Don’t set the alarm. Wake up to the morning sun filling the room, knowing you’ve slept in. Skip yoga. Instead, have a slow morning talking and laughing with your husband in bed. Throw on your favorite lazy-day sweatshirt and savor a coffee while paging through Vogue in your underwear. 

Later, put on your favorite jeans, an oversized sweater, and the $10 secondhand snakeskin boots you bought on a whim, the most surprisingly comfortable pair of boots you own. Step outside and feel the winter sun on your skin.

Meet an old friend for brunch at a Lebanese slash French slash Spanish hole-in-the-wall. Sip sparkling water and share your latest updates over eggs and lavash and yogurt with berries. Wander to the plant store next door and buy a small planter imprinted with a woman hand-drawn by a local artist. Hug your friend goodbye, tell her you love her, plan your next monthly date.

Skip the bus and walk the two miles downtown. As you walk, listen to your favorite songs. Or at least, your favorite songs for right now. Smile at a stranger. Get your nails painted pearly-pink. Walk to the local grocery store and buy yourself flowers. And chocolate. Eat the chocolate on the bus ride home.

Put on your favorite podcast and spruce up your house. Smooth the comforter. Fluff the pillows. Wipe down the surfaces. Water the plants. 

Make chamomile tea and put the flowers in a vase. Curl up on your little couch and read a book about lesbian nuns in the year 1160.

When evening comes, add a little extra eyeliner. Put on lipstick. Wear your new creamy silk button down, the one you bought last week from a small vintage store in your neighborhood. Go with your husband to your favorite little bar, talk and laugh over a mocktail and cold noodles. Hold his hand as you walk to the car. End the night feeling safe and happy in the world, needing absolutely nothing else.