My Favorite Things: The Tough Economic Times Edition

Favorite Things (adj., noun), def: things I love (or things I love to do)  Italian favorito, past participle of favorire to favor, from favore favor, from Latin favor, First Known Use: 1583 / Middle English, from Old English, thing, assembly; akin to Old High German ding thing, assembly, Gothic theihs time

I did what I think of as my "Oprah Edition" of Favorite Things here, and while the overused term of "these tough economic times" is one of my *least* favorite things, there are many things that are free or very low cost that are also my favorite things.  


Here's a list of my favorite things with a small price tag or none at all--

1)  Stringing popcorn with my family or making a paper chain where we write down the names of all the people we love.

2)  Watching all the old Christmas shows on ABC, my favorite being The Year Without a Santa Claus (this is the best one because it has Heat Miser & Snow Miser).

3)  Painting Owls on rocks:

4)  Having Oregon Chai Tea before bed or in front of the fireplace and/or Christmas tree.

5)  This may be a Northwest thing-- but after a windstorm, I go for a walk and pick up fallen evergreen limbs and put them on my porch and on my mantel inside.

6)  Going on an artist date.  Go to a gallery or museum with a notebook and a long afternoon.


7)  Spend 15 minutes writing a poem.


8)  Spend 15 minutes reading the same poem again and again.

9)  Taking a walk with your cellphone or digital camera and taking photos of the beauty of familiar things.

10)  Toilet Paper Tube Book Characters.  Here's Where the Wild Things are--

11)  Driving around and looking at Christmas lights (with the price of gas, this little activity has gone up, but I still love to do it.)

12)  Christmas Music 24/7 on Seattle's WARM 106.9 FM channel (free streaming here)

13)  Going to a cool old hotel (maybe even fancy-shmancy) with a good book and sit in their decorated lounge area.  For extra flavor, order tea, a martini, or bring a friend.

 In Seattle, I recommend the Sorrento hotel (I meet a group of writers here every so often) and here's where we try to sit, right by the fireplace--

14)  Writing a postcard to someone.








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