5 Things Making Me Happy Lately 💫

A random list of things that have been making me happy and might make you happy, too.

Well, friends, we made it to daylight savings! It was a dark and rainy winter here in the Pacific Northwest (ok, it’s always a dark and rainy winter here) so I’m looking forward to extra evening light, more time outside, and all the birds and butterflies making their return. (Check out this epic sunset the other night!)

In the meanwhile, if you need an extra dose of happiness (not sure why you’d need this, everything in the world is totally normal and fine!!), keep reading for some random things I’ve loved lately.

(Full disclosure, I feel somewhat silly creating one of these “my favorite things” newsletters. Who do I think I am, Oprah? My friend Maggie always jokes about newsletters from authors being like, “Hey, you read my book, now buy these designer jeans I like!” But, I do want to use this platform to share what’s swirling around my cultural ecosystem, whether that’s jeans (don’t worry, it will never be jeans, lol), essays, or potty humor YouTube videos.)

So, here you go:

This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” about “The Art of Gathering” with author Priya Parker.

I lived communally until a couple years ago, so I’m always interested in how we come together in a society that’s designed to keep us apart (in single family homes, in remote jobs, in exhausting schedules that make us want to binge Netflix instead of meeting up with friends (I am very guilty of this lately!))

I haven’t read The Art of Gathering yet but have it on hold from the library and can’t wait to read.

This sketch from comedian Tim Robinson.

I somehow only recently discovered Tim Robinson (!!?!), a complete freak weirdo who is now one of my favorite funny people. His sketches are hit or miss, and I couldn’t quite finish his new show The Chair Company, but this skit is so fucking weird it gets me every time:

This essay, “Of Way Trails and Wolves” by my friend Caitlin Scarano.

In this piece, Caitlin—a poet and essayist who lives just up the hill from me here in Bellingham—writes beautifully about her first summer living in the Upper Skagit Valley and how it reshaped her definition of “wilderness.”

The essay is about wolves, but also about falling in love, solitude, and the relationships we build with everything around us: our partners, our environment, and even the living things we may never see.

Caitlin and I moved to the Upper Skagit the same summer—the season I met and fell in love with my husband, Pat—so this essay hit me especially hard. I hope you’ll read it and love it, too.

This trio of teas from Montana Tea & Spice

If you know, you know! This shit is life-altering; not sweet, but packed with flavor and spice. Evening in Missoula used to be my go-to, but Night on Glacier Bay has officially taken its place. You can buy them here.

These portraits of my husband and our biological child:

Pat showing off his new belly button bling (photo credit to Clayton Buffer) and Chapis sinking into our couch, slowly slipping into an alternate dimension where dogs own humans and they pick up OUR poos for unknown but possibly nefarious purposes.

Is something making you happy these days? If so, please share in a comment! These are fucked up times!