Urban Legends and Emmanuelle Alt Week Part Deux.

This is a true story.  Eliza and I were returning from her physical therapy appointment this morning and took our regular jaunt through the Starbucks drive-thru on our way back to school. The fact that she can down an egg and sausage sandwich plus one of those milkshakes Frappucinos in about five minutes gives me great hope that she'll always be able to fall back on competitive eating to make a living.

When it came time to pay, we were told the person in the car in front of us had paid for our order.  We were stunned.  To have a stranger do something so nice blew us away.  I had thought the whole 'paying it forward' thing was just a myth created to preserve what little faith in humanity some of us out there have.  But it really happened.  I feel like I've seen a unicorn.  Of course, I offered to pay for the car behind us.  Their order was slightly less expensive than ours, so not wanting to slow the positive energy or to take too big a bite out of the karmic pie, I shoveled over the world's largest tip to the guy in the window and drove away.

We pondered on our way to school how long had the chain been going?  Did the car in front of us start it?  Had it been going on all morning?  And then, of course, who ends it?  It has to end sometime.  Who is the person who gets their coffee paid for and just drives off?  I do hope whoever is working the Starbucks drive-thru when the chain is broken handles it in an appropriately passive/aggressive way.

There was a weird moment as we were waiting to pull out of the lot and were in line behind the car that paid for us.  Do you get out and come to their window to say thank you?  Do you honk and wave?  Do you shoot them a peace sign or a fist pump?  Eliza and I just wished them a fabulous day using our mental powers to transmit the message.  I'm sure they felt it.

There are some good people out there after all.

As promised, my week in Emmanuelle Alt style continues.  It has been easy to use her as a guide.  Here is the first look:

In this shot Emmanuelle is probably walking back to her offices.  She is holding an invitation to an exclusive fashion show and is most-likely on the phone with her assistant making sure they cover the latest collection from Chanel in the next issue of Vogue.

And here I am, walking to one of my offices (A.K.A. Whole Foods).  I am carrying my reusable grocery bags (duh) and speaking on the phone with both Eliza and J.D. telling them to stop locking each other out of the bathroom.  The resemblance is uncanny, n'est ce pas?

And here, Emmanuelle is purposefully walking across a crowded street carrying what appears to be a list of models French Vogue is considering for a major spread featuring an emerging designer.

And and in this shot, I am coming back from the mailboxes down the street.  I'm carrying a Ballard Design catalog, a Garnet Hill catalog, a Val-Pak and 75 medical bills.  My walk is also quite purposeful.

gratitude:  the nice person in front of us at Starbucks, physical therapy, a husband who will take pictures of you in a Whole Foods parking lot on his way to the airport, vintage silver pieces (slightly tarnished, please)

thanks and love.