Thank you, stranger!

There is hope – someone, a stranger, just gave me a free cupcake. I asked him where he got it and he insisted I take it! Awesome!!! Ooops, I was going to take a picture of it, since it was so pretty, but I ate it before remembering! It was a vanilla cake with lemon cream cheese icing and chocolate shavings. Mmmm 

Thank you Free Cupcake Man!

Sincerely,

Inspirational Videos

1. Hedley - Anything

A hundred thousand disbelievers couldn't keep me on the ground
I've invented a momentum that'll never slow me down
I believe it 'cause I feel it and I shout it out loud
I can, I can, I can

Everybody said "boy don't go any higher"
(Uh uh, fuck that) I can do anything
"Never push the limit and don't play with fire"
(Uh uh, fuck that) I can do anything

2. Final State - Dreaming Out Loud

Cant you see that
everybody knows:

Keep on dreaming out loud now
Dont you wanna go wild now
'Cause I tried to tell you so many times before
You cant be afraid to let yourself fall
Keep on dreaming out loud now
Hey-oh, hey-oh 

Just let yourself go
Don't ever lose hope
No, you're not alone
Go get what you want

Well, I can't find the right video on the video-embedding application in Blogger, but the video is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7lf7H0RwGQ 

3. Katy Perry - Roar

You held me down, but I got up
Already brushing off the dust
You hear my voice, you hear that sound
Like thunder gonna shake the ground
You held me down, but I got up
Get ready 'cause I've had enough
I see it all, I see it now

I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter, dancing through the fire
Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me roar
Louder, louder than a lion
Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me roar

Happy Monday!

Hi blog, 

Looks like it'll be just you and me for a while. But that's okay since I'm mostly doing this blog for me. 

I really like the Secret Agent L idea, about being generous to strangers. The interesting thing with that is that you don't stick around to see their reactions. You might brighten someone's day (likely) but it's also possible that the receiver may not take it well, may be skeptic of a free gift, or might dislike the message altogether. It's possible! Like in my previous post, where my Operation Beautiful note was found in the garbage... Not sure what happened there... So anyway, I don't think I will do Secret Agent L (or Affiliated Agent K) every week - maybe more like monthly, due to budget constraints - but I think I'll definitely put up a nice note every week! Here's one: I put it on a random car in the parking lot at work!

Celebrate Mondays!

But, because I'm starting and it's gotten me excited, I left another gift again this week: I purchased a 2$ maple-syrup scented candle at the pharmacy and left it in a locker at the gym, with a note with a clever use of the word "brighten" ! I went to the gym 2 days later and found it was still in the same locker. I didn't move it around though, but 3 days after that, it was gone! excellent! I'm glad.

Anonymous gift at the gym

At my work there is someone who I once liked very much and when he was happy, I was happy. He understood my silly sense of humor and it was great! I would sometimes give gifts such as a batch of cookies for the whole team (i knew he loved sweets) or a small joke item that was sort of like an inside-joke for us. I'd always be nice to him, since I appreciated him and appreciated his niceness towards me. But then at some point, he started refusing my helpful self and stopped being thankful for the little things, and instead started ignoring and purposefully insulting me. That was a few months ago. Things now are alright, and I'm glad, but I wouldn't go back to being my generous self just yet... not with him anyway... because it's not worth it. The thing is, it's only fun being generous when the other party is happy as a result! And that's probably something I need to work on, because willingly stopping myself from being me, the generous me I used to be, well, that too is mean, and I definitely don't want to be a mean person. 

So Secret Affiliated Agent K is kind of a compromise. I can be nice ...to strangers! and I don't have to stick around to see the reaction. I can just imagine the best! 

And I am keeping anonymity in the gifts too by only attaching the Secret Agent L card and not my own blog address!

Until next time,
-agent K

The Good Deeds Bucket List that inspired me

I'm a really big fan of Pinterest! I love it! I used to have really long lists of Bookmarks in my browser then trying to find a recipe was a nightmare. Actually, I would just Google it again and look for another decent recipe (or the same one again). So that's why I love Pinterest!

I think I must have clicked and read a posted article there, because somehow, I landed on this Bucket List of good deeds to do over 365 days. And it is really inspiring!

First of all, {Day 2} caught my eye: leaving anonymous gifts of books, journals, notes around the city like Secret Agent L (whose new site is actually www.secretagentl.com)... I do love giving gifts!! I read through many posts from the beginning of her gift-leaving, day-brightening adventures, which interestingly enough began on my birthday! haha! Well, on the first day, she left a hydrangea on the windshield of some lucky stranger whose day was uplifted significantly (most likely). Anyway, I really enjoyed reading the posts and so it made me want to become "Affiliated Agent K". And if I was going to go on Secret Agent missions, I would need to take pictures and post them somewhere! I've already printed up Secret Agent L business cards that I will be using for my random acts of kindness, which I will be documenting on this blog.

Actually, I already started! I purchased a small pack of Halloween candy for 1.50$ from the drugstore and left it and a printed business card and a post-it note saying, "Enjoy! Halloween treats are not just for kids!" on the steps between floors at my job. It was exciting but stressful, as I didn't want to be seen, and there was a lot of in/out traffic. As soon as I heard someone step into the staircase, I dropped the loot and ran off. I didn't have time to take a picture! I tried watching out for someone walking out of the staircase with the gift, but they must have been going to opposite way, since a minute later, I went to go see, and the gift was already gone! Excellent!!! This project is so exciting! :)

Next up on the Good Deeds Bucket List that has caught my eye: Operation Beautiful! This one is pretty similar to Secret Agent L, as in, you leave happy notes anonymously in random places. But this one is aimed to promote positive self-image, by writing things like "you're beautiful in every way!" and "It doesn't take a mirror to find beauty in yourself!". And god knows I would love to randomly find a similar note. Seeing the video brought a smile to my face and emotion to my heart - that's a good sign. I'm doing it! 


So on the same day, I posted a note! which I did take a picture of! I left it in the women's bathroom (see the toilet in the picture? hahaha) at my work. I have bad news though.... I came back a few hours later and found the post-it note in the garbage! The garbage!!! Paper is recyclable, sheesh! Well, maybe I pissed off a french-speaking person, or the cleaning lady came by, or someone read the note but she didn't want anyone else to have the same satisfaction? Maybe... there could be lots of reasons. Anyway, it won't stop me from trying again - I'll definitely try this one several more times!

Alright, well this was a good day!
Here's to making people happy!

The Beginning

Dear listeners,

I have been a diary keeper for most of my adult life, starting at 13 years old, and that was 15 years ago. I have recently stopped keeping a diary, something that has helped me deal with my day-to-day issues, and something that has been an outlet when I had feelings and issues I couldn't share with anyone else. It was like a friend to me, as I even wrote good news when it happened and discussed dreams. Now, I have stopped, partly because I don't have time anymore, and partly because my deep dark secrets were revealed once and my fears of getting caught were just too big to go on.

But now, about one year later, I don't want to spill horrible feelings in a journal anymore. Since some time now, I have been feeling a little down (sometimes a lot), a little depressed and often unhappy about the life I have. It's a sad thought, but what's even sadder is that I can't pinpoint what makes me feel this way . I am 28 years old and since a few years, I think I have been having my quarter-life crisis - the one where you don't know who you are, what you want, you wonder if you've chosen the right career path and the right partner, whether there is going to be more for you than the boring routine you've settled for.

I don't know if everyone goes through this crisis, but I think many people do. I imagine it must happen when you choose a career path, or when you start getting settled in your first real job, or when you realize you have been in the same routine for a long time. For me, I have done a bachelor's degree and a master's degree, totaling 6 years of university studies, and have been working for about 3 and a half years now, and I am officially in a set daily routine, and have been for more than 2 years.

Honestly, I don't know why I can't be grateful - I have a steady job with a decent salary, a house, a loving boyfriend, an adorable pet, some pretty good friends, a loving family, I have the chance to go on amazing trips, and most importantly I am healthy. Yet I feel like I've got my life all wrong, like I screwed up somewhere and can't figure out what's missing. I have all these good things that I should be happy for but that I don't appreciate. When I make the list of "good things" in my life, I have no joyful happy feelings. And more often than not, in my life, I tend to focus on the bad.

What I've heard is that you don't know what you've got until it's gone. But...is that the only way to know what you've got? To be happy? To make the best of life? I hope not. It can't be!

The reason I started this blog is to start focusing on the good stuff. I know there are a lot of blogs out there about happiness and inspiration, and finding and following your dreams, and I intend on finding my own list of favorites. I named this blog after my favorite things: kittens, pretty things (such as ribbons) and desserts (e.g. pie) - the blog title was "Kittens, Ribbons and Pie, Oh My!" - , as they are things that make me happy. It will be a sort-of yellow-brick road to happiness and self-acceptance. I want to train myself to focus on the good things in life. In the same way you train a dog to behave, you teach your children the ways of the world, and you learn math & physics at university, I'm sure you can learn to give, to be thankful, to be happy with what you've got, to love others openly and unconditionally, and especially to love yourself. 

In the next months, I'm going to :

1. Love others by continuing to be kind and generous to others. I'm going to start doing nice things anonymously or without expectations. 
2. Love life by focusing on things that make me happy. I'll start being consciously grateful, keep lists of good things in life and find ways of enjoying everything around me and keeping positive as much as possible.
3. Love myself by finding the ways that I can grow and become the loving positive person I see in my future. 

And through my efforts, maybe I'll inspire others to do the same!  

So, here's to happiness! 

Love, 
Miss K