simple pleasures

just some light hearted thoughts about little moments of happiness recently

simple pleasures.

i’ve spent a lot of time alone recently, for whatever reason but i’ve really started to enjoy my own company. i’ve always wanted to be someone who enjoyed spending time alone but the moment i was, my thoughts consumed me and solitude was overwhelming. 

but recently, i’ve found so much happiness in the littlest moments, the most mundane tasks. so let me share some of what has made me happy over the past couple months

1. couch karaoke. This is almost exactly what it sounds like. I sit on my living room couch in my lovely west campus apartment and sing my heart out to whatever songs I desire.

well, one caveat… 

i’m tone deaf so i sing along to lyric videos so you can hear what the song is actually supposed to sound like. you don’t want my singing to just a karaoke track, trust me

Even with the actual artist in the background, it’s still a little rough on the ears. This is my  sincere apology to my roommates, and anyone else who has the misfortune of walking into my apartment past the hour of about 11 pm, when the tv remote becomes my mic and our mini christmas tree (yes i know it’s about to be april, don’t question it) becomes my biggest supporter in the audience. But it makes everyday feel like a little bit like a party, and I’m in my 20s now¹ and they say these are the best years of your life so why not end your nights with a party on your couch

some of my favorites right now are: mr. brightside, unwritten (still have yet to watch anyone but you), and just about anything from the 2010s

2. guacamole sandwiches. Also pretty much just what it sounds like. You mix up some guac, and layer it on top of some buttered (amul butter>>>) sandwich bread of your choice, add some cheese if you so desire, and slap on a second piece of bread on top.

While you could just make this with cold bread, cold guac, the best way is if you toast your bread in butter on a pan before putting the guac inside and then grilling the sandwich on the stove. It’s like a grilled cheese… just minus the cheese plus the guac… well I guess you can keep the cheese too.

But my favorite part of this (other than eating it of course) is making the guacamole. Something is so enjoyable about mashing up an avocado with spices to your liking and seeing it turn into guac (i told you, i’m all about the simple pleasures now).

3. bringing people homemade food. Okay this one has a little bit more depth to it. Almost a metaphor, you may even realize as you read my thoughts on this. Yes I went on and on about being alone and enjoying your own presence but stick with me, I promise I have some idea of what I’m getting at. 

I actually really enjoy being in the kitchen, just cooking. Something about it is just so therapeutic. While I don’t have ample time to cook multi-course meals, my eating habits are something I’m trying to fix so I have to cook sometimes. But I'm not talking about the rushed ramen at 2am that inevitably happens every couple weeks. I’m talking about the days I get to make airfryer chickpeas, or I marinate some chicken to cook later, or getting to chop a couple vegetables or when I decide to make refried beans from the can of black beans, which granted none of these take over 10 minutes to make, maybe 15 or 20 minutes start to finish, but getting to be alone in the kitchen cooking even for the littlest bit, is just so enjoyable.²

Okay I’ve gone on a tangent… anyways back to cooking for other people.

I think we’ve already established that I love spending time in the kitchen. So when I make food for others, it’s like an outpouring of the love I have for them into the food because I’m just already so happy to be in the kitchen but now I get to show just a little bit of care and thought towards the people who mean so much to me. It’s almost like spending that time alone and getting to fill my own cup lets me pour into others with so much love and appreciation for them. There’s probably a deeper message here about people pleasing but as a pathological people pleaser who’s trying to stop letting others get in the way of her own happiness, this a rabbit hole we’ll have to save and dig down at a later time. 

so in short: make sure you’re happy, the right people will be more than happy for you and when you’re happy you’ll be able to make them just as happy

4. Sitting outside. Maybe this is just me romanticizing my life, making my college experience feel a little bit more aesthetic dare I say, but sunlight can do a whole 180 with any day (i guess vitamin d really is so important, maybe my mom was right). My outdoors aren’t even that glamorous. The tower lawn, the GLT tables, littlefield patio, or my wampus rooftop. I pay rent and tuition, so why not put the money to use just a little bit?

5. writing. ironic that i’m saying this when I said I would blog at least monthly after starting last summer because it’s been almost 9 months now and another summer is approaching…

but i really wish i wrote more. My notes app is filled with snippets of thoughts I write down. Some more fleshed out than the other. But even the little snippets that sometimes get developed into deeper thoughts have become something that brings my brain to ease. The neurons(??) that jump around the walls of my brain collectively calm down when I ease them of a couple thoughts by putting pen to paper. (well i haven’t written like that in a while, more like fingertip to keyboard but hey… whatever works)

I think writing is like yapping, except I don’t have to feel like I'm bothering anyone so I do it much more guilt free. So that being said, I'm glad I sat down and wrote this just now and I hope you enjoyed the yap. I’m going to try and keep this up. Maybe a post a month, maybe more if the thoughts flow out in that fashion. See you next time… 

1. blog post on this to come. i have lots of thoughts and i feel just a little bit really old some days

2. um still haven’t come to the part of growing up where i enjoy cleaning yet, waiting for that but as of now, i can cook for you if you would want to clean for us after (taking applications)