APRIL 09, 2014
My feller can attest to the fact that I didn’t wake up with rainbows shooting out my ears this morning. Since January, I’ve had this lingering bug that keeps coming back, and seems to be especially bad in the mornings, this morning in particular. It didn’t help that I had a 7 AM call to be in court by 8:30. Ew. So yeah. I was pretty grouchy. It was going to be a challenge to find the happy for my 100 Happy Days.
For the most part, I’m a naturally happy person, but we all have our moments. That’s when this challenge comes in handy, a useful tool to get our minds going in the right direction even when everything in us wants to hold onto the grouchies. Here’s the thing though: negativity breeds negativity. You have to break the spell or it will compound and you’ll only get more unhappy. Not good.
Determined to not let it get the best of me, I kept my eyes open and found two things this morning that certainly made me smile. The first was this Cadillac I saw on my way to court. Wow! What a beauty, right? Classic cars always make me giddy, and honestly, I’m amazed I’ve made it an entire week without including one in my Happy Day posts.
In court, I was the pool camera, a common practice to minimize the number of people clogging the room. Basically, one person shoots, and then shares the video with everyone else–this time, an arraignment of a 28-year-old female math teacher accused of being sexually inappropriate with her thirteen to fifteen year old male students. Her father looked at me like I was scum for photographing his daughter’s shame, which is never fun, and didn’t help my mood. Okay. I needed MORE happy. PRONTO.
My solution? A treat. I know we shouldn’t placate with food, but sometimes a little sugar helps in an emergency. I’m not above using an aid like that. I popped into a new bakery in Fullerton called Layer Cake. Those who know me, know I have a thing for cake. The minute I walked in the doors, I felt happier, and not just because of the amazing pastry case. Aesthetically, the place totally worked for me. Old exposed brick walls, high ceilings, concrete floors. Maybe it’s been done to death, but it’s a look I really like.
I chose a chocolate almond croissant because it seriously looked like a PERFECT croissant. Most people’s taste buds have been ruined with Starbucks croissants and grocery store croissants, that are often chewy and flavorless with a bread-like texture. Not this one. It melted in my mouth. The almond paste gave a perfect crispness around the edges, and it had the ideal amount of dark chocolate inside. It quite simply was one of the best croissants I’ve had. Yes. It made me happy.
Sadly, about 20 seconds after I sat down with this beautiful piece of happiness, I got a text for my next assignment, so had to pack it up and hightail it out of there instead of savoring every moment. But it was an easy assignment. Just some exterior shots of a school district. No biggie. It didn’t set back my mood again.
So… do I feel happier now as the end of the day approaches? I’m still not feeling too hot, but I don’t feel grouchy anymore. How can I be grouchy looking at this two-fer post I did today? Pretty much can’t go wrong with cars or food in my world.
Until tomorrow…
Later gator!
