#12 Anything Will Ferrell Does Ever

 

Evidenced by this video…

 

Tags: Basketball, Chicago Bulls, NBA, New Orleans Hornets, Will Ferrell

#11: This Super Bowl commercial

Hilarious. Let me warn you though, it may not be safe for work. You know with the naked M&M candy and all.

#10: The Lazy Song by Bruno Mars

Who hasn’t felt this way?

It’s impossible to watch this video and not smile. Can’t be done.  This song is fantastic. I love this video.  I love the choreography via Poreotix. I’ll admit I was slightly creeped out by the monkey masks, but after watching it a few times this goes away.

SMILE METER: 8

Tags: Bruno Mars, Just Chilling, Poreotix, The Lazy Song

#9 Chivalry

I’m old fashioned I guess, but I believe in chivalry. It always warms my heart to see a man give up his seat on the bus for a woman. I’m especially pleased when I see a young person offer their seat to an older person. For that brief second I’m comforted in knowing that there are still some good parents out there instilling manners and good values.

SMILE METER: 8

Tags: chivalry, etiquette, good manners, young people

#8 The Apple Store

There’s nothing like good customer service.

Last night I ruined my iPod Touch in a rain storm.  (Why my iPod was out on the rain is a whole other story.) I tried to dry it out, but  much to my disappointment it was ruined.

As a broke graduate student the idea of spending another $230 wasn’t an option for me. But on the other hand neither was not having my iPod. I use it for everything. I listen to it on the bus. I listen to it when I work out. I’ve got apps for every possible thing imaginable.  I watch videos. I play games. I keep my appointments in the calendar. I keep my grocery list in the notes.  So I had a tough decision to make. After much consideration, five maybe ten minutes, I decided to have someone at the Apple Store Genius Bar look at it.

The store was packed when I got there. I checked in with a young woman carrying what looked like an iPhone and waited in line for a lanyard-wearing hipster to become available. After about 5 minutes Nate, a friendly guy with a long beard, addressed me by name and asked what was going on with my iPod. He looked at it and immediately knew it could not be fixed. He could, however, replace it with a brand new one for $99. I was stoked. I couldn’t believe that I’d get out of there with a new iPod and for less than half of what I thought I’d have to spend. Nate grabbed me a new one from the back and even had a handheld credit card machine where I could pay for my purchase with him and not have to stand in line.

The outcome couldn’t have been better. I was going home with a brand new iPod and still had some cash in my pocket. I’ve worked as a professional mystery shopper and this is exactly how customer service is supposed to be.

SMILE METER: 9

 

 

Tags: Apple Store, Genius Bar, good customer service, iPhone, iPod

#7: Seeing hard work rewarded

 

 I’ve long been disillusioned with the politics and drama of corporate America. It’s probably for this reason that I’ve never been promoted to anything or held few positions of real authority. I always felt like the little guy is underpaid and unappreciated and this his work is never praised or rewarded.

 But sometimes I’m wrong.

 Last week my boss announced that my co-worker was being promoted. I was really glad for her. She comes in early (unlike myself). She works hard. She’s always positive. She knows the job in and out and she’s well liked by our customers. The promotion will be added responsibility but it will also likely be a little bit more pay, which I know for a fact she can use. It makes me feel good to see a person who doesn’t play politics or kiss up to the boss be rewarded purely based on doing a good job.

SMILE METER: 6

Tags: corporate America, Everyday, hard work rewarded, politics at work, promotion, Smile, Wage slaves, Work

#6: Private Jokes

 My sister posted this to my Facebook page the other morning and I started cracking up:

 

 My sister left it for me with a LOL. It was hilarious to us, but no one else knew why. We weren’t making fun of it, in fact we’re both big Beyonce fans. She was making fun of a conversation we’d had the other day. We were discussing her relationship problems and I joked that her life was like a Beyonce song. The next morning she left me that picture. Its cool to have a joke only you and one other person share. Something that when both of you think of it it makes you laugh. Something that no one knows or understands but you.  Now every time I see this video or hear this song, in addition dancing a little, I”ll remember a funny experience I had with someone I really love.

SMILE METER: 8

Tags: Beyonce, family, Funny, Music, Pop Culture, private joke, Relationships, Smile

#5 Fresh baked chocolate chip cookies

Few things in life give me more pleasure than this. My theory is this is one of the few things in life that is almost a complete and total sensory experience. The warm and gooey touch. The wonderful sweet smell. It looks appetizing. And most important it tastes delicious.

I work in a bakery (shameless plug click here), so I’m fortunate to get to have this experience almost every day. Its a sweet little indulgence and a nice, though brief escape from the real world.

SMILE METER: 8

Tags: chocolate chip cookies, Cookies, Everyday, Food, fresh baked, fresh from the oven, warm cookies

#4 Warm Clothes Out of the Dryer

I’ve taken the five days I’ve been sequestered in my house due to the snow and ice storm as an opportunity to catch up on some neglected house duties. I finally unpacked from my holiday vacation. I’m working through my TiVo programs (I’m so behind, I’m still watching shows from November). I’ve also got around to doing some chores.

I’m an oddball, but I love doing laundry. I love the smell of clean clothes. Its a chore you can do while you watch TV (what’s better than that). But the very best thing about laundry is the warmth and heat of clothes fresh out of the dryer. It always makes me happy. It’s even better when you can jump into a piece of clothing right out of the dryer. Oh!!!

SMILE METER: 4

Tags: chores, dryer, Everyday, Household stuff, laundry, Snow days, washing clothes

#3 Snow Days

Growing up in the Midwest, any little snowflake was enough to get me excited about the possibility of no school. Me and my brother and sister would stare blankly at the television waiting for the newscaster to say our school was cancelled. This was in old school days before the Internet and fancy schmancy tickers across the screen. (Kids today have it so good.)

Now keep in mind I grew up in a city where inches of snow was not enough to keep us from having to go to school. So on that rare occasion when they cancelled school it was a cause for celebration. It was even better when we knew before bed and didn’t have to wake up early to find out. (It was still pretty sweet even if we did wake up in the morning and find out school was cancelled.)

This current snowstorm is bittersweet. I just graduated from college last semester. The snowstorm has been the first time I can remember that school has been canceled for three straight days. Its cool because I didn’t want to have to get out in the snow, but it kind of sucks because I don’t get that joy I had as a kid of waking up and learning there’s no school today.

A small consolation is that work was cancelled. So that still makes me smile.

SMILE METER: 10 (on days when I’d have to go to school); 6 (on days when I wouldn’t be leaving the house anyway)

Tags: no school, snow angels, Snow days, snow storm