January is for Joy

January is one of those months I can really hate if I let myself work on hating it.  It's cold, it's darker than other months, it's long, when I'm working I'm stretching a paycheck for six weeks instead of the usual four, it's after the holidays, it's generally gray and cloudy.  It just feels easy to let it all slip into blah-ness.  But, as one of my ongoing personal goals to generally pay more attention to the positive than the negative, I decided there is probably a chance that there are good things about January, too.  So...I will be calling them out as part of a "January is for Joy" personal declaration.  

January 1

Happy New Year!  Fireworks are pretty joyous.  So is a 2-yr old who loves them.  

January 2

On this day, in this Nashville restaurant, using a cup that is unseen in this picture but I can promise you exists, Arthur Young DRANK FROM A STRAW!  This has been a thing.  And he can still do it!   It wasn't a fluke!  We brought the restaurant's cup home as a souvenir, and he probably thinks that anyone who can drink from a straw must be the most celebrated.  

January 3

Airplane travel.  Isn't it mind-blowing that you can squeeze an entire journey that would otherwise take you an entire day into an afternoon, giving you a free morning in one city and a free evening back in your own city?  And hallelujah for a 90 minute flight...perfect amount for a toddler.  Also, hallelujah for my husband for sitting with him and giving me the seat across the aisle...that's some good chivalry right there.

January 4

Back in July of last year, I planned an overnight adventure with Matt at the Wharf in DC.  We had a lovely time, stayed in a fabulous hotel overlooking the water, and did one of the things we can't do easily with a kid in tow...a progressive dinner.  Or, you could call it barhopping.  Either way, we did that and one of the places we ended up was Del Mar (https://www.delmardc.com/).  We had a hard time getting a table at any of the places (most had a 2+ hour wait!) so we had to scope out a seat at the bar wherever we went, awkwardly pouncing on people who seemed to be gathering their things (not always an indication that they are leaving, I might add...).  This place felt like the most popular, like you were supposed to go there, so it felt a bit triumphant to score two stools at the bar.  We were dressed up a little too, thus I can exaggerate the quality of the experience.  The bar is absolutely gorgeous.  I felt like I was in some part of The Great Gatsby movie (Leo, not Robert).  The lighting is perfect and flattering, there are bottles of things that look expensive above you, and the entire thing is a giant U-shape central to the restaurant's main level.  It's a level up on ambience, which I especially care about when we're on babysitting time.  We ordered a couple of really great gin cocktails and a few small plates (coastal Spanish).  The plates came and I had the girly moment of "I declare that I will furnish our home with this style of table and barware."  Really pretty, glassy, art deco-y, roaring twenties fusion-ish.  OK, so I don't really know what to call the style and I'm sure I could google it and learn, but I do know what it looks like when I see it....and on Friday, January 4th, I found four glasses at West Elm while browse-talk-shopping with my great friend Michelle, after a fabulous lunch.  And yes, it also matters that these were the last four in the store, I almost walked right by them but something made me stop, and they were half-off.  Four glasses for the price of one gin cocktail at the real place.  Joyous.  

January 5

The spontaneous invitation for our family to come over to our friends the Berra's house to watch the football game(s) together.  It wasn't on a calendar, we didn't have to exchange thirty emails to coordinate it, we just texted "yes!" and it was so.  Northern Virginia:  1,467,442.  The Youngs:  1

January 6

The weather was 55 and sunny.  (Not cloudy and gray!  I stand corrected.) We took a long family walk around the lake, which also includes some lovely woodsy Reston-y neighborhoods.  I even ran part of it.  Arthur got a playground visit in.  The water had that crisp, shiny look to it.  It was wonderful and I cherished a "day off" from winter.

January 7

The West Wing.  This show!  I never watched it when it originally aired, as I was too busy making my 20's miserable, hard, and anxiety-filled.  But I'm watching it now due to the joy of Netflix and I absolutely love it.  The music swells at the most predictable times, I find Rob Lowe adorable, I've seen two Gilmore Girls actors in episode 13 alone, and I am finding myself really caring about these made up people in their bustling pretend job of governing us.  Or maybe I can also admit that I enjoy seeing a made-up president who acts with tact and heart.  

January 8

Another spontaneous plan to meet Matt for lunch.  He's been working very hard for many months and rarely has an open lunch or time to sneak away, so this was a treat.  

January 9

They took the Christmas tree away.  I know that sounds snarky to include this as joyous, but once it's mentally decided that the holidays are over, I need it all to go away quickly.  It was a great tree, probably our best one yet, and we got it the last week of November so it was time.  We also kept it decorated very purposefully through Epiphany.  And I suppose it's also joyous to note that we have a landscaping / recycling pick-up crew that takes it away so we don't have to figure all that out.  

January 10

I made that!  I used to cross-stitch when I was younger.  My grandmother taught me.  At some point I stopped as life got busy.  Life is very deliberately less busy at the moment.  So I started this little thing, changed the colors to match Arthur's room, and now he has something he can scrunch his nose up at when I make him take it to college.   Next up...a Halloween one.