So of course, now I’m following her on Pinterest. And one of the first things she repinned?

So when you’re going through your stuff in the morning and looking for something in particular, you don’t have to sift down into the depths of your t-shirt drawer, get the piles all messed up, and then crumple everything into a ball when try to re-shut the drawer.

I’ve modified every drawer – all of my thin sweaters and cardigans, the kid’s t-shirts and long-sleeve shirts… even JEANS. And guess what? It all fits into 2/3 of the space that it used to fit in.

I love folding and putting away laundry now. A true miracle!

Here’s why I loved it: it taught the kid the importance of gratitude without overwhelming the child with a task that, at age 5, would have seemed insurmountable (i.e. writing 20 thank you cards and getting serious hand cramps.)

I want my kid to learn how and why it’s important to be grateful, and I want him to learn how to express it. So I copied Shannon’s idea and made these silhouette cards with my son’s profile.

I’ve uploaded these Kid Thank You notes if you want to download them (4 to a page; just trim).

I printed set of these and put them, along with envelopes, at the kiddo’s desk so he has them handy to send a note whenever someone does something nice for him or sends him a gift. I’m thinking I’ll make some “Just saying hi!” cards next.

When he turns 8 though, it’s time for him to start writing out the whole thank-you note. Just sayin’.

Once at lunch, Jason snapped a picture of his receipt. I asked him what he was going to do with that.

“I scan it using JotNot, and it automatically syncs with Dropbox or Evernote.”

Take a picture of a business expense receipt, save it to the cloud easily, get rid of the receipt. If ever audited, turn over the digital folder. Brilliant.

Other scanning apps don’t make this as easy. I’ve looked. They make you email yourself a PDF version, then download it, then save it manually. At least three extra steps.

So I invested the $0.99 today and am scanning receipts happily, and pitching them.

{And if you’re stuck in 2003, you can also send faxes directly from the app.}

Decluttering is so ahhhhhhh.

For the first half of the flight, we had a ridiculous conversation about Bernstein vs. Sondheim, Rent vs. Les Mis, how we both don’t really get Glee. It was probably the most animated exchange of words I’ve ever had on an airplane.

Out of nowhere, Ryan reached down to give Phoebe (his miniature schnauzer that had been his “personal item” stowed underneath the seat in front of him) a little love. And I looked at him and said, “She’s been here the whole time?!” (Duh, Mari.)

“Yeah, I need her for emotional support. She’s my service animal, and she flies free. I had to get her certified, but that certification had already paid for itself LONG ago.”

The place to go? freemypaws.com, who the government considers legitimate enough to give pets their travel certification.

Who knew?

In the meantime, I stalked Ryan. Here’s a YouTube video of him on stage. Yes, the internet is creepy.

Fast forward. I got a call Monday night from a friend who left his wallet in a cab. So, as any good friend would do, I googled “LOST WALLET TAXI CHICAGO.”

The first search result? This post by Jen Chicago: Lost & Found Taxi Cabs.

Pictures of every cab +
Phone numbers to each cab company’s lost and found departments =
Brilliant.

I do not hesitate to acknowledge that without this blog post, I’m sure that my friend’s wallet would have been lost in cab-land for the rest of time.

Thankfully, we called two of the cab companies, and, 2 1/2 hours later, found the lost wallet. Hooray!

So, Jen, thank you for posting this and for making it so easy to track down every single cab company in Chicago. I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s ever used that post as a resource.

Fabulous.

A couple of rows in front of me, I saw this:

And I thought it was so genius that I climbed two rows down, tapped this girl on the shoulder, and asked her if it was keeping her warm.

“Yeah, it’s totally blocking the wind! You’d be surprised!”

They didn’t look super cool, but I know they were a lot warmer than I was, even with my 14 layers and Cubs hat.

Nice to meet you, Claire & friends! Next time, I’m bringing my zebra print umbrella and we can all be safari-esque together.

P.S. The Cubs actually did W this game, so Go Cubs Go.

We were neighbors our sophomore year, and for some reason, spent a good amount of time driving around together. And one time in the car, he taught me how to parallel park in a way that made more sense to me than anyone else’s explanation.

1. Pull up parallel to the car in front of the open spot. PARALLEL. Not angled at all.
2. Back up slowly.
3. Once you hit the halfway point, turn the wheel sharply and maneuver your way into the spot. Your back tire will probably hit the curb. That’s okay.
4. Turn the other direction and straighten out.
5. Done.

Thanks to Tim, I can parallel park in ANY spot in Chicago, left or right, snowbank-filled or pothole’d – even in front of a $150,000 Maserati (and no, I didn’t even tap it!).

Hey, Tim Winter (like Winterfresh) – next time we hang out, remind me to show you my paralleling skills in action. Then maybe I’ll make you a breakfast burrito to thank you for the many, many dollars you’ve saved me since I don’t ever have to park in an overpriced garage. Deal?

I was over at her house one Sunday a few years ago for dinner, and we were all chatty and having a good time. In the middle of the conversation, she said, “Hey, Mari – let’s schedule another one of these dinners in three months. When’s good for you?”

I said, “I have no idea. Three months?”

Her reasoning was fourfold:
1 – If we say, “Let’s do dinner sometime soon,” that ‘soon’ turns into a month, turns into six months, turns into 10 years. BAD.
2 – If we say, “Let’s do dinner next month,” there will inevitably be some scheduling conflict and then we’ll say, “Let’s reschedule for another time – sometime soon,” which turns back into #1. BAD.
3 – If we say, “Let’s set a date three months out to do dinner,” there are fewer scheduling conflicts, we can both put it onto our calendars now, and then we have something to look forward to in three months. GOOD!
4 – A lot can change in three months, so conversation will be fresh and fun. GOOD!

Now, I use Julie’s “three months” scenario with those who lead super busy lives, but who I MUST see again.

Julie, just so you know, aside from your pot roast, this is the BEST tip I’ve ever gotten from you. (Get it? Oh, I kill myself.)

Melissa is a fierce, bold, action-oriented, passionate entrepreneur/idea girl/supermom/friend. She decided she wanted to make a film, so she did. She decided she wanted to start a company, so she did. She decided she wanted to interview Seth Godin, so she did. Why not.

I admire everything about her.

She joined me and a couple of girlfriends for lunch the other day. I think we were talking about website domains that she bought for fun. And she said, “If an idea is good enough to stick around for 10 minutes, then it’s definitely worth the $5 it costs to buy the domain for it.”

So basically, don’t waste time. Act.

I should do more of that, and less of what I’m good at: procrastinating.

Thanks, lovely – as always.

Her presentation, in addition to being so super informative, high energy and fun (and operatic and theatrical), had one major key takeaway for me:

When starting a business . . . when you’re doing the stuff to get rolling . . . sales are key. Sales are more important than marketing. Because without sales, you can’t continue marketing.

Super easy concept. Super difficult for someone like me to keep in mind, since I think the marketing stuff is so fun (and the sales part is not as fun).

I’m so glad to have Genevieve as an example of someone to look up to. Thanks, lady, for inspiring me!