The Happy List #1

I’ve been in a funk lately. A personal project ended up being a bit of a letdown when I’d hoped to be giddy with pride. School became a languid drift from class to class, my growing to-do list no longer instilling purpose or healthy fear in me. A friend suggested taking days out to explore the city with my camera and a cafe address, to feel refreshed and inspired, but my HK trips left me too penniless to enjoy six-dollar coffee. So I stayed home and sat in a circle of penny-pinching misery, fell back into routine — the one thing I swore I would never do, post-dreamy california life.

This week, I decided to have no more of that! Once, I wrote a list of about thirty or so little comforts for a friend going through a rough time, as reminders to find joy and gratitude in the everyday, every day. In that spirit, here’s one just in time for the weekend!

1. Productive Window Shopping for the Penniless! Recently discovered svpply, which works like a visual scrapbook of products you love and can save to ‘buy later’. Not sure I can afford a thousand dollar antique trunk, but a girl can dream! It’s also fun to watch your style take shape in front of you, if you’re not one to typically overthink these things :)

2. Kitchen time and baking cheaterbug pain au chocolats with my sister was the perfect antidote to a wet, grey afternoon. We had chocolate lying around in the fridge, and wrapped up the chunks in store-bought puff pastry to make treats for the family. Recipe here.

3. Last night just before bed, I called Sam, who happened to be exceptionally cheery. He started humming a happy jazz tune, which I asked to listen to. Instead of putting the phone to his music speakers to give me a preview, he sang. the. whole. song. It was so cute and silly, and I laughed and smiled till I fell asleep.

4. I was a total champ at friendship bracelets in primary school. After spying some woven, beaded bracelets on etsy, I had to whip out my favourite childhood Klutz books again, figure out the knotting patterns and started weaving with whatever skeins of cotton embroidery thread I had left. 45 minutes of kiddy glee!