By Christina Katz

Ah, the first truly spring-like day of the year. The sky turns blue, the sun comes out, the sounds of singing birds is all around. Time for the sunglasses to come out of hiding! You get a little bounce in your step and you find yourself humming everywhere you go. You plan your garden, rally your walking group and remembering how much you like sun tea.

Take a deep breath, pull out a piece of paper, and make a list of spring pick-me-ups to try based on this list  so you can now enjoy the gentler days to come.

1. Change out your purse to something colorful, yet sturdy enough to endure spring showers.

2. Splash up your tired old jackets with floral-print scarves.

3. Stick a tube of lemon-scented hand lotion in your purse.

4. Try a new sheer color on your lips like blush or raspberry.

5. Buy some potted hydrangeas to enjoy indoors until the threat of frost is over.

6. Feel like a culinary genius: make quiche for dinner with whatever you happened to have in the fridge.

7. Brighten up your rooms with pretty pillows, lightweight throws, and colorful linens.

8. A twig wreath or blossoms would look great by the door.

9. Take out the calendar and write down all the flea markets and farmer’s markets you plan to attend this year.

10. Pick up a box of sugar cookies with pastel icing as a surprise after-school snack.

11. Get some lavender air freshener for the bathrooms.

12. Plant a flat container of grass and watch it grow inside or outside a window.

13. Host a wear-a-spring-hat potluck tea party for girls you know of all ages.

14. Scrub off and polish up your strappy sandals.

15. Download a few tunes of whatever “road trip music” means to you.

16. Start dragging items into the garage for your future garage sale.

17. Lighten up your perfumes, bath oils, and lotions with lilac, rose, and grapefruit scents.

18. Arrange daffodils and yellow tulips and in small colorful vases throughout the house.

19. Buy yourself a vibrantly colored umbrella and put it by the door to jinx the rain.

20. Pick up a fresh pack of Sharpies and decorate things around the house, like place mats and tennis shoes.

21. Let the kids craft some wind chimes and then hang them by the front and back doors. Maybe even by the garage, too.

22. Go seed browsing with your kids. Try to grow three things you’ve never tried to grow before.

23. Make a giant carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. Share some with the neighbors.

24. Put away the tired table linens of winter and pull out the sunny colors of spring.

25. Put on some rain boots, grab your child’s hand, and skip out the door, whether it’s raining or not.

Author, journalist, and writing coach Christina Katz loves spring, even though it means mud season has begun, because it also means blossoms, sunshine, and gardening.

This article appears in the March 2018 issue of Augusta Family Magazine.
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