1. Morning walks. Temperatures are cooling down and things are turning golden. It’s not always easy for me to get up so early and get out into the world, but when the sun comes up and I’ve got my best boy with me and it feels like we have the whole world to ourselves it makes it all worth it.

2. Practice. Yoga at Red Sage with dogs, writing with my Friday morning sangha led by Chloe’, meditating in my practice room, reading and writing in the morning with a warm mug of green tea in front of my HappyLight.

3. All the good people, family and friends. My highly sensitive introverted self was very social this week: brunch with Carrie and then a visit with her family and my boyfriend Tony the tiger dog, hanging out at my kitchen table with Chloe’, acupuncture with Lindsay, my yearly haircut with Elianna, yoga at Red Sage with Teri, aqua aerobics with Tracy and getting to say hello to my gym dad Frank, wildish writing, getting a massage from Dana, going to lunch with Jon and Chelsey, book club, texting with Chris and sharing selfies with Mom. It was good and also I am so tired!

4. Cooking and baking. I love being able to make what I want, how I like it at home for myself, and now that it’s cooling down, I can finally start using my oven again. This week I want to try a few new recipes, one is for a smash falafel wrap and the other is for cornmeal pancakes. 

5. My tiny family, small house, little life. I love it here, with them.

Bonus joy: peaches, corn, watermelon, bean and cheese burritos (we call these “old styles” because when we first got married, we ate them a lot), birds at the feeder attached to the window over my writing desks (yes, I have two, side by side running the length of my “office” — one has my desktop computer and the other has more space for writing by hand and making art and piling books), tiny brass animals (I showed Chloe’ my collection when she was here and it reminded me of this part in Mae Martin’s comedy special Sap — which I totally recommend, it’s SO good), libraries and librarians, poetry and poets, listening to music while I drive around with my windows rolled down, Sunday morning pilates, the hydromassage chair, getting in the pool, sitting in the sauna, other people’s dogs and kids and gardens, stickers, sharing stickers, picking out a new sticker for the front cover every time I start a new blank notebook, the way the top of Ringo’s head smells when he’s been out lounging in the sun, the whole house fan, naps, reading in bed at night while Eric and Ringo sleep.