Simple Pleasures

Things making me happy this sunny morning:

• Aveeno's Active Naturals Calming Body Wash - It has lavender, chamomile, and ylang ylang, and it smells like heaven.  I like lavender things in general, use laundry detergent, fabric softener, cleaning supplies, and powder that has the fragrance.  This is something special, though.  I don't know if it's the combination of the other two things in with the lavender or just because it's an Aveeno product, but it lovely stuff.
• Jello's Temptations Lemon Meringue Pie - These little cup desserts are all tasty, but there is something especially nice about the lemon ones.  They make a nice cold treat for warm weather, a quick pick-me-up in the afternoon, or a fast taste of something sweet after a meal.  
• Michael Angelo's Eggplant Parmigiana - Eggplant Parm is one of my favorite foods.  I make it myself, but it is a very labour-intensive dish.  Michel Angelo's version is frozen, and while that means that there are some of the issues you'd expect with frozen foods, it is one of the best frozen foods I've found.  It is comfort food.
• Downton Abbey on Amazon Prime Streaming - I'm watching it.  Again.  For about the hundredth time.  
• The Anno Dracula series by Kim Newman - I'm on the second book now, The Bloody Red Baron, and I find the mixture of the supernatural, alternate history, and constant literary allusion to be an enjoyable read.  In this book set in an alternate WWI, I've run across Poe, Gatsby, AND Jake Barnes.  How can you ask for more than this?
• My Pawley Island Hammock - This was one of the best purchases I've ever made.  I got it from Levenger last year, and I truly love it.  I had wanted one for years, put off buying it, and when I had money from my AP Reading, I took a little of it and splurged.  It's heaven.  Just heaven.  Every time I am suspended beneath the green canopy of the tulip poplars, I reflect on just how long I waited and I laugh.  In addition to the pleasure of using it, it is always a lesson in the silliness of needless waiting.  Call it an exercise in Carpe Diem.