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+ The shaggy Dachshund that lives across the road from my house
+ A fresh, new little red Moleskine for keeping ideas in
+ Lovely lady dates involving cake
+ Dipping chocolate chip biscuits into hot Milo with my toddler mate
+ Putting together little packages for nice people
+ A pile of zines to read by the bed
+ A roaring, crackling fire
+ Finding pieces of fruit under furniture after Theo has gone home with tiny teeth marks on them
+ Packages bound with twine
+ Going out to see a great comedy show with my friend Jaine
+ Books that give great advice
+ Theo playing with the wooden train set I bought him for hours on end
+ Compliments from customers on my new glasses
+ An opshopping adventure in the works
+ Making up little melodies while I'm in the car

I've not been feeling much like myself lately. Getting out of bed each day has been especially difficult (not helped by the temperature being somewhere near zero each morning). I am trying to do some nice things for myself and have some nice moments. I just wanted to say so, to commit the feeling to paper and try to move on from it. I hope you're doing okay. 

+ when your garden has such nice flowers in it that you don't feel like you want to steal flowers from other people's gardens
+ a cat that is as committed to having a whole morning sleep-in as you are
+ blackwing pencils
+ people who let you in in traffic
+ old typographic signage
+ dancing toddlers
+ nail polish that stays unchipped for more than a day
+ interesting customers at work that make me feel like having unadulterated access to strangers is the best job ever
+ storage solutions
+ when your lipstick stills looks good at the end of the day
+ winning an award (especially when that award comes with a $500 cheque).
+ good advice
+ parking meters that still have an hour left in them when you arrive (conversely, i got my first parking ticket today, bummer!)
+ toblerone
+ gardening workouts
+ washi tape
+ putting together a care package for a friend who needs some tlc
+ vintage brooches
+ optimism
+ pesto

+ My cat looking at the moon.
+ Freesias & jasmine.
+ Toddlers eating icy poles.
+ The smell of gouache paint.
+ A clean work space.
+ Birds eating nectar.
+ Patting cats on the street.
+ Finishing an assignment on time (for once).
+ Dirty bare feet from playing in the yard.
+ Theo's dancing.
+ A cool breeze.
+ House plants.
+ Maple syrup.
+ Old books with lovely colour illustrations.
+ A bag of herbs left on your doorstep from a neighbour.
+ Funny little compliments from strangers ("I love your bag! It's pretty and shaped like a heart, just like you! I hope you have a wonderful life!" - Drunk French man at work).
+ Learning new skills (I'm a bit addicted to Skillshare).
+ Eating vegan cheesecake on the floor at Holly's house, reading her collage books.
+ A street fiesta.
+ Babycino moustaches.
+ Theo laughing at dogs we pass in the city (and pointing at them calling them cats).
+ More hours of sunlight in the day.
+ Waking up with a cat asleep on your belly.

I've got a little bit over two weeks until my folio for my degree is due. I'm making okay progress and I think I'll get it finished in time to a standard I'm happy with. C and Theo are going away to NSW for two weeks next Friday and I've not spent that amount of time by myself for about 5 years, so it will be interesting to see how I go. I do have to admit that C had to teach me how to use our washing machine (he always does our washing) and I'll have to learn how to make my own coffee in the morning. I have a kind of learned helplessness, where I've gotten so used to C doing certain things, I feel like I wouldn't be able to do them myself. But I think it will be good for me to spend some time taking care of myself. I plan on working really hard to finish my uni work, painting my piano (and maybe the ceiling in our lounge room), working on commissions, watching lots of Grand Designs, going to Film Society, gardening and rearranging furniture in our house. I am going to miss those boys so much, but they will be having a lovely time staying with family and going to the beach. Theo is going to love hanging out with his cousins so much and C is going to enjoy actually getting to have more conversations with adults and playing squash (his brother runs a squash court).

I really love this time of year. It seems kind of cliche to say so, but I can't help but feel positive when the end of the year approaches, the weather starts getting warmer and the days get longer. This year I feel like I've developed a lot as a creative person and I feel a lot more confident in myself. Since I was a kid a lack of self confidence and self esteem has stopped me from doing a lot of things, so it has been nice to push past some of that this year and feel proud of my achievements.

I might not get a chance to post again until my folio is finished, but I look forward to being on the other side of that due date and being able to post more often.

+ sharing a smile with a stranger
+ taking photos from the passenger seat
+ sprinkling herbs from our garden on everything I cook
+ trying lots of different teas at T2 (a tea shop where they have tiny little orange cups and jugs of tea that you can sample). There were so many I liked but the boxes didn't have prices on them, so I just assumed they were out of my price range!
+ tickling my baby and listening to his sweet giggles
+ neighbours who share their fruit and veggies with us (today: a huge bag of cherries and a more blueberries than I've ever seen in one place!)
+ finally organising a housewarming party. It will be a vinyl party, so our friends can bring their favourite records and we'll play them, or they can pick things from our collection.
+ Theo's ambitious crawling. Achievement unlocked! He crawls so well and so quickly and is so proud of himself. He can pull himself up to standing in his cot, but he had an altercation with the coffee table today where he tried so, so hard to pull himself up, but it just didn't quite happen.
+ C's delicious curries
+ finishing up painting my traffic controller box (bittersweet!)
+ replacing the battery in the bathroom scales and looking down at a number that didn't make me feel bad.
+ going on a movie date, sans baby. My mum took care of Theo one night while she was staying with us so that we could go to the first screening of Launceston Film Society for the year. We saw 'Enough Said' with Julia Louis-Dreyfus, James Gandolfini & Tavi and really enjoyed it.
+ bright blue nails
+ being nice to our garden
+ swapping a friend of ours a slow cooker for his food dehydrator (dried bananas, yay!)
+ trying on fancy dresses, even if I didn't end up buying any.
+ drawing with a really good black pen on white paper
+ everything Theo does. I love feeling those little pangs of joy in my chest.
+ coincidentally discovering that there is in fact a website dedicated to Little Joys.

What's bringing you joy?