Happy 101 Blog Award!

I was very honored to receive this award from Jenn of BentoforKidlet! She is a great mom who makes a bento for her son every day, with a cute character to brighten his school lunches. Please check out her blog to see her wonderful creations!

Here's what I'm supposed to do:

Copy the award image into a post.
List 10 things that make you happy.
Tag 10 bloggers who brighten your day.
Put in a link to their blogs.
Notify the award receivers.
Recipients should link back to the sender's blog. (I say this can be optional. If I have given you an award you are in no way obligated to link back to me, just enjoy your award!)

Okay, here are my 10 things that make me happy:

1) Family, friends and wonderful people in general.

2) Chocolate chip cookies, preferably homemade, that are crispy on the outside, gooey on the inside, with nuts and dark chocolate chips.

3) A good book. I like novels and my favorite authors are Kundera, Tan, and Eco. But I recently discovered the spy/adventure genre, and now I am working my way through Clive Cussler. He writes about adventure on the high seas with a scientific bent, which is cool.

4) Swimming. Also, the ocean, and water in general. When I first started seriously swimming, it was a spiritual experience for me. It helps me keep things in perspective, and I have a whole philosophy about the myriad ways it improves me. Maybe for another post.

5) Travel. Before kids, we traveled a lot! It felt a bit indulgent then, but now we are definitely glad we did it, since it will be many, many years before we can travel in quite the same way again (with carefree abandon and no reservations).

6) Music. Especially acoustic, folky, guitar vocally stuff (remember Indigo Girls "Closer to Fine"?) because it brings me back to my salad days of grad school. I feel nostalgic about those days even though I was poor, stressed and fatigued because in a way that's when I felt most appreciative of everything. It's good to remember what it means to not take anything for granted.

7) Minis. Not the skirts -- just teeny tiny things. Anything! I love miniature food toys like Re-Ment, mini bento, mini dollhouses with furniture, even terrariums that evoke miniecosystems. I like tiny notebooks and pencils, bonsai and dwarf fruits like lady apples and mini mandarins. Did I mention I used to be a microbiologist?

8) Andy Garcia and Robert De Niro. And The Godfather.

9) Making bento, shopping for bento stuff, thinking and planning bento, looking at everyone else's bento blogs and flickr pools, skimming through bento cookbooks, admiring my own stash, drawing sketches of dream bento creations, and on and on...

10) My morning coffee and toast. And newspaper. In the morning sun. With the dog at my feet and the kids still in bed. I love to start the day peacefully and slowly, because after that it doesn't quiet down again until bedtime!

Okay! Now for the 10 bloggers that brighten my day: Well, it seems most of them have already been given this award... if this is true for you, that's ok, I just want to let you know that I love your blog and look forward to reading the interesting and cool ideas and experiences you share with us!

 

Gnoe of Graasland

Natakiya of Bento Anarchy

Mandy of Gourmet Mom-on-the-Go

Mook of French Bento

Lil'chan of Lilys kleiner Bentoservice

javapot of TELL IT RIGHT - Coffee & Tea with a hint of reality

Bentobird

Judy of Judy's Bento Box

Ceinwyn of Bento Bliss

Michelle of Foodie Footsteps