6 Unimportant Things that Make Me Happy

I was "tagged" for this by Good For Travelling, so I'll give it a shot. It was harder than I thought it would be because the first things that I think of that make me happy aren't unimportant (friends, family, school, etc.)

Here are six unimportant things that make me happy:

1. Tivo - I love being able to watch a 30 minute show in 15 minute by fast-forwarding through credits, commercials, and stupid parts. Ditto a 60 minute show in 45 minutes. And I love the little bloop-bloop sound it makes when you fast forward. I also don't feel so bad about watching shows like 17 Kids and Counting, because it only takes 15 minutes out of my day (I can't help it...I'm fascinated by that family!!).
2. Cupcakes - I don't really make or eat cupcakes very often, but there's just something so cute about cupcakes. I love buying cute cupcake papers to have on hand should the occasion arise to make cupcakes. I love to look through my copy of Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. (Also, now that I've seen a copy of the book Hello, Cupcake!, I need it! So cute!)
3. Cute lunches - I have a Mimi the Sardine lunch bag that looks more like a cute, green, polka-dotted purse than a lunch bag. I have a Hello Kitty Sigg water bottle that I keep at work. I have cute thermoses, and cute chopsticks, and I at least like to look at pictures of other people's cute lunches. I see a theme emerging here, but I can't help it. Things that are cute make me happy, and that is especially true when food is cute.
   
4. Fall/winter squash - Pumpkin, butternut squash, acorn squash...it's all good. Butternut squash lasagna. Pumpkin carob chip muffins. Steamed acorn squash halves with melted butter and brown sugar. Pumpkin ice cream. It's all so good.
   
5. Herbs growing in the weed patch - This is the first year that I successfully grew a couple of herbs in my "weed patch" in the back yard. The basil (regular and cinnamon basil), cilantro and oregano were a success. Of course, I didn't actually use any of it before we started getting frosts over night, so the basil at least has all turned brown and dead. I think the cilantro might still be going strong though, so there's still time! I'm just happy that I actually managed to get all of the herbs from the farm this year planted outside before they died, and some of them even survived despite the fact that I rarely remembered to water them!
   
6. Making a new recipe that actually works - I can cook well enough to feed myself, and occasionally others, but it is definitely not a natural skill for me. I love browsing recipes in cookbooks or online and finding ones that sound interesting, but when it comes to executing them, I have a 50/50 success rate. Most of them turn out OK, but nothing so delicious I'd ever feel like making them again, some have turned out so horrible that I had to throw them away, and occasionally they actually taste *good*. I had one such success the other weekend with this vegan chili mac.