The happy list.

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Look, I’m not gonna lie. I didn’t have a great day yesterday. Nothing bad really happened except for my mood. I had all of these dreams about being horribly angry and when I woke up… (you guessed it) I was horribly angry. Well, not right away (first I woke up too excited about sleeping in to actually sleep in – even though it was my sleep in day), but it was obviously there, just under the surface. I am sure my awful mood was caused by some super deep, subconscious, unresolved soul shit (in fact I know so) but we won’t go there right now! I hadn’t felt this disgusting for at least a year (very bad mood days seem to stick with you) and I feel like I’m still recovering today. I don’t know why I’m telling you all of this, but I guess to keep it real?

Anyway, today is a new day. That’s the beauty of life. There’s always a tomorrow with no mistakes in it yet. Yeah, yeah. Cheesy, I know. But it’s true.

So I thought I’d try to turn things around by focusing on the things that are making me happy lately. I don’t want to waste any more time on bad feelings (my personal journal has already had quite the work out this morning haha).

Feeling like a good driver. 

I know that sounds funny, but I used to love to drive. For the sake of driving. I would pride myself on being really good in traffic. Instinctive and just really in the moment. Just me and my car stereo. Yesterday, when I ran away from home for a few hours for some retail therapy (there was just no other choice), I got to drive for an hour each way. By myself. Just me in the moment. I finally felt like a good driver again. I was present.

I kind of get why people think parents with ‘baby on board’ are bad drivers (you don’t have to have the sticker in the window for it to be obvious – trust me haha). We’re always thinking about something else – our brains have so many tabs open. It’s harder to focus. We’re always about the destination and not the journey. I’ve missed being all about the journey. Driving well gives my confidence a boost too. I was going somewhere I hadn’t gone alone to in a long time. I had to remember all the little tricks – which lanes to be in and all the rest of it. Sometimes it feels a bit daunting when you’re stuck in the suburbs a lot (which is not exactly the big smoke), doing kid/household centric things all week. Getting back out of my comfort zone (kind of) reassured me that I have still got it. I think I just needed the alone time. I must remember to enjoy the drive more.

Triple J’s 40 Years of Music.

My favourite radio station is celebrating its 40th year and each day this month they have been playing music from a certain year. They pick a year (at 10am and 3pm) and they play music only from that year for an hour. You never know which year they’re going to play and it’s brought me so much joy. So many memories are wrapped up in music, you know? I’ve enjoyed a couple in particular. My last year of high school (2001) and 1994. I think perhaps that 1994 was the first year I really became so aware of music and how to find it for myself on the radio. I am proud of my music taste from back then at the ripe old age of 10. I get so sentimental! Here’s the one song that literally converted me to Triple J forever. The moment my life changed and a whole lot of other amazing music came into my life, bringing with it new memories. Oh, it brings a tear!

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZD982yrmx4]

Chocolate brownies. 

OK, so maybe they shouldn’t be on the happy list because they are a little counter productive to my fitness mission, but THEY MAKE ME SO HAPPY at the moment. And the packet mixes that require very little effort? Even better. I think they are my official Winter of 2015 comfort food. Oops. I guess I’ll just have to be extra healthy in many other ways haha. SO WORTH IT.

Gold coloured rings.

They are my latest guilty retail spending pleasures. There’s something I love about the gold bands. Even my wedding ring is a simple gold band. I don’t have massive fingers, so really chunky stuff doesn’t suit me, but I can buy every variation of a gold band forever. The ones above are my latest purchase from Lovisa (not sponsored – just love them). I may be crap at buying the perfect necklace or remembering to put on some nice earrings, but rings are always a winner for a low maintenance (read: lazy) gal like myself.

My new food processor.

It’s not a fancy one. It’s fairly basic but a reliable, affordable brand. And I love it. I have used it heaps. I love making cauliflower mash and fried cauliflower ‘rice’ with it. The other day I used it to mix a shortcrust dough for a quiche and it was a thousand times better than when I’ve attempted it all by hand! It’s the kitchen appliance I didn’t know I needed and I’m stoked with it. So many recipes suggest you use one and I kept putting all of those to the side, thinking I’d never buy or use one. I was so wrong. It’s awesome. You don’t need to spend thousands to achieve good things 😉

So there it is. There’s my happy list. I feel a bit better already.

What would you put on your happy list today?