A Few Little Happies :)

It's important to celebrate the little things in life, and when you're living alone in a foreign country, a simple visit to the grocery store can bring you down ("One tomato please...one onion...is there a smaller chicken? The smallest one you have. Yes, I do live alone...") so you have to find something to celebrate each day.

Here are some of my recent little excitements:

1) I found out that through iTunes radio I can listen to 98.7 KLUV any time of the day! Growing up, if my dad was within hearing distance of the radio, it had to be on KLUV - it wasn't up for discussion. The greatest hits from the 50's, 60's, and 70's that my dad grew up on became the music with which he raised my siblings and I, but here in Europe, I sometimes wonder if anybody even knows who The Animals, Neil Sedaka, The Turtles, Chubby Checker, Dusty Springfield, Leslie Gore and various other music greats are. Instead, the majority of the American music I hear is either cheesy classics from the 80's and 90's (yesterday I heard "Total Eclipse of the Heart" in the bakery. Panda knows that made me happy) or else club music ("Please don't stop the music..." ad infinitum). KLUV satisfies that need in my life for the music of my youth (or rather, my father's youth imposed upon me), and each song triggers a memory, a smell, a flash of East Texas winding roads, and the image of my Dad in a plaid, button-down, short sleeved shirt. :)

2) H&M - It's like the Gap/Old Navy of Europe, and what's even better: they actually have sizes that fit me! It's not easy being a 6'0 tall female in a land of tiny petites. But even more exciting than just H&M in general is that today I discovered a new location! This is HUGE because the only 2 that I knew of nearby are in a very touristy district, and always crowded, noisy, with a picked-over selection and you have to wait in line for ages to get into a fitting room, only to find out that you need another size and have to leave the room to get another (no customer service in this country - do it yourself!), wait in the seemingly never-ending line again to try on the new size, and then move to another slow-moving check out line. It's not enjoyable. But this new location I've found is easy to get to and NOT in the tourist center of town. There's a better selection and no crowds! I can finally shop in peace! Yes, I am such a girl. :)

3) Ranch - you can't find it here. But recently somebody gave me a box of Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning packets. So yesterday I made parmesan (spelling?) ranch chicken YUM and today I added a little tabasco sauce to the parmesean and ranch and YUM again! I'm going to invite some friends over for dinner next week so they can experience the greatness that is Hidden Valley Ranch.

4) In just TWO MONTHS I get to go to the Dentist!!! Call me a freak, but I LOVE the Dentist. Or rather, I love the dental hygenist. I love the feeling of getting all the junk off your teeth: the scratching of the little metal pick, the whirring sound of the electric toothbrush, the slurping sound of that little spit sucker they put in your mouth, and best of all, walking out feeling so fresh and so clean. But sadly, I haven't been to the dentist in a LONG time (I won't tell you how long so you won't be tempted to judge me..) partly due to laziness in my attempts to find a new dentist after moving from Dallas, and partly due to a lack of dental insurance. But come August, I'll have dental insurance, and by golly I'm getting my teeth cleaned! I can hardly wait!

That's enough of my happies for today. :) What are your happies of the day?