30 Day Photo Challenge: Gratitude

It's really starting to cool down in earnest in Chicago.  Yesterday, we had our first snow flurry, and this morning I had a peppermint mocha at Starbucks.  They're starting to put up Christmas lights all over the city, and department stores are in full holiday swing.  Did you hear that lots of stores are starting their Black Friday sales on Thanksgiving Day this year?  I think that's sad. But I don't know who's more to blame: retailers or consumers?  If there are people who are willing to go shopping all through the night, why stop them?  It does seem like a shame to make employees work on a holiday, but let's face it; that's what you sign up for when you work in retail or food service or entertainment.  You work when other people play.  It's life.

As the holiday shopping frenzy starts to heat up (ONLY 44 SHOPPING DAYS LEFT, PEOPLE!), I wanted to take the opportunity to focus on something else.  We all have the Thanksgiving tradition of going around the table naming something we're thankful for, right?  Well, Dani of Positively Present has taken it one step further, using the month of November as a reflection on gratitude, through the medium of a 30-day photo challenge.

 
Visit her page for all the details.  I'll be posting my pictures daily on Flickr and Twitter, or if you don't care and just want to know how it went when it's all over, check back here in about 30 days, and I'll post a little collage.  Let me know in the comments if you're participating too!

Update 2/17/2012: Finally done! My 30 photos are over here.

Day 1, Favorite Food: for today, it was a beef chili quinoa bowl from Protein Bar. Delish!