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