My Favorite Things

Sleeping in.

Waking up, realizing you don't have to move and then letting your muscles relax, putting your phone out of reach, turning over to nuzzle back into your pillow, knowing you can go back to sleep for hours.

Those moments when the dog hasn't seen the whites of your eyes and no one knows you have woken up. Those stolen seconds are precious.

The tiniest bit of resistance where the air sits on the surface, and it meets your teeth right before they sink down into the most delectable frosting ever to kiss the top of a lemon cupcake.... that is made of perfection. No coincidence that perfection rhymes with confection, hmm?

The blood that rushes back into the oxygen starved veins after you pull your foot out from under you once it has gone to sleep. You didn't mean to leave it there but..the internet...

Ice. In drinks. Ahhh... all the drinks...

A fresh manicure of dark nail polish. The way it looks right before I leave the salon and rub my car keys all over it or chip it washing a cheese grater.

The smell of herbs when you freshly pick them from the plant. The crisp, fresh, peppery wonder of knowing that you got this with your own hands and you can eat it right there and then. The weight in your hand of a tomato you grew, knowing it will taste better than one you could buy.

The moment about ten seconds after a near-miss accident. Not right before, not when its happening and not anytime in the 9 seconds after, because you are recovering from a close call heart attack and the blood is still rushing back to your extremities and you may be staring hard at the driver if it was not you. But right after that, you are so amazed to be alive and in a car, breathing, everything is fine. And you are grateful. More grateful than you had been in days.

The anticipation of things, anything...everything. The way a Friday afternoon feels when you don't have too many plans for the weekend and almost ANYTHING could happen. When you have plans to do something fun and not anything like your mundane daily life, and the thoughts of how it will go could fill your every moment until then.

Taking off your bra at the end of the day. Or during a long road trip. While driving. Fast.

Driving fast, for that matter. On a flat stretch of road. That reaches out in front of you, to places known well or parts unknown to most people. Not you though, you are headed straight for it.

A freshly brewed coffee. Hot and steaming and wonderful in its dark complexity. Within its murky midst is the warming of your throat, the caffeine you need to prop your eyelids up to pretend to care about work, the warm ceramic to hug your hands when you get to hold it on the couch because its the weekend.

The smell of your favorite person's skin. Right as you kiss their neck. The unique way their hand feels in yours. The constancy of their heartbeat. The solid feel of them when you wake up in the night, and they are next to you. Real. Safe.

Finding just the right words to say. Right when you need them. Right when someone else needs them. Putting things in perspective, bringing someone off the ledge or even off their pedestal. Using language to bridge a gap or show an emotion, expressing hope or inspiring someone.

These are a few of my favorite things. What makes life worth living. What keeps you coming back for more?