Day #2: 29-Day Giving Challenge

Just got back from a little trip out to Target. Since this was possibly going to be my only venture outdoors today, I was on alert, looking for ways to give. I ended up buying a few little goodies for Rob to use throughout my 29 days. But as I was exiting the store, I saw the perfect opportunity awaiting me.

Standing at a table in front of Petsmart were two young girl scouts and a mother. According to weather.com, to the right you'll see what the weather is like in Cinnaminson, NJ this afternoon. Not exactly ideal for sitting outside selling cookies.

I walked over and started chatting with the young girl who was determined to hold a handmade sign on a huge piece of fluorescent green poster board, despite the gusty winds. "Do you ever get sick of cookies?" I asked. "Never!" she enthusiastically responded, as most young girls would, I'm sure. She told me her favorites were the Thin Mints. I asked her co-seller what her favorites were and she told me it was the Peanut Butter Patties. Me too. A serving size is 2 cookies, but I'll scarf a whole box at a time!

So I took a box of each of their favorites. The girl with the sign said, "I should have told you I had more favorites!" So cute. I paid them, and they struggled with their gloved hands to give me my change. Then I handed the boxes right back to them. "This one's for you, and this one's for you. You deserve a little treat for your hard work!" They were surprised and thanked me, and I walked away all smiles. That great feeling was more delicious than a Peanut Butter Patty!

A gift for me??

Looks like I'm not the only one doing the 29-Day Giving Challenge. A kind officer from my township was also in a generous spirit. I got this pretty yellow piece of cardstock. True, I was speeding. 40 mph in a 25 mph zone. But to my defense, he clocked me within a block of where the speed limit drops from 40 to 25. Bad break. I hope I don't receive any unwanted gifts during my 2nd day of giving!

Day #1: 29-Day Giving Challenge

I decided to give the 29-Day Giving Challenge a shot. I'll post all 29 here, so long as I stick with it. I suppose it wouldn't be very nice of me if I didn't.

I started today off easy. I bought a Grande Mocha and a Grande Caramel Macchiato for my two coworkers. I thought it would be a nice way to start off a Friday morning! They were pleasantly surprised and it really set the mood for the morning! Well, at least it did for me. :) One day down, 28 more to go. I feel like this might be more difficult on days where I'm not working since I'll come in contact with fewer people. Do you think mailing a card out counts even if the recipient won't receive it on that particular day?

Operation NICE article in The Curator

Happy Friday! I had some anxiety this morning trying to get some Death Cab for Cutie concert tickets, but after an hour of trying (you know, while the screen was minimized in the back so I could keep working!) I finally go through and ended up with pretty good seats. Phew!!

Anyway, I wanted to let you guys know that there's an article about Operation NICE in The Curator, "a web publication of International Arts Movement (IAM), which announces the signs of a “world that ought to be” as we find it in our midst, and seeks to inspire people to engage deeply with culture that enriches life and broadens experience."

I really love the article and I hope you check it out! I want to thank Lindsay Crandall for her excellent work!

NICE Campaign: 29-Day Giving Challenge

Sure, you're generous, but could you pledge to GIVE for 29 days straight?

Stephanie of Stephanie Malone {Design} emailed me about a site she stumbled upon called the 29-Day Giving Challenge. The concept is pretty self-explanatory. Give something away each day for 29 days.

Watch Cami Walker, the adorable Challenge Creator, explain the whole program and answer some of the more frequently asked questions including "How does it work?" and "What should I give?" and "What if I miss a day?"

Find more videos like this on 29-Day Giving Challenge

It's a little intimidating. I have trouble sticking with resolutions, so I'm afraid I'd get to day 6 and then fail. What do you think? Should I give it a shot? Anyone want to try it with me and help me stay motivated?

NICE News: A Gift of Support

Good morning! It's a snowy one here in Philadelphia. My lucky husband (who is a middle school teacher) has a snow day, and he smiled and waved at me from the kitchen window as I soaked my entire coat while de-snow-ifying my car for a good 20 minutes. Sigh.

But the roads weren't so bad, of which I'm thankful, and I'm one of the first ones here today, so I grabbed myself a cup of cocoa and I'm ready to begin a day of high productivity!

You know what's great for productivity? Crying your eyes out at a really heart-warming story, of course! The other day I received a wonderful email from Dionne, of the blog Notes from Dionne, with a link to an ESPN story. Okay, maybe ESPN doesn't exactly have the reputation for being a tear jerker, but I swear, I couldn't get halfway through this story without employing the good old "fan my welling eyes with my hand" trick.

Definitely give it a read:
There are some games in which cheering for the other side feels better than winning.

NICE Photo: Wise Graffiti

I was stopped at a red light yesterday and saw this when I looked to the left. So I had to snap a quick camera phone photo.

Wouldn't it be great if wise/kind/nice/thought-provoking graffiti was scattered throughout the city instead of gang tags and statements like "so and so sucks"?

Do you have a NICE photo that you'd like to share? If so, click here to send me an email!

NICE Campaign: Twestival

Do you Tweet? I do. I joined Twitter back in the summer at the probing of my girlfriend, Maria, and it quickly turned into a (somewhat healthy) obsession. Aside from knowing things like when your friends are going to the bathroom, I've seen Twitter used for great things. Raising awareness, encouraging participation, requesting donations.

Well, a few weeks ago I received an email from Laura of The Blackest Heart who informed me of the Twestival. The Twestival is a festival of Tweeters who are coming together on February 12 with the sole purpose of raising money for charity: water, "a non profit organization bringing clean, safe drinking water to people in developing nations by funding sustainable clean water solutions in areas of greatest need." Social networking at it's best!

I decided I wanted to get involved, so I offered to volunteer for the Philadelphia Twestival. The Philadelphia Twestival is going to be quite the event! I already purchased my entry ticket to participate in the Rock Band tournament. Oh yes. My obsession with being a fake rock star will finally pay off! If you live in the area, I'd love for you to stop by, say hello, and support a wonderful organization while you're at it!

And if you're not in the area, check out the Twestival web site to see if there's one happening in your area. Maybe you can volunteer your time (or money) towards making it a success! I know it's easy to take for granted the stream of delicious filtered water that magically comes out of our fridge doors, but there are so many people that would love to have such a luxury. If you could help them out by going to a bar, having a beer, and playing some video games, why wouldn't you?

NICE Assignment: Pay a Compliment

Hi everyone! Sorry I was MIA for a little while last week. I had to make sure I focused 110% of my brain power on work. Luckily everything went smoothly and I can finally relax a bit!

This week I'm recycling an assignment from back in August. I wish I would have posted prior to the 24th to let you all know, but this past Saturday was Compliment Day. So in case you weren't aware of it, I thought maybe we could extend it to Compliment Week!

Today's Assignment: Pay a Compliment
I work on a very small in-house marketing team. A few weeks ago we gained a new team member, Carly. (Everyone say, "Hi Carly!" in case she's reading.) Anyway, I was telling a few other coworkers that I love having Carly around because she's like my own personal cheerleader! She's always telling me that I look nice and that my designs are great and how I work so hard. It's awesome! So even though last week was high stress, I feel like I was able to remain calm and composed because Carly was cheering me through each day. She's a natural complimenter.

We should all strive to be each other's cheerleaders. Be bountiful with your accolades! You never know when someone might really need to hear it.

If you aren't sure what to say to someone else, check out a great list of suggestions right here.

By the way, have I told you lately that you have excellent taste in blogs??

Two-day Break

Hi folks! I hate to do this because I was having a really good string of posting every day, but I have to skip posting today and tomorrow. It's that work event I mentioned. Too much going on and I'm not quite sure my brain would function properly for posting something worthwhile.

I hope you are all having a phenomenal week! I'll be back and less stressed on Friday morning, so check back then. In the meantime, why don't you leave a comment saying hello to the other readers! It'll give everyone something to read when they come to find this place postless for two days. Plus I'll love reading them all when I come back on Friday morning!

And just for giggles, here's a gratuitous goofy photo of myself:

NICE Site: Pledge5

Just wanted to let you guys know that the Starbucks Pledge5 website launched. Take a look!

NICE Testimonial: Obama's Act of Kindness

Good morning! I hope you all are having a wonderful week! This is a stressful one for me. I have a big work event this week which means late nights, early mornings, and frantic running around the office. But it'll all be over on Friday, so I'm waiting for that!

I thought today would be a good day for this story. A reader had sent it to me a while back, but I didn't want to seem like I was making an endorsement. I try to keep this site as religiously and politically neutral as possible. But since today is the big day, I thought it'd be a great opportunity to share!

This article was posted in VG, a Norwegian newspaper, back in October.

Mary Menth Andersen was 31 years old at the time and had just married Norwegian Dag Andersen. She was looking forward to starting a new life in Åsgårdstrand in Vestfold with him. But first she had to get all of her belongings across to Norway. The date was November 2, 1988.

At the airport in Miami, things were hectic as usual, with long lines at the check-in counters. When it was finally Mary’s turn and she had placed her luggage on the baggage line, she got the message that would crush her bubbling feeling of happiness.

“You’ll have to pay a 103 dollar surcharge if you want to bring both those suitcases to Norway,” the man behind the counter said.

Mary had no money. Her new husband had travelled ahead of her to Norway, and she had no one else to call.

“I was completely desperate and tried to think which of my things I could manage without. But I had already made such a careful selection of my most prized possessions,” says Mary.

Although she explained the situation to the man behind the counter, he showed no signs of mercy.

“I started to cry, tears were pouring down my face and I had no idea what to do. Then I heard a gentle and friendly voice behind me saying, ‘That’s OK, I’ll pay for her.’”

Mary turned around to see a tall man whom she had never seen before.

“He had a gentle and kind voice that was still firm and decisive. The first thing I thought was, Who is this man?”

Although this happened 20 years ago, Mary still remembers the authority that radiated from the man.

“He was nicely dressed, fashionably dressed with brown leather shoes, a cotton shirt open at the throat and khaki pants,” says Mary.

She was thrilled to be able to bring both her suitcases to Norway and assured the stranger that he would get his money back. The man wrote his name and address on a piece of paper that he gave to Mary. She thanked him repeatedly. When she finally walked off towards the security checkpoint, he waved goodbye to her.

The piece of paper said ‘Barack Obama’ and his address in Kansas, which is the state where his mother comes from. Mary carried the slip of paper around in her wallet for years, before it was thrown out.

“He was my knight in shining armor,” says Mary, smiling.

She paid the 103 dollars back to Obama the day after she arrived in Norway. At that time he had just finished his job as a poorly paid community worker* in Chicago, and had started his law studies at prestigious Harvard university.

In the spring of 2006, Mary’s parents had heard that Obama was considering a run for president, but that he had still not decided. They chose to write a letter in which they told him that he would receive their votes. At the same time, they thanked Obama for helping their daughter 18 years earlier.

In a letter to Mary’s parents dated May 4, 2006 and stamped ‘United States Senate, Washington DC’, Barack Obama writes:

I want to thank you for the lovely things you wrote about me and for reminding me of what happened at Miami Airport. I’m happy I could help back then, and I’m delighted to hear that your daughter is happy in Norway. Please send her my best wishes. Sincerely, Barack Obama, United States Senator

The parents sent the letter on to Mary.

This week VG met her and her husband in the café that she runs with her friend Lisbeth Tollefsrud in Åsgårdstrand.

“It’s amazing to think that the man who helped me 20 years ago may now become the next U.S. president,” says Mary delightedly.

She has already voted for Obama. She recently donated 100 dollars to his campaign.

She often tells the story from Miami Airport, both when race issues are raised and when the conversation turns to the presidential elections.

“I sincerely hope the Americans will see reason and understand that Obama means change,” says Mary.

I can't tell you how excited I am to watch the Inauguration today. Even if I'm just watching it on a little Firefox window in the corner of my computer screen while I work like a madwoman.

Do you have a NICE:Testimonial that you'd like to share? If so, click here to send me an email!

NICE Assignment: National Day of Service

Happy Martin Luther King Jr Day to those in the US! And in addition, Happy National Day of Service! I had mentioned this day a few times last week. In 1994, MLK Day was deemed the National Day of Service by Congress. In addition to that, this year, President-elect Obama had encouraged every citizen of America to take part in serving their community, which has created much a hullabaloo! (What a great word!)

My friend Alycia had sent me a link to author, marketing expert, and overall nice guy Seth Godin's blog where he made a few recommendations for what you could do with your time, especially if you want to partake but you don't have extra cash flowing out of your wallet, like most of us don't.

Today's Assignment: Community Service

Think about what you can do to better your community. If we all did a little something, think of the huge impact that would be made! Here are some of my favorite suggestions from Seth Godin's blog post:

• Read a copy of the Lorax to a child that's never heard it.
• Go through your house and find beloved books that you're glad you read... and give them to the library.
• Create and promote an online petition for a cause you care about.
• Write ten letters a day to corporations seeking donations for a local homeless shelter.
• Write a great wikipedia article every day about a person who is changing the world for the better.
• Lobby Congress with letters and blog posts to make a change to a law that doesn't benefit you at all, but helps the community in the long run.

And then there were the two suggestions that were made here last week:

• Participate in Operation No Kid Hungry.
• Pledge to perform five hours of community service at your local Starbucks.

Do you have any other recommendations for what people can do to serve their community? If so, leave a comment here! I'm always interested to hear what you all have to say!

NICE Campaign: Operation No Kid Hungry

Happy Friday! Ready for the weekend? I sure am. Time to catch up on all those chores I've been neglecting throughout the week. And maybe I should take down my Christmas tree. Ya think?

Yesterday I received an email from Kari over at Share Our Strength, a "national organization that works hard to make sure no kid in America grows up hungry." She asked me to make you all aware of a campaign that they are they are currently working on called "Operation No Kid Hungry." Much like the Pledge5 initiative of Starbucks, Operation No Kid Hungry was created in response to President-elect Obama's encouragement to serve your community. It's so wonderful seeing his influence take shape!

Here is the information directly from Kari:

Share Our Strength has launched a brand new campaign to raise funds to help end childhood hunger. "Operation No Kid Hungry" responds to President-elect Obama's call to action to end childhood hunger by 2015.

Share Our Strength has partnered with AT&T to offer two great ways that you can support and participate in "Operation No Kid Hungry":

1.Donate by text:
Text "SHARE" to 20222 on your mobile device to donate $5. AT&T will match all text donations up to $100,000. Help us meet this challenge grant! Find out more at http://strength.org/get_involved/text_donation/

2.Hold a food drive:
Beginning January 19th, a national day of community service, help feed those in need by holding your own community food drive. Visit http://strength.org to find a food bank and a list of the most needed nutritious foods.

For more information about "Operation No Kid Hungry" and how you can help end childhood hunger, visit Share Our Strength's website:
http://strength.org.

Unfortunately I have a feeling my community wouldn't be too responsive if I tried to hold another food drive. But I am an expert texter. Not like that teenager that texted over 14,000 times in a month. But I can hold my own. So anyway, I took out my phone and at 9:01 AM (as you can see here), I made my $5 donation to Share Our Strength, which really turns into $10 since AT&T is generously matching donations!

Like it says on their website, "The Need Has Never Been Greater". Please consider helping! Even if it's just sporting badge!

NICE Giveaway #10: And the winner is!

Wow! This is my 10th giveaway! How awesome is that? I can't believe that 10 people just offered their items out of nowhere! Love it! I always knew my readers were the nicest.

Don't you LOVE when the video still shows the most flattering image of yourself?????? Geez.
EDIT: Oh phew, I found out I could change it. Now it's less scary!

If you wanna know who won, you'll have to watch the video. I'm so sneaky. I held the camera near my monitor (no tripod or anything), so I apologize for the shaky parts and, as usual, the long-windedness. If you want to just see who won, feel free to skip to 1:57.

A special thanks to the kind folks at Red Wheel Weiser Conari Books for sending me their wonderful books out of the goodness of their hearts!

NICE Photo: Monks Say Smile

First of all, I want to say hello to the decor8 readers out there!! Thanks for stopping by! I hope you'll have a look around and let me know what you think! (e.g. "I like your blog, but you use way too many exclamation points.") And if you really do like it, I'd love it if you subscribed (see right)!

My Australian blogging buddy, Suzie, recently went to Thailand. Lucky girl. While there, she visited the Wat Traphang Thong monastery and took a photo of one of the lovely signs posted around the area. I thought it was a sweet sentiment and asked if I could share it with you all!


A closer look:


So listen to the monks today! They know what's up!

Technical Difficulties!

UPDATE!!!
Everything is back up and in working order! PHEW!



Just a note. If you notice the badge on your site is no longer working, please have patience! I was a slacker and forgot to renew my melissahead domain name, which broke the links to some of the files and the images. D'OH! I really need to work on my organization this year. Anyway, I renewed this morning so hopefully the issue will be resolved in a day or two!

I temporarily switched the code to another domain of mine for people that want to add the badge, but for folks that already have it and it has unexpectedly turned into a nasty red "x", I promise it'll be fixed soon!

Sorry about that!!

NICE Site: Pledge 5

Have you guys seen this? Starbucks is asking everyone to pledge 5 hours to your community in 2009.


From the USA Service website:
Last week President-elect Obama issued a national call to service, asking all Americans to make a lasting commitment to renew our communities. Thousands of you already have answered the call, signing up to host or attend volunteer events in your area on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, January 19th.

In response to this call to service, Starbucks will make their stores a place where you can make that 5 hour pledge to your community. I'd love to participate in the Day of Service on the 19th, but I'll be at work preparing for a demanding work event on the 21st. What I CAN do, however, is pledge to contribute at least 5 hours of my time in 2009. I hope you'll join me!

NICE Testimonial: Nominated Niceness

It is a FRIGID day here in Philadelphia and I hear it's only going to get worse over the next few days. Thank goodness I own a lot of chunky turtleneck sweaters! I hope you all are keeping warm!

Today's testimonial comes from Laurie Ferguson, who emailed me right after the new year. It's really sweet and I hope you enjoy it!

Whenever I shopped at our local K-Mart, I noticed that there was one checker who seemed head and shoulders above the rest, service-wise. I mean, she was the only one with a clue. She could figure things out, make things work, keep the line moving. In addition, she was friendly to everyone -- made people feel like she knew them, that they were friends, not just one in an endless line of customers. I found myself always heading to her line.

Our local newspaper sponsors a contest for Outstanding Service Person of the Year, so I decided to nominate her. It was no big deal, I was glad to do it. However, it made a big impact on her. The newspaper had video clips on its website from the several finalists, and in hers she went on and on about how grateful she was to everyone who voted for her and to me for nominating her. Now, mind you, she had no idea who I was -- I was jut one of the many customers making my way through her check-out line over the years.

She ended up winning the contest and was given an award at a big community recognition event. I was so pleased for her. Some months after the event, I went to the store, got in her line, and when it came my time to pay, I told her who I was. She about cried, she was so happy to meet me! She told me something I'll never forget -- she said she had been having a hard time in her life and that she had asked God to send her some sign that she mattered. Within the week she got news of the nomination. So she told me that she will always be praying for me and wishing me blessings. I about cried, too.

It turns out her kids go to the same school as mine. I see her almost every day, parked out front waiting for her kids while I wait for mine. We always wave and smile. Every day that I see her, I get a huge wave of good feelings, knowing that I did something nice for her, and that she appreciated it. I mean, the payback for that small act has been huge, for me. This Christmas, she approached me and gave me a gift to thank me again for the nomination. I kept telling her that she didn't owe me anything, the nomination was a direct result of how nice she is to everyone. We went back and forth over who was the "nice" one!

The gift was a beautiful necklace. Every time I wear it, I will feel the blessings that come from being nice!

I don't think I've ever nominated anyone for anything, but I feel like I should start! After this experience, I'd love to pay it forward somehow. I think Good Magazine is still accepting nominations for their Good 100. I have a few people in mind for that. And I'll have to keep my eye out for other opportunities to make my appreciation for others known. If you find anything, please let me know! I think it's easy to hear of something like an Outstanding Service Person of the Year award and think, "Oh, so and so would be perfect for that," and just leave it at that. But taking the initiative to recognize someone's hard work is, well, it's nice.

Do you have a NICE:Testimonial that you'd like to share? If so, click here to send me an email!

NICE Site: Goods for Goodness Sake

Remember sweet Cathe from Feterie? Well, she and Lara of Tiny Tales have an absolutely wonderful new project called Goods for Goodness Sake. It's an online boutique where 100% of the profits will be donated to the charity selected by the customer during checkout. Incredible, right??




Please CLICK HERE to read Cathe's post about Goods for Goodness sake. Since they are donating 100% of the profits, they are relying on word of mouth to advertise. Sign up for the mailing list! Post it on your blog! Follow them in twitter! Get people excited!

Right now they are looking for submissions for charities (non-profit 501 (c) (3) organization (sorry - no “human fund” entries), under $500,000 in annual revenue, and a reach larger than a local area) to include, so if you have one in mind, email them.

Knowing that this is the brainchild of Cathe and Lara, you can be sure that the products will be insanely amazing. To be honest, I absolutely can't wait! C'mon, now I can shop and tell my husband that the charge on our credit card statement was a charitable donation! And this time I won't be lying!

Article about Operation NICE!

The kind people at MavenMag Philadelphia contacted me about doing an article for their January issue, which also happens to be the big launch of their brand spankin' new website! How could I say no? So I was interviewed by the remarkable Alexis and later had photos done by super nice guy Brad, and today was the big launch day! So take a look, have a read, and let me know what you think!


Thanks so much MavenMag!!

NICE Assignment: Switch to GoodSearch

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend! I was pretty lazy, which was awesome. I had some relaxing time reading through my copy of GOOD Magazine, which should probably be renamed Freakin' Amazing Magazine because it's far better than "good". If you haven't subscribed yet, I highly recommend it because it's worth it for the information graphics alone.

Since it's Monday, that means it's time for a NICE Assignment! I don't know about you, but I google like crazy. Aside from all the online shopping...cough cough, I mean RESEARCH I have to do, I'm always searching for images or new topics to post about. I can't even imagine how many times I've used google in the last month.

I think it might be time for a change.

Today's Assignment: Switch to GoodSearch

I was checking my stats the other day and I saw a referral came from someone who had searched for Operation NICE using GoodSearch, so I decided to check it out. GoodSearch is powered by Yahoo! and makes a donation to your selected cause every time you search for something. When you think about the number of times you search per day, well that can really add up!

From the GoodSearch site:
We all have a cause we care about - whether it's finding a cure for cancer, saving the environment, finding homes for abandoned pets or so many other worthwhile endeavors. But what we don't all have is the time or money to support these efforts as much as we'd like. So, what if we could raise money for our favorite charities and schools by doing something we do every day — searching the Internet?

The best part about it is how easy they make it. Initially I was thinking about how I typically use the google search bar located in my browser toolbar, but then I discovered that they provide a way to add GoodSearch into your toolbar!

I'm making the switch today. Will you join me?

NICE Testimonial: Community Kindness

Happy Friday! I'm so glad the weekend is nearly here! I'm going out tonight to see Slumdog Millionaire, finally. I had been wanting to see it for a while now. And just this past Wednesday we caught Milk, which was absolutely wonderful. I love going to the movies and I need to make time to do it more often!

Hey, thanks for all the book suggestions so far! Looks like I have a lot of options for building my Library of Kindness!

Today's testimonial comes from Brandon, a super talented designer, illustrator, and artist and a new dad!

I've always known that I live in a great community, here in this little college town in Oregon. However, becoming a new parent this past August has opened up a whole new vision of just how nice the people in my town are.

My wife is a children's librarian, and one of the patrons she sees (who also goes to our church) knew we were having our first child, a son. She and her husband have 3 boys and a girl, and are finished having kids. Asking my wife if we would like some baby boy clothes, my wife could not say no. We were amazed, however, to be given 3 huge lawn-care bags full of clothes! There were enough clothes to last our baby through 18 months! How generous!

Another instance of the kindness in the community came at our local grocery store. A woman named Tina who works at the U-Scan self-check stands knew that we were having a baby when I came through there one day purchasing diapers. A few weeks later I came in with my boy and she came running out of nowhere with an enthusiastic greeting, eager to meet him. When I had finished shopping (and he had finished napping), my son was feeling fussy (to put it mildly). At the U-Scan Tina came running up again and said, "You take care of baby! I'll bag your groceries for you." It was so sweet!

Talk about a nice community!

Kind of makes me want to move to his town! Sounds like a lovely place where everyone looks out for each other. Wonderful!

Do you have a NICE:Testimonial that you'd like to share? If so, click here to send me an email!

NICE Giveaway: Red Wheel Weiser Conari Books

I hope you all enjoyed the Red Wheel Weiser Conari Books post yesterday because I have a treat for you today!

The lovely Lisa of that wonderful company had sent me a delightful package of some NICE books, and I figured I'd share that goodness with one of you! I decided to keep one book for myself and offer the rest up as a giveaway. Here's what you could win!



The four books included are the following:
Silver Linings - Meditations on Finding Joy and Beauty in Unexpected Places
Giving Thanks: The Gifts of Gratitude
Comfort and Joy
Random Acts of Kindness by Animals

So I'll bet you're asking, "What do I have to do to win, Melissa?" Well, while we're on the topics of books, why don't you leave a comment here and tell me what one of your favorite books is or a great book that you've read lately. Or maybe you have a NICE book suggestion that I can add to my library. Either way, you get the theme. So be sure to leave your comment by next Thursday, January 15th by 8pm EST. I'll draw one lucky winner who will receive this package of inspiration!

Good luck!

NICE Stuff: Red Wheel Weiser Conari Books

When I began my quest for niceness back in July, I thought that maybe instead of just claiming that I'm an expert on kindness, I should start to research the topic and read some books pertaining to it. That's when I started The Power of Kindness. But ever since then, I've been on the lookout for nice books, starting a collection for my library of goodness.

One day in November, I received an email from Lisa over at Red Wheel Weiser Conari Books, a very nice company. They publish loads of inspirational and heartwarming books! As they state on their website, "We value integrity, compassion, and receptivity, both in the books we publish and in the way we do business."

Just take a look at some of the titles they carry!


If you're looking for a good uplifting book (or two, or three, or ten), I highly recommend visiting their website and browsing through the wonderful titles they carry!

NICE Testimonial: A Simple Thank You

You guys! Your mantras are wonderful! Thank you so much for commenting and sharing. You're making me want to edit mine a bit. Although I suppose it defeats the purpose if my mantra is 14 sentences long.

Today's testimonial comes from my vault, and it's courtesy of Amy from one of my favorite blogs, commonplace.


You know how the world has no shortage of complainers when something goes wrong? I've often wondered how many times someone picks up the phone or puts pencil to paper to note when something goes right. The other day I had an opportunity to let someone know how their help made a difference in my life and I picked up the phone.

Last semester my older son went through an intense battery of testing at the local public elementary school (where he was not a student at the time). It was stressful and exhausting and emotional. The school social worker acted as a guide through the process - mostly for me, but also for my son. She observed him in his classroom at the time and made placement recommendations according to her observations, my comments, doctors letters and phone calls and of course the test results. I've written on my blog about the program he was placed in and how it has changed our lives. My son is happy and thriving and, I believe, living up to his boundless potential - and did I mention happy?

Here's the thing: she went through this process with us (and yes, this is her job) while showing respect and kindness to our family and then we were gone— placed in a different school never to communicate with her again. I wondered if she might like to know how her hard work affected us, so I picked up the phone. I could tell, after I identified myself that she was immediately thinking 'what's wrong?' when I told her why I had called (to thank her for her help in securing Jake's placement and to tell her that for the first time ever he seemed happy and comfortable at school) I actually heard her sigh with relief. And then her surprise set in. See, she couldn't get her head around the idea that I had taken the three minutes out of my day necessary to call her and update her with his status and thank her. I guess it doesn't happen that much.

I don't mean this to be a pat on the back for myself, just a comment on how much a simple thank you can mean. Also, it felt really good.

Amy is so right on. How often do we go out of our way to show appreciation to those that made a difference in our lives? A few years ago, my husband decided to write to his favorite college professors and let them know that their love of literature inspired him to become an English teacher. He received some wonderful letters in return, they were touched by his gesture. It's a shame it doesn't happen more often.

So? Is there someone that you need to thank?

Do you have a NICE:Testimonial that you'd like to share? If so, click here to send me an email!

NICE Assignment: Create a Mantra

2009 is underway. How are your resolutions going? I decided not to make any this year since I did so poorly last year. But it's funny that failing at my resolutions resulted in my best year ever. So then I started thinking that maybe what I need is a mantra instead of a resolution. Something that I can repeat to myself as a reminder of what sort of year I want 2009 to turn out to be. And then I thought that would be a great assignment for today!

Today's Assignment: Create a Mantra

Back in high school, my father was taking a course on hypnotherapy and needed a test subject. He had a long list of topics for me to choose from, and one jumped out at me. Confidence. I needed to be more confident. It was a very interesting session. I can't say whether or not it completely worked, but I did feel a change. The most interesting part though, was this one section where my father had me repeat a sentence over and over. "I am a beautiful, intelligent, and confident person." The more I said it, the better I felt. In the years following, if I ever found myself in a position where I was feeling painfully shy or my self-esteem was dangerously low, I'd repeat that sentence in my head and it would help me get through it.

After a little while of pondering exactly what I liked best about 2008 and how I'd like to apply that to 2009, I came up with my simple mantra:

Have fun and be nice.

I feel so much happier nowadays for two reasons. The first is that I stopped being lazy and started having fun. In the past, my anti-social side would get the best of me. I would avoid spending time with friends because I was so introverted that contact was sometimes uncomfortable. But this past year, I moved past that. I started saying yes to more things. I started packing my calendar with new events. And I had a wonderful time. So for 2009, I want to be more open to having a great time!

The second reason is pretty obvious, due to this site. I started encouraging myself to be consciously nicer. It's changed my life! Well, I want to push it to the next level. I'm going to be Super Nice Girl this year! And you're all along for the ride!

So go ahead, make your mantra.

NICE Testimonial: The Ties that Bind

Hi everyone! Sorry there was no post yesterday. I decided to take a little vacation day from blogging. I hope you all had a terrific New Years Day! I spent a good deal of the day lounging around, which is exactly what I wanted to do. Let's hope 2009 turns out to be even more wonderful than 2008!

I horde all of your testimonials. I have a document filled with them because I'm always afraid that I'm going to start running out of items to post. But I decided to reach into the testimonial vault and pull out a story. You remember the lovely Carey of Lasso'd Moon Designs who sponsored one of our December giveaways? Well, this story is courtesy of her!

Here's a "nice" story that came to my memory the other day–not sure if it fits, but the thought of it made me smile even 10 years later.

Since I've started reading your blog, I'm amazed at the number of sheer random acts of "nice" that people have experienced. My own took place at my first "real" job just out of college. I was working for, at the time, a very small mail order bow tie company answering phones, taking orders, catalog requests and the like. One day I answered a call from an elderly gentleman named Joe. Joe lived, if memory serves, in a nursing home in Florida and wanted some advice in picking out a tie. I was happy to help, made some suggestions and when he decided, he took my name and told me he'd be sending in a check. I didn't think much of it until sure enough, a few days later, an envelope came addressed to me. In it was Joe's order and a $2 bill for me for helping him. I was sincerely touched. Over the next few months, Joe called in a few times, asked for me, and each time I'd help him pick out something. Each time he'd send a check and each time enclosed was a $2 bill. I didn't stay much longer at the job as I was getting married and moving, but to this day I still have the $2 bills. I never could bring myself to spend them.

So cute, right? I always feel like $2 bills are treasure. I rarely see them and when I do, they always seem to hold more value than just $2. Looks like Carey's have quite a bit of sentimental value attached to them as well!

Do you have a NICE:Testimonial that you'd like to share? If so, click here to send me an email!