With the close of March, here’s a quick glance at some of the Lovely Things we’ve accomplished over the past three months. We had adventures close to home or out of state. We cherished special times with our loved ones. We made special treats to gift and to savor. We made funny/unsuccessful attempts at new exercise routines. We played a lot.

all the lemming kings : went to see bullriding & made some adorable gifts

lifes moments : enjoyed snow play with her little Lovey & a Monthly date with her Mister

on hooks & needles : baked a new dessert recipe (cheesecake and a strawberry-cherry pie – yumm!) & went to New York City

perches in the soul : tried zumba & went home for Mardi Gras

With such a great beginning, the next quarter of 2012 is sure to be interesting. I hope you’ve been finding a weekly dose of joy in your year so far. Thank you for playing along.

If you aren’t signed up yet, it’s never too late: we still have 9 months ahead of us. That’s 39 weeks – or I like to think of it as 39 Moments of Deliberate Weekly Delight. Sweet.

And if you need inspiration, start with 5 easy things that make you smile and go from there. For me? Send a post card hug to a friend. Go for a walk or bike ride somewhere nice. Find something cool at a thrift shop. Make pancakes. Enjoy the sunshine for a few minutes.

Yummm… pancakes.

Wishing you the best in April.

2012 Year of Lovely Things sign-up form is ready to go. Woot!

Want to play? It is super simple.

1 : Make a list of 52 fun activities or accomplishments (small things that you can sprinkle into your week or that embellish your larger plans/goals). Each one should be doable within a day or a week.

2 : Complete the 2012 sign-up form (see link in sidebar / right side). You will be added to the Participants list within 1-2 days after I receive your form. I’ll also send you a graphic if you’d like to use it for a blog, etc.

3 : Go and enjoy your year, and – if you’ve opted to be linked on this site – post updates as you progress through you list.

And as I’ve said before, there’s no pressure if they don’t happen, but how nice if they do. If you need inspiration, you can scan previous’ participants lists from the sidebar. My 2012 list is already posted on my blog.

OK, not really, but JEEZ it’s very clear from the date on the post preceding THIS ONE that I was a terrible blogger/moderator in 2011. Yes: my very bad.

And so I wish you all a very sheepish happy new year.

Slight delay with Year of Lovely Things sign-ups. We’ve just returned home from the holidays after a loooong 2-day drive across 8 states with a feisty toddler and a prego-nauseous me. And did I mention movers are descending tomorrow to move us into our new (to us) house? Yes, we are a whirling dervish of domestic transitions.

2012 sign-ups will go live tomorrow night.

Transitions, celebrations, rediscoveries, and more! In January has seen a wide array of Lovely Things list activities. Some of us chased whimsy, others carried out deliberate life plans. Some moments were deeply reflective, while others dealt with practical needs. We’ve made achievements in the kitchen, workplace, church, and mountains. Year of Lovely Things, thy other name is Diversity. Here are a few highlights:

cupcakes & cat food : acts of faith and professional development

lifes moments : replacing a phone lost to baby drool

mental dustbunnies : a funny/sweet kiss and some tasty soup

mistress : going for a drive in search of snow

on hooks & needles : celebrating a new job and a snow day

perches in the soul : making cupcakes and drinking champagne

swallowing roses : celebrating a 10th wedding anniversary

Thank you for playing along. I hope that you’re enjoying the year so far – or at least, are able to create some deliberate and lovely moments amidst the rest of the week.

If you aren’t a 2011 participant yet, do want to try? It’s never too late to begin: there are still 48 weeks ahead of us. That 48 lovely things you can sprinkle into your daily life. Like cupcakes. Or cartwheels. Or going to the beach. Or holding hands and taking a walk with someone you love.

Now there’s a great list for February, ne? I think so, and I hope you have a fantastic month to come.

We may again with tear-drenched eyes have to stand before the bier of some courageous civil rights worker whose life will be snuffed out by the dastardly acts of bloodthirsty mobs. Difficult and painful as it is, we must walk on in the days ahead with an audacious faith in the future.
-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., from 1967 speech “Where Do We Go From Here?”

Sometimes hope is an outrageous proposal. Sometimes perseverance seems most likely to fail, unrewarded. Yet every change begins with one small step – and more steps become a difference – and if enough people take that step together, it becomes a movement.

I hope that if you are trying to make a big change, either in your own life or in the larger world around us, that you hold on tight to hope, perseverance, and community.

Wishing you joy in service on this MLK Day.

We’re nearly halfway through January! And there has been some crazy weather, regardless of which hemisphere you’re living in: summer floods, winter ice/snow storms. Oy! A little tranquility, please? In all of this hustle and shuffle, we’ve made a great start with participants for this year’s Lovely Things. Thank you! Here are some of the activities proposed for the year:

GO kayaking : cupcakes & catfood
BUILD a sand castle : life’s moments
MAKE lemon sorbet : mental dustbunnies
WATCH the sunrise in the desert : mistress
VISIT a bee keeper : perches in the soul

If you close your eyes, can’t you imagine doing each one so clearly? They’re all so tangible: 
the pull through the shoulders wielding the paddle;
the damp grains of sand sticking and sifting between the fingers;
savoring the sweet, cold, puckering-sour mouthful of sorbet;
reveling in the cold, quiet peace of dawn;
and the summery humming of bees at work.
Delightful, ne? I love these kinds of lists, because they offer wider life-vistas to explore. 

Several other people have let me know that they are writing their Lovely Things lists for the year, so keep an eye out for more fun updates.

Hope your week offers you a little joy and inspiration.

After a flurry of updates (and some unexpected keyboarding havoc wrought by my Bebe), the 2011 Year of Lovely Things site is ready to go!

Want to play? It is super simple.

1 : Make a list of 52 fun activities or accomplishments (small things that you can sprinkle into your week or that embellish your larger plans/goals). Each one should be doable within a day or a week.

2 : Complete the 2011 sign-up form (see link in sidebar / right side). You will be added to the Participants list within 1-2 days after I receive your form. I’ll also send you a graphic if you’d like to use it for a blog, etc.

3 : Go and enjoy your year, and post updates as you progress through you list.

And as I’ve said before, there’s no pressure if they don’t happen, but how nice if they do.

Hello to 2011!

Today is the end of the week 1 of 53. I hope your year has kicked off to a great beginning. Have you been wondering what the next 52 weeks will offer? Have you made (or are planning to make) a list of Lovely Things you’d like to experience this year?

For me, the responses would be, ‘Kind-of, Yes, and Definitely!’.

I hope you’ll join along and embellish each week of 2011 with at least one great / simple / interesting / calming / delicious / thrilling / LOVELY thing. And remember: these are personal delights, not cumbersome resolutions, so make your list with a sense of fun and adventure.

Really, one my few Resolutions for the year is to do the weekly update for this blog, so that I can share the amazing things that our participants have accomplished. There were plenty of great adventures and simple treasures happening last year, and I kind of fell asleep on updates. Totally my bad, sorry.

Sign-ups for 2011 will open in the next day or two. My toddler and I are recovering from a state of coughing, congested, sleep-deprived grossness that snuck upon us New Year’s Eve and is slowly receding. Not lovely, I know, but just so you know why I’m a little late updating things here.

As with last year, the sign-up form will require the following information:
your name
email
address for your blog, flickr account, facebook, twitter, etc (i.e. whatever online media you are using to update the progress of your Year of Lovely Things list for the year)
and 5 things from your list.

Looking forward to your adventures!

Cheerily,
perches

“Bonjou se paspò ou.” (Translation: Hello is your passport.)
-Haitian proverb

Hey there, lovely doers and makers and tryers and bakers and travelers! A very happy February to you.

We’re finishing up week 6 of the year, and there have been some great experiences out there in the Year of Lovely Things community:

creative interviews, new challenges, sweet knitting, different creative spaces, green accomplishments, and many other delightful posts.

In week 7, I think I’m going to do a giveaway, my first one for 2010, something small and crafty. I’ve added a Giveaways page to this site, in case you have something you’d like to spread the word about.  Enjoy!

What kind of lovely things are thinking about for next week?

Lots of new sign-ups this week! I just wanted to share some of the inspired and creative Lovely Things that people are hoping to do this year.

GO to the Grand Canyon : shivaya naturals

SPEND a week on the boat with the dog : mental dustbunnies

MAKE tents for sleepovers : swallowing roses

HAND DYE yarn : gypsy forest

TRY new recipes : fortysomething

FLY a kite : a journey to a simple happy life

DANCING and Zumba : escleali – escape, learn, and live

HOST friends at park for bubble-blowing picnic : perches in the soul

I don’t have a working TV anymore, so I don’t know how the major news networks are doing with their coverage on Haiti. Having been through several large-scale disasters on the Gulf Coast, I know that public attention quickly becomes overwhelmed and so the coverage drifts away. But the need remains, the people remain.

International Red Cross
Doctors Without Borders
Habitat for Humanity
Convoy of Hope
UNICEF

Charity Navigator has a useful evaluation guide to the U.S.-based charitable groups that are active in the Haiti relief effort. Be sure to read the “Tips For Funding Haiti Earthquake Relief Efforts” – including the guidelines for making text donations safely.

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” -Anne Frank

Welcome to the group page for a Year of Lovely Things!

The idea is to make a list of simple, fun activities for each week of the year. There’s no pressure if they don’t happen, but how nice if they do! 53 weeks in 2010 = one lovely thing each week.

This was inspired by a year of lovely things by Jessica at Utopia Parkway and the Mighty Life List from Maggie at Mighty Girl.

Do you want to try it, too? I found it helpful to divide it into a few categories and then go from there. But really, you can just make a long list of things you already like to do and things you want to try.

If you’re the kind of person who enjoys inspiration & a little group support, consider joining this group. Just complete this form (required: name, email, blog/flickr/etc, 10 things from your list). Sign-ups start today and run through January 19th, or until we reach 53 participants.