I was planning on writing a post on the small things that make me happy – to make up for all the whining here – when I read the Ten Things of Thankful Post by Lizzi, and I decided it would be a good moment to participate at last. There are still many good things in my life, but of course all the bad sides make me write and whine a little. To give you a better view on what my life is currently, and to not scare you away with negativity, I’ll give you a list with ten things that light up my day.

1. The pleasure I still get from using my new bag (well, the one I bought in July – is that still new? It feels like it) and from wearing my heeled boots. Call it superficial, but they still make me feel good, fabulous and elegant. I love those things.

2. Or the pleasure I get from wearing my new winter vest, it’s the lightest shade of dark green, in combination with my green earrings, well, that can make me feel good. For real!

3. The beautiful autumn weather. It’s getting colder, but that’s okay, because it means I can wear my winter shoes! And the sun shines, there are still coloured leaves, it all looks so pretty and postcard proof. I want to go for a walk.

4. Having discovered Warpaint, I listen to them so often now. And in their songs I can appreciate the little moments, like from 3:10 on in this song – that guitar/bas, whatever it is, it sounds so good. Well, the song is just lovely in my opinion, but that say 1 min piece is extraordinary.

5. My brother’s girlfriend is here at last (she’s not from Belgium) and she turns out be the prettiest, sweetest girl. Which is nice because a) my brother deserves a good girl and b) if she becomes my sister-in-law, I can be sure that all will be well.

6. Going for a drink always makes me happy, especially when I do it with someone you can have a good conversation with. Thursday night a friend and I went to some book presentation, where three of our current professors were, so bonus points!, and then we went to a cafe. She’s the kind of person you can talk with for hours and hours and you know you can trust her. I find that a real pleasure.

7. I’m starting to notice that I really want to learn to cook better, which is nice because I think everyone should be able to cook a little. Of course I can do some things, but with two classes having finished, I now have the time to actually make some decent food. With vegetables. I’m more and more thinking of a healthy life style and I like that about myself.

8. But no fear: my brother’s girlfriend brought very delicious deserts. My god, too good!

9. I ordered a book for a very big paper I have to write, and there are photos in it, and it’s about ballet, so I was happy to see all the pictures! Besides, that book will save my paper. Huzzah! (Probably more to come about that paper…)

10. I’m keeping a kind of secret, but it’s a good secret and it makes me happy, it makes me happy. I’m probably posting about it sooner or later, but for now let’s call it a silver lining.

So my life definitely isn’t all tears and sadness, despite the fact that sometimes, not being in Russia still cuts in. There are always bad sides to everything, but as you see, there are also still quite some good sides. Whether those good sides are sweet or heeled, they are still present and can light up my day!

What are you thankful for? What small things can make you happy?