make your spirits bright. wish.

If any of you have made a trip to Starbucks any time between now and last Tuesday, you will have noticed that the coffee chain has decked out their stores and replaced the traditional white and green cups with ones of a more festive variety: the red cups.

If you don't know me it is important to understand that I am a Christmas fanatic. For me, Christmas begins on the 1st of November. On that day my Christmas bedding is dug out from storage and my twinkle lights are strung delicately around my room. Christmas - at this point - has to be contained to my own room and I can only introduce it into the rest of the home in small bursts following the Santa Claus Parade, but that doesn't stop me from being festive outside of the four walls of my bedroom.

When red cups come out at starbucks it not only marks the beginning of delicious, festive, "christmas in a cup" drinks, but it also marks the point in time when my Christmas obsession becomes somewhat socially acceptable. Most people still think I'm crazy, but when I wish them a "merry christmas" or "happy holidays", I can just say, "but starbucks says it's true!" and they take my greetings and leave a little bit happier.

Red cups and the usually festive Eggnog, Gingerbread or Caramel Brulee Lattes and tasty peppermint mochas they contain make people happier. On "red cup day" (this year, November 3rd), I saw countless Facebook and/or Twitter updates expressing their love and excitement for the season and that makes me smile, gives me hope. Christmas fills people with a palpable joy that I wish lasted in everyone throughout the year. To quote John McDermott, "it's not the things you do at Christmastime, it's the Christmas things you do all year through".

This year's campaign that goes along with the red cups at Starbucks encourages their customers to "wish," because if not at christmas, when can you wish for anything you want (save for 11:11 and Birthdays...). I saw one sign in starbucks that said, "I wish that everyone could see how much we all have in common." I thought that was a wonderful sentiment and one that rings true through really all of the current world issues. Why focus on what makes us different when we can focus on what makes us similar? What comes out of such a comparison other than love, family and passion? We truly are all one. If starbucks says so, than it must be true.

What do you wish for this holiday season?

peace. love. smile. WISH.

brilliant baby claude

So, today I had an entirely different smile prepared, but then I came home, saw this video on Twitter of Baby Claude singing Frank Mills from HAIR (as performed by the lovely Allison Case...at the end he hopes that her "hippy feels better" LOVE) and realized that nothing makes me smile more than William, known throughout the HAIR community as "Baby Claude". So naturally, he is the Happy Hippie I will be blogging about today.
William first became known among the HAIR Tribe and fan base when Gavin Creel (Claude in the Broadway Revival) posted this video to his twitter this summer:


Needless to say, this made Gavin smile, me smile, EVERYONE smile. Since then, a series of videos have been posted to youtube of him singing various songs from the HAIR soundtrack. Everyone instantly fell in love with William; with his performances, with his love, with his spirit.

William and his Mom, the wonderful Carola (on twitter @caroladelmare )are also involved with Broadway Impact, an organization co-founded by Gavin Creel that aims to unite the Broadway community and together fight for issues that affect the community - mainly Marriage Equality - a battle that is currently being fought in the throughout US. William and Carola were also lucky enough to march with BI at the National Equality March in Washington, D.C. on October 11th of this year. At the march William kind of - by way of his cuteness and overall hope that he represents for the future of equality in america and of the world - became a frequent image of the event throughout the twitterverse and the interwebs. As I followed the march avidly on twitter from the backseat of the car that was bringing me back to reality from a wonderful weekend in New York City, these images of William, of Baby Claude, could not cease to make me smile. If other children his age (only 4!) are anything like him - share any of his belief for peace, love and equality - we will all be living in a much better world.

Gavin said it best when I met him at Stage Door on the Friday before the march when we were talking about the march and everything he's done for Broadway Impact:

I can make a lot of noise, but YOU will be the change.

He wasn't talking about me. He was talking about Baby Claude...about William. HE will be the change, and the thought that he will hopefully, no, definitely be the last generation to know a world without equality for all gives me hope, gives me the happies, makes me smile.





peace. love. EQUALITY. smile.