Twenty-Nine and Thirty

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Good things from these past two weeks: Getting to work early, and leaving early. Reading fun books, and finishing two. Taking a new, better route to work, and walking more in the morning. Seeing a sunflower on a cloudy day, and a monarch butterfly on a sunny one. Pink skies on the walk home, and black raspberry ice cream, kiddie size, to go. Walking by the river, and perching in a cozy cafe, surrounded by books. 

Twenty-Seven and Twenty-Eight

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It's been busy lately, but here are some good things from lately: strawberries and cream. Getting compliments. Having a slow weekend. Free lunch-turned-dinner. Pad thai for take-away when it threatened to rain. Getting to write opinions. Video rewards. Chill music and taking a day off. Checking out the Public Gardens for the first time in a while. Photographing the swans. The train waiting for me. A walk down Newbury Street on Friday. Getting to the weekend. 

Twenty-Six

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Good things from this week: Train expressing on Monday. Seeing a full rainbow, live. Seeing "Life of Pi" for at-home movie night. And probably the best thing: finally getting to sink my toes into the sand for the holiday weekend, in the place I used to spend my childhood summers. 

Twenty-Five

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Good things from this week: jogging by the water. The train expressing on Monday morning. Finally baking chocolate fondant. Tasting the first berries of the season. Discovering Prince's "The Beautiful Ones," and then hearing "Raspberry Beret" outside days later. Finally getting Anna Karenina and other books I've been meaning to read. Stumbling upon a bestseller at the library by chance. Getting to write part of an opinion. Getting to the weekend.

Twenty-Four

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Good things from this week. Buying za'atar for the first time ever. Cooking from Soframiz. Freshening my wardrobe up a bit. Celebrating my mom's birthday. More after-dinner walks. Finishing 2 books this week, including Talking As Fast As I Can. Getting really excited about a giant book sale happening next week in my State. Having the train "express" on Friday. Having a schedule mix-up lead to hearing "Tangled Up in Blue" in the subway and a great jazz ensemble in Harvard Square. The Esplanade. Always the Esplanade.  

Twenty-Three

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Good things from this week: walking along the Esplanade and writing by the water. Making homemade zhoug and hummus for the first time. Eating chocolate petit fours and reading about cakes and music in Vienna. Hearing Sgt Pepper on the radio. Popping into libraries and bookstores; adding to my never-ending list. Grimmie's album out today. Finishing Bird by Bird. At-home movie night. After-dinner walks and gorgeous pink sunsets. So many opportunities planned for this weekend, like a birthday that calls for chocolate fondant, and jogging. "Gonna be sublime." 

Twenty-two

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Can't believe it's June already. Good things from lately: having been absolutely enthralled by Tchaikovsky: Pro et Contra. Catching up with my closest friend over vegan lavender ice cream. Starting work, and learning so much. Finishing How to Be Parisian (finally), and plotting to make chocolate fondant. Taking time to read on the train. Getting excited about taking the "T" everywhere I want to go. Getting excited to make all of the things I've wanted to make. Going on after-dinner strolls. (The best, and something I now look forward to!) Coming home from the library with armfuls of books. Getting time off by taking the evenings off. Delighting in the start of the summer. At-home movie night this weekend, with a movie I've been wanting to see. 

Twenty and Twenty-One

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And so summer begins. Things I've been grateful for lately, or just little good things in my life: getting an extension on my paper, and finally turning it in Wednesday (and again, unofficially, yesterday). Realizing that I wrote something the length of a thesis in a semester, and feeling good about that. 

Getting incredibly excited to dress up and see the ballet tonight. It's been so long since I've seen any shows, and I'll be viewing this one with prime seats and fantastic music. Can't beat Tchaikovsky when it comes to ballet, I think. 

Looking forward to all the time I'll have to read and jog along the Esplanade. Finally, hopefully, getting Hillbilly Elegy and Tender is the Night off my list. Breaking in my lime green headphones. Maybe seeing some old movies for at-home movie nights. Hopefully getting that blue mascara I've been thinking of, to wear on weekends, and some Korean beauty products. 

Scallion pancakes for Saturday morning breakfast, and an amazing "home-made" chocolate-tahini spread that I can't get my spoon out of. So many good recipes to try for the summer. 

Looking forward to working in my favorite area of law this summer. Hoping it goes well. Hoping to learn a lot. 

Making plans with friends for later this summer. Starting with ice cream, the reward I'd planned for myself for so long. 

Finally cleaning my space, and dreaming up changes for the fall. 

I think it'll be a good summer. I really do. 

Eighteen and Nineteen

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Some good things from recently, while I take a breather from finals and papers. Getting my dream summer job. Hearing from my close friends. Having help over for a few days. Rosewater body-wash. Crabtree & Evelyn rosewater hand lotion (on my "to-buy" or "to-gift" list.) Little hilarity. Retro-sounding music. The long walk I got to take last night. Planned early bedtimes. Lavender tea. Chocolate, and planned chocolate tahini spread. All of the tulips and other flowers finally popping up. Pink flowers sprinkled on the ground like confetti. Considering blue mascara. Coconut crackers from Korea that smell like summer. The closeness of summer, but also the rewards that await if I hold on for a few more days.  Little cute things, like Gudetama.

Sixteen and Seventeen

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Good things from the past two weeks: Getting the chance to submit a second first draft of my paper. Getting my care package, and finding so much joy in this cookbook. Baking my first challah in a while, but with a scallion pancake twist (courtesy of said cookbook). Jogging along the Esplanade. Seeing Judge Garland live. (He's funny!) Hearing the LA Phil and Leila Josefowicz play "Scheherazade" on the radio. Getting to drink fancy English tea with lavender. Listening to Side B. Drinking fresh mint tea. Getting to see my friends. Getting exciting about the classes I hope to take next semester. And finally, spring, springing! We don't have as much blooming as shown the above picture, but May will be beautiful! 

Fifteen

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Good things from this week: a four-day weekend at home. Getting to enjoy spring weather, finally. (That should be underlined!) Driving with the windows down and the wind in my hair. The first spring flowers. No socks, no jacket. An exam care package, featuring honey lavender tea, lime green headphones, and this bubbly cookbook, on its way. Fueling my paper with a strawberry and creme frappe. Making time for an old movie, and an evening off. Dark chocolate-eating and bookstore-browsing. Getting to extend my time at home. 

Fourteen

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Good things from an it's-finally-Friday week: peanut-butter chocolate squares. Getting excited about writing. Peace and quiet in the library. The "Stress Relief" playlist on Spotify (so good!). Talks on topics that I've been thinking about. Finally getting my car fixed. Friday pie. Taking care of a deadline early. Wondering what SCOTUS decisions will look like in the next few months. Excellent food and opportunities to chat with friends (especially needed today). The rabbits on campus. Two chances to go home coming up so soon. Getting more time to read. The way the city smells before and after rain.  

Thirteen

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As I watch the snow falling outside my window, taking a few minutes to reflect on the week before: Turkish-style breakfast over the weekend. Stocking up on ginger citrus tea. Talking about constitutional law. Dark-chocolate-dipped mango with crushed pistachios for snacks. Getting enough research points for a finals care package (now, what to put in it without breaking the research points bank?). Thinking of research ideas quickly, and sharing them. Crossing off a "to-do" from my list. Making it to the weekend. Plotting for some welcome days "off" in April.

Twelve

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Some good things from a long, exhausting week: Doing interesting research and questioning the assumptions that people often make. The gifts I hope to give myself with my research points, as the perfect exam care kit, as well as belated birthday gift. Everything roses (if only in my imagination). Soothing music. Spring cleaning. And spring itself. Getting "study-spiration" just when I need it. "Sleeping in" a bit. Ending the week with tea, chocolate and peanut butter pie, and some much-needed finally quiet "me" time. 

Ten and Eleven

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Some good things from the past two weeks: 

Spring Break, and two books finished (Being Mortal and Interpreter of Maladies). Baking a chocolate coffee cake. Playing in Harvard Square, even if I didn't go home with the book I wanted. Spending time at home with family.

A surprisingly useful presentation on publishing. A much-needed snow day. A new-found obsession with pink roses. Sleeping in. Scrambled egg on toast with spinach. Taking time to myself. Having a great hair day. A really great and productive meeting. Journaling. Grocery-list making, Iron Chef style. Research points and more books. Great weather, even if it has been on and off. 

Nine

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Good things from this week: Some little things this time: thinking of new ideas. Taking opportunities to avoid traffic. This colorful productivity tool, and a calming desktop background. An unseasonably warm day. The start of spring break, with free time for working on my note and for relaxing. A round-table to look forward to when I get back, and we'll be one week closer to spring.

Eight

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Good things from this week: Starting off the week with a fun meeting, and ending it with a version of a work product. Getting a day off. A delicious dinner (the salad version of this sandwich). A surprisingly warm February day. Finally applying for jobs. Feeling inspired, feeling creative. Feeling like my dreams can come true.

Sounds from the week: Blackfield V, Paper Parachute.

Seven

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Little good things from this week: reading 1920s slang. Giving out little gifts to friends. Making time for me. Learning new things. Catching up with a friend spontaneously. Friday morning drives with CD accompaniment. A pot of tea with cinnamon and ginger. Pajamas fresh from the dryer. A load of laundry done right before the weekend  begins. Moments of quiet. A few hours of rest. Sleep, soon. 

Six

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Good things to remember from this week: making pizza after reading Brand X (in a nod to Scalia's dissent),  a much-needed snow day, much-needed moments of quiet, reading a Fitzgerald story I had never heard of, researching the foods of the 1920s and plotting a 20s-themed birthday party for next year, planning treats for Galentine's Day (topped with rainbow sprinkles), painting my nails a festive pink, and tidying up my bookshelf. Looking forward to the coming week.

Five

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Some good things from this week: making progress on my paper.  Meeting with my favorite adviser on it, and realizing that hey, I am doing really well. Learning a lot. Taking time to myself this past weekend. Making time to watch a documentary on the Fitzgeralds because I wanted to. Finally experiencing some quiet at home. Reading caselaw that makes me feel like I'm time-traveling. Having friends who care about me, and friends who I care about. Listening to a CD in the car on Fridays. Going out for Indian food with my school friends, in a new part of town.

Two to Four

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cooking: homemade pizza. | drinking: tea. 

reading: caselaw, mostly. 

Before I went to school, though, I finished The World According to Star Wars, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Namesake, Today Will Be Different, The Opposite of Fate, and Sphinx.

listening: now, to relaxing spa music with piano and flowing water. Earlier, in my con law class, to Django Reinhardt. What a sound!

watching: YouTube videos, occasionally. 

bookmarking: recipes for the week. Burrito bowls are in my future.
looking: forward to the weekend, and the week ahead. 

doing: research, finally. 

loving: the quiet I'm finally experiencing at home.

wondering: what the near future will look like. | hoping: it'll be pretty awesome.

wanting: more good days. | needing: some quiet time.

wearing: blue jeans and a grey sweatshirt. 

smelling: the pizza I just cooked.
noticing: the good little things. | knowing: that everything will be OK.

laughing: at some judges' hilarious thoughts.

thinking: about the coming week, and the coming month.

daydreaming: about a Spring Break trip to Harvard Square to haunt an old bookstore. 

wishing: for more moments like this, and for other good ones. 

feeling: okay. | grateful: that I'm taking the night off. And that he agreed. 

One

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So here we are in 2017.

January is always a fun month for me because it's my birthday month. Today was a good one. It was unseasonably warm outside, and I took advantage of the weather while getting some last minute items for my home-made Momofuku Birthday Cake. I also kept my birthday traditions of rainbow sprinkles on my dessert, a blue candle to wish on, and vegetarian pho for dinner. Other highlights include our small family meal, toasting with wine, and La Vie En Rose playing in the bookstore earlier in the day.

I've got plans to stretch out the fun for a bit longer, like waiting for my birthday presents to arrive, going to Sephora, drinking some new-to-me teas, and relaxing a bit more.

I hope this year is the best one yet. Cheers to that!