Lately, I’ve been paying attention to the little physical sensations you get when you’re excited about something.
You know, that racing I-can’t-wait feeling when you’re doing something you love?
I don’t know what made me start notice these things, but I’ve been paying attention to the little things that jumpstart my heart.
Here are a few of them:
1. Home Goods.
I recently pulled my cart out from the line where all the carts were jammed together near the entrance, and caught a glimpse of these pillows.
My heart seriously fluttered as I steered my cart toward the display case.
“Calm down,” I told myself. “They’re just pillows.”
But believe me, they weren’t just pillows. They were the most perfect pillows in the world for the blue sofa in the beach house.
I texted Doug to see whether he liked them, and when I didn’t hear back, I left without them.
Big mistake.
When Doug finally saw them, signed off on their beauty and perfection, I returned to the store, and they were gone.
That is part of the thrill of Home Goods.
If you like something, you can’t hesitate. You have to pull out the debit card and buy the darn thing right then and there.
Some people get this high from gambling in Vegas, I get it from shopping at home fashion and kitchen stores.
My heart was aflutter at Pottery Barn yesterday, where I saw this basket.
Oh, the things I could do with that basket — a storage place for one of my many stacks of paper, or a place to store piano sheet music. And then there were the vintage keys, the dish with the vintage typewriter. I wanted them all, but I left with only the basket. (See even though I have a racing heart full of excitement in home stores, I also am the master of restraint.)
I’m not always shopping when this excited feeling takes over, but there’s something about a housewares store that gets my blood pumping.
I could browse in Sur La Table for hours, admiring little cooking gadgets and appliances — mini doughnut pans, red and white checked wax paper sheets to wrap sandwiches, line baskets and who knows what else? And those new ice cream machines — a-mazing.
Just writing about Sur La Table makes me want to abandon this blog now, and head for the mall.
2. Baseball tickets.
That’s another tingle producer.
Not just any tickets. I’m talking front row behind-the-dugout kind of tickets, tickets that force you to act civilized because you could get your face on ESPN at any given second; tickets that get the Orioles mascot giving you high-fives, and Orioles staff members coming to visit you — tickets that keep me eternally indebted to my uber generous friend, Greg.
(Tickets to our awesome Nats give me the same joy, even though we sit far from the front row.)
What little things bring you joy?
My list is long — Christmas parties, new babies, much-anticipated weddings, family parties, the produce department at Wegman’s, my car with blue-tooth that allows me to talk and drive safely at the same time, coming home from a walk and finding Doug home early, seeing my girls’ phone numbers on my caller ID when I know they’re walking home from school.
What small things in your everyday life make your heart pick up its pace?
Leave me a message, and let me know.
We took in a Nationals game when we visited DC a few years back. Didn’t know you were a fan. Those pillows are great. Hopefully, they’ll get some more.