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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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?

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

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