i see these types of posts regularly pop up over on other people's blogs, and usually i roll my eyes and scoff quietly about how those bloggers must be grasping at straws for something to write about, and how easy it is to get away with a list of things that have made them happy that week. but then i had a really great week. and each of the things that made me happy this week - although being great, probably don't warrant a whole post of their own. but i still want to tell you about them. so now you see, i am faced with a moral conundrum: do i keep them to myself, selfishly not sharing the small wonders of my life that have brought me nothing but happiness this week, or do i admit defeat, apologise to the wider community for doubting your genuinely awesome list-making skills, and share?
what do you think i decided to do...; let me count the ways:
one: new make up. there's nothing like buying some discounted garb and finally being able to remove the pink and glittery polish from your broken pinky finger's nail and replacing it with something a little more summery and vibrant. this week, i'm all about sunny yellow nails. happiness!
two: putting names to faces over exceptional pizza and chilled beer and many happy laughs. last tuesday i was able to finally get a real-life hug in from hayley and jess, when mike and shaun and i met them for dinner at homeslice and drinks at the craft beer co. in covent garden. happiness!
three: my hair. it has been cooperating so well this week. my fringe has grown out enough now that i can tuck it behind my ears, which means i have been able to wear it down - finally, after a far-too-long stint of wearing it up in a bun. i've also taken to braiding it before bed and giving it a bit of a spray in the morning, and rocking some loose waves during the day. (i am a bit worried about the actual ginger regrowth i have coming through, as it's very light and obvious, but i actually don't really want to dye it right now... i might wait and see what the regrowth does with itself... scary!) absolute happiness!
four: tube strikes. i am lucky enough to have an amazingly cool boss who understands the benefit of having employees work from home for a full day rather than have them endure a hellish commute, be late to work, be annoyed all day, and then repeat at night. i got snacks in, cleared my desk off, and worked harder that day than i would have done had i actually gone *in* to work. plus, at six i totted off to the park by my house, sat under a tree and (planned to, until i realised i'd left it at home) read while eight million others waited for busses and trains and bikes (oh my!), happiness!
five: an unexpected day of pink. a bargain flamingo slogan tee, a raspberry-filled donut, and a night-time gig at somerset houses' summer series all brought a pop of pink into what was otherwise a pretty long and tiring friday. fri-yay or what? nothing but happiness!
six: the kindness of strangers. over the weekend i went to a cooking class, and during that class, as we all got progressively less and less sober, i made some friends. lee and sarah are a thirty-something couple from east london with a couple of kids and no social media. we had absolutely nothing in common, but we spent hours together, laughing, joking, and having so much fun during the cooking class that when it was over, we didn't want to stop. we went to the pub together where we met sarah's sister frances. another complete stranger, that i spent about an hour getting to know, and who contributed to one of the best days of my life. the only difference between strangers and friends is time. stupid mounts of happiness!
seven: barbecued meat markets and reasonably priced gin. after the pub on saturday i met up with shaun and his girlfriend abby at dinerama (again) in shoreditch (again). for the next few hours we drank fruity gin based drinks, i ate some exceptional salted caramel doughnuts with peanut butter ice cream, i even had a taco. it was good. i felt sick later though, but it was still all worth it, purely for hangs with good people on a sunny afternoon. complete happiness!
eight: lavender pillow spray. for real though, how did i ever sleep without it? i've been sleeping like a dog since i started using it about a month ago. i am worried about having to now factor a bottle of lavender spray into my monthly budget - it's not cheap, but for the relaxed, quality of sleep it's been giving me, i am pretty much committed to it now. alert happiness!
nine: having a flatmate with hobbies and her own life. i never see the woman. once every couple of months we put in some quality time to "catch up" so we're less like ships that pass in the night and so we can update each other on holiday plans and life stories and things like that, but from day to day we rarely see each other. the last couple of weekends she's been "away". god knows where, but it means a lay in in the mornings, and the chance to not wear pj trousers in the kitchen. liberated happiness!
ten: whatsapp group chats with my colleagues. because i don't see enough of them, we have not one but two group chats (one with, one without our boss, haha) where we regale each other with updates on our girlfriends' cheese intolerance (shaun), how much wine we've had (chloe) and how dancing in the kitchen with the caffetiére is dangerous for the floor (nick). mostly though, we talk about whose turn it is to buy biscuits, and what time and on which floor breakfast club will commence. i love those guys. you know what they bring to my life? absolute happiness!
one: new make up. there's nothing like buying some discounted garb and finally being able to remove the pink and glittery polish from your broken pinky finger's nail and replacing it with something a little more summery and vibrant. this week, i'm all about sunny yellow nails. happiness!
two: putting names to faces over exceptional pizza and chilled beer and many happy laughs. last tuesday i was able to finally get a real-life hug in from hayley and jess, when mike and shaun and i met them for dinner at homeslice and drinks at the craft beer co. in covent garden. happiness!
three: my hair. it has been cooperating so well this week. my fringe has grown out enough now that i can tuck it behind my ears, which means i have been able to wear it down - finally, after a far-too-long stint of wearing it up in a bun. i've also taken to braiding it before bed and giving it a bit of a spray in the morning, and rocking some loose waves during the day. (i am a bit worried about the actual ginger regrowth i have coming through, as it's very light and obvious, but i actually don't really want to dye it right now... i might wait and see what the regrowth does with itself... scary!) absolute happiness!
four: tube strikes. i am lucky enough to have an amazingly cool boss who understands the benefit of having employees work from home for a full day rather than have them endure a hellish commute, be late to work, be annoyed all day, and then repeat at night. i got snacks in, cleared my desk off, and worked harder that day than i would have done had i actually gone *in* to work. plus, at six i totted off to the park by my house, sat under a tree and (planned to, until i realised i'd left it at home) read while eight million others waited for busses and trains and bikes (oh my!), happiness!
five: an unexpected day of pink. a bargain flamingo slogan tee, a raspberry-filled donut, and a night-time gig at somerset houses' summer series all brought a pop of pink into what was otherwise a pretty long and tiring friday. fri-yay or what? nothing but happiness!
six: the kindness of strangers. over the weekend i went to a cooking class, and during that class, as we all got progressively less and less sober, i made some friends. lee and sarah are a thirty-something couple from east london with a couple of kids and no social media. we had absolutely nothing in common, but we spent hours together, laughing, joking, and having so much fun during the cooking class that when it was over, we didn't want to stop. we went to the pub together where we met sarah's sister frances. another complete stranger, that i spent about an hour getting to know, and who contributed to one of the best days of my life. the only difference between strangers and friends is time. stupid mounts of happiness!
seven: barbecued meat markets and reasonably priced gin. after the pub on saturday i met up with shaun and his girlfriend abby at dinerama (again) in shoreditch (again). for the next few hours we drank fruity gin based drinks, i ate some exceptional salted caramel doughnuts with peanut butter ice cream, i even had a taco. it was good. i felt sick later though, but it was still all worth it, purely for hangs with good people on a sunny afternoon. complete happiness!
eight: lavender pillow spray. for real though, how did i ever sleep without it? i've been sleeping like a dog since i started using it about a month ago. i am worried about having to now factor a bottle of lavender spray into my monthly budget - it's not cheap, but for the relaxed, quality of sleep it's been giving me, i am pretty much committed to it now. alert happiness!
nine: having a flatmate with hobbies and her own life. i never see the woman. once every couple of months we put in some quality time to "catch up" so we're less like ships that pass in the night and so we can update each other on holiday plans and life stories and things like that, but from day to day we rarely see each other. the last couple of weekends she's been "away". god knows where, but it means a lay in in the mornings, and the chance to not wear pj trousers in the kitchen. liberated happiness!
ten: whatsapp group chats with my colleagues. because i don't see enough of them, we have not one but two group chats (one with, one without our boss, haha) where we regale each other with updates on our girlfriends' cheese intolerance (shaun), how much wine we've had (chloe) and how dancing in the kitchen with the caffetiére is dangerous for the floor (nick). mostly though, we talk about whose turn it is to buy biscuits, and what time and on which floor breakfast club will commence. i love those guys. you know what they bring to my life? absolute happiness!
and that folks, is what's been making me happy this week. tell me if you rolled your eyes and scoffed at this at all; i promise i won't be disappointed in you.
