I Like

Here are a few things I'm particularly liking right now:

• Cool mountain air. We spent a few days this weekend in the mountains, and there's just nothing like fresh, clear, cool mountain air. Since I can't have that all the time, though, I'll vote for air conditioning as a close second.
• Cooking again, and even (usually) having an appetite for that food.
• San Pellegrino orange and lemon sodas.
• My slow-cooker; that poor implement has been neglected for too long. I'm cooking some black beans in it right now that will be the base of several recipes this week. Tomorrow I'm planning to turn a couple of chicken carcasses into stock (saved in the freezer since the days weeks ago when I couldn't stand the smell or sight of food, let alone the smell of chicken stock permeating my whole house).
• My husband. Time and time again I'm blown away that I married such an amazing man who blesses me with doing the dishes, making lunch when I'm too tired to get off the couch, backrubs, wonderful conversation that can range from silly to deep in just seconds, maintaining our house and running to the store to satisfy a sudden craving.
• The artwork of Yuko Lao. I started looking around for ideas for decorating the nursery and was so taken with her art that I decided to go with it. Here's the monkey painting that first caught my eye (I ordered 5 different prints last night!)