gratitude.

it is only in the giving of oneself to others that we truly live.
— ethel percy andrus

it feels good to give. i sent a gift basket to the case manager at the hospital in kansas to attempt to say "thank you" for everything she did for us while we were there. she went above and beyond and we've said many times we wouldn't know what we would have done without her. i just heard from her and she was appreciative and seemed so happy to have been recognized — it just made my day. i feel as if i'm floating on air.

i have to thank jen for helping me put together the gift basket and the ones i sent to the other folks at the hospital. it was her generous christmas gift a couple of years ago that inspired the idea. she put together a bunch of her favorites from the bay area and we still use many of her "favorites" today. here's some of the items we included, (mostly) all made in or around the bay area, dad's hometown. wish i had a photo of the baskets, but i am probably the only blogger without a digital camera and i had no film in my "regular" camera.

• marshall's farm natural honey. we tasted several varieties of honey to finally settle on buzzerkeley wildflower and napa valley wildflower. their honey is available online or farmers' markets in the bay area.

• blue bottle coffee. jen explains the greatness of the coffee and its availability (and "deliverability!") here.

• strawberry jam. purchased from swanton berry organic farm. find out how to purchase them here.

• dried fruits and vegetables. i included dried apricots and sundried tomatoes from full belly farm (and this farm has to win the cutest name and branding — though, sadly, their logo is not on their site). they are also a california certified organic farmer.

• dried lavender. we got this from gabriel farm. jen says that are "known for apples and asian pears." another organic farm (hooray!).

• cookies from frog hollow farm. purchased from their store at the ferry building in san francisco.

• molinari sopressata salami. you know i'm a vegan, but if i wasn't, i'd definitely eat this stuff. from what my better half tells me, it's spicy and it's something he must have on every visit to the city. luckily, you can order it from their site!

• granola. this cafe fanny granola was a bit of a splurge at $7 per box, but jen says it's worth it: it's handmade! it's pretty easy to find around the bay area in specialty supermarkets, like whole foods or berkeley bowl.

• snacks from trader joe's. nuts, crackers, tapenade, more cookies!

• dish towel. everything was packed into a gift basket lined with a towel sorta like this one.

• to top it off, jen provided photographs of/in and around the bay area so i made custom thank-you cards. check out her photography if you get the chance.