The Dandelion Bouquet

This was a good week. So good, in fact, that I had too many gold stars and had to narrow them down this morning. This kind of thing doesn't happen often (at least not to an eternal pessimist like myself). So when it does, it's definitely cause for celebration. Who knows, maybe this little project of mine, concentrating on the good in every week, is working and I'll start seeing the glass as half full. My mother can only hope.

The best of the best gold stars this week go to:

*Lions and Leopards and Seals...Oh My!: Yesterday I had a morning session in Lincoln Park. The place was fairly deserted at 10 till nine in the morning, but who knew it is the absolute best time to catch the animals at the zoo in action. A trainer was feeding the seals and having them do tricks you normally wouldn't see outside of Sea World. The lions were perched on their rocks, roaring away like Simba, and I stopped to watch a leopard cleaning her paws and face after breakfast, not four feet away from me. What an awesome way to kick off a random Thursday!

*Shoe Splurge: They caught my eye as I walked by the store window and just wouldn't let go. I was just sucked in, man. And once in...oh, it was game on. The store had just gotten a new shipment of adorable wedges, and by some act of fate and everything good and frivolous, they had so many styles in my size to choose from that I actually had a 10 minute conversation with the sales lady about which pairs I really needed. I walked out with three pairs of shiny, happy, classic, had-to-have-em, comfortable (I know!), beautiful pieces of footwear. Now all I need is a pedicure.

*The Dandelion Bouquet: On Monday, I shot a very fun family session at Montrose Harbor. (Sneak peek coming soon!). My little client, Ada, collected a bouquet of dandelions throughout the shoot which she used as a cute prop during our session. It was just adorable. Even more adorable was when she came running after me, once the session was over and we had parted ways, to give me the bouquet. "Maybe if you put them in your backpack now, you can put them in a vase once you get home!" That sweet gesture made me smile more than anything else this week.