Happy List for February—A Living Document

I definitely let the attempt to update my January list daily slide (book edits will do that to you), but I still held onto the gratitude personally. Quite a few details to appreciate! Consider them little love letters to reality, which definitely channel the sappy sentiment of February.

February 12

1. Checking off a book that's been on your list for forever.
2. Revisiting an old hobby and being immersed.
3. The lavender-scented cleaning spray.
4. When a book references a book you just read.
5. An ideally-weighted blanket.
6. Trying a new perfume.
7. When the side bangs grow out to your exact preferred length.
8. Catching up with someone and it feeling like no time passed at all.
9. Small town coffeeshop run-ins.
10. Laughing to yourself about a stupid joke nobody else will probably care about.
11. When a movie's so bad it actually makes a u-turn.
12. Coming up with the perfect post title.
13. The saturation & contrast of everything on the beach under the sun on a clear day.
14. All the ice trays being full.
15. A scrapbook-style journal.
16. When you meet someone and just know you're going to be soulmate-type friends.
17. Finishing a phase of book edits that murdered you.
18. Marking choreography while on a walk.
19. When you get an awful sleep so the coffee hits extra-hard.
20. Any combination of peppermint and Oreo.
21. When you show someone a song and it becomes a favorite of theirs.
22. Vintage-looking striped cuffs of sweatshirts.
23. Popping a bottle for a friend's good news.
24. Discovering a gem of a pen still full of ink.
25. Being comfortable enough with a friend that you can eat dinner in dead silence when you're both tired.

February 15

1. When the exact song you were thinking of comes on somewhere random (this has happened to me twice lately)
2. Becoming newly obsessed with an old item in your closet.
3. Visits from the cat.
4. A little girl feeding chickens in the lot.
5. A blank, immediate sleep after your brain’s been working hard — the hit-the-pillow-and-blackout kind.
6. Check-in texts.
7. The car being briefly free of bird shit. (Relief only lasts a few hours.)
8. Related: a borrowed hose.
9. People posting all their sappy Valentine’s Day tributes.
10. Reorganizing the bookshelves.
11. A cool pillow (classic.)
12. Freshly shaved legs.
13. Neighbor kindness.
14. When a chore that normally takes twenty minutes only takes five.
15. Remembering your reusable bags before the grocery.
16. Being sleepy around someone because they make you feel at peace.
17. Company while you do your own thing.
18. Finally feeling a scene tighten.
19. The ‘Surprisingly Happy to Have Helped’ study.
20. Old home videos.
21. Night swimming.
22. The romantic nostalgia of ‘porch light’ song imagery — weirdly specific, maybe?
23. Crafting for friends.
24. Having a sudden, visceral craving when you’re actually able to go out and get it (or make it.)
25. Getting a parking spot on the right side of the street to avoid the inevitable bird attacks (noticing a theme here.)
26. A timeless playlist.
27. A chunky wineglass aesthetic.
28. When you need to rain check or reschedule something and it’s effortless.
29. The relief of construction/lawnmowers outside finally stopping when you wanted them to.
30. A bakery pastry that’s better than you expected.
31. Casually wearing cowboy boots.
32. Having a cliché watering hole/neighborhood bar.
33. Hearing a neighbor practicing piano.
34. When you get a hug from someone who just makes your entire system relax.
35. Poems that soothe you.
36. Camp jams.
37. Time melting away when you’re in flow.
38. Old art portfolio pieces you’re newly obsessed with.
39. A good ol’ Pinterest scroll.
40. The chill of a plot twist.

February 16

1. Coca-Cola and salt 'n vinegar chips after a migraine (the ultimate cure, promise.)
2. The mind-numbled blankness of fatigue (bright side.)
3. A long nap on a wiped day.
4. Soft sweatpants.
5. Printer.
6. A mini skillet cookie from the microwave.
7. Chunky, chunky blanket.
8. Creamsicle sunset.
9. The smell of shampoo from wet hair.
10. Having a hair band when you need.
11. A good, vivid, adventurous dream.
12. Learning (corny but true.)
13. Slideshows of your dog that your phone makes.
14. Favorite mug in rotation.
15. Ballet finally on the studio schedule again.
16. Hot bath.
17. Angel hair pasta buried in butter and parmesan.
18. This highlight tool.
19. Remembering to proactively make dinner before you are starving.
20. Echoes in an old building.
21. Gold calligraphy ink.
22. Rearranging bedside table.
23. Looking at room from a corner to "see how a visitor would see it."
24. Suddenly remembering a (good) childhood moment and appreciating how much memory is in your brain.
25. Guilty pleasure show on the projector.
26. Dissecting book inspiration.
27. Really really long tight hug.
28. The relief of chugging a Gatorade (or a crispy-cold water) when you're dehydrated.
29. Family jewelry,
30. Realizing how many songs you have memorized.
31. Photo booth strips.
32. Early bedtime.

February 24

1. A freshly vacuumed floor.
2. Barista knowing your order.
3. The ridiculous contrast of a notes app page.
4. Waialua General giving you more poké than normal.
5. A long walk with a beverage.
6. Therapist saying the way you've talked about a challenge has changed. :)
7. Runner's high.
8. That view of the mountains.
9. Kindness studies.
10. Butter yellow.
11. Getting around to a chore that's been on the list for forever.
12. How anger makes the best workout of your life.
13. PB&J causing a flash of childhood nostalgia.
14. Season finale of the show you're really into.
15. Having naturally phased out of a bad habit & grown into a good one.
16. But also willpower-ing yourself out of them too.
17. The thunk of the cat jumping up to the fence.
18. 1pm realization that there's a Diet Coke in the fridge.
19. When you're packing for a trip and the excitement hits.
20. Maple coffee.
21. The Hawai'ian covers that play in doctors' offices and other appointments.
22. Morning sunlight off the disco ball.
23. The comedown or catharsis after a dizzying book.
24. The first hint of a tan when you've been really pale.
25. Loving your routine.

February 28

1. Hotel room to yourself.
2. The clarity of an uncluttered room.
3. A beer at the hotel bar at the end of a long travel day.
4. When a risky bag is perfectly 50.0 (or even far under)
5. Global entry, TSA pre-check, et. al.
6. Alt: when the check-in agent lets you get away with a slightly-over bag.
7. King bed to yourself.
8. Room service when you are really really tired.
9. Shower at the end of a long day travel day.
10. A long travel day (everything about it.)
11. Timing a layover meal perfectly.
12. Starting and finishing an entire book on the plane.
13. Cheap airplane WiFi.
14. Texting for free on a plane.
15. When a hat fixes a bad hair day.
16. When you’re traveling with a puffy coat and can use it as a pillow.
17. When the baby you’re nervous about crying is so good and sweet.
18. But again—the obvious love of parents towards a baby on a plane.
19. When the bags are perfectly understuffed.
20. Being picked up from the airport.
21. Making it home after the airport.
22. When the Uber home's cheap.
23. The peace of being unreachable for a certain number of hours.
24. Writing on a plane.
25. How often all my plot problems are solved by writing on said plane.
26. Opening your laptop when you forgot to charge it to see a full battery.
27. Making it through security so smoothly.
28. Tim Horton’s.
29. The hedonism of giving up on a regular schedule or routine and just leaning into the day.