My Favorite Things

Happy Valentine's Day! Since I know you were all wondering what makes my heart flutter here's a partial list of my favorite things. Even one of these little guys is enough to make my day.

1. Fresh sheets. Slipping my feet into fresh, crisp sheets makes me go "Ahhhhhh!" every time. It's one of the high points of my Friday evening (Friday is my cleaning day where I change all the sheets). If the sheets have been dried on my clothesline it's even better. If the sheets have been changed by my own personal maid that's how I know I've died and gone to heaven.

2. Pasta. Any kind, any style, any shape. Well no, I take that back. One time Andrew and I went out to dinner at The Marx Brothers' Cafe and noticed squid ink pasta on the menu. What?? I was tempted to pester the waiter with questions like "What on earth would squid ink pasta look like? Are we talking black noodles here?" but I thought that would be too, too gauche and I refrained. Anyone have experience with this stuff?

3. Finding change in my pocket. Boy, if I reach into my pocket and find some money I forgot was there it's like I've won the lottery. A very small lottery.

4. A good pair of jeans. These babies are so hard to come by that if I find a pair I like it's like finding the Holy Grail of clothing. Currently, I'm in between relationships with my jeans, I've worn out several pairs that I liked but can't seen to find others to take their place. Maybe I'm saving up for a pair of Sevens. Yea, maybe . . .

5. Fire. I know I'm not the only one who finds a fire hypnotic but boy do I love sitting next to one. It's the part of camping that I like and I can sit up very late gazing at the flames. Since we've put in our new gas fireplace I now have my new Special Spot in my big leather chair which I slide in front of the fireplace, put my feet up and read or blog till someone makes me get up. You know, for like fixing meals and things like that. "Not right now kids, Mommy's blogging!"

6. Opera. It's not as if I listen to opera all the time, you know I can rock with the best of them (Have you seen the ads for the new IMAX movie U23D? I'm dying to see it) but opera holds a special place in my heart. My favorite is La Nozze di Figaro but you should hear me screeching along with Pavarotti when he belts out an Verdi or Puccini aria, it's . . . um . . . memorable.

Here's one of my favorites, it's from The Pearl Fishers by Bizet:

7. Warm summer nights. Growing up in Alaska my body has been trained to equate darkness with cold. It's only dark in the winter here so when I went to school out of state and walked around campus on a dark, warm summer night it was the oddest experience--but I loved it. Summer nights, where things smell warm and green, are just heavenly and if I can get a thunderstorm in there too it's just a bonus. Love those warm nights.

8. Classic movies. Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, Cary Grant, Gary Cooper--I love old movies. My Mom and grandmother trained me well and raised me to appreciate classic cinema--I could talk your ear off about some of my favorites. I've got Andrew to watch quite a few with me, though he prefers Manly Movies like Bridge on the River Kwai, The Guns of Navarone, The Dirty Dozen, etc. Roman Holiday isn't really his thing.

9. The national anthem. This is kind of funny I guess, but I just love hearing "The Star-Spangled Banner." It's not as if I'm hugely patriotic, though I like to think I'm a good citizen and all that, but I like the sound of this song, what it does to people and the emotions it brings. Have you ever heard the words to the second or third verses? Quite stirring, you should look it up.

10. Seashells. I'm not sure why but seashells fascinate me. I can't see one on a beach without picking it up and saving it consequently I have baskets and bowls of seashells stashed around the house that I can't bear to give up. When we head to Florida next month we're going to Sanibel Island which is reported to have the second-best shelling beach in the world. THE WORLD PEOPLE. I'm going to be all over that--"We're going to need a bigger bucket!"

11. Travel. Everyone has their guilty pleasures and though I'm not really into fancy cars or big houses or expensive gadgets (with the exception of the new Macbook Airs, I could be very much into those) but if I had something that I'd spend money on it would be travel. By plane, car, boat or train it doesn't matter I just love to see new places and enjoy the experience travel has to offer. There aren't too many places I'm not interested in seeing some day--except maybe Greenland. I could live my life without going to Greenland. I made a list of places I want to see here and it hasn't changed much.

12. Dressing up. If you saw this list of things I won't wear I have to say that I do love dressing up--nylons, slips, jewelry, high heels, the whole bit. Some people don't like having to be squished into formal wear but I quite like the feeling of getting all gussied up (gussied? Is that still a word?) and going out. Dresses are pretty, I love silky fabrics and flowing lines, and my legs look better in heels--it's just a great thing all around. Plus there's always an anticipation when you put on your best clothes to go out.

13. Newborn babies. I don't want this to sound weird or anything but I LOVE everything about newborns. The smell of their little necks, the way their hands are wrapped up in those long sleeved t-shirts, the way they scrunch up their little froggy legs, their little tiny faces, hands and feet. Though I'm not a woman who goes crazy for children or babies normally--they tend to be too darn moist for my taste--a newborn can get me every time. Maybe it's because they aren't big enough to have runny noses, nasty diapers and serious spew capacity. Though I've seen plenty of older babies that aren't exactly . . . um . . . cute I've never seen a newborn that wasn't adorable. Really. I can't help but stick my nose in their little wrinkly necks and smooch away. Even their diapers don't offend me--okay now I sound weird.

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Don't miss this month's Write-Away Contest, the topic is (of course) Love. Deadline is February 20th!

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