Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Daily Dose of Gratitude #76

1. Finally, a summer night warm enough for a sundress, no sweater (literally the first one all year!)

2. Walking around Berkeley after dark, in a sundress and sandals, eating popsicles.

3. A cool shower before bed to make a hot night more comfortable.

4. Someone else making good, strong coffee for you in the morning.

5. Feeling like all is basically right with the world.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Daily Dose of Gratitude #75

1. A rope swing out into a lake.


That is obviously not me on the swing -- it's my crazy boyfriend. I was either too wussy or too smart, depending on who you ask, to do it. That swing was HIGH. (For Bay Area folks, it's at Bass Lake in Pt Reyes. Be prepared for lots of skinny gay men in their skivvies hanging around the swing if you head out there :-)

2. Summer in the Bay Area, finally. Last night, I ate dinner on my porch in short sleeves and got to sleep with all the windows open and just a thin blanket for covers for the first time since last September. Seriously.

3. A Saturday afternoon spent canning, which led to a pantry full of delicious homemade pickles (dill and bread-and-butter) plus organic blackberry jam.

4. The glow of sunset on a bluff above the ocean.


Monday, August 16, 2010

Daily Dose of Gratitude #74


1. Weekend backpacking trips in the mountains (Desolation Wilderness, in this case. Stunning.)

2. Wildflowers

3. Clouds at sunset


4. Icy cold dips in alpine lakes.

5. Finally getting the hang of taking pictures of people:


Thursday, August 5, 2010

Daily Dose of Gratitude #73

1. A first-thing-in-the-morning email that makes you feel all glowy inside.

2. Drinking good wine and chatting while someone makes you a delicious dinner.

3. Black on the outside, red-on-the-inside plums.

4. The glow in my limbs that lasts for hours after a cold swim in the ocean.

5. This song:




Monday, August 2, 2010

Daily Dose of Gratitude #72

1. A gorgeous 25 mile bike ride in Petaluma, followed by wine tasting at my favorite winery.

2. Wild blackberries at the side of the road, warm in the sun.

3. My "baby" sister, who turns 25 today. I left home for college when she was only 9, so it took me a long time to feel like I really knew her as anything more than a sometimes annoying little kid. But I'm so proud of the wonderful adult she's become.

4. Charlotte's Web, which makes me bawl my eyes out every single time I read it (which is a LOT). And while I'm at it, other books from my childhood that still alternately utterly charm me and make me bawl: Tuck Everlasting, Where the Red Fern Grows, Bridge to Terabithia.

5. Quinoa and summer veggie salad (corn, beets, kale, tons of fresh herbs, local olive oil and vinegar, fresh mozzarella). Yum!