My dear friend, Kate (an unabashed turophile, though that has nothing to do with this particular story), has a great fondness for all things wee. (She is, after all, the one who came up with the name “Tiny Pineapple.”) If you ever have the opportunity to go shopping with her, you can tell when she has found an especially cute, petite, or diminutive object because she will start emitting a soft cooing sound while cradling the tiny trinket in her hands.

This cooing over the object is usually followed by the purchasing of the object but, since she can’t bring herself to buy these things for herself, she has to do it under the guise of “Oh, I’m just getting it as a gift for someone else.” I’ve been the recipient of many of these Lilliputian gifts over the years, but my favorite was a pair of tiny, little notepads with tiny, little pencils that she gave me for my birthday about ten years ago.

I stumbled upon them again as I was going through a few old boxes the other day and my daughters immediately appropriated them to use as miniscule sketchbooks. But I’ll get some use out of them, too. I figure if I start using that first phrase as a pick-up line at parties, the second is sure to follow.