Be good this Holiday Season

                            Source: MS Office Clip Art collection

 

Good day readers! Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I am so excited! It has been a tradition since I got married to have Thanksgiving dinner at our place. Not to worry! I have a **WONDERFUL** mother-in-law who not only emanates light and happiness but who also helps me so much. She in fact prepares everything, so all I have to do is organize our place and prepare some finger food. I am thinking about making some clam dip and pesto bruschetta. If you would like to see those recipes posted here or emailed to you, let me know and I will be happy to oblige :)

Now on to more important things. This morning I woke up thinking about my art, how to improve my photographs, new products for my Etsy shop, etc. And I admit that I was also thinking about my favorite drink in the whole wide world - a Grande, non-fat, no whipped cream, 6-pump white chocolate mocha. I am picky like that ;) As I parked my jelly bean of a car (my prius) I saw the familiar face of a nice man who is always sitting in front of my neighborhood Starbucks. The jelly bean said it was 33 degrees outside. As I walked in, I greeted him as I usually do and I added "It is so chilly outside!" The poor man responded: "Try sleeping outside, that's chilly!" I was so disconcerted I did not know what to say. I had seen and greeted that man on a regular basis and it had never occurred to me that he was homeless. 

But all the signs were there, if just I had stopped worrying about my life and what I needed to do that day and paid more attention to people around me... So readers, my advice today is: pay more attention to things, places and people around you. Chances are you have been missing out on a lot of things. 

And be kind to others. Although our first instinct might be to think that the reason someone is in a precarious situation is because they did it to themselves, try not to be judgmental, and do know that regardless of the reasons someone is where he/she is today, he/she may not deserve to be there. 

While I was waiting for my drink, I was thinking of the things I could do to help the poor man. After all, no one deserves to be cold. So I went home, packed a blanket, a comforter, some old clothes and a pair of gloves and drove back to the coffee shop. Needless to say, my friend, the homeless guy, was so grateful and happy. Be good this holiday season and remember: if you give the world the best you have, the best will come back to you. 

I have done some research and compiled a list of charity organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area that are accepting donations this holiday season:

1. Society of St. Vincent de Paul in SF. They accept cash donations as well as donations to their thrift shops:

http://www.svdpusa.org/default.aspx?tabid=84

2. San Francisco Food Bank:

http://www.sffoodbank.org/ 

3. Bay Area Kids Charity:

http://bayareacharity.org/

I will be back over the long weekend to post that tutorial, I promise.

About The Author : Leela

Leela is a 4.5 y.o. Silky Terrier who truly believes she is a baby. She is the Chief Designer at Ooh Leela!™, a dog boutique that specializes in personalized dog shirts, trendy dog clothing, beds and accessories. She is sassy and sweet, full of personality and attitude. You can follow her on Twitter and you can connect with her on Facebook