things i love: the thanksgiving edition

Happy Thanksgiving to my stateside readers, and to all others, happy Thursday!

My last post Things I Love post was over three months ago; I find that there is no better time than Thanksgiving Day to bring the column* back. Truth be told, I miss writing a weekly (give or take) list of things that made me inexplicably happy. After all, writing sheds perspective while materializing whatever it is you’re thinking or feeling at the moment: it’s a powerful thing.

Too often we’re so focused on the trivial that we forget moments, however great or small, that had us smiling and stopping to smell the roses. Somehow, it’s far easier to overlook happiness than it is to let overwhelm or anger consume us. I’m not sure why that is – to be happy is the natural state of mind; look at babies and children! – but I want to change that. Cynicism isn’t “cool,” it’s cowardly. Happiness is result of proactive action: to be optimistic and to always be grateful is what carries you forward.

At first, it might be difficult to come up with a list of Things You Love, but it’s not about quantity. Slow down and concentrate on the positive. Write anything and everything that made you even the teensiest bit happy: this list is for you.

You choose your happiness. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. So go! Start writing a list: keep a journal, a note in your smartphone, or a daily/weekly tweet. If you’re more visual, document it all on Instagram. (I’m partial to both!) Regardless of how you choose to do it, do it. Make Thanksgiving the day you start.

Spotted, an army of Rodarte x Starbucks coffee mugs at one of my most frequented haunts. (This is a fabulous Christmas present for all the caffeine addicts and fashionistas in your life!)

A much-need Starbucks in a sweetness overload, literally and figuratively.

This needs no caption…

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• Rodarte x Starbucks coffee mug. Where does one begin? I like my coffee. I like my tea. I like the democratization of fashion (challenging designers with creativity and affordability), and I am pro-going green. I also like pretty things. And Starbucks. This just made sense (and makes my mornings infinitely lovelier).
  
• Sushi dinner dates. Friends and sushi. All a girl could ask for.
• Instagram. An endless pool of inspiration at my fingertips mean that sparkle comes easily even in the midst of a terribly monotonous lecture (sorry, Professor!). I’m also more inclined and motivated to snap photos wherever I go – a new hobby that has me realizing that photography makes me happy.
• Being selected to participate in the LeiVanKash x Nokia Lumia 900 competition. Because the challenge requires us to create a moodboard for LVK (the winner gets to co-design a new piece for her next collection!), my eyes are opened at all times for potential. Perspective is everything. It’s both incredibly exciting and flattering to have been chosen. I love that we’re armed with a shiny new gadget with which we’re meant to play photographer with.
• Feeling re-inspired. I’m buying glossies again and reading them cover to cover – something I haven’t done in a few months. There’s just something about fall spreads I find incredibly beautiful – magazines always seem to up the ante for their September on through the holiday season. Fall and winter are magical. Absolutely.
• Polyvore. Creating is invigorating (but detrimental for either my heart/wallet).
• Tracy Anderson. I love her. My body loves her. This reminds me: I’ll be in desperate need of at least an hour and a half of her mat workout post-Thanksgiving dinner.
• Gala Darling reading (and loving!) my self-love piece before re-tweeting it (!!). This required an insta-screenshot moment, as you would imagine. If you missed that piece, read it here.

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“The most important thing in life is your family. There are days you love them, and others you don’t, but in the end they’re the people you always come home to. Sometimes it’s the family you’re born into, and sometimes it’s the one you make for yourself.”

– Sex and the City

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x

Editor’s Notes:

* Inspired by Gala Darling, of course!