Favorite Things, Part I

A long time ago, a friend told me to do a blog post about my favorite things. I have been turning the idea over and over ever since (and it was a long time ago). I decided to break it up into parts. Today's is a little more of the personal side. (Please ignore my tell-not-show writing style here, and forgive me. One of these days I'll have more time for a show-not-tell post.) Later, I'll do fun gear. Because everyone likes gear.

One of my favorite things about my relationship with my husband happens when we are watching a scene on TV or a scene unfold in public, and we look at each other, and we just KNOW what the other person is thinking. A small shake of the head, a smile, or a glance, and it's a whole conversation. It makes me light up inside.

One of my favorite things about my family is that we actually love to spend time together. We genuine interest in each other, and we are all kind to each other, and to others out in the world--I'm very lucky that I am surrounded by such generous people--with their time, their love, their enthusiasm, and their support when things get rough. I have a deep sense of admiration for these people.

One of my favorite things about my friends is that I can always, always, always count on them to pick me up. Time and again, my friends say and do things that keep me real, cheer me up, and remind me not to take everything so seriously. And we can always make each other laugh. And god knows, I love laughing. We are so good at entertaining each other.

One of my favorite ways to spend time is reading magazines, especially ones with in-depth features (think Esquire, Rolling Stone (though I don't read that one much these days), Bitch, Bust, Vanity Fair, New York, New Yorker) and home decorating (Elle Decor, the beloved but defunct Domino, ReadyMade, etc.). I love getting lost in other people's lives, ways to see the world, and how people live. One of my favorite parts of traveling is the send-off...getting to the airport and splurging on all the great magazines at the newsstands.

Which brings me to one of my favorite things about myself--this one was hard. I think one of my favorite things about myself is my sense of curiosity. I like to learn about other people and their lives, what makes them tick, how they live, how to do new things, or how the world goes 'round. I'm truly curious, and I hope I never lose that sense of wanting to learn, wanting to be surprised, and constantly finding signs that humanity isn't totally cracked.