A clean house, fresh flowers, and a gift. It's all about the little things.

Here are some little things from a very busy week that made me very happy...

A clean house. After a week at work, my house usually resembles the wreckage after a small tornado. Shoes are tossed and piled near the doorway, coffee cups sit with day old coffee in them, and jackets are thrown in a heap on the side of the couch. At times, it can become a serious hazard. Over the weekend, I spent hours cleaning. Like, really cleaning. I dusted book cases, mopped floors, vacuumed multiple times, and did laundry. It was so nice to start the work week with a spotless apartment.

Fresh flowers in fall colors. This bouquet brightened up my desk all week. Another reason I love New York City: flower markets on countless corners with cheap flowers.

Pink Sperrys. Last Friday, the staff at my school wore pink in honor of breast cancer awareness month. It was the perfect excuse to wear my pink Sperrys, which always make me happy.

A baby shower with lots of treats. On Monday, we surprised our principal with a baby shower at school. We gave her baskets full of books to start her baby girl's library, and snacked on a ton of delicious treats. I supplied the chocolate chip cookies and snickerdoodles. If you bake and do not own a cupcake carrier, I highly recommend getting one! I use it to carry batches of cookies to school and parties and it is a great investment. There are two trays of cookies per container, and the containers stack and have a handle.

A gift. One of my second graders handed me this on Tuesday morning, and it melted my heart. It now sits on my book shelf and makes me smile whenever I see it.

Learning to screen print. If you know me, you know I love my job and where I work. Teaching is my life, and I feel so connected and dedicated to my school. The best part is, my co-workers are just as connected and dedicated. We commonly show our spirit by wearing all of our Community Roots gear on a regular basis. After my co-teacher, David, painted our school's logo on a t-shirt, one of our old class parents (who happens to teach a screen printing class at Pratt) offered to help us with our very own screen printing session. We were so excited! David and John got to work designing images for the screens and within a matter of weeks the screen printing party arrived.

We spent hours on Wednesday night learning how to screen print and making our very own Community Roots clothing. We selected and layered images of our school building and logo on t-shirts, sweatshirts, pants, and tote bags and the results were fabulous. It was a great way for our school community to come together and have fun. We can't wait to sport all of our new screen printed gear on Friday!

My principals were written up today in the New York Times; I am so grateful to get to work for them!

An update. I may still be rocking the iPhone 3, but at least I can still get the updates. I can't wait to buy the new iPhone soon!

Zumba, week 2. I am hooked.

Brian. He isn't really a little thing; he is a pretty big deal. I came home Thursday to homemade chili, freshly washed laundry, and my clunky old TV that had been sitting on the floor for months finally out of my apartment. I. Love. Him.

Photo taken last weekend at Applewood Orchard. 

Here comes the sun. Wednesday was a very rainy and gloomy day. I was so happy to see the sun peeking through the clouds on Thursday morning! Crisp, cool, sunny fall weather is on the way for the weekend in New York City and I can't wait.

I hope you have a very happy weekend full of little things!