Ways to Sweeten the Day.

• If you microwave frozen meals at home, after preparing the meal, transfer it to a real bowl or plate rather than using the flimsy tray.
• Keep a cup with pens in your favorite colors on the kitchen counter. Quick messages, scribbles, or doodles don't need to be in business blue or black. Do this for your bedside table too.
• Use foaming hand soap. It doesn't drip or clog like other soaps do. It's also much easier to get the last bit of soap.
• Go ahead and give away the outfit that doesn't fit...or never did. It's not worth the tangle of hope you give it. Something else needs your hope. Find out what it is.
• Have a colorful blanket folded on every couch and armchair. It's cozy, and guests who are always cold won't be embarrassed about asking for heat.
• Create traditions--Don't wait for them to develop over decades. Eat Panera outside on Sundays. Wear a certain necklace when you're in a certain mood.
• Color coordinate something and see how it makes you feel. Monochromatic outfits. A shelf of red books. A large pot of pansies in shades of purple.