5 things that bring me joy this week

Check the entire “5 things that bring me joy this week” weekly series here.

I hope your Labor Day weekend was nice. It’s been fairly rainy here, and incredibly hot and humid, so we’ve had no desire to get outside. We’ve only ventured out for a few errands and the rest of the weekend was spent at home, working, and just taking care of things, generally. I guess you can say we’ve been productive, and that’s a good thing for us for the mere fact that we have some packed months ahead. Sadly, it’s more life and work than fun, but we’re hoping we can squeeze that in as well.

Now onto our subject… Here are this week’s 5 things that bring me joy:

A good coffee table situation. I won’t lie, beautifully decorated coffee tables bring me a lot of joy. Coffee table books (check this, this, and this one), favorite magazines, fresh flowers, a candle or two, and cherished decorative items usually do it.
Photos from our travels. A while ago, due to my own error, I lost quite a lot of photos I’ve taken from several places we traveled to. Luckily, I was able to find the original files saved someplace else, however, that meant that I had to edit them again (as in, adjust the exposure, etc. — I try to keep my photos as close to the original as possible). Because we’re talking of literally thousands of photos, it’s been a slow and time-consuming process, that I’ve been able to work on here and there, depending on my to-do list. This past Labor Day I finally had a few hours cleared to continue editing, and, well, being reminded of all the beautiful places we visited brought me a lot of joy.
Crossing off important things from my to-do list. Apart from literally keeping things going, and in some cases, solving problems, taking care of stuff just brings joy.
A good night’s sleep. It’s just not a guaranteed thing around here, and whenever that happens, well, it brings joy.
Making this recipe. I’ve mentioned before that I adore Mediterranean food and am always looking for ideas and recipes to help me make it at home as well. This recipe was just what I wanted — easy and yummy, and I will definitely make it again! I swapped the fresh artichokes with canned marinated ones and the broad beans with salad ones (because that’s what I had and it was easier and faster to make), and it was seriously delicious. Try it if you’re looking for dinner ideas.