If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.—Cicero

Last week before work, I headed out to Wollam Gardens to pick peonies in Jefferston, Virginia. I’d signed up for it a month ago and kept hitting refresh on their website until the tickets went on sale. I couldn’t wait to wander the fields choosing my peonies.

Although most of these blooms have now gone to peony heaven, they brought great joy during our short time together. I would wake up and smile at them, smell them, and feel deep gratitude for their existence.

Isn’t it amazing how something so simple can bring such joy? Lately I find myself paying particularly close attention to these little gifts that make a day meaningful.

From sipping an iced matcha latte, to writing with a pen that glides across the page, to eating crispy cauliflower wings smothered in buffalo wing sauce, to spritzing perfume, to sliding into a tub sprinkled with almond oil and lavender essential oil, to cuddling with my pugs, to reading a good book, to taking a ballet class that flows, to seeing a matinee on a Monday {thank you Memorial Day}, to biking around town, to noshing on avocado toast topped with microgreens and siriacha sauce, to starting the day with hot water and lemon.

While daily life is filled with those typical stressors and challenges, these small pleasures help me find calm within chaos. Wishing you a pause in between the busyness to notice, appreciate, and savor. Bisous. x