Thankful Thursday: Warmth and Inspiration

Happy Thursday, everyone!  As always, I'm super excited about the impending weekend.  We've got some good plans on tap for Saturday and Sunday, including a buddy run with one of my dear amigas, a party on Saturday night, an art journaling get-together on Sunday, and, hopefully...Christmas decorating!  (Insert happy dance here.)

I have a big ol' list of gratitude for this week's Thankful Thursday, hosted by the always-lovely Jessie from Jessie Loves to Run:

1) I met with the friend of a friend who used to work in an office that deals with global women's issues, and it was both incredibly helpful and incredibly encouraging to talk with her. I know my transition into that line of work isn't going to happen immediately, but I feel great about moving forward and learning about new ways to get involved.

2) Speaking of new ways to get involved, I'm incredibly excited to have applied to be a community ambassador for the Half the Sky Movement. Half the Sky, by Nick Kristof and his wife Cheryl WuDunn, is hands-down one of the best books I've ever read. They followed up the national best-seller book (it's amazing, and I highly recommend reading it) with a documentary that was aired last month on PBS, and they recently launched the community ambassador program to help spread the word about global women's issues.  I have ideas for this that I'm really, really excited about, and I'm happy to have found a way to contribute to their work!

3) I know I wrote about this yesterday (and I apologize for beating a dead horse here), but I'm ridiculously thankful for my new coat. Every morning when I walk to work, I find myself positively brimming with happiness over how awesome it is - no joke. I normally don't like winter because I'm cold all the time anyways (whenever I'm at home I can usually be found in heavy sweats and thick socks, wrapped up in a comforter, and generally looking like a Siberian refugee), but this makes the plummeting temperatures much easier to bear.

4) I'm thankful that I'm getting rolling with my idea for an interview series - I sent out emails to a few friends this week, and my lifelong bestie, Susie, has kindly agreed to be my first interviewee.  Wahoo!  Stay tuned for the first installment of the Women who Inspire interview series!

5) On a more mundane note, I'm thankful for tea. This isn't exactly ground-shaking, I know, but still: I love the taste of a good cup of chai or a freshly-brewed mug of pomegranate green tea, and I love the comforting feel of a warm mug in my paws.

I hope everyone has a fabulous Thursday, and thanks to Jessie for hosting this lovely little gratitude get-together!