My Favorite Things

Raindrops on roses
And whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things...

If I was a song, this would be it ♥ And just to round off the cake of nostalgia, I'll even top you off with the original Sound of Music clip:

I hope I've set the mood: a sprinkle of cheery, a splash of the sweet, and all the warm and fuzzy feels. (And while we're on the subject, I won't pretend this blog isn't going to be regularly doused in saccharine whimsy so if that isn't your cup of tea, scoot on out of here and come back when you're feeling less salty, mmk?)

Being my self-described happy little corner of the Internet, I figured I'd drag out the ol' treasure box of secret little things that make me happy and talk about them a bit. Join me whilst we take a tour of my happy place (my mental one, that is).

1. This Youtube channel

The channel is called bitsandclips and here we have one of the videos that I think best displays why I'm such an ardent fan of the lovely little world aptly by-lined "a cuppa happy."

The candy canes in hot chocolate, the sweet little pair of kiddos (her nicknames for them are Pickle and Bean. How stinking cute is that?!) and all the fuzzy-feeling-full Christmas decorations back-dropped with that lovely song: what more could a heart bent on cozy want?

Marie, the mama of both the channel and the kiddos, is a youtuber I've been following for about three years now. She has since had another little girl (named Sadie June... Sadie June, people. It's a name straight out of the forties, an era which I adore, sans the world war, of course) and her audience has grown somewhat, but all along, the heart and soul of this happy little channel has remained the same. I always finish a video of hers feeling warm and fuzzy and weirdly sentimental.

2. This photographer/writer/blogger

I found her on Instagram and fell in love with her long captions. She's also a mother of a sweet little one (are you sensing a theme?) and she has lovely photography, of course, but it's her writing that gets me every time. Thoughtful, beautiful, and whimsical, with all that starry-eyed wonder of a young woman embarking on her first voyage into motherhood.

It gets me, I tell ya.

3. Books, books, books

I couldn't pick a favorite book if my life depended on it, but I will say I have a few top favs so I'll share those:

• Girl With a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

I love classic literature and I also love stories centered around a female protagonist, ideally set in period times. Girl With a Pearl Earring is probably one of my all-time favorite books... it tells the fictionalized story of the girl behind the famed Vermeer painting, Girl With a Pearl Earring, and she is a fascinating character. The other two speak for themselves: iconic classics which are fully deserving of their popularized status.

4. It's a Wonderful Life (+ Jimmy Stewart)

Oh, doesn't that just make you want to curl up on your sofa with a soft blanket and a cup of cocoa? *all the happy sighs*

I only started watching this movie a few years ago, and already I've decided to make it an annual tradition (a little unoriginal, yes, but let's not spoil the moment with cynicism). Also, I'm a huge Jimmy Stewart fan... he definitely deserves an honorable mention on my favorites list ♥

5. Coffee + chocolate

What writer doesn't love a good cuppa coffee?

And while we're asking rhetorical questions, who doesn't love chocolate?

'Nuff said.

6. The Christmas feeling

One of my all-time favorite feelings in the world... the Christmas feeling. Better even than the birthday feeling.

Funnily enough, we've never done much for Christmas. No presents (couldn't afford them) and we've only gotten a tree a handful of times. But to me, it's always been magical - at least in my head.

Living in Puerto Rico, one doesn't get the whole festive, snowy, twinkly experience that most seem to get, but I don't mind. We still get to enjoy looking at all the houses trussed up in their Christmas lights and decorative gear and we get to watch Christmas movies and listen to Michael Buble... most of our extended family live in the States so even though family get-togethers aren't possible, we still have one another and that's one of the reasons for the season so everything else is additional. That's the way I try to think of it anyway.

I like to think I'm a closet Caroline Ingalls. You know, make the most of what you get and do it all with a cheerful smile. I've failed on that frontier more times than I'd care to admit but more and more I'm trying to have that sort of attitude about things. So! Even if we can't afford decorations this year, we'll cut out paper snowflakes and watch holidays films and be grateful for another year spent together. And we'll play some Youtube videos like the one above, eat some candy canes, and get us some Christmas feels!

7. This song

This one just speaks for itself!

It's such a sweeping song. The rise and fall of the music, the way she takes his hand, and isn't it so beautiful how he just stands there smiling with his unseeing eyes closed... it gets me every time.

Honorable mention: Can't Help Falling in Love With You, also sung by Andrea, although I prefer Elvis' original rendition. Another one of those heart-stirring songs that sweeps you away! Someday I'd like to get all dressed up and go to one of these massive soirees and lose myself in a big orchestral number with Andrea Bocelli and maybe Tony Bennett singing.

Something for the bucket list, I suppose ♥

8. The simpler times of yesteryear

And last but not least...

My fondness for another era.

I don't know what to call it exactly. It's the period films, the Austen novels, the 1700s, the 1800s, the Victorian years, even the early 1900s... that elegant time of yore where ladies wore long dresses and gentlemen wore top hats and people danced at balls rather than bars. I love getting lost in daydreams of time travel and my list of favorite films should come as no surprise ;)

• Pride and Prejudice
• Belle 
• Amazing Grace
• The Phantom of the Opera
• The Nativity Story

Honorable mentions: Anne of Green Gables, Little House on the Prairie, and Downton Abbey. 

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I'm 98% sure I'm forgetting something or other but I've got to stop my yapping or I'll go on forever... ironically, this post broadcasting my favorite things was just about one my favorite posts to write and I hope it was fun to read. This is like a little peek into the brain of yours truly, showcasing some of the stuff that makes me tick ;)

Till next time ♥

Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world... 

Philippians 2:14-15