Sometimes the littlest things can be the happiest of things if we just take time to notice.
- Looking down at the carpet of leaves, looking up at the canopy of leaves, and hearing them crunch beneath my feet.
- Going out of my way to use my favourite mug as much as possible. It really does make coffee taste better.
- Nice-smelling soap. What a joy to wash my hands – or dishes – and simultaneously get to enjoy some aromatherapy.
Your turn. What little joys have you identified this week? Do you always smell soap before you buy it? Do you have a “favourite” mug? Do you get to experience the joys of fall foliage where you live?
Ally Bean
I always smell the soap before buying it. I have a favorite coffee mug. Doesn’t everyone? And I enjoy fall leaves in all their manifestations. Your three joys ring true with me.
Elisabeth
I feel like not everyone has a favourite mug. Honestly, until this year I didn’t have a runaway favourite. But now there is no competition. I was bereft this morning because I did not time the dishwasher correctly and had to drink my morning coffee out of a less favourite mug. AND IT DIDN’T TASTE AS GOOD.
sarah
I am SO with you on the mug/taste correlation 🙂
Elisabeth
Amen, sister.
Suzanne
Yes I always smell soap before I buy it. Good smelling hand soap is definitely a small joy.
Watching a movie with my kiddo is another one. And buying flowers at the grocery store.
Elisabeth
Awww. Watching movies with kids is great.
I love going in and kissing my kids on their cheek when they’re sleeping. It’s a last vestige of “babyhood” and I know (already happens) the days will soon be over when they’re asleep before I am.
You know how I feel about fresh flowers, but I 100% see why this is a joy <3
Jenny
OH YES on the mugs! My Christmas mugs will all be out starting Friday and I can’t wait. And I love scented soaps- I need some Christmas-y ones.
No foliage here. But now that it’s not so, so hot, I’m enjoying looking at all the palm trees in the bright sunshine. Florida life, ha!
Elisabeth
I cannot wait to see all your holiday mugs on display. YOU DO SEASONAL DECOR and MUGS RIGHT <3
Joy
Yes, I always smell soap before buying and just stocked up on Mrs Meyer’s Iowa Pine because it’s my favorite.
I have two favorite mugs–one for coffee and one for tea. 🙂
Yes to leaves.
I love the sound of geese flying overhead this time of year and will stop whatever I’m doing to watch and listen.
I love my local classical radio station’s annual countdown of listener favorites each year on Thanksgiving week.
Elisabeth
I have a Williams Sonoma pine dish soap someone gifted me this summer and I need to bring it upstairs this week!
Brilliant to have a favourite mug for coffee and tea.
J
I don’t smell soap, but I buy the same brands over and over. The one I like for the downstairs bathroom is a gel soap that smells like lavender. The upstairs bathrooms are unscented foaming soaps. The kitchen is a honeysuckle scented gel soap, but it’s so mild I don’t really notice.
The fall foliage is out and proud right now, and I am loving it. My walks are in the morning, and I think I need to make a plan for an afternoon walk over the Thanksgiving break, because the afternoon light is great with Autumn leaves.
I do have a favorite mug. I got it at the Supreme Court in Washington DC a few years ago. The logo or whatever faded off in the dishwasher, so now it’s just a dark blue, but it is still my favorite, it just feels right to me.
I’ve noticed our local cranes (egrets?) flying overhead lately. They are not migrating or anything, just getting from point A to point B, but I love watching them fly for some reason.
Elisabeth
Afternoon light is the perfect time in autumn. Agreed.
And that’s two votes for birds flying overhead!
Colleen Martin
Oh yes, the coffee tastes better in the favorite mug just like the car runs better when it’s cleaned 🙂
Elisabeth
Great comparison! The house always feels happier when it’s freshly cleaned, we go out, and then come home and things look – for a brief moment at least – orderly and calm!
Kyria @ Travel Spot
I love the crunch of leaves, and definitely have a favorite mug!! I am actually sitting in my parents’ dining room, looking out at the maple leaves, both on the trees and in the yard. They are beautiful! Also it is about 34 degrees out but we are warm and fuzzy inside, which is a blessing!
Elisabeth
This all sounds absolutely DELIGHTFUL! I’m assuming there has been/will be much delicious food involved as well.
mbmom11
I have favorite mug – it’s short but wide and the tea cools a little quicker. My little joy is the early morning taking my daughter out to the bus and seeing the black tree branches against the morning sunrise, with a few stars left in the west.
I only buy unscented soaps, so I do sniff to make sure it’s really unscented. (Clear does not mean unscented unfortunately.)
Elisabeth
Love that you have something that brings delight early in the day; that makes it extra special, I think?
NGS
I do love walking the dog and crunching the leaves. It’s like a sensory experience for ALL the senses – the sound, the feel of the crunch below your feet, the earthy smell, the way the world looks so colorful.
Elisabeth
Yes, yes, yes. The only difference is I walk humans that are quasi under voice command (and do not require a leash, though it surely would have come in handy when they were toddlers!)…
Allison McCaskill
What kind of weirdo doesn’t smell soap before buying it?? I have become rather dependent on more expensive soap in the shower lately, which is a bit of a problem (a very little bit).
Yesterday I was off, and I cleaned off the kitchen table and wiped it down before arranging my computer, my water, and the cards I was about to write in a neat and orderly fashion, and it was so satisfying.
Elisabeth
I feel like it would be shocking (and to you and I, appalling) how many people just grab soap without smelling. That would DEFINITELY be my father, for example.
Starting with a “clean slate” is one of the absolute best feelings in the world for me.
Lindsay
My daughter and I watched a show before she went to bed last night and her little hand held mine for the whole thing and it was just perfect! I am allergic to so many scents that I am almost afraid to smell soaps in public lest I go into a sneezing fit (same with candles). I do have a favorite mug and my tea tastes better in it!!
Elisabeth
Oh, Lindsay. You both need so much joy and comfort right now in the middle of grief. This does sound perfect and I’m so glad you got to share that special moment together <3
This responses in this comment section prove forever that THE MUG MATTERS!
San
You know I am the BIGGEST fan of a favorite mug for my morning coffee. It really makes the day better! I also love a carpet of leaves and nice-smelling soap is a true joy. I agree with all of these, Elisabeth! 🙂
Elisabeth
Happy day – mugs, soap, and leaves are all quite lovely <3
Lisa's Yarns
I do not have a favorite mug! We have 8 coffee mugs – the style is the exact same but 4 are yellow and 4 are red. I do not collect mugs or add mugs to our collection because the 8 we have fit perfectly in our cupboard. The cupboard they are in has a glass front so I like that they are all the same. It’s more visually appealing for me than a hodge podge of mugs would be. But I think I am in the minority in loving coffee but being kind of indifferent about the mug (so long as it has a comfortable handle as our mugs do).
Those leaves are so pretty! Ours are pretty much all gone here! Womp womp.
Elisabeth
This does not surprise me Lisa and I wasn’t AS enamored until I got a mug that 100% does make my coffee taste better. We definitely have a hodge podge and I love it, but only for mugs and not much else in the kitchen.
Lisa's Yarns
I do have a beloved unique mug for my coffee at work, though. I got it as a gift from my retired colleagued for my birthday years ago. It looks like a library card and has the best mug handle (I am EXTREMELY particular about mug handles!! I have small hands so you wouldn’t think they would feel cramped in mugs often but many mugs have horrible handle designs).
But yes, my indifference about mugs is very on brand for me. I’m glad you get me. I fear some people think – wow, she’s “fun.” 😉
Elisabeth
The handle makes ALL the difference. And the thickness of the mug. Too thick and it feels clunky; to thin and it burns my hands.
But I agree 100% on the handle. It shouldn’t be so hard to get it right, but it is. And finding one that’s perfect is a joy, indeed.
Now I realllllyyy want a picture of this mug!!! Library card? How fitting <3
I think we pretty much get each other on everything?!!! Even the things were we differ I feel like I can appreciate and understand your "brand" as you call it (and vice versa) <3
Jan Coates
Yes! I love when a friend gives me some nice soap – then I’m always smelling my hands. Plus it reminds me to wash them more frequently. I’m home now, if you want to get together…
Elisabeth
Emailing you now <3
Shelly
I have a couple of favourite mugs. Helps for when one is in the dishwasher! I realized a travel cup I had bought for coffee was the reason I thought our coffee at work tasted terrible. I spent a long time smelling soaps at a craft sale before I bought some. I’m sure the vendor wondered if I would ever be done but it has to resonate with me! A happy moment was last night before bed and we were all in the kitchen. I was commenting how my son’s backpack feels like he has a cement block in it. And my son E smiled and said “oh yeah”, walks over to his backpack and pulls a literal brick from his bag. We all laughed and laughed. It turns out he brought it to school to use for a cave drawing activity and FORGOT it was in his bag. He was walked a 15 minute home several times carrying that in his jam packed bag. It was a sweet moment in the muddy angst of dealing with tween/teenagers.
Elisabeth
Yes! I just got a new (thrifted) mug yesterday and I’m excited to have a new favourite backup mug.
Saying soap “resonates” sounds a bit much…but yes to this 1000X over. I am looking for a very specific scent profile. Plus, I think it’s fun to smell them all!
And that backpack story is the best parenting anecdote I’ve heard in a LONG time. Hilarious. AN ACTUAL BRICK. Hahahaha.
coco
serving wear makes a big difference. I also love using my favorite bowl for my morning oatmeal.
Elisabeth
Yes! Favourite bowls – I have several <3
Tobia | craftaliciousme
Lovely little joys. The liquid soap we buy is always the same. And I have been gifted so much soap I am not buying any until it is all gone. I think I am down to the last two bars right now.
My little joy: opening the window and taking a breath if crisp wet fall air – almost wintery. Also a pot of steaming coffee on a very exhausted day.
Elisabeth
Love those inhales of crisp, fresh air. My favourite thing about fall.
Ernie
I do not drink coffee and therefore I do not have a favorite mug. But I believe you that it enhances your coffee drinking.
I love festive soaps at the holidays but we always use standard soaps and the big refills from Costco. I plan to treat myself this year by investing in some special soaps. It is the little things after all.
Elisabeth
I mostly just by refills, too, so don’t tend to jump on the festive scents bandwagon (though someone gifted me some “pine” dish soap so I plan to pull that out Dec 1st). But, I always smell my body wash and dish soap before I buy it and have some scents I actively dislike and always avoid and some I really love. It’s just a little extra oomph to my day, but it can make a difference.
Stephany
My favorite coffee mug is the one Anne got for me for San’s mug swap last year! It has cats and books on it – what’s not to love?
I don’t always smell soaps before I buy them because I usually just add them to my Target cart for pickup when I need them. I’ve been burned by that before, though, as I recently got a soap that had a really odd smell to it. Now let’s hope I remember NOT to get that scent the next time I need more hand soap!
Elisabeth
I remember that mug and I can see why it’s a favourite <3
Kate
I’m 100% with you on the soaps. It’s such a simple but intense burst of sensory joy! I splurge on the Bath and Body Works seasonal soaps (although I wait for sales to stock up) and it’s so worth it to me.
My latest little joy is a handpainted watercolor card my friend sent to me last month. She homeschools her four kids, has a baking business on the side, and somehow manages to create beautiful paintings in her spare time. In itself the card is beautiful, but every time I see it I’m also reminded of her friendship, and I feel so blessed!
Elisabeth
Thanks for sharing the watercolour card story; what a lovely gift of both her talents and knowledge of her friendship <3
Joy
I think I was there when you took this picture! Fully agree with all three! Hand/dish soap in a favorite scent is a pick-me-up every time. Sometimes I reserve a special scent for winter when I need extra little perks.
Elisabeth
You were with me!!! What a lovely day that was <3