Yes Doctor.

I grew up in a beautifully, liberal-minded home.  My parents were fans of Martin Luther King Jr.  and before I was born they listened to and watched his speeches hoping his message would resonate with the rest of the country.  In my family, we even had a little MLK worked into our own vernacular.  When King would give his speeches, there was usually a group of men standing behind him while he was at the podium.  When he said something that captured all the goodness and rightness he was trying to inspire, the people behind him would agree by saying, 'Yes Doctor!'.  My parents started using that phrase and it became part of my family vocabulary.

In our home, 'Yes Doctor', meant you really liked what was happening or being said.  It didn't have to be a huge event - everyone had their own 'Yes Doctor' criteria.  It could be a great meal, a vacation, a nice grade, any bit of good fortune.  You get the picture.

Now 'Yes Doctor' is part of my own family's linguistic collection.  Geoff uses it.  The kids' have been using it since they could speak.  It was pretty cute to see them as little kids throw out a 'Yes Doctor' to themselves when they opened the freezer to find a fresh box of popsicles.  They understand the origin of the phrase and it makes me happy to know there is a little MLK peppered into our world even outside this holiday.

I like the 'Yes Doctor' mindset because it indicates an appreciation for what is happening at that particular moment.  It's a little nod to gratitude.  This weekend, Geoff and I had a 'Yes Doctor' moment of our own.  We chaperoned the high school Winterfest dance and our job to was to make sure no one left the school expecting to return later and that beverages were not carried into the dance area.  I also think it would have been helpful for us to offer longer dresses to some of the attendees.  Alas, that wasn't our responsibility, but we did do a bang up job at our assigned duties (we take pride in our work).   And, after three hours of loud music, some fashion "don'ts", and a close up look at what they call "dancing", we were ready to go.  We were ravenous, it was 11:00 at night, and we had absolutely no food at home (one of those weeks), so we hit the Taco Bell drive-thru.  Oh yeah!  Truly, that first bite of a Taco Supreme was, for us, the epitome of a  'Yes Doctor' moment.

I hope you all have some 'Yes Doctor' moments of your own today.

I wore this to dinner at my in-laws last night.

It's a tribute to the clarity one can get through a good Pinterest board.  We all get a little tired of what we have in our closets and I decided to review my fashion pins to really see what looks I liked most.  Clearly neutrals, skinny jeans, low boots and cool jewelry were my common fashion themes.  Hence this look.  I liked it and it made me feel like I was dressing in a way that captured what I valued fashion-wise.  That's one of the beautiful aspects of fashion.  It says something about who is wearing it.  I think that gets lost on people.  Clothing starts to become just a covering not so much an expression. We all should consider what our outfit is saying about us (are you hearing me 16-year-olds in those tank tops dresses we saw on Saturday?).  Ahem.

And on a final note, it's Meatless Monday.  In my effort to give back to all of you, I offer my menu item for tonight.  We will be dining on Giada's Sauteed Spinach with Red Onion.  Since this is our main course tonight, I'll add white beans and serve it on pasta.  It's delish.

gratitude:  MLK, further reductions on sale items, large kitchen tables, minty-smelling cleansers

thanks and love.