Some months are simply brighter than others, but all months have some moments of light in them. Maybe even ten.

1) Watching my child be 100% delighted and 0% self-conscious about singing along to Happy Birthday for herself and then clapping with enthusiasm

2) Twelve thousand other moments featuring my two-year-old – like her saying “Good job, Mommy!”, and her singing ‘soft kitty warm’ and stroking her dad’s head when he didn’t feel good, and her asking to go outside and sit quietly on the back porch steps by herself while she ate her snack – because a toddler is one of the brightest things around. Sometimes blindingly.

3) The red carnations on my kitchen table. Consistently having fresh flowers is one of the happiest housekeeping decisions I’ve made, and when a $4 bunch lasts for weeks, my budget doesn’t mind either.

4) Traveling to a concert with my husband, and staying in the loveliest hotel I’ve yet seen for my first night away from our baby daughter.

5) Not to sound like a sports girly on main, but Carlos Sainz won the Mexican Grand Prix, which means he achieved his goal of winning one more race with Ferrari. Also, it was the Mexican Grand Prix, which means I got to hear the mariachi F1 theme, which is a special little delight every year.

6) A spontaneous nails-and-tacos girl date with one of my favorite friends.

7) Jumping into the deep end of a pool (with no floatation devices) and not drowning or needing to be rescued. A thing I’ve wished I was capable of for most of my life, but I’m only now learning how to swim.

8) Accounting. The routine weekly tasks. The unusual cleaning things up and figuring things out. My work is absolutely delicious, and sometimes feels like the main reason I’m sane.

9) Tuna salad on sourdough for lunch, probably much more often than you’d think. Easy. Tasty. Reasonable amounts of protein.

10) Wearing a black pencil skirt and a black Stephen Wilson Jr graphic tee and a black heeled combat boots and round silver glasses, and walking into a store to buy a bottle of bourbon – and feeling like it was such a branded moment that someone should be paying royalties.