List 1000 things that make me happy

51. Finding a real letter in the mailbox.

52. Stationery sets.

53. Decorative papers.

54. Stickers.

55. Calligraphy

56. Coloured ink

57. Quill pens

58. Illuminated letters

59. Wax seals

60. Collage

45. Welsh.

46. French.

47. Japanese.

48. Arabic.

49. Latin.

50. Greek.

44. Living far enough from the laundry room that I can’t hear the constant whir/buzz/tumble, but close enough that when I open my door and step into the hallway, it smells like fresh warm laundry.

43. The street near my home, lined with lilac bushes and apple and cherry trees, all these blossoms—windy days on this street when it rains petals.

32. Dragons.

33. Elves.

34. Elvish.

35. Faeries.

36. Dryads.

37. Changelings.

38. Nymphs.

39. Gryphons.

40. Mermaids.

41. Selkies.

42. Lord of the Rings.

(Disclaimer: Please do not mistake my lifelong interest in fantasy novels/RPGs, and love of the creatures that inhabit them, with any kind of real-life Wiccany belief that these creatures exist. PLEASE.)

26. Swinging on the swings at the beach.

27. Building sandcastles.

28. Blowing bubbles.

29. Amusement park rides that spin ridiculously fast.

30. Carnival/fair lights at night.

31. Jumping in mud puddles.

19. Sunlight pouring through my window in the early afternoon.

20. Dust suspended in sunbeams.

21. Spiraling incense smoke.

22. Cozy blue flannel sheets in winter.

23. Smooth, cool white sheets in summer.

24. Thick woolen socks (Dumbledore, you are so right).

25. Hearing the wind wail and rattle the windows when I’m snuggled in indoors with a blanket and a mug of hot tea.

11. Glitter.

12. Tiaras.

13. Nail polish, especially deep metallic blues and greens.

14. Silver eyeshadow.

15. Black lipstick.

16. Deep classic red lipstick (on women who can pull it off)

17. Body paint.

18. Glam.

I took awhile to start this one because I could not think of where to start. So I’m finally taking my icon as inspiration…

1. Rough-trimmed pages.

2. Gauffered edges.

3. Collecting bookmarks.

4. The musty smell of secondhand books.

5. The weird, unexpected finds you come across in the cluttered shelves of secondhand bookstores.

6. Beautifully decorated book covers, especially antiques.

7. Libraries, especially ones with winding spiral staircases and dark labyrinthine stacks.

8. My family’s heirloom set of Charles Dickens novels—passed on from mother to daughter to granddaughter, dated 1897 on the yellowed endpapers, bound in gorgeous timeworn red, vintage illustrations.

9. Good old-fashioned Victorian ghost stories on a stormy night.

10. British mysteries.

21. Arranging music
22. Playing the Piano & Singing
23. Making People Laugh
24. Shopping days where everything is cute, on sale and the perfect fit
25. When kitties make a bed on your lap