red wine There are a lot of things that make us happy, that make us smile. But what about all those little things those seemingly unimportant, often overlooked things that bring us a HUGE, disproportionate amount of joy? Last night while sitting down to eat dinner it occurred to me that my steak knives make me really happy! They aren’t the most expensive steak knives on the market, they were given to me as a gift yet I love them every time I use them.

Gwynn and I often point out to each other the little things that make us just oh so happy. Here are a few of the small things that make me disproportionately happy.

1. Waking up on Sunday, thinking it’s Monday and then realizing it’s actually Sunday! Come on you know you’ve done it…doesn’t that just make your whole entire Sunday? When that happens we pretty well prance around the house like we’ve somehow magically manufactured a day out of thin air. This makes for a pretty extra special end to the weekend.

2. Green lights all the way home. This one makes me feel like someone is looking down on me, smiling and saying “There you go, now you have a great day!”. I love it when it feels like things just work.

3. Label maker. We’ve had a label maker for nearly 7 years now and I love it. It seems everything is labeled from shelves and containers to racks and bins. This is one thing visitors to our home can’t resist poking fun at but we know they’re just secretly jealous ;)

4. A new notebook. I love getting a new note book. There is just something about cracking open a fresh, clean, crisp notebook. Couple this with a great pen and life really doesn’t get much better!

5. Our kitchen knives. This one is probably the biggest example of disproportionate happiness for us. Oh our kitchen knives. Every-single-time we use them they create such a huge amount of joy :) I know you’re thinking “but they’re just knives…” If you love cooking, and don’t already use Global knives, you really should give them a try. They are not cheap but they are certainly worth the money, in our opinion. There are just some things where quality trumps price…and this is one of them for us!

6. When plans don’t go according to plan. There are times when we make plans with friends or family to get together and then they fall through. It’s not that we don’t want to see these people but there is a disproportionate amount of joy associated with scoring some free time just for ourselves when it was unexpected.

7. A good bottle of wine. This is especially true after we’ve had a run of particularly bad ones. It’s absolutely lovely to have a great bottle of red to break the trend.

Quirky I know and even just listing them here I feel all sunny and chipper. How about you? Is it the coin sorter at your bank? Receiving something in the mail that you’ve been waiting for? How about finding $20 in your jacket pocket, a full season later?  Please share with me the quirky little things that make you disproportionately happy, so I know I’m not alone.

Photo courtesy of: jenny downing

See also:
The World Around You Is An Amazing Place – Take Time To See It

Don’t Worry, Be Happy!

A Friday Night Out – At Home