- Push aside blankets in the dark cozy corners and snuggle up to the window.
- Exchange your black wardrobe (I’m talking to you, Seattle!) for lighter-colored, or at least colorful attire.
- Allow yourself an iced version of your favorite caffeine stimulant, even if the weather’s only a smidge warmer than usual.
- Listen to Celtic, Folk, Instrumental, and Swing style music—it will make you want to go outside, perhaps even dance a jig. If you don’t dance, allow yourself to skip.
- Unfold your short-sleeved shirts and hang them in your closet for easy grabbing.
- Touch the tiny new leaves on the tips of the trees as you pass them on the sidewalk.
- Notice how, when it’s a sunny day, drivers really are nicer when you pull out in front of them to re-park your car. Breathe a prayer of thanks.
- Scatter fresh bouquet of anything (leaves, clippings, flowers, pretty branches) throughout your house.
- Gasp every time the clouds part and you can see the mountains (or just gasp every time the blue sky opens wide).
- Stash a book and old blanket in your car so you can run to the park and read when a sun break bursts.
- Smile out the window at a beautiful morning, then take that smile inside and send it back to yourself through the bathroom mirror.
- Roll down your car windows and let the wind whisper its excitement to you.
- Befriend a small child and listen to all the quirky, wonderful things he/she has to tell you. I cannot stress enough how much happier this makes me.
- Paint something postcard-sized. It’s small, manageable, and totally not ostentatious.
- Eat dinner outside, even if you wrap your legs in a quilt halfway through.
- Splurge $20 at the thrift store for new fashion inspiration (Thank you, Macklemore).
- Walk through the garden section at your grocery store and hear the seedlings shouting how glad they are to be growing.
- Make popsicles and eat them. I dare you to not feel wonderful after doing this.
- Pick up that New Year’s resolution that fell by the wayside and use the spring to inspire you. A new shoot is pushing up through the dark soil. You can do this.
- Learn a new song. Sing it to yourself. Sing it to someone you love.
Jack Flacco
16 Apr 2013These are great, Elise!
1. We have a chair backing a bay window I like to sit in during the weekends. It’s cozy and warm when it rains and makes any John Grisham book come alive.
4. Ha, I listen to Celtic music all the time and watched Titanic over the weekend. It truly inspires one take a brisk walk in the wind–regardless if it’s 32°F.
17. I actually love the fresh smell of produce in the supermarket. I find it exciting. No kidding!
18. Homemade popsicles make me happy!
Elise
16 Apr 2013I love how you’ve got a chair that makes Grisham novels even better! The smell of fresh produce really is exciting! My mom made orange juice popsicles when I was little, and I think the happy memory really stuck with me!
Eileen
25 Apr 2013I love this list period becase it all screams “Elise” and that makes me just as happy as anything on the list 🙂 miss you!
Elise
25 Apr 2013Thanks, Eileen! I miss you, too! I’m glad that even a numbered list contains me intrinsically, somehow.