Monday:

Why don’t you always have a champagne bucket at your side? It’s an elegant way to cool your beverages, and you needn’t only chill champagne. You can keep your orange juice and Chardonnay and Diet Coke at a cool temperature. You’ll look hella classy, too, and isn’t that all you really want out of life? That’s all I really want out of life.

Tuesday:

Why don’t you plan a trip that is a little different from the usual, but still pertaining to your interests? When I go off to a new place, I like to experience history and see famous sites of the past. Usually I do this in Paris or Egypt, but I have had a growing desire to explore the ancient cultures of Mesoamerica, so why not jet down to Guatemala and look at ruins there?

Wednesday:

Why don’t you go on eBay and pay a pittance for what used to be a very expensive bread machine? I remember a time, like a decade ago, when owning a bread machine was the very height of class. It went out of favor, and even I began turning my nose up at it in preference of the loaves I was churning out by hand. The other afternoon, I was throwing out things I never used and found my machine, so I decided to give it one last whirl. I was charmed by it, and the bread was really quite good, so I’m keeping it and giving it new life. It’s a nice change from the rustic loaves.

Thursday:

Why don’t you plant an allée of flowering trees? They only look spectacularly good for a week or so in the spring, but for that week, there’s nothing better than sitting under an apple tree as the blossoms come cascading down around you. And, then, after the flowers fall off, you still have a lovely line of trees to admire and picnic beneath. Off to the plant nursery, readers!

Friday:

Why don’t you send a lovely letter to your hero? My personal hero and one of the most influential people in my life (though I’ve never met her) is Joanna Lumley. She is a beloved British actress, best known for playing the chic drug addict, Patsy Stone, on Absolutely Fabulous. But she’s also a phenomenal person who has been all around the world doing all sorts of daring things. She hosted a documentary series where she traveled down to the source of the Nile and nothing has ever inspired me more. I thought a lot about her on my own trip to Egypt and she helped me get through the rougher times with her sublime quote, “Quite a lot of life is like that. Just get over it and just do it.” And of course my favorite quote of all, which was uttered by Patsy, “If you don’t do it, you won’t have done it.” That speaks to me spiritually. Write letters, reader.