Good Things

Yes, I'm blatantly stealing from Martha Stewart. I'm willing to live with that.

1.) Coffee. Specifically the uber-American, super-commercialized specialty coffee, like my favorite: a "double grande skinny vanilla." (It took me approximately 3 years to learn that. Prior to that I said something along the lines of "Medium latte. With vanilla. Oh, and two shots! And nonfat milk! Oh, and would it be too much to ask to use Fair Trade, Organic coffee?" And then I was sent to Starbucks prison.)

2.) Crossword puzzles. And not the crappy "3 letter word for 'frozen water' starting with 'I'" puzzles you might find in airport gift shops. The good ones.

3.) Farmers' markets. Specifically the fact that my one day of natural food makes up for my weekly menu of Diet Coke and M&Ms. Right?

4.) Dinner/pub movie theaters. What could be better than enjoying pizza and beer AND a movie on the big screen? Nothing.

5.) My nephew's white noise machine. Seriously, the kid could be crying so much the neighbors might consider calling CPS on me, but as soon as I put him next to the white noise machine I'm, like, the best aunt ever.

6.) Bodies of water. Oceans, lakes, rivers... even creeks (that's "kreek," by the way... not "krik," no matter what my husband says.) It's just so calming. It's probably my grown-up version of Jason's white noise machine.

7.) The production studio ads at the beginning of movies. You know, the Universal globe, the Paramount mountain and stars, etc. I think I like them because it signals my brain to relax for the next two hours. It's a little like Pavlov's Dog.

8.) The perfect, chewy brownie. It must never, ever be cakey. That is called cake. It is separate and should always be accompanied by frosting. This is a brownie. And it is delicious.

9.) Pilates. Normally I'd never include any type of exercise on my list of "Good Things," but looking at all the brownie/pizza/beer items, I figured I should include it. Anyway, it flattens your stomach and was created by a German, so it can't be all bad.

10.) Pancakes. Never has one word exemplified so much happiness.