On a personal note: Designing cards, plus-size modeling, and life’s pleasantries

Heads up: This is a personal blog post. Nothing about benefit auctions here.

This past summer, Sue Painter, one of my Mastermind friends in Tennessee emailed me via Facebook: “My Sunday paper fell on the floor today and some of the ads fell out,” she wrote, “When I leaned over to pick them up, YOU were smiling up at me from a Catherine’s insert!”

Even though she knew I was a plus-size model, she was excited to suddenly see someone in print whom she recognized.

(For those of you just joining this blog, it might help to know that in between my very busy auction work, I manage to squeeze in bookings for modeling work. I have lots of nervous energy.)

And maybe three years ago, my New York friend Terri Murray was attending a fashion convention in Paris, France. She was walking all over the city, and among the hundreds of boutiques there, she cruises by an Ulla Popken store.

As she’s walking by the window, she looks up, and there I was – larger than life – on a poster in the window. She was happily surprised to see the image, which I find a little funny … because … well … because she herself is a model.

So why do I mention these?

Because last night while standing in the check-out line at Trader Joe’s, I read a sign that said something like, “Greeting cards don’t have to be expensive.”

Without thinking about much of anything, I pulled out the first card, flipped it over to read the back, and — OMG — there’s my friend Steve Haskamp’s name as the designer!

I let out a squeal because just a week ago, I wrote about Steve and his artistic endeavors. I even mentioned that he designed cards.

Yet — there I was, totally caught up in everyday life — and easily delighted when I saw my friend’s name in print and his artistic work in my hands.

It was my unexpected connection to a person-in-print, and I caught myself reacting in the same way as all of my friends reacted when they saw me in print.

I love surprises like that.