Macy's 25

To meet my own challenge, here are the 25 things I put in my list. There were alot of other things I could have included, too.

1. Rain. Rain that darkens the sky and rolls in dark waves to the clap of loud thunder and under the dance of lightening. I like rain to last all day and keep the sky gray and low and heavy.

2. The way music triggers memories. I love the way any early Red Hot Chili Pepper's song makes me remember one decadent, wild weekend in San Diego or the way MLK by U2 makes me recall all the bittersweetness tied to the one who got away. Or the way Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses by U2 takes me back to a specific question in a specific moment from a specific guy.

3. High heels. All kinds, all colors. Well, not 5-inch platforms. Classy elegant high heels. I love the way I feel in them – tall, beautiful, powerful, elegant, sexy.

4. My dogs. Maggie, Alice, Rex, and Cipy. I love laying in a big puppy pile in the floor with them – part of them touching part of me so that we're connect as pack.

5. Margaritas. They should be made with Patron or Cuervo Gold. They really need Cointrea, Grand Marnier, and a splash of OJ. They should be shaken until frothy and served in a salt-rimmed glass over ice with a slice of lime. (I mean, if you're going to have one, do it up right.)

6. Saturday mornings. Early. When the rest of the family are still sleeping and the sun is just rising and I have the whole pot of coffee to myself to enjoy in the silence without having to rush to go anywhere.

7. Red wine. Specifically Pinot Noir, Merlot, or Sangiovese that feels dry and warm on my tongue and that's enjoyed glass after glass by old friends who feel more like family than those with whom I'm connected by blood.

8. The movie trailer of a long anticipated movie. One that causes my heart to flip with excitement as the music and clips tease my imagination. Most recently – The Golden Compass and The Jane Austen Book Club.

9. Turquoise. I love all its shades and faults. I love it in big chunks set in sterling silver.

10. Coffee. Deep, bold, rich coffee with the perfect amount of sugar and cream (the real stuff) ready before you get up in the morning so that its smell rather than the alarm wakes you.

11. The Technicolor blues and greens of the world around me just before a thunderstorm hits. The greens of the trees and grass against the vivid blue of the sky are almost blinding.

12. French fries. The kind made from real potatoes with the skins still on, fried up in long strips with lots of salt and free-flowing ketchup. Oh, and they have to be hot out of the fryer.

13. The way the Kindergarten, first, and second grade choir at the prep school where I work sing the theme song from each of the five branches of the U.S. armed services every year at the school's Veterans' Day production. Veterans from all over Central Florida attend and they are asked to stand when the song from their branch is sung. Stooped old men, who fought to preserve freedom, tremble as they lean on canes to remain standing tall and straight and proud of their service. The audience claps and cheers and many of the men and audience tear up. It is beautiful and sobering and awe-inspiring.

14. My birth family – the mom and dad and brother I grew up with. I love them even though they don't get me and I don't get them. I just wished we did sometimes.

15. My family – husband and step kids. I love that I found enough of my own wisdom to trust my heart, not my head, and to follow my heart into my husband's arms – instant family and all.

16. My kitchen. I slaved for over a year on it, meticulously drawing, measuring, and redrawing, carefully choosing materials, searching for the pieces of it that I imagined until I found them just as I'd seen them in my dreams.

17. The view from my backyard. The small lake and lots of conservation area where birds and otters and bats and rabbits live.

18. Mountains. The majesty of looking up into them, the grandeur of scenes from the top of them, the joy of hiking or skiing in them.

19. Books. All books. Their smell, the feel of their covers, the words on their pages, the sweat and tears poured into them by their authors.

20. Fine dining in a swank restaurant with my husband or friends over great wine, delicious food, and amazing service.

21. My writing group. They are so much more than that.

22. Writing. Putting words to paper in a cadence that is particular to me.

23. My house in all its finished and unfinished glory. I love that from the back yard, it almost seems as if I have no neighbors. I love to lock it up and leave for awhile to travel. And I love coming home to it.

24. Paint. Particularly Ralph Lauren Paint in all its beautiful, bold colors and all its subtle, nuanced colors. I love to pick the perfect color for a wall and watch it transform a room.

25. Love stories and tear jerkers and romantic comedies. I love to cry and laugh and feel the deep emotions of love found and love lost. I love so many – The Notebook, The Bridges of Madison County, Sweet Home Alabama, Hope Floats……