love thursday: smiles between strangers (and a giveaway!)

My print by Kelly Rae. It hangs right above my computer, so I can see it every day.

After all the crazyness of the last couple of days, yesterday I took it very, very easy. I focused on my work, but also took myself out for a very simple, healthy lunch, browsed a couple of stores. And as I passed people, they said hello. They smiled. They held doors open. It felt like Christmas: everyone just seemed nicer. I don't know if it was left-over euphoria from the inauguration or just the fact that it was a beautiful Texas winter day, but regardless, it was lovely. There's nothing that brings a smile to my face faster than a smile from a stranger. I hope the feeling lasts a while.

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Happy Love Thursday, everyone. Please leave the links to your images or stories of love in the comments section, below. And to just shake things up a bit, I thought I'd do a little giveaway: I think I'm going to offer some 5 x 5" flat notecards (with envelopes), based on my through-the-viewfinder images for sale in the online store. So, in addition to your links (or instead of a link, if you don't have one to share), please answer the question, "what brings a smile to your face?" and I'll pick a commenter at random to win one of the first sets of notecards. I'll keep comments open until midnight, Friday, January 23rd. One comment per person, please!

And may you receive a warm smile from a stranger today.