Happy Sunday! Once a week, I like to check in and take note of the small, good things in life. We can be so busy, it’s easy to let it slip by. Here are a few things on my list this week.

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*First off, I’m so happy to be visiting my family and hanging with the dogs. I miss having Eli around my apartment, but I love how happy he is in the suburbs with my family and their dogs. Every day is the Best Day Ever for Eli. Last night we had a relaxed home-cooked dinner and chilled. Eli and Janey climbed on me, cuddle puddle-style.

*The Pope’s speech to Congress the other day really blew me away. Regardless of individual spiritual or political leanings, the message of using energy and resources to work towards healing and repairing—and working harder to get along—is important.

*Yesterday I spent a few hours at the New York Coffee Festival and had a great time speaking with the various exhibitors. Can’t wait to share more!

*We’ve got a Super Blood Moon / Harvest Moon Lunar Eclipse going on tonight. What the f*** is that, you ask? NASA explains. You might also call it a Total Eclipse of the Harvest Moon, which kind of sounds like all my musical/romantic history rolled into lunar sushi.

*The new Ryan Adams full-length cover album of Taylor Swift’s 1989 (“as played by the Smiths”) is here. I…hate how much I love it. I respect Ryan Adams as an artist, but I’m afraid to get caught really digging what he does for some reason. I used to listen to him when I was in college, so I don’t know what changed.

I don’t listen to her music on the regular, but I’m a big fan of Taylor Swift. I think she’s talented and smart, and I love that my teenage cousins have her to look to as a role model. I mean, gosh, when I was their age…oh dear. This is probably why I spent most of high school listening to early, angry Elvis Costello and the Pixies. “Debaser” is still one of my favorite songs ever.

I also listened to a lot of Dashboard Confessionals and Elliott Smith when I was in high school because of course you’re going to cry a lot when you’re a teenage girl, and you need a soundtrack for that.

*Tinned fish. I’m partial to the Trader Joe’s boneless, skinless mackerel in sunflower oil. It’s basically idiot-proof and instantly dresses up a humble desk-lunch salad.

*16 things positive people do differently – Love this post!

*While procrastinating the other day, I finally updated the Media page on my website. Organization makes me happy. Ugh, I am so type A. I also finally made a spreadsheet to help me keep track of freelance assignments and deadlines.

* I am loving all the Halloween stuff in stores. I may or may not have picked up some $3.49 lights to put on my dresser because I’m totally an adult.

*On today’s agenda: apple-picking with my sister and some of her peeps, and then some continued birthday celebrations for the Libras in the family.

Have a beautiful day.

What small, good things are you grateful for this week?