Small joys and little luxuries

Because we deserve them right now

If you feel like today is the 84th of January, know that you’re not alone. This has felt like the longest month of my life and that’s coming from a bona fide winter person with a birthday at the beginning of the year. If even I’m feeling it, it must be bad.

Thankfully, we are nearly there - on Thursday it will be February! A new month beckons, the evenings are getting brighter and soon it will be spring. But if you’re anything like me and feeling a little fed up and blue, it might do you good to treat yourself both literally and metaphorically.

Something that helps me when I’m stuck in a rut is to make lists of things that make me happy. Sort of like a gratitude dump, but also recognition of the tiny little experiences I’ve enjoyed over the past month. I find acknowledging it all results in small shifts in thinking that can make us feel better. I also like to note the little luxuries that made me feel good - a nice thing I watched, a gorge product that made me feel good, something delicious I ate. All of that becomes my “faves” list, a practice gleaned from Instagram. Allow me to share mine for inspiration:

JANUARY FAVES

*Birthday dinner at Hawksmoor with the fam - scallops, lobster, champ and chips and a peanut butter chocolate dessert that would make your toes curl.
*Drinking less - who knew! See also eating more vegetables.
*Getting back in to exercise - January has been the month for soreness, stiffness and returning to form. Now to build on that practice!
*Long dog and husband walks with almond croissants halfway.
*VICE Pizza in Phibsborough, it’s new and fab. Get a sesame crust.
*Sculpted by Aimee HydraBody. The woman can do no wrong. Am also back on the HydraGlo serum and it’s perfect for my final layer of nighttime skin care at this time of year.
*La Mer lip balm. Outrageously expensive, I got it as a gift, but it is delightful and makes me feel extremely boujie.
*Buying beautiful dusky pink roses for myself from the Grafton Street sellers. See also: Aldi’s flowers, excellent value.
*Essie apricot cuticle oil and pointy neon nails.
*Brunch at the new Krewe outpost in Portobello. The cuisine is New Orleans-inspired, portions are HUGE, beignets are authentic.
*Writing book two, and plotting a potential research trip to somewhere I have LONGED to go.

*A wonderful weekend in London with friends old and new, eating delicious things and seeing SJP in the flesh!
*Interviewing interesting people and sharing their stories. (Read me in the Sunday Times every week and the Irish Independent often!)
*Rereading Patricia Scanlan’s City Girls trilogy for the first time in 20 years. Devlin Delaney is an icon.
*RHOSLC, RHOBH, The Traitors UK and US and Southern Charm all providing an excellent reality TV fix.
*Awards season! I love it all - the discourse, the snubs, the dresses, the glam, the jewellery, the politics and of course, the movies.
*Aesop’s gritty hand soap. Perhaps the strangest thing that makes me happy, but I love it! It’s called Reverence.
*Rewatching The West Wing with Joe. It brings me great comfort to revisit shows I love.
*Freya Moulded Deco bras. Big busted girlies, thank me later. See also: their sports bras.
*Scrambled egg with tomato, spinach and chilli on toast. Also Lemon’s egg white power omelette, add tomato.
*Roast dinners, casseroles and pasta bakes. Finding joy in cooking again.
*MY NEW MATTRESS. You know you’re 38 when….
*Thai massage with Namthip in Smithfield. She literally walks on me and it’s life-changing.
*New plant babies, including a spotted begonia and fabulous ficus.

See, when it’s all written out like that I can’t help but feel good! Lucky, grateful, full of great memories. It also reminds me of lovely things I get to use and see daily. It almost makes me forget the cold, the storms, the terrible news broadcasts and the boiler acting up and… nevermind.

February holds some great stuff - a new bank holiday on the 5th, One Day the series and the new season of Drive To Survive coming to Netflix, the return of Vanderpump Rules, birthday celebrations for my dad and Joe, Valentines Day and even a whole extra day of the year thanks to the leap year.

For me though, it’s another opportunity to make progress, practice consistency and edge ever closer to achieving my goals. One month almost down, gang. Let’s go!