You have 5 minutes to make a difference

Five minutes.

That's all the time I spent with one little girl on Saturday...one little girl who I hope I remember forever.

This past Saturday, I was volunteering as a face painter with the Justice Project at a registration day for Operation Blessing, our church's annual Christmas party for low income kids in the Tacoma/Pierce County area. Hundreds of kids showed up with their parents to write "Dear Santa..." letters requesting Christmas gifts, hoping to receive something this holiday season. But at Champions Centre, we wanted the whole experience to be fun--to help each child feel special and loved throughout the entire process.

Enter free facepainting. :)

"What do you want to be?" I asked each child who came to my station.

"Hold your head up higher," I said over and over throughout the morning to boys and girls accustomed to looking toward the floor at secondhand tennis shoes.

"What are you hoping for this Christmas?"

The answers to the last question varied--from High School Musical CDs to bikes to Nintendo Wii.

But the girl I won't forget was different. Her answer?

"A bed." She answered quickly, simply.

When she said it, my heart hurt.

But I realized she was not looking for my pity. So I offered what I have--my hope.

"I really hope Santa brings that for you this year. Now take a look in the mirror--you're a princess!"

Her brown eyes widened and a smile brightened her face.

I may not have done much in five minutes--but hopefully telling a little girl to hold her head higher and to believe she could be a princess meant something. I don't think I changed her life in five minutes--but she changed mine.

Cool things lately...

I have a confession--I have not been good at keeping up my blog lately. I do think it’s a bit funny that my “Cool things of the week” postings have morphed into “Cool things of the month” and now “Cool things lately”.

Oh well. I will not live ashamed … or deprive loyal readers of reading about some of the things I’ve loved lately. So here goes:

Celeb crush - Jeff Dye: (Sigh) Not only is he adorable, but he’s also hilarious. And that, my friends, is a deadly combination. If you didn’t get to see him on Last Comic Standing, check out this clip.

On a more serious note, going to his comedy show with some amazing friends may have been the highlight of last week—all of the comedians we saw with him were fairly clean and provided some much-needed laughs for my friends and me.

Musician – Rob Blackledge: Thanks to Pandora, I discovered the musical stylings of Rob Blackledge. He’s kind of like a cross between Justin Timberlake and John Legend …high voice, but smooth piano guy stylings. Love.


Night out – BJ's with Anthem girls: Get your friends. Go to Southcenter. And check out BJ's restaurant. It’s got your basic American grub (fried and cheap), but save room for a pizookie. Wow. It’s basically a blend of chocolate chewy goodness (translation: a warm chocolate chip cookie that melts in your mouth) with vanilla ice cream. And if you’re not a chocolate chick (or guy), you can order other flavors.

• Volunteer day: Facepainting foster kids: Last Saturday, I had the opportunity to help at a Justice Project event providing school supplies for foster kids. It was about 95 degrees and we were all scorching in the sun, but seeing their mile-wide smiles after I painted their faces was priceless. So cute!
  
  

Girl power moment: Repainting my bedroom and bathroom (in greens) and reaffixing shelves to the wall. Me + power tools + paint. Wow. :)

Cheap chic shopping finds:
Jewelry from XXI Forever at Southcenter.

Yes, you will have to brave the crowds of 14-year-old shrieking (or angst-ridden teens. But necklaces for $6.80? I'm in! Don't expect diamonds or high quality, but if you're just looking for trendy cute pieces that won't break the bank, this is the place!

• New-to-me restaurant: Check out Cafe Divino in North Tacoma. It's a cozy cool place that's perfect for "ladies who lunch" (grab your friends, sisters, mothers and go) or a great date off the beaten path (guys, I promise it's not too girly!).
  
  
• Quirky Olympic sport: Racewalking. Oh. My. Word. My sis and I were channel surfing and happened to see one of these racewalking competitions in process (kind of like this, but minus the background music. And picture a whole pack of these people walking in sync together). Hilarious!
  
  Can you imagine the post-competition interview? "Yes, Bob Costas, I train every weekday by walking from Macy's to JP Penney...it's about 2K...brutal stuff. What was that? No, I'm not gay. But the hip action I've perfected in my training has helped me to become a stellar salsa dancer. And yes, I do wear shirts with ruffles." :)