Rainy days and Wednesdays and some snow on the way getting you down? Remedies here!

Whenever the weather turns unforgiving, I sit down and make a little list of all those things that I think make life worth living. Old standards are things like sunshine, foie gras, family, tulips and pickles. I'm sure it's different for everyone but part of the reason I decided to start this blog is that I hope that The Merdjanoff Report can, in some small way, bring us all a little closer and remind us that our differences keep life interesting. And so, to that end, here are a few of my favorite things (in no particular order except that the most important and cutest one is first) and I encourage you all to share your faves, too:

my husband, Barbra Streisand, New York City, tiramisu, Edith Piaf, Christian Louboutin shoes, Christmas trees, The Catherine Tate Show, Fawlty Towers, Absolutely Fabulous, my best friend, lighthouses, Miss Piggy, my Nespresso Citiz machine, Super Tuscans, Eloise, prosciutto, cheese (in general), Betsey Johnson sample sales, watching football, Central Park, Maria Callas, Saks Fifth Avenue, the Yankees, Creme de la Mer, the 2000 Year Old Man, scallops, oysters, lobster, vanille kipferl, rum balls, the beach, the ocean and the stars.

And if you have an extra three minutes and thirty-one seconds and could use a laugh, have a watch / listen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmnLRVWgnXU

and / or (this one clocks in at five minutes, fifty-two seconds):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEhF-7suDsM