My perfect Sunday.

I love Sunday.

Today was a near perfect Sunday, but I know what a perfect Sunday is, and I've been doing my best to have them every Sunday. Or Saturday - though the feeling is a little different. Saturdays are more for adventure and doing things. Sundays are relaxing, getting things together, preparing for the week ahead.

Latest knitting project - Rock Island Shawl.

My perfect Sunday starts with sleeping in, then a slow morning with breakfast and fresh coffee. Maybe a long walk with Bailey, or adventures where she can run around off leash. Then some baking or cooking lunches for the week. Playing my music. If I need to, maybe cleaning the house. And of course, relaxing with a book or knitting while listening to NPR. All the things a Sunday can have.

Why do these things work for perfect Sundays?

I like to clean my house. I've realized that if it's my house, and my mess, the chores are enjoyable. They're not monumental either because it's just me. And, I like the smell of the cleaning solutions I made - so all around, win. (Yes, I have gone that hippie - but the magical glass cleaner is magical. Trust me. Book here.)

Oatmeal cookies with currents.

I have also developed some sort of baking problem. I like to bake, and I've been baking a lot. I also like to give away what I bake because I'm not that much of a sweets person, and I like to think it makes others happy. The Fanny Farmer Baking book only fuels this desire (I really like this book). And to make matters worse, I'm seriously considering ordering a case of butter from the Co-Op because if you special order things in cases, you get 15% off the normal price ... and I've been using a box of butter every other week or so. It'll keep in my freezer, swearsies. 

This Sunday, Bailey and I went to Phelp's park on the West side of Broadway. It's not very far to walk there, and the park itself is really quite nice. There's a really great overlook of the river and half of Decorah - really beautiful to look at. With swings in the park itself and little gazebos under trees, this park has been deemed a 'Christy Happy Place.' Happy places are important for making a bad day better and chasing away overwhelming feelings. In Davis, my happy place was at the top of the parking structure where you could see all of the campus. That, and the Redwood Grove in the arboretum. Happy places help keep me sane when life tends not to be, and I'm actually rather pleased to have found one in Decorah. I'm sure I'll find more as time goes on. 

Bailey enjoying her post-walk Sunday afternoon.

The more I can make Sundays perfect, the more I won't mind a lonely Sunday. I'm slowly learning to adjust to this, and it helps to have things I like to do. And, it helps to really like living in Decorah - this town is beautiful, walkable, and some sort of happy place in itself. 

Three cheers for perfect Sundays <3.