This week, my note goal is going to be helped by my 14 year old. He is writing every note and I am providing gift cards. Such an important thing to pass on to your kids. We have been having fun all weekend putting the cards together!

My amazing hairdresser has listened for years to all my crazy stories and we have become good friends. She has been gone on maternity leave for a few months and I have realized how much I miss her easy conversation and her easy skill with my hair. It is easy to come up with a baby gift for someone who has just had a baby but when I truly thought about her and remembered being a new mom, I wanted to thank her for making me beautiful but I also wanted her to feel beautiful. As a new mom you often don’t take time to make yourself beautiful or even take a moment to take a shower or comb your hair. For the first time in your life, you feel completely overwhelmed and out of your element, so completely inadequate. So instead of a baby gift, I wrote a gratitude card. I thanked her for her skill and her attention to detail. I thanked her for being such great listener and storyteller. I thanked her for making me feel beautiful. I encouraged her to take care of herself at least once a day. Do one thing that makes her feel good. I included a gift card to Ulta so that she could buy something to make her feel beautiful and sent it off. I hope it comes at the exact moment she needs it. With Mother’s Day coming up, I am going to focus on the mom’s in my life that make me try to be a better mom and I am going to find meaningful ways to thank them for giving everything of themselves to grow and shape amazing children.

Had so much fun writing notes to people today! 14 and counting!

I have been representing the sweetest buyer this month and on Monday, we closed on her forever home. Both the seller and buyer were single women making a huge move to different states to be near their kids and both of them were very stressed. After a few complications, the agent on the other side and I managed to get them to closing but not without some unneeded hard feelings for the seller and the buyer. When I attended the final walk through we found a note from the seller to my client…handwritten on flowery paper. She shared her love of this home and her hope that my client would find peace and joy within its walls just as she had. My clients hard feelings crumbled and she instantly saw what the other agent and I saw, two high stress clients that had good intentions from the beginning. Wounds were healed and my client has already fired off a new note to the seller to thank her and heal the wounds further. I sent a note to the other agent, the seller and to my buyer but it was truly because of the first card in this chain that bridges to friendship and understanding were built.

I was just in receipt of a wedding gift "thank you" from a young couple who got married last summer and they had finally got around to sending their handwritten card. I opened it with anticipation as I love the new bride, am close friends with her mother, threw her bridal shower and have known her since childhood. What I received was literally a two line thank you that essentially said, "Thank you both for your generosity and for coming to our wedding."....well, ummm...I didn't actually get to the wedding and it wasn't that large...and clearly they did not know what gift I had given them. The writing space on the card was 3/4 empty. The card made it into the trash as quickly as the junk mail. Sadly. Now, I'm telling this story because not because I specifically cared about receiving a thank you card- but because John's post was chatting about how it makes one FEEL. I was an obligation (let's get the card DONE) and I'm sure those two lines were on every card that was sent. It was not sincere and I literally dreaded her mother asking me about the card. Sometimes, if you don't write with sincerity and thought, it truly is better to not write at all. I still love the gal and her hubby....clearly! However, I really love to save photos and notes from those who show caring and love, and have given TIME to show me I matter to them. Sincerity MATTERS!