1.  The week after New Year’s, and there’s a used-up Christmas tree on the sidewalk outside of every house.  On my way home from the subway, last night, if I closed my eyes, I might almost have thought I was walking through a pine woods.  The world smelled glorious.

2.  Veggies & rice for lunch continues to be my favorite thing.  Since I’m actually attempting to *gulp* get my recommended daily allowances of, you know, fruits & veggies instead of just whole grains & dairy, this is making my life easier.  Oh, also, House of Andy started carrying Chinese donuts, which are just about my favorite thing in the world.  So there’s my sugar & white flour allowance right there.

3.  I found cookie stamps at Williams Sonoma for imprinting words on pressed cookies.  This thrills me beyond belief, since I love doing hokey shit like that.  Valentine’s Day extravaganza, here I come!

4.  Some writing friends are coming down (or we’re going up, we haven’t totally decided yet) from Binghampton in the next few weeks so we can watch all three Lord Of The Rings – in the director’s cut, of course – consecutively.  We’ve done this with fellow Brooklyn geeks before, but oddly enough, I think we’ve used up our Brooklyn-friends’ tolerance for 13-hour movie marathons where they already know every line of dialog.  But now we have new compatriots.  And we will continue the rabbit stew tradition and feel very hobbit-y and cozy and laugh our asses off, because these people are the funniest human beings I know, and I CANNOT WAIT!

5.  Um….