I Love.
I love…
Gala apples. I've tried every other kind, and there is nothing like a Gala. You Honeycrisp enthusiasts, stand down. Because you are wrong.
Fall. The leaves, the scents, the sounds. High school football and band booster hamburgers. Windows open and an extra blanket thrown on the bed.
Cardigans. They are the mashed potatoes and gravy of clothing. Comfort. Home.
O magazine. I know there are Oprah dislikers out there, and that's fine. But if you have shunned her magazine because of a belief that she carries crystals in her pocket and has a tattoo of Dr. Phil on her left buttock, then you are really missing out. Today I learned that the Rapper Common goes to church on New Year's Eve every year. And I like that. Because I have a somewhat similar tradition. (Though mine does not include driving home in my Bentley afterward.) And I learned about Patience Salgado, a 35-year old woman who does and encourages others to do good deeds. The woman has even set up a free cotton candy drive-through. How she and I are not friends, it defies explanation. We have so much in common. She likes to give away county fair treats. And I like to eat them.
Pinterest. Thanks to author Natalie Lloyd, I'm pretty much obsessed. It's the best thing to ever come out of the internet in recent years. (Minus those Google interactive logos.) For years I've kept folders on my email to store things I'd found online like (nerd alert) “favorite fonts” “book cover love” “decorating ideas” “reasons to go back and get my accounting degree.” And now there is Pinterest, a place where I can store all that and SEE it. It's like a virtual bulletin board. From there I learned my glass hurricanes filled with acorns should be filled with green split peas in the spring and summer. My candles had to be nestled among acorns til August. They were so ashamed.
Tom's nonfluoride toothpaste. Because fluoride is bad news. Look it up. I bet Common did.
Pictures of cupcakes.
Talking about other people's books. I just read Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine. It's a book about a ten-year-old girl who has Asperger's, and she struggles to deal with the loss of her brother, the one who protected her and made the world easier to handle. But now he's gone, taken in a tragic moment, and she doesn't understand. So, so good. Unlike anything I've ever read. I've had students with Asperger's, but this really gave me new insight. And it's a beautiful story that had me all teared up when I was done. In a good way. The ending is nothing short of literary magic.
Zappos. This company and I have to stop meeting so much.
My student, who told me on his way out of class, “I'm so excited about what I wrote today.” I just wanted to tell him to hold onto that feeling. Pinkie swear. No matter what.
The smell of coffee. I'm not old enough to drink it yet, but it sure smells nice.
New nail polish. This week's choice is All Hail the Queen by Butter, not to be confused with the color Frilly Knickers. Doesn't stay on worth a dang, but if you hold it toward the sun, it sure is pretty. Edward and Bella, I, too, know the power of sparkles.
Peanut butter.
Writing a blog post to the new Lady Antebellum cd. I sing alto, Hills and Charles.
A three-legged kitten who runs non-stop and makes me laugh every day. Except when he scratches my leather furniture. That's going to put me in therapy. Today he caught a small snake, the kind that often find their way into my house. And if the reptile is like the others, it was headed for my bedroom. Like some bad foreshadowing from some twisted Lifetime movie.
That's my list.
What about you?
What things are you loving right now?
