I’m thankful for my education, the one I was given and the one I took.
For Peter Luger’s Old Fashioned Steak Sauce.
For my health, roomy sun dresses, and self-tanners.
For invites to girls nights, potlucks, and most especially happy hours.

I’m thankful for fried pickle spears and ranch dressing, to lawn sprinklers, and linguine. To fireflies, big Texas skies, and people who admit their vulnerabilities. Ray Lamontagne. Driving with the top down at night. Cotton so soft it feels like silk. Stain proofing warranties.

I’m thankful for nautical chic home decor, for daisy diamond stud earrings, that I have a little girl. For coastal retreats, clam digs, and bug spray with the super harsh killer stuff in it that’s three initials.
For Fresh Lemon soaps and Saki candles, sleep buttons, and formulaic romantic comedies. For Anne of Green Gables and puff sleeves.
For Milkduds in popcorn, lobster bibs, and the ocean. For the people who defend this country.

I’m thankful to have characters in my life. Eccentrics. For wobbly mayonnaise, and another season of Lost. For wine flights and cheese that tastes like the zoo. For car trips with audio books, honoring traditions, and having the ability to create new ones. For my memory, for the way I remember in small details. For lemonade stands and thunderstorms.

For Afrin nasal spray, stacks of magazines, and fluffy white blankets with the air conditioner cranked to high. For LCD beds and absurd inventions. Model homes, live music with soulful sounds and sly lyrics. For mood boards and books and for the people who get my moods. For catalogs and books on entertaining. I feel blessed to have my little boy.

 I’m thankful for tortoise shell napkin holders, French door handles, quince paste, and vacations like the one we took to Vegas. For all the time I have to figure out how I want to spend all my time. I’m thankful to the people who believe in me, the ones who encourage and dream with me. The ones who laugh until a liquid comes out of some part.

For restaurants that serve "Corn smut" (mushrooms that grow on ears of corn,) for valet, and boxed wine. I’m so thankful for Neil Simon and coffee table books. For Louis XV beds, country Swedish interiors, Nordic style… and nacho cheese sauce.

Porch fans, charcoal grilling (especially fruits), and muddled berries for a new drink. For the ability to dance (even if I have no rhythm). For dessert caviar, the ability to eat at the bar at Gramercy Tavern, for friends who we end up with in the end. For hopeless romantics and deep sofas.

I’m thankful to the family that chose me, and the family that got me. For quadrille notebooks, seaside getaways, and drawing classes. I’m so thankful that there’s still so much out there that excites me, that there’s so much still to learn. That I have the ability to make small choices every day that can change my life forever. I’m thankful that I know my power, and am relieved that I at least know how absurd people sound who say things like, "I’m thankful that I know my power." Mostly, I’m thankful for the people who can read a list of thank yous without mentioning how often I’m thankful for food. Mmm, frozen bananas dipped in chocolate.

A YEAR AGO: Redesign, I Think Not
2 YEARS AGO: Play Dates and Pull & Pray
3 YEARS AGO: Part-Skim
5 YEARS AGO: Gray, the New Black