This is Gretchen, and I’m always thrilled to see her because her brain sponges up such satisfying facts. For example:
Were you aware that some studies have shown that when women are looking to reproduce, they’re attracted to men who smell biologically disparate? However, when they get pregnant, they’re attracted to men who smell like family, ostensibly because family will be more likely to protect the offspring. BUT! The pill mimics pregnancy. Which could mean that some types of pill cause you to fall in love with a man who is biologically similar, reproduce with him, and then find his smell unattractive when you’ve gone off the pill, sometimes leading you to break things off with him. What the what?
Gretchen is good for a few dozen of those life-altering facts over an evening, which is why I always pull her down next to me at dinner.
Gretchen also happens to be the author of the bestselling Happiness Project, and the soon-to-be-released Happier at Home (which will hit shelves September 4 and is now available for pre-order), both of which document Gretchen’s curiosity about ways to improve her life — she also has a site dedicated to the process that has some useful suggestions. The Go Mighty team and the gracious Isabel Kallman hosted a book release party for Happier at Home in New York last week, and some of our favorite women gathered to celebrate happiness.
Laura documented all the details over here. There was champagne, and donuts (Donuts 2012!), and lots of women laughing, which is the best.
There were also gift bags. Want one?
Bliss supplied a generous helping of good-smelling body and bath products, and Anthropologie gave us pretty wall calendars.
We also have five copies of Happier at Home to give away. To enter, just tell us what makes you happy in comments. In fact, will you please tell us three things? I like to read them. Fingers crossed for you.
Top and bottom images by Mighty Girl. Other images by Sheri Silver from www.sherisilver.com.
UPDATE: Comments close Monday, August 13. Until then, keep ’em coming:
Mighty Girl 
A new book
Clean sheets
A blissfully quiet day at home with my husband
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1. When I come across something in my late father’s handwrititng.
2. Picking my husband at the airport
3. Sharing dessert
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living in strange lands & navigating life from there
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1. stroking a cat, and having it purr and lean in to have you scratch *right there* behind its ears
2. waking up to find my 3-year-old has crawled into my bed in the middle of the night, and is cuddling up to me
3. making something, especially something to give to someone else. cooking, knitting, screenprints, web pages, all count.
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Fresh veggies, my nephews, and clean sheets. 🙂
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1. watching a grown man sit on a skate board going down the Manhattan bridge
2. learning to ride my bike with no hands at 27
3. making a killer cocktail and drinking it with killer friends
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1- my toddler
2- seeing her with my husband or mother
3- good food!
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1. Snuggling with my little dog;
2. The way I feel after exercise;
3. Singing!
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1. good company
2. good food
3. human nature – in all its awe + folly
🙂
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Laughing with my fiance to a silly TV show, or just when we’re lying in bed talking about our days. Having coffee and a muffin for breakfast before I go to work. The first warm, exciting breezes of spring.
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The way my guy always moves me to the inside of a sidewalk whenever we’re strolling down the street.
Fighting sleep so I can stay up reading a good book.
Learning that I can get pregnant after years of thinking I couldn’t.
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That rooftop event celebrating the launch of Gretchen’s new book looked wonderful. Three things. Only three???
1. A booked and paid for family holiday that comes with the feeling of knowing we will all be together and away from the usual distractions that come between husbands and wives, parents and children, brothers and sisters.
2. A family home knowing my children have a place they can call their own that is a secure roof over their heads and a place to create memories.
3. Faith to know that everything is going to be okay.
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1. playing duplo with my daughter
2. riding my bike
3. biscuits!
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I love going on long walks around town, together with my boyfriend, I enjoy finding cheap thrills at thrift stores and it makes me feel good when I start my day off early and get stuff done.
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1. Knowing what makes me happy
2. Knowing who makes me happy
3. Knowing when I’m happy
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1. Reading a book that sucks you in so completely that you spend uninterrupted hours repositioning yourself on the chair/couch/bed
2. The way my dog looks at me
3. In bed with my boyfriend watching him discover Six Feet Under for the first time
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#1 When my husband and I suddenly catch each others eyes – amidst laundry, tired children, mess and long lists of to dos – smile, and kiss.
#2 Jumping with the children on the trampoline we’ve got in the garden. They can feel that this is more fun to me than playing with dolls or tractors – and they laugh, and laugh, and laugh.
#3 Skyping with my parents. They live fairly far away, but the internet allows my children to see and talk to their grandparents on a regular basis. Some times we even ‘share’ our Sunday breakfast…
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hugs, my hands on a potter’s wheel, a warm cup of coffee on a cool morning.
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These things make me happy:
– My weekly CSA box. All those beautiful fresh local vegetables and their inherent potential for yummy home-cooked meals.
– Going to yoga. Pushing my body to its potential and taking the time to do something just for me.
– Waking in the morning to find my littlest boy asleep next to me. Mind you he didn’t wake me during the night just crawled in all stealthy.
Looking forward to Gretchen’s next book. Loved the first!
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1. My family
2. My upcoming trip this weekend without my family
3. Potatoes
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So many things make me happy (and I had fun thinking about all of them when trying to decide which three to pick – so, thanks!)
1. My family – husband, four year old stepson, and dog
2. Being five months pregnant (first three months…notsomuch. Vomiting = unhappy)
3. A really, really good book. And plenty of time to read it. And maybe a sunny spot to sit while reading. And perhaps a glass of lemonade. And a snack. Or five.
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1. learning
2. smiles and laughs
3. sunrise
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1. My boy
2. Going back to school
3. Feeling at home
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My children make me happy.
Traveling with my family makes me happy.
Chocolate makes me happy.
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-My one-week old making ballet arm gestures while staring at nothing.
-My toddler repeating back the funniest phrases. (We have to watch ourselves–recently he said “— big belly!” after a comment about someone gaining weight, ergh!)
-CSA peaches! Fresh corn! Summer summer summer. Also watermelon.
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Books, afgans, and rice krispy treats make me deliriously happy. All at the same time, please.
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-peach tea
-baby swimsuits
-my never-dancing-no-seriously-never-at-all self getting super into zumba class
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#1 – The quiet after everyone else is asleep and I still have some wine in my glass.
#2 – Being underwater. Ocean, lake, pool, bathtub. Doesn’t matter.
#3 – That my daughter has to give the dog a kiss goodnight and the dog sleeps in front of her door.
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Swimming in saltwater, California sunsets, and fresh lemonade always make me happy.
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Happiness is listening to my son laugh, drinking wine with my girlfriends and after a good workout. I would love a copy of her book, fingers crossed!!
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1. when friends from different circles of my life become friends with each other and we can all hang out together.
2. getting emails from my brother with pictures of my brand new niece, born only four days ago.
3. knowing that i will soon possess something that will always belong to me: a PhD!
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1- Hosting good friends with good food, good wine, and using my best vintage flea market treasures
2- Being offered a job at THE school I wanted to work at, weeks after graduation
3- Spending time with my family and meeting my cousin’s daughter
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(1) My babies laughing, especially when it is playing with each other or because I have done something funny.
(2) Hiking on a lovely day to a look-out/vista or to a beautiful waterfall. Bonus if we get to jump on rocks in a creek.
(3) Red Lavendar tea hemp lattes – and brownies (regular, Vegan, peanut butter). Bonus if they are dropped off at my door by a loving friend.
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1. My boys in a tickle fight.
2. A brand new box of crayons.
3. Waking up next to my love.
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My two girls when they first wake up in the AM…and just before bedtime…and frankly any time in between.
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1. Sitting on the docks with my beautiful upland doggy Harley at sunset and watching him sniff and spy and observe everything.
2. Sitting (more sitting?) down unhurried to a good book and a bowl of ripe cherries.
3. Spending a day going to Mass and lunch and recreating with my friend Dan.
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Three things that make me happy:
1) When light turns golden at the end of the day. 2) Sailing anywhere, but mostly on turquoise water.
3) The writing on “Frasier.” That is my comfort TV.
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1. When I can provoke the giggles in any of my 3 kids.
2. Swimming.
3. Hanging out with good friends.
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RUNNING! Running makes me incredibly happy. 🙂
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Hugs & kisses from my niece and nephew.
Having a great meal with friends.
Travelling and meeting up with old friends.
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1. finally getting job interviews after being out of work (!!)
2. a perfect cup of english tea
3. really good hugs
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Happy = new yarn and a project that doesn’t require me to make a swatch; being on or near water; visiting family
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1. Watching my once-malnourished baby develop a double chin.
2. The questions my five-year-old asks friendly strangers on the train.
3. Making the first french press of coffee at home in the morning.
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The smell of rain. A clean closet. Fresh baked french bread!
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1) my husband
2) live music
3) my kittens
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1. going to art museums
2. looking at my children sleeping
3. making and then eating baked goods
and
4.(can’t resist adding another) a cute outfit
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Things that make me happy:
My husband teaching me to cook.
A great book. Taking the perfect picture of a person. Cold beer.
Rainbow sprinkles. Blank notebooks. Amazing yarn. Crescent rolls. Paper punches. Baskets. Vintage tins. Cowboy hats. Tacky tshirts.
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what makes me happy?
1) the way my puppy’s paws smell,
2) biting into a perfectly ripe (seedless) black grape, and
3) exercise, which is a total necessity for my mental health.
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– the use of Powerhouse by Raymond Scott in Looney Tunes cartoons,
– when my favorite priest says my favorite prayer, “St. Teresa’s Bookmark,” at the end of mass, and
– the deep-inhalation/squeal my four-year old daughter makes when she’s delighted+enthralled+excited about something.
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Things that make me happy (as inspired by others lists above mine):
1. Using treasured postcards as bookmarks
2. The way my boyfriend’s nose flares when he has said something that he thinks is totally on point or hilarious (is screams, “Yeah. I’m awesome.”)
3. Gwynne’s laugh when she tells a story about her brother
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