow!

Of course, now knowing I can get any book (almost) at any time if I am just willing to spend enough money, has taken the fun out of my collecting - so I have decided to just keep searching among the mis-spellers- they are my peeps after all and ignore all those know it alls who think they can spell everything ....

(yes, like you Carole Bober who may have beat me by spelling "disappointed" correctly - can you imagine the humiliation of blowing such a simple, just sound it out for pete's sake, word - ugh! - ok, family I am really over it this time- although I do have to add there was a bit of trickery involved on Carole's part, but I am not going to go there in case she googles herself one day and this post appears - my sister is right now burying her head in her hands)

So anyhoo again- the other strange thing about this incident (and the subsequent spelling bee memory which I have not thought about for years- well except for the annually televised National Spelling Bee finals which I watch and am forced to remember that I was CHEATED OUT OF THAT TROPHY -yes another trophy rant, sorry)

is that the past 48 hours have been filled with synchronicities for me having to do with BEES ....

Let me explain - 1. (or is this 2?) Last night I was going to make a banner for a new Etsy team called the Artisans Collective and I am thinking banner, banner, banner - you get it - my head was pretty much empty, then I remembered my own rant post about how you need an identity before you have a banner, duh, what was I thinking, so I start thinking identity, collective, collection, herd, flock of birds, school of fish

(well, actually some of these things were thought by my daughter before she said them out loud and then they were thought by me and since she might read this, I better throw her in here for copyright protection)

then I thought bees, hive, collective, women, community, working together, the ability to play with the words bee and be- perfect fit. I start to get excited. Then I think maybe a quote will help with a branding statement and I have a quote book somewhere and it's not really much of a quote book (maybe 20 quotes in it, more of a picture book), but I look for it and it is right next to me

(and believe me nothing I need is ever right next to me)

and the paper cover has been long lost and the hardback cover has just one word pressed into the cover ... and the word is ....

be

(this was not the name of the book)

and I open the book to a random page and it says ...

"there can never be good for the bee, which is bad for the hive" ... emerson

(this is not a book of bee quotes, I promise you)

and again my heart starts racing and I motion for Olive and she just looks at me this time, like not this again and I motion like, no, I am really serious this time, and she is like ok and jumps in my lap

so, I make the logo and am so flipping happy with it (plus I got to buy a new font and I love a reason to buy a new font)

and I sign on to Etsy to send my "just meant to bee" little banner to Cindy (marysgranddaughter on Etsy) and there is a convo

from a seller I do not know named Lianne and she wants to trade something in my shop for something in hers and the name of her shop is (I am totally serious here) Lizzie's Bees! and she wants to trade me for a dog collar and I just look down at Olive and Olive is all like - don't you even think of saying no to this one, Cat!

And I then realize the movie on the tv in my bedroom at that moment is called The Secret Life of Bees.

So, what does this all mean, you may be asking yourself, well, of course I have absolutely no idea except that something is clearly "meant to bee" about all this (I just can't stop saying that- sorry)

I am just hoping I am not about to be attacked by a swarm of angry bees or repeatedly stabbed in a freak quilting bee incident and linger in some kind of bee coma before I pass away because of bee-lated medical attention (note to self- get that collar and keep Olive happy), but you know, it would almost be worth it because that would wrap this all up so nicely.

well, not so nicely for me, I guess ...
1. Toddler Honey Bee T by CritterJitters
2. Bumble Bee Pincushion by SeaPinks
3. Dilkabear Magnetic Recycled Locket by Polarity
4. Honeybee Earrings by UnJardinDeHilo
5. Bees In Love Card by YellowCakeCrafts
6. BumbleBee Charmer by LindsayArt

SPECIAL THRU 4/15 - FREE PAIR OF EARRINGS WITH ANY NECKLACE PURCHASE IN EITHER OF MY SHOPS Uncorked or Polarity - JUST NOTE 'the bees knees' or some such something in the comments to seller section of your order!