5 things that bring me joy this week

these carnations that are still going strong after almost 3 weeks!

Check the entire “5 things that bring me joy this week” weekly series here, a collection of seemingly insignificant things that serve as a reminder to appreciate the little things — those small joys that make a difference in our day-to-day.

It’s the second week of the new year, how are we feeling? I am easing into it and still putting together the “plan” for 2024. In fact, I am dedicating the entire January to this.

If you follow me on Instagram, I shared on my stories a few days ago that we’re getting back on a [modernized] Ayurvedic diet, aka, eating based on our Dosha (body and mind type), and following its principles. We did that for about two years, prior to the pandemic, and we felt and looked our best — I want to regain that energy and balance. This book has been our guide before, and we’re going through it again for a refresher. I recommend it if you want to learn more — the book makes it all easy to understand and follow.

That aside, here are the 5 things that bring me joy this week:

hot eucalyptus tea in the evening. A recent discovery and oh my, I adore it! My advice if you decide to try it? Do take a moment to inhale it while it’s cooling — you’ll thank me! Warning: do not consume or take eucalyptus oil by mouth as it is highly poisonous and can be fatal!
fresh flowers. Well, more like long-lasting flowers. I bought bouquets of carnations before Christmas, and they’re still going strong almost three weeks after bringing them home. They spark joy!
refreshing my little garden. Sure, it’s wintertime everywhere else, but in Florida, it’s gardening/planting season. I wanted to take advantage of the weather and planted the seeds I had saved from my dried flowers and herbs (like basil), as well as a few more flowers, fresh herbs, and some veggies. All just in time for them to start growing and get strong before it warms up, and the sun becomes too hot. My little garden is bringing me so much joy!
getting back to the gym. Now that the holidays are over and we’re getting back to a normal schedule, I am excited to get back to exercising. To ease into it, I started looking at it as my “me time” where I blast some of my favorite music in my headphones while being active. It sure brings joy!
dinner prep ahead of time. Talk about joy! No, seriously, taking care of this ahead of time is taking away a lot of “thinking” about it, allowing me to do things (like the “me time” mentioned above) and actually enjoy them rather than feeling like I need to rush through because I want to have dinner not too late. It’s the little things, right?