I recently read this amazing book called Cozy: The Art of Arranging Yourself In The World. It’s written by Isabel Gillies. I love her writing style. I love what she has to say. I’ve read two of her other books, Happens Every Day and A Year and Six Seconds: A Love Story and devoured them just like I did with Cozy. Cozy is part memoir, part how to, part recipe and fully awesome. Isabel says that to be cozy one must learn to identify the innermost truth of yourself and carry that into the world. She explains that cozy means creating a life where you feel safe, steadied at home and in the world. At the end of the book she asks what is cozy to you. Here are my answers.

Scarves that you can wear all day long inside and outside
Peanut M&Ms
The smell of my camp in Maine (in 1987)
A heavy rain storm when I am upstairs in my house in my bedroom.
Randomly running into someone unexpectedly I like/love in the middle of the day
Chopped salad
The first ski run of the day on a freshly corduroy-like groomed trail
A long walk with a good friend
My son’s feet on my lap during an intense NBA game on TV
Thick face cream
Being called various terms of endearment from people I love including:

“Doll” from my aunt Jo
“Love” from my dad
“Pal” from my brother
“Kid” from my cousins
“Rach” from my close friends *Note it also feels cozy when a new(ish) friend calls me Rach (instead of Rachel) because it means she/he feels close to me
“Honey” from my husband
“Mom” from my kids (It still gets me every time that I am someone’s mom)


Camp songs
Train rides
Bruce Springsteen slow songs (Brilliant Disguise is most cozy for me)
An empty computer screen and a full cup of coffee early in the morning
Holding hands in the car
Jeans that fit well
Brunch on the Upper West Side with my college BFFs
Downward dog on a new yoga mat
An unrequested shoulder rub from my husband and/or my kids
Modern Art
Knee high socks
Baking from memory
A short unexpected text from a friend that makes me laugh out loud
Worn in baseball hats
Birthday cards with a little extra note in them
Layers of clothing (usually at least three)
You’ve Got a Friend – Carole King Version (It’s the ring tone on my phone for close friends)
Handwritten thank you notes
Picking my kids up at school
A long lunch with my Aunt Linda
Linen napkins
A fresh warm chocolate chip cookie and a hot cup of tea
Orchids that flower again when you least expect them to
The sound of my kids laughing about something I know nothing about in the next room
Movie previews in the theater
British accents
Clothes shopping with my daughter
A story I’ve already heard told again by the same person who loves telling it
Writing the last line of an essay/article
Afternoon snacks in cereal bowls
Broadway musicals
The xoxo signature in an email
Productivity
Sunday New York Times (Styles section is most cozy to me)
Starbucks when it’s crowded
Day dresses with flower patterns
Antique desks
My husband walking in the door any time of day or night
Dangly earrings
Good advice
Memoirs that make me laugh/cry/nod my head when I read them
Small world stories
Exploring cities only by foot
Mismatched china dishes
A good cry that has been bottled up for a while and comes out when you least expect it
Black and white photographs
A new journal
To do lists with lots of checks on them
Cardigan sweaters
A phone call from my dad in the middle of a weekday for no reason at all
Ponytails (the kind I wear in my hair, not an actual pony’s tail)
Mint chocolate chip ice cream (not the green kind)
Yellow houses
The feeling of feeling better

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