Jessie: In New Hampshire where the ground is covered with snow and the birds flit merrily round the feeders throughout the day.
I am an inveterate list maker. I have lists of knitting projects, recipes to try, movies to watch, tasks to finish. I have a Ravelry account for my knitting, Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime Video queues and a recipe box on Epicurious. Amazon’s Echo helps me to wrangle my grocery lists. I pin all sorts of visual lists to my Pinterest boards.
But although I am always up for digital lists of all sorts I find myself scribbling lists on sticky notes and in whichever notebook I have to hand. Writing lists by hand allows me to indulge in my passion for fountain pens as well as for notebooks and papers and I always enjoy encountering lists I had made in the past. They serve as a diary of sorts, a kind of snapshot of a moment in time and often remind me of things I had forgotten.
Just this week I was planning a gathering for friends and needed to sort out a menu so naturally I reached for a pen and paper to start a list of menu ideas. I grabbed a notebook I keep in my nightstand drawer, a little A5 number with a cheerful Hello Kitty cover that my husband brought back for me from China a couple of years ago. As I thumbed through looking for a fresh page my glance fell on another sort of list entirely and one I cannot for the life of me remember writing, or even my reason for doing so.
It seems to be a list of favorite things. Just reading it over made me smile so I thought I would share it with you. Here are a few of the items listed:
- Bento boxes
- Fair Isle Socks
- Vintage convertibles
- Cardinals
- Silk scarves
- High ceilings and long windows
- Fountain pens
- Champagne
- Brick sidewalks
- Cashmere
- The Atlantic
- Fireplaces
- Extravagant hats
- Window boxes
- Sparkling glassware
- Louis Armstrong music
- Plump goldfish
So what I am wondering dear readers is what would be on your list of favorite things? Do we have any shared loves? Writers, do you scribble down lists here, there and everywhere too? Does any of it ever make it into your writing?
Oh, good! Love lists, all kinds. Heads up –
Miquelrius color-coded notebooks
Clair Fontaine notebooks
fountain pens
Ink & Volt planners
Quo Vadis journals
Papermate gel pens
Smart wool socks
stained glass windows
the first green buds of spring
autumn air
Oh Kait, we share some favorites! I love Clairefontaine paper! I use Rhodia notebooks to begin my books because I love the covers and the paper! I love gel pens and fountain pens and Ink and Volt planners! I have been considering Quo Vadis notebooks for some time but never made the leap. I am delighted to hear they are worth a try! I’ll put them on a list!
I use the minister Quo Vadis because it has space for Sunday events, and I love the side dashboard that I can use as a check the box planner. Dovetails wonderfully with the greater goal arc of the Ink and Volt. Ah, paper, the opiate of the writer.
I love to make lists also. Some of my favorite. things:
Pens
Wide-ruled notebooks
Fall
Dogs
My family and friends
The first book of a new series
I love wide rule! And first books!
What a lovely list! Yes, I’m also a big list maker. Let’s see. Favorite things:
The beach (any beach)
Dark chocolate
Energel pens
Striped socks
Sparkling glassware
Cross-country skiing
Dark rich coffee
The smell of sunshine on line-dryed laundry
The light patterns made by antique windows
Gnocchi
Antique windows! Such a great favorite thing!
And yes, those windows are definitely in my historical mysteries.
Mine tend to be “what I need to do today and I won’t be able to get free wifi so I have to write it down” or (sadly) “These are the edits your proofreader missed:”
To do lists are the ones I make most often too!
Love the lists! I do it all the time. It may be hereditary, since my father used to write notes to himself (he had terrible handwriting!) on 3×5 cards, using different colors of ink for each subject, and keep them in his shirt pocket. At least I don’t go that far!
My favorite things:
farmers markets
eating something I’ve never tried before
traveling to new places, and revisiting favorites
Victorian architecture (the gaudier the better)
kittens
fireplaces
gel pens and clean white pads
a stack of books I’ve been looking forward to reading–and the time to do it!
Farmers markets! Lovely! I tend to color code my lists. I actually have color coding for a lot of things. I have color coded sticky notes and flags on my electronic calendars and pens to use with my paper planners. It sounds a bit obsessive but it really does help me to know things at a glance and to notice if I have imbalances that are getting me into or out of trouble.
I see that red and black theme in your lead in photo! Yes to lists. I have lists for everything! Sometimes that even includes things to NOT do like allow myself to be volunteered for something! Every once in a while I need to consolidate lists or re-think them! My goals list keeps me on track. My shopping list unfortunately doesn’t keep me from impulse purchases. My bills list makes sure I pay my bills. Balancing the checkbook takes precedence on the to do’s. Favorite things-too many to fit in a list but they fit into writing and every day life!
You’ve got me there, Doris! Red and black should have been on my list more overtly!I love stop doing lists! I make those too sometimes!
I make lists constantly. It helps keep me organized. My favorite things, in no particular order:
Dogs
Books
Scrapbooking
Puzzles
My family
Traveling
Working out
Virginia Beach
Key West
All things Hawaii
Snoopy
Coloring
The Caribbean
The ocean
I’m sure there are more, but that is what comes to mind off the top of my head.
I am sensing a beach theme, Kristin! I love anythign to do with the beach myself!
Ooo, favorite things!
Fancy pens and paper ( I don’t use them once I buy them, but I love looking)
The smell of baking bread – or really baking anything
The balsam-cedar candle we buy every winter
Fresh snow (as long as I don’t have to go out in it)
A primo cup of tea
Good chocolate
A roaring fire
A good book
The smell of dry leaves in autumn
Fall foliage
Being on a sailboat on calm water
Oh Liz! I love fancy pens and paper too and used to feel like I shouldn’t “ruin” them with my wretched handwriting. Over the past couple of years I’ve been working on improving the legibility of my writing and have made myself go ahead and use the good stuff. I am so glad I did! I truly believe all the little stories we tell ourselves about our worth add up. If I tell myself my writing isn’t good enough for the notebooks I love, what does it say about my opinion of the value of my writing? So now I make a point of using the best materials all the time.
I also love a good crunchy autum leaf smell!
Hi Jessie,
Some of my favorite things:
My Wizard of oz collection
Vintage collectibles
Letters from my parents to each other,
before they got married.
Bird feeder in my front yard
Friends
😊 Have a great day!
Sherry, I adore my bird feeders too! How special it is that you have correspondance between your parents!
I have letters my parents wrote to each other during WWII before they were married, too. They are so sappy they’re a bit embarrassing to read! But that now they have both “gone ahead,” maybe I’ll haul out the letters and see if any fictional ideas rise up for me.
Oh, Jessie, I am totally with you on champagne and cashmere – and beautiful notebooks, which I hate to use – and thank you for Rhodia notebooks – how have I never seen these before?
In no particular order –
sunlight sparkling on water
black cats
Vera scarves
tea shops
ballet slipper pink
vintage sportscars
musicals
hotdogs!
Thank you for the fun!
So glad you enjoyed my list and thanks so much for sharing your own!
Starting a new book by a favorite author
Disney movies
Disneyland
the beach
hanging out with good friends
Christmas
thinking of my favorite things on a Monday, which makes me smile as I head out the door to work. Thanks. 🙂
I agree with you that Mondays are a perfect time to remember all the things one loves!
Oh, what fun! My favorite things
–Time with family
–A clean house with everything in its place (so rarely achieved)
–A dip in a heated pool at the end of a long writing day
–Ice cream, pretty much any kind in any form, gelato included
–A movie and dinner date
–A view of the water
–Curling up on a comfy couch with a book on a snowy day
–Cheese and crackers and wine
–Staying up late and sleeping in
–The march of the seasons
–Traveling, particularly cities, particularly if we can stay in an apartment for a couple of weeks
Cheese and crackers and wine! SOme of my very favorites too! And I also love staying up very late adn then sleeping in the next morning! Once my youngest goes off to college I plan to rarely go to bed before 1 am. I love the quiet of the world so late at night and find I do someof my best writing in the wee hours.
These are a few of my favorite things:
Coffee
Dark chocolate
Old musicals, Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire
Dogs, especially Corgis
Hot bubble baths
Beatles music
Royal Albert’s Old Country Rose fine china
Pasta
Rock Hudson, Doris Day comedies
I Love Lucy
Hot cocoa
Harry Potter
Cookbooks
French toast
Vintage jewelry
Shoes
My Kindle
I love Harry Potter, vintage jewelry and coffee too, Annette!
What fun to read these lists! Thank you Jessie for this post. Most of the lists we write around here are grocery store lists and a list on a post-it that we have in the car for errands, so nothing gets left undone. Favorite things for me include:
Early morning neighborhood walks
Sunrise and sunset, so beautiful!
Hugs from Grands
My quote journal. I have filled up quite a few!
Family and friends
Our public library…my favorite place to go
Books and authors…I so appreciate you each one who write
Thanks so much for including authors on your list!