Aren't people great? And a bunch of other things, too

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. I travelled to Michigan to hang with family and dragged Boyfriend along for the ride. While there I got to go to a place so fabulous I must share it with you and also change the name of the series I started.

Ok, that was a random and jumbled way of saying:

We have a second entry for Exceptionally Awesome People of Exceptional Awesomeness (because grown-ups do awesome things, too). 

Do All Inc. is an organization that supports people with disabilities and general community betterment through a variety of shops and resources. I had the pleasure of going to Do Art in downtown Bay City which is, as their website describes, "a community arts program which brings artists with and without disabilities together to produce and sell their work." There are paintings, drawings, jewelry, hats and mittens, cards, all sorts of great things. The artists apply to the program and work in every aspect of the business from creating pieces to framing to the working on the sales floor. My parents spoke to an employee who told them an online store is in the works so folks outside the Saginaw Valley area can purchase awesomeness anywhere in the county. I just love seeing a successful, creative way to benefit an entire community. This was the perfect way to kick off my holiday season.

Here are some awesome things to look forward to on the blog:

Boyfriend is going to tell me the truth about how accurate those "Great Christmas Gifts for the Men in Your Life" lists are. Prepare yourselves, internet. Boyfriend is a snarky, snarky man. 

I will attempt to take some not terrible pictures of my Christmas decorating efforts. They are slightly grander than originally intended because I inherited a Christmas tree, lights and more ornaments than you can shake a fist at (that's a lot, right?) this weekend courtesy of my grandmother. 

So tell me, big plans for the month of buying things and crashing with relatives? Have an awesome community organization you want to brag about? Think your grandma is awesome? It's all welcome! 

Who has holiday plans?

Ok, before I tell you all about my great holiday plans I have to get something off my chest. I know this is not a new or creative rant but it is oh so timely. I hate (yes, hate) that, as far as nearly every retail store is concerned, the Christmas season starts on November 1st.

Ugh.

Let me say that I may be especially sensitive to this obnoxiousness because I loathe busy shopping. Walmart on a Saturday afternoon? I go into survival mode. Sales brought on by 3-day weekends? I stay home. So, I do even less shopping this time of year than I would otherwise. But, oh, when I have to venture out. I cannot handle two whole months of Christmas music, tinsel and candy-striped everything. So much green and red and shiny. Let me take this opportunity to give a big sanity-saving shout out to Nordstrom. I ran across this on Buzzfeed. Yes, Nordstrom, yes. Exactly this.

I think it's crummy that we associate Christmas so closely with buying crap. Do any of us really need more stuff? I understand that giving gifts is a great thing to do, though. It's fun to pick out the perfect gift for someone you care about and it's fun to find out that someone cared enough to spend time finding you something awesome. But, let's not lose our heads, ok? I am going to try really hard this holiday season to keep in mind that the important part is hanging out with my and Boyfriend's family, listening to the Peanut's Christmas CD until my parents beg for mercy and eating some yummy food.

Rant complete. Thanks for hanging in there.

Thanksgiving is this coming week! Hooray! Let's celebrate taking over our country by bullying the people who already lived here into submission! I'm just a little rain cloud of a thing today, no? Sorry about that. Regardless of the questionable origins, I dig Thanksgiving. Getting together with family and eating is one of my very favorite pastimes. This year, Boyfriend and I will be headed to Michigan with my family to visit aunts, uncles and cousins. This is fantastic for a couple of reasons.

1. I don't see my extended family all that often as we're scattered all over the country.
2. Boyfriend has never been to Michigan!
3. I live eight hours away from my parents and brother so, I'm actually looking forward to spending some time in the car with them.

Brother has to survive the trip from KC to Indiana with my parents. Hopefully that won't be too painful for him. They're headed this way on Tuesday! Yikes, my house needs to look a great deal different (read: something resembling clean) than it does now!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving week!

I've got some fun ideas for the coming (yes, that's right, it hasn't started yet) holiday season.