The Lost Art of Thank You

The Thank You note that is or any written note or card be it for saying "thanks" or just to say I was thinking about you. 

Why is it that the simple, beautiful, thoughtful act of saying "Thank You" in the written form has become a lost art?  Why do we think a short-hand text message is an acceptable way to wish someone a Happy Birthday?  Why do children no longer have to write thank you notes for gifts?  Why is Facebook the only place to tell people what is happening in your world?  Gosh, you hardly even get a paper invitation to events anymore, God help us when wedding invitations go digital! 

Why, Why, Why? 

Ahhh, yes, because life is hectic and constantly in warp speed motion.  Clearly, we understand social media is a powerful and when used properly wonderful tool for communication, but it is not the only form of communication.  Sure an e-mail gets the job done in a pinch, and any acknowledge of thanks is never a bad thing, however, there is something so special and meaningful about a note of gratitude or love sent by mail.  Isn't there a part of you that goes to the mailbox hoping for fun mail mixed in with the junk mail and bills?  We sure do! 

Remember when folks used to mail love letters or when you passed notes in class hoping you didn't get caught or wanting to get the most Valentines in the second grade (well every grade, really)?  These life moments, these written life moments seem to be becoming something of the past verses something of the present and future.   

What is the best way to express your gratitude?  Of course there is no wrong way but we are partial to the written form.  Both our mother's instilled it in us.  

Kate does her best to stay on top of thank you notes and Heather is pretty good with cards for life moments or just because moments.  Between the two of us we do have a fair group of friends that are also great with mailed notes.  We always send each other cards that we find hysterical!   

Heather is what she likes to call a procrastinating perfectionist with a grammatical deficiency.  All words were made up at some point, so what if she makes up her own?  Snoop Dog does it all the time and his stuff is now in the dictionary.  Heather can get a months worth of birthday cards addressed, stamped and in pile with a sticking note saying when to put in the mail the first of every month.  However, she feels thank you notes must be eloquent drawn out storybooks and therefore is not as great with the old thank you note.  Hence why it took over 3 months for her to get all her wedding thank you notes written and sent.  Boo (and her mother) were not very happy, but eventually all notes were written and mailed.  Leading her to have that "ah ha moment" realization that the timeliness of the note is just as important as the act of writing a note.  She has gotten much better.

We challenge ourselves to practice what we preach and make sure we send the occasional note to our friends and family and to make sure we send THANK YOU notes!  We hope you'll be inspired to make someone's trip to the mailbox a delightful surprise by sending a note or two of your own and to always send a thank you note (handwritten!) as often as possible!

Thank you for reading!

Cheers!

K&H

September Anticipation

There is a giddy school girl anticipation to the month of September.  The bummer part about September is that it means summer is over, but it is also the month that leads us into everything fabulously fall such as back to school, fall festivals, apple picking, the leaves changing colors, football, Halloween, fall cocktails, fall hikes, lighting the fire pit, and less sweaty weather! 

With the crisp fall weather just around the corner, we are pondering very important questions such as...

• How many different ways can you make wings for the tailgate? (The endless possibilities and flavor combos are making our bellies rumble just thinking about it!)  

• How many apple influenced delectables can you create after you bring home that 237 pound bag of fresh picked apples from the orchard? Is there such a thing as eating too many apple donuts? (we think not!)

• What craft and decorating ideas will be inspired by the rich breathtaking colors of the changing leaves and the spooky celebration of Halloween? 

• How many fall festivals can we attend? (All of them...well maybe not all, but we'll have fun trying.)

• Will this year be the year we go for the raw oysters or will we just stick to the roasted? (Probably sticking to the roasted. Either way we get to say the word "shucked" a lot and giggle)

On top of all that, there is a lot to celebrate and remember in the fall. It is a time for remembrance for those our country has lost. Take the opportunity to say thank you to our armed forces. It is a time of celebration as we both celebrate our wedding anniversaries in September. It is a time for long weekends away and full blown out of the country vacation with great friends.  It is a time that the holidays still seem a bit off, but really we know they are right around the corner.  

September may be the 9th month of the year, but it has the air of everything being fresh and new as if the world is at your finger tips and anything and everything is possible. Much like the first of the year, September is a great time to reflect and make resolutions, as well as take stock of the resolutions made at the beginning of the year. Where do you stand with all you said would accomplish in the calendar year? No worries, there's still plenty of time to meet your 2013 goals whether you have stayed on track, need a reboot, or start from scratch!

Where does Cocktails & Glitter stand on goals we've made?

• Creating and sticking with a weekly blog--check

• Keeping up with all our tabs--needs some work

• Heather getting more comfortable with technology, the world wide web and social media--depending on the day. It is going smashingly well or there are tears lots and lots of tears...it is a long term project in progress with potential for great success!

• Time well spent with family and friends--check

• Loving and celebrating our RVA and all things festival--check, with lots more lovin' to come!

• Getting our Happy Hour on--check and our list of "places to try" continues to grow.

• Big "Nitty Gritty" projects-- partly check, with some still on the list (Heather has big plans in September).

• Crafting and sewing projects--check, with lots of fun ones still on the list. We still need to make the wreaths we wanted to way back in February!

• Meeting health and weight goals and exploring what really works for us--for the most part check but still working on it!

• Over using the word AWESOME!--not check enough! We have gotten away from this and need to get back on it!

For the most part we are right on track for reaching the goals we set for this year even though some goals have been added or changed as the year as progressed. We hope your goals are being met with awesome success as well. Please let us know on our Facebook Page what goals you have achieved this year and those you are still working toward.

Happy September everyone!

The leaves will be changing before you know it!

Cheers!
K&H









   

  

Friendship

You'll always be my friend...you know too much! 

 It seems there is a day or month to celebrate everything from the "Are you kidding me that deserves a day?" to the, "Duh that should happen every day!"  Which is the case when it comes to celebrating friendships. August 1 is National Girlfriends Day (as well as National Raspberry Cream Pie Day; check out the recipe), and the first Sunday in August is National Friendship Day! 

As two ladies who know and value the gift of friendship, we would like to take the time to celebrate our friends. We have a great many friends in common and over the years our separate friends have become each others friends. It's so great to see our circles overlap, it's just another way they grow.



We understand the depth and meaning and love of friendship. We know the laughter and tears of friendship. We know the triumphs and the missteps of friendship. We know the joys and frustrations of friendships. We know the honor and endless support of friendship. We know the challenges and magic of friendship. We know a great deal about friendship as we have been taught it by the many individuals who we have had the privilege of gracing our lives. 

 

Yep, this happens most of the time. Wardrobe ESP.

Our lives our are rich with the gifts of friendship and we are thankful and grateful for every single one of our friends every single day. Without you, we would not be the (awesome) people we are today. Our friendships have taught us about ourselves, life and love. Our friendships have given us support and encouragement and the occasional Come-to-Jesus meeting moments when needed. Our friendships have been the source of joy in moments of great happiness and the source of strength in moments of great sadness. Our friendships have endured highs and lows, the challenge of distance and the test of time. Our friendships have out the lived the 80s, the 90s and the first decade of the 2000s! Our friendships are rooted and based in something that is hard to explain but not hard to feel as it goes to the soul of our being.  

Friends are the family we choose and between us we have a pretty vast and awesome family of friends.  Thank you for being part of lives and for letting us be part of your lives.
 

 

Cheers!
K&H

    

Hi Everyone!

Thanks for joining us in our blogging adventure!  You may be wondering who we are and why we're diving into the blogging world, or you may not!  But we're going to tell you anyway!

We met at work many many years ago. So long ago, we can't quite remember!  Let's say it's been about 10 years.  Through happy hour, we eventually became family (not in the Big Love way, but the family you choose kind of way!).  We've been though a lot of good times, bad times and crazy times - but we're way more awesome because of it.  When we first met, we were both single, in our mid-twenties, and living in rented apartments in the fan district of Richmond, VA.  Today we're both married to fabulous men, in our mid-thirties, and living in houses we own (one still in the city, one slightly outside the city limits). We have always shared a love of good food, good stories, good company, Richmond festivals, Savannah GA, happy hour, and so much more!

This year we plan on continuing our love of Happy Hour which brings us together with our friends at our favorite places and maybe some new watering holes!  We'll seek out great HH specials and do our best to share them with you. We'll get our Martha Stewart/Pintrest on as we get Crafty! Some projects include re-learning to sew, home decor DIY, scrap-booking and photography. Maybe we'll finally put together our wedding albums! Other projects, such as house painting, gardening, and organizing are beyond crafty, they are the Down & Dirty Nitty Gritty! As happily married women, we've put on our share of "happy relationship weight", and we're not to happy about it!  We're both looking to lose a bit of weight this year as we explore the Struggle With Fried.  And by a bit, we're talking 20 pounds....each!  We love our RVA and we hope you do (or will) too! With great places to explore, history and people, Richmond is one awesome place!  And finally, we'll talk about the Other Things We Love - which will include friends, stories, and anything else that doesn't fit anywhere else!  There will also be shout outs to other blogs and websites that we love and want you to love too!

So bring it on 2013!  

Cheers, 

K&H

Hello World! Welcome to ours!


Who are we? We're Kate and Heather, and we are awesome & want to share our awesomeness with you! This year we plan to do awesome things, drink awesome drinks, make awesome crafts, awesomely lose weight, celebrate our awesome hometown, and just be generally awesome. We fully intend on bragging about our awesome husbands and awesome friends along the way.  We hope you'll enjoy following us in this year of awesomeness, and hope you'll join us in this awesome journey!  (We promise not to use the word awesome all the time)

Get ready 2013- Cause it's about to get awesome!


Happy New Year Everyone!!!

Cheers!

K&H