Sharing Thanks

A journal half homemade by my daughter Liz Sometimes the best gifts are those that come from the heart. This year my husband's family decided to do a homemade gift swap at our after Christmas party. I enjoyed watching my daughters and husband figuring out what they could make and bring for this gift exchange. It was fun to watch everyone around the kitchen table making their homemade gifts for the party! I've been busy enjoying the holidays, seeing close friends and family. I have so many reasons to be thankful, its difficult to pick just 4 for this post! I am thankful for all the gifts I have received this holiday. We are a family that is a tapestry of religions. Our best holiday is when we are all together celebrating! I loved hearing all of the voices at my Christmas Eve Party belting out  "Oh Chanukah, Oh Chanukah!" and "The 12 Days of Christmas" I was thankful to do a bit of reorganizing before the holiday party and found Holiday songbooks I had m

I am a dog lover! Seeing this short compilation of cute dog vines made me smile. If you enjoy this please share a smile with someone. I am always thankful for a chuckle or a smile. I loved the dog whose best friend is a hairless cat! Here is what I am thankful for today. I am thankful for safe travels that brought my two girls home from college. Thank you Mega Bus, whose bus from Pittsburgh was almost an hour early. Thanks to Jet Blue. They wisely cancelled the flight from Chicago on Saturday. They rescheduled Liz for a flight home on Sunday. I recently watched Loved Actually which opens and closes with families and friends reuniting at airports. There is a special magic when you reunite with loved ones. Thanks to Dr. Cornell who did my Mom's hip surgery. The nursing staff at the Hospital for Special Surgeries is phenomenal. My mom is happy to get a new hip and is on the road to recover. Thanks to the nice folks my dad and I met yesterday while waiting for my Mom to be out

I am thankful for seeing this Piano Guys playful video of  "Angels We Have Heard on High." These vibrant  classical musicians are using their talents to inspire young musicians. There is also something magical about the inside of a piano! One of my favorite parts of Christmas is the music it has inspired! As a kid a loved going caroling. Singing outside with a group of family friends warmed my soul. This week seems all about music to me so here are my musical thanks! Thanks to my violin piano student Irina! She actually introduced me to the Piano Guys a few months ago. She is a 9th grader and loves watching the classical music videos they make. I am thankful that Piano Guys is creating excitement for classical music to a new generation! I am thankful for the South Shore Symphony Orchestra. We are performing the Nutcracker with the Leggs Ltd. Dance ballet company this weekend. I love immersing myself in the music of the Nutcracker for two weeks. This community event i

Frozen Yogurt break at the new CUPS in the Walt Whitman Mall HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHARING THANKS!  Sharing thanks is 2 years old this weekend. The best way to help celebrate is share something your thankful for in the comments! Here is what I was thankful for this weekend. I am thankful to everyone who reads, follows, and shares thanks on my blog. I still get a thrill when someone posts a positive comment on the blog. I can't believe that sharing thanks has reached over 18,000 page views in 2 years. I am thankful to sites that help new bloggers find their voice and expand their readership! Thanks SITS girls, Bloggy moms, and Blogelina. I'm still learning from you.  I am thankful for my friend Stella, who often shares what she is thankful for on the blog. We had fun doing a mall walk and discovering this cool new frozen yogurt shop at the Walt Whitman Mall. We enjoyed sitting on the cool purple and green couches. I felt like a teenager. I had to try the pumpkin cheesecake t

A good reminder that it is always a good idea to Stop and Smile! I love learning to appreciate the little things in life. Everyday I walk my dog around the neighborhood and it  amazes me how when I really pay attention I notice new things to appreciate. I must have passed this stop sign hundreds of times. Today I noticed this smile attached to it. I do not recommend doing graffiti on traffic signs. I'm sure its considered a crime. However, this sign got me thinking that it's always a good idea to stop and smile! I recommend doing a gratitude walk. Walk in a familiar place and stop and notice the beauty, people, sounds, smells that you are thankful for! It will help you focus on what resonates with you. Here is what I was thankful for on my gratitude walk. I am thankful to see this stop sign, which literally made me stop and smile, and take a picture with my camera! Day 2 of my Gratitude simple Joy Photo challenge. I love watching the fall breezes kicking up the color

November is a wonderful month to start a gratitude practice. An easy way to focus on simple joys is to take pictures! Commit to taking a picture once a day of something that your grateful for the next 10 days. It could be something you thought was beautiful, something that made you smile, somebody who made you laugh, someone who helped you. Take a picture of anything that your grateful for with your camera or smart phone. Take the Sharing Thanks 10 Days Simple Joys Gratitude Challenge Step 1  Take a picture of something that your grateful for! Step 2 Email your picture to sharingthanks@gmail.com jpeg format.                                  or Tweet your picture @sharingthanks #simplejoysphotos Step 3 In your email or tweet list the date and what you were grateful for:     example: November 4,  This field of flowers took my breath away! Save your gratitude pictures in an album. Look at the album to remind you of all the things you are grateful for. Bring the album

Pittsburgh Duck at night at Point Park. I was thankful to get to see the Pittsburgh duck before it swam away on my recent trip to this fun city. My older daughter is a senior at the University of Pittsburgh and we went to visit her during parents weekend. We were lucky to be able to stay at the Grand Wyndham hotel across the street from Point Park. I was amazed how many families and people came to see the duck. We had stayed here in the Spring and the park was empty. Here is what I was thankful for in Pittsburgh. I am thankful for the artist, Florentijn Hofman, for creating this floating art installation. Hofman says, "The friendly, floating, four-story-high Rubber Duck has healing properties!" The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust brought the duck to Pittsburgh to kick off the Pittsburgh International Festival of Firsts. It is estimated that over 1 million people have gone to see the duck in Pittsburgh. I am grateful for installation artists whose work inspires us to experienc