super-cliche thanksgiving post: what are you grateful for?

i know, i know. it's rare to see me going all "attitude of gratitude" and #blessed and deepak chopra (but real talk: i've been doing his daily meditation series with oprah and it's phenom). 

however, it seems only appropriate that i think about some of the things in my life that i appreciate the most in preparation for the upcoming turkeyfest next week. how about y'all?

• my health. after a couple of harrowing experiences in my past (a freak monster cyst in college and emergency gallbladder surgery just two years ago), i was terrified to have my routine physical about a month ago. but everything looks fab! totally worth a happy dance, and something i've learned not to take for granted. 

• COFFEE. yeah, it tastes like heaven, but i realized that the ritual of stumbling out of bed and over to my single-serve brewer brings me such great joy each morning. give me a full mug, a full RSS feed, and my sun-filled living room, and i'mma be alright.

• my family. a bunch of my aunts, uncles, and cousins got together for a mini-reunion a few weeks back, and it really helped bring me out of my head and into the moment. we made dinner together and watched scary movies and competed against each other in darts, trivia, and ping pong. sounds sappy, but it was just what i needed that weekend.

• really good songs. it always amazes me that even when i'm in the best of moods, a really poignant song can make me cry. or when i'm in the worst of moods, a really upbeat song can make me smile. like, when i went to see the new pornographers live this week, all i wanted to hear was their song "bones of an idol" because it's beautiful and grand and epic. and they played it! i may have teared up a little bit.

• my friends. while a couple of my gal pals are married with kids now, we've established a tradition of monthly girls' nights where we all get together and eat and drink too much and gossip and analyze texts and it's basically like sex and the city without the louboutins and cougars. hos before bros, man. always.

• traveling. it doesn't even have to be far, but just a day trip to explore a place i've never been gives me a whole new lease on life and recharges the ol' batteries sometimes. i've been really fortunate to get to see a whole bunch of cool places in my 28 years, and can't wait to see even more.