My Favorite Things

It's a beautiful day in Cambridge. The sunshine of late summer is beaming bringing warmth to the cooler temperatures of early fall. It's on days like this that it is easy to say, "Isn't New England lovely." However come February, when the dirty snow is mounded up on top of my car and the grey skies darken into a sunset at 4 pm, I will not be so fond of calling Boston my home. But, because I am an optimist and generally a happy person, I will put aside those negative thoughts and as Fraulein Maria would do, write a blog to "my favorite things." Just like a nice sunny day in late September, it's the little things that make me happy.

Google text- I don't own a fancy gadget that gives me the internet, email, GPS, mp3's and everything else I would every want to know at my finger tips 24/7. But, Google Text definitely comes through in a pinch for phone numbers and addresses, the weather report and some random trivia. Just text your question to 46645 (GOOGL) and in a seconds you find out what you want to know, for free!

Pedestrians obeying sidewalk etiquette- I am a runner and try to stick to the sidewalks rather than run on the road next to cars flying by. We have rules of the road for driving, so it makes me crazy when pedestrians do not apply the same type of etiquette to the sidewalk. Staying to the right, saying "excuse me" to pass by someone, cars yielding to the crosswalks, and (this one may be a stretch here in Boston,) smiling at people when you pass by –Yes, even perfect strangers.

Audio version of the Economists- You can download a full audio version of the Economist each week to your iPod, for free. Though the Economists is a great news source, it is sort of intimidating to read each week with it pages full of dense text and few graphics, advertisements or celebrity photos to break up the stories. But I find the audio version much more manageable, and I can easily skip through to the stories that interest me the most. I can listen to it when I run, walk to school or cook dinner. Plus, the British accents are pretty cool too.

Price adjustments- Most retail stores have a "price adjustment" policy; you just have to ask. Here is how it works: Say you go to the Gap and buy yourself a new sweater and pay full price. A week later you walk by the store and see your new sweater now on sale for 50% off. For up to 14 days after the day of your initial purchase, you can go back into the store with just your receipt and if the price has gone down, they will credit you for the difference. How great is that!

The best part of all of these favorite things is they cost me nothing, and maybe even make me a little bit smarter or happier every time I use them. "When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I am feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite things and then I don't feel so bad."