Friday Five memes have been around almost since dirt. Or at least since blogging began. I’m not feeling meme-ish tonight, as much as list-y, so I offer what I hope will be a new tradition here: Happy Friday – Five Things That Made Me Smile Today. (As always, participation is welcome but not obligatory).

1. Picnic Basket: So, as I was walking along the corridor to the cafeteria today, there was a row of tables with interesting things and sheets of paper, which, once I was closer, I learned comprised a silent auction to benefit the March of Dimes. There was a basket of amazing candles, and there was a cheery yellow picnic basket stuffed with a beach towel, and two placesettings of neat picnicware. The color made me grin, so I bid on both, skipping merrily past the logo wear and mp3 players. I then went inside and got a freshly made cheesesteak sandwich and a huge fruit salad, and carried both back to my desk in the other building, because it’s month-end, and we were all working like insane ppl so we wouldn’t be called in tomorrow. Ten minutes later, I was informed I’d won the picnic basket with my $35 bid (an $80 value), so I trekked back across the building, down the stairs, across the breezeway, down the hall, and exchanged a pretty purple check for the basket…then got to carry it back through the halls while people stopped me and looked in it, and wanted to know where I got it, etc.
2. Freedom: I do NOT have to work tomorrow. This may not seem like much, but it’s been something I’ve been threatened with all month.
3. GirlStuff: I am spending tomorrow afternoon at the salon having a froufrou manicure and pedicure. Nail polish color suggestions are hereby requested. I tend to keep my fingers pale and go nuts with my toes.
4. Words, Words, Words: We went to the bookstore on the way to dinner after work the other night, so I have new stuff to read, including this really interesting novel that takes place in the Aleutian Islands…I can feel the wind and smell the salty air as I read.
5. Addictions: Green tea frappucinos laced with blackberry syrup and lemon pound cake are a lovely snack around four-thirty in the afternoon. I may be cooped up in an office, in body, but that combination puts my imagination in a sidewalk cafe.