With a ton of leftovers remaining from yesterday’s crock pot breakfast casserole, lunch today was a no-brainer.
I reheated the breakfast casserole and enjoyed it with a bowl of sliced strawberries.
And now I’m officially burnt out on crock pot breakfast casserole.
Little Things, Big Joy
Over the weekend, as I snacked on a bowl of Corn Pops, I thought to myself, “It’s kind of ridiculous how much joy I get out of snacking on this simple, sugary bowl of cereal.”
The cereal reminds me of snacking on Corn Pops as a child and transports me back to Saturday mornings spent watching Doug with my sister.
I then started to think about other little things that bring me a surprising amount of joy and thought it might be fun to hear what seemingly small, silly things make you guys oddly happy, too!
A few little things that bring me an odd amount of joy:
- Sadie’s tail-tucked run: I’m not sure if this is something all dogs do when they’re feeling particularly nutty, but whenever Sadie’s energy is absolutely off the wall, she runs around our backyard in circles with her tail tucked underneath her body. Ryan and I always laugh when the tail-tucked run comes out to play because we know she’s feeling extra spastic.
- Warm, cozy pajamas: Perhaps it’s because I live in Florida and am only able to wear winter pajamas to bed for a month or so out of the year, but extra-warm pjs make me feel so cozy and happy!
- Ridiculous group texts: I love it when a group text with friends spirals out of control and becomes completely ridiculous and hilarious. (Speaking of funny texts, this Cat Facts text I saw on Pinterest is too funny not to share.)
- Fun socks: There’s something so fun about wearing goofy socks. It’s a simple joy, but wearing heart socks on Valentine’s Day or pumpkin socks on Halloween makes me smile.
- Evening walks with Ryan and Sadie: Walking around the neighborhood with Ryan and Sadie at the end of the day is one of my favorite simple activities. It gives us a chance to catch up, vent, laugh and enjoy some time outside.
- A cappella music: I listen to music all day long and love a wide variety of music, but I am constantly amazed at the unbelievable talent of a cappella groups like Straight No Chaser and Pentatonix. And this video by Bobby McFerrin is freakin’ awesome. <—Watch it!
- Gel pens: As someone who takes a lot of notes for my freelance work, I absolutely love a good gel pen. If the gel pen writes in a fun color, that’s all the better!
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Visiting the library: I used to visit the Palatine Public Library regularly when I was growing up and my love for libraries has stayed with me as an adult. I love browsing for a new book and enjoy the quiet, warm atmosphere. (Bonus points if I can check out the book I want to read immediately and don’t have to wait on a long wait list!)
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Adorable Instagram pictures: My favorite Instagram account to follow is Vizslas of Instagram because adorable pictures of vizslas always make me smile. Another fun Instagram account? Sam Has Eyebrows. The cat has eyebrows and it just cracks me up.
Question of the Afternoon
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What is something simple that brings you an unusual amount of joy?
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I love getting a new gel pen like you said! I feel like a new pen makes my handwriting fancier. A simple thing that brings me joy is dressing up my dog for the holidays. My family hates it, but my dog actually likes it.
I totally agree with the library. . . it is awesome! I use it to rent audiobooks for my commute to work. The simple thing of my son seeing me when I come to pick him up at daycare and the huge smile and fast crawl to get to me, gets me everytime! That and my husband doing laundry! 😉
i love when i go in to get my nails shellaced and it’s empty in the salon and no one talks to me. i am constantly being talked to/at/talking to others for my job and i love being able to go in and watch trashy tv (parking wars. what!?) in peace for my lunch hour.
I love wearing funky/themed socks! I think the fact that no one knows you’re wearing them makes it even better 😉
i agree! it feels like a fun secret or something. 🙂
My daily joy is that little bit of quiet time that happens when I walk in the door in the afternoon. I get 15 to 20 minutes that I can just unwind, eat my snack, and enjoy the peace!
I am freakishly happy after my weekly trip to the grocery store. The fridge is full of great produce and I feel like the best wife ever.
Oooooo I must admit I thought this might be a baby post!?
I get a ridiculous amount of joy from clean laundry. So satisfying!
aw, sorry to disappoint! no babies around here for a while!
Haha, I also expected a baby post with that title, but that might be because pretty much everyone I know is getting pregnant 🙂
The little things that bring us joy are the best, aren’t they?! Silly stuff our dogs do always give me joy. They are clueless as to how funny and cute they are, but they always bring a smile to my face. I also enjoy our evening family walks with the dogs. It’s fiiiinally warming up more to get them in regularly, so I’m looking forward to lots of walks in our near future!
I really love getting comments on my blog, so silly it sounds, but my blog is new and I really love to do it! It makes me smile so big to know people actually read it! 🙂
In no particular order:
– Being outside during Gloaming (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloaming) that part of day that is just light enought that all of the whites are extra bright!
– Mac and cheese (Kraft or a grocery store brand) out of the pot I made it in
– Long drives, especially when it’s hilly and you get that little drop in your belly
– FREE SAMPLES at the grocery store (Harris Teeter, Publix, and Sam’s club are the BEST for this)
– waking up and realizing that 1. I still have plenty of time to sleep or 2. I don’t have anything to get up for
– and finally, hearing babies/toddlers/little kids laugh and/or talk about crazy stuff
A lit candle, listened to Ricky Martin’s A Medio Vivir CD (pre La Vida Loca and all in Spanish), playing the piano, walking by a lake and many more.
There are so many simple things that bring me joy but I love the first snow of the year and making a nice fire in a wood burning stove. So comforting!
I love this list 🙂 Two of my favorite things are final shavasana (spelling??) at the end of a yoga class and watching my dog running like a crazy animal once spring finally hits. Both give me huge smiles and loads of happiness!
I hear ya about the a cappella music. Something about how a few separate sounds come together to make a song amazes me! My simple pleasure is a good drink – whether it’s hot chocolate in the winter or an ice cold lemonade in the summer – the first sip always brings me joy.
I actually recently hunted down refills for my favorite pen! I great pen is something you don’t want to lose!! I love eating dry cereal with my hands, hands down the best thing to watch tv / a movie with, popcorn move overrrrr.
Please tell me you’ve seen Pitch Perfect! If you like a capella groups, you would love it!!
Lately, my little thing has been a cup of coffee while reading a book in the morning. As long as I get those 15-20 minutes of reading and sipping, I’m in a good mood.
I got the strongest urge to go to the library last Friday for that very reason. Love it, takes me back to being a kid and checking out a gazillion library books at a time. I couldn’t go because of the snow, but it’s on my list to go soon now. More simple things that make me really happy: cozy slippers, afternoon coffee breaks, and crawling into bed after a long day.
having a cup of coffee in the morning bring me joy, my dogs happiness when i come home brings me joy or the fact that I have been home with him all afternoon and step out for a minute to grab the mail or something and he freaks out like he hasn’t seen my all day, that brings me extreme joy
Things that bring me an unusual amount of joy:
-When it’s sunny outside
-Being alone on a Friday night when I have nothing to do and I can just curl up and read or something
-When my professor cancels class
-peanut butter Fingers, the snack
-Peanut Butter Fingers, the blog
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A few things that bring me great joy:
-a good book
-watching my 3 year old daughter dance around our house, singing songs
-post work-out coffee!
-writing a card for someone
-no bake cookies
-slipper socks
I love wearing my footie pajamas when it’s too cold out
I love comment wars with my college best friends because they often spiral out of control. I have one friend who is a total instigator.
As much as I hate/fear horses, I love when my friends harass me with ridiculous/scary photos of horses because I know they get a good laugh out of it and it’s a weird way that they show me that they love me
I love drinking out of tumblers
I love snacks
I love fun socks too 🙂 life’s too short to wear ordinary socks! I get SERIOUS joy out of drinking my daily coffee from a cute, oversized mug. Seriously, I think I own about 16 coffee mugs now, all of them completely different from the others. They make me smile everytime I use one!
Sam is so cute!! My furry little one has an instagram as well — would love to have you follow him 🙂 or your readers! Find him at @cutelittleterror
I love stationery all kinds. Like a brand new blue pen gives me a lot of joy.
I was JUST saying yesterday how festive socks are one of my favs! Just broke out the St. Patty’s Day socks yesterday. but it’s not out of the ordinary to find me in Christmas socks in the middle of April 🙂
We have a Beabull so finding Beabulls of Instagram made my day a few weeks ago! I find myself smiling at my phone looking through pictures of dogs that look just like ours. I can totally relate to the joy it brings to see photos of dogs like the one you love!
Ditto on the socks. Currently wearing a pair of Chip and Dale socks (favorite Disney characters) at work right now actually, with some high-heeled boots. Grown business woman on top, young girl on the inside. 😉
And two more things to make the odd 3: a good book and blanket during a rain storm, or sitting fireside with a hot cup of coffee or tea and a loved one – human or pet beasty, same as you!
What a great list for a Monday afternoon. I love going out for coffee. I rarely do it because I can get free coffee at work (it is pretty much the worst coffee ever, though), so when I treat myself to Starbucks, it feels so special!
Baby giggles and my first sip of coffee every morning- perfection!
Baby laughs are wonderful! You can never be down or upset with a giggling baby around!
I love going to the library too. The little things for me include walking with friends, reading a good book, and yoga!
I love hilarious group texts! My two roommates and I have had an ongoing group text for over a year now. It’s so funny!
I love my quiet morning walks with my 14 mo old. It’s so peaceful and sweet and I have plenty of time to reflect on how lucky I am 🙂
Omg!! I squealed with excitement when I opened this because I thought FOR SURE it was a pregnancy announcement!! Ahh!
But, it was still a cute post 🙂
Reading this very morning, of course! 🙂
Sadly, Pinterest (where I found your blog) gives me great joy every day. I spend about an hour (or more) every night pinning upcoming projects, recipes, organizational tips, fashion, etc. I also enjoy my coffee… there is nothing like sitting at a coffee house working and sipping on a mocha. But of course, my greatest joy of all are my kids (albeit, college kids now). It is quite an experience watching them grow and develop. My favorite thing to do is to watch them play sports!!! I am a sports junkie and super lucky they play collegiate sports. 🙂 (and colored gel pens make me happy!)
All of these little things are wonderful! I love my morning coffee, the way Layla (my lab) stretches when she wakes up, sleeping with the windows open, and opening a new jar of peanut butter. Thank you for making me take the time to appreciate the little things. xoxo
Mine would most DEFINITELY be coming home to my Yorki-poo (she’s cooler than the name) wagging her tail and running in circles at the top of the steps when I get home from work. That precious little girl makes ANY day better!
It’s impossible for me to look at that cat with eyebrows (?!!) and not laugh out loud.
I share many of your same joys, but I would have to say Louie has brought my whole family so much joy these last six months. Joy that we didn’t even know was missing in our lives!
Oooh I used to love gel pens!!!! Reminds me of high school!!!! 🙂
Julie,
I completely share your love of a capella groups! I highly recommend Duwende (they have a ton of videos on youtube, a friend of mine is in the group!), Take 6 or SoVoSo!
I have to agree on all of those! Others of mine include my Pandora stations playing a bunch of great songs in a row, drinking hot chocolate when it’s cold/raining outside, finding $$ in your pocket, and being greeted by your dog at the front door 🙂
I love anything Christmas related anytime of the year. I can usually be seen crying at the mention of a Christmas song mid-July. No joke. I just love it so much!
Awww I really liked this post Julie!!! There are so many little things that make me happy… spending time with my family, time at the lake, reading a good book, knitting, afternoon rain showers, surprising a friend, comfort foods, light from lamps, and so many of the things you mentioned above…
Did you know that Straight No Chaser has a special coming on PBS on the 16th of this month? It’s on my PBS station at 5:30pm on 3/16 (this coming Saturday). I know y’all got rid of cable, but if you still have TV at all you should get PBS, right?! I was going to send you an email about it but figured I’d just leave it in this comment instead. Hope you get to watch it!
One of my simple joys is cuddling up in bed with the Hubbs when we lay down, gives us a little alone time without bulldogs in our face and a good cuddle is always nice! 🙂
Jigsaw puzzles! Sometimes I feel like an 80 year old woman inside a 23 year old’s body but I love to sit and work on a 1000 piecer for hours straight!
I love when conversations just starting getting ridiculous and everything becomes so exaggerated and sarcastic haha! For some reason, I also love the moments when you exaggerate things in your mind and you end up getting this stupid grin on your face. Another thing I love is my dog’s face when he does something bad. He gets those HUGE eyes and you can see the whites/glossy look. I cave. Immediately. It just makes me bust up laughing because I think of the Puss ‘n Boots look from Shrek.
Love this post and all the comments!
The first cup of coffee in the morning, finishing a good workout, waking up early on a Saturday when the whole weekend awaits, my dog’s enthusiasm every day when I get home, drinking and eating from oversized mugs, hugs and kisses from nieces and nephews, the feel of the breeze on my skin when sitting on the beach or on a boat ride on the river…I could go on and on! Life is crazy and life is messy but so many of the little things make it all worthwhile!
I love new notebooks and opening a new pack of black pens. Also, pancakes always make me really happy!