Last week I got a lovely little surprise in the mail from a sweet reader & blog friend. I couldn't have been more surprised or giddy about it! She took the two IS•LY stickers I sent her & applied them to a white patent wallet. It's such a genius idea & totally brightened my day. How did she know my previous wallet was getting ratty?! Many, many thanks, Shaela, for your thoughtfulness!! Shaela's sweet, unsolicited gift reminded me of a couple of other things. 1) When I was in my first trimester with wacked out eating habits, I walked out of DI to the smell of homemade bread. The exact smell that wafted all through my childhood (my mom makes THE BEST bread ever, btw). I had to have some fresh baked bread right then & there. I hopped on my phone & searched for the nearest bakery: Vosen's. It's a German bakery in an old house in downtown SLC. The cashier was super friendly & went out of her way to talk to Penelope & make her feel right at home. She kindly slipped a little sugar pretzel in the bag just for Penelope. How sweet! The next time I returned, the same woman remembered me & Penelope and again left Penelope another surprise in the bag. Their bread is divine as is their customer service. Even though that was months ago, I'll never forget how special they made Penelope & me feel. 2) I've needed to take my Bernina in to the shop to get a tune up. The other day I searched the nearest Bernina shop in my area & found a place just around the corner from our house: Nuttall's. I had to get a few notions for my recent pillow projects, so I headed there to ask about repairs & new Berninas. Everyone there was mega friendly & one ladies there spent time playing blocks with Penelope so I could get my shopping done. SO NICE! I chatted with a very knowledgable woman about repairs & new Bernina sewing machines, bought the notions I needed & headed home. A couple of days later, I received the above little card in the mail. The same woman I talked to at Nuttall's had taken the time to hand write me a little thank you for coming in to the shop. She remembered both my name & Penelope's & she genuinely offered to help with anything I'd need with repairs or buying a new machine. Obviously, she's doing her job to keep my business, but a hand written thank you? That's going above & beyond. Her heartfelt thank you truly brightened my day. I'm going there for my sewing needs from now on. There are so many kind & thoughtful people out there. It's inspiring. I'm going to work on paying these kind acts forward.