3BT: reading in bed, shopping, and reading in bed again

1. I lie in bed, reading. I was only going to read one chapter, but I'm on holiday and the book ("Sammy's House", by Kristin Gore) is well-written, fun, sassy and intelligent, so why stop there?

2. I go to my favourite clothes shop: a specialist shop made for people shaped like me. My confidence is restored: I am not some kind of freak but actually an attractive woman.

3. The anticipation of snuggling into bed, more or less on time, in new pyjamas and clean bedclothes. With the book, of course.

3bt: lazy Sundays, novels and giraffes

1. A lazy Sunday morning drinking coffee and chatting, curled up on the sofa.

2. My friend proudly tells people that I've written a novel and reiterates to me how impressed she is. I spend a lot of time hanging out with other writers, both dace to face and in the virtual world, so it's easy to forget it's an achievement I can be proud of.

3. The plastic giraffe in my smoothie. That always makes me smile.

3BT: cereal, babies, and friendship

1. I eat my way through a bowl of Sainsbury's pecan nut cereal, which the friend with whom I am staying has bought especially for me, remembering what I'd forgotten: that I'd once bought the Tesco version and refused to finish it on the basis that it just wasn't the same. (I have to admit, that certainly sounds like something I'd say.) To be known and thought of to that extent is truly priceless.

2. Another friend holds his son upside down in an attempt to make him laugh, revealing a Bob the Builder nappy. "Can he fix it?" I ask the two-year-old. "Yes he can!" he responds, without hesitation.

3. The friend whose wedding I have come back for hugs me at the end of the night and says "I wouldn't have wanted to do this without you; it wouldn't have been right." In that moment the journeys, the cost, the emotional price of weddings all seem worth it.

3BT: ringtones, tea, books and handsome strangers

1. A mobile phone beeps during beginners' English. "It's not me," says Eliane, having learned the hard way that I do not approve of such intrusions. "I know," I say, "because you have a Nokia, and that was an iPhone." Instantly, I gain kudos and street cred.

2. I buy tea on the Eurostar, and they ask me, "small, medium or large"? I want to hug them. Until now there has only been one size, and it was too small. Then they ask me, "do you want the teabag in or out?". (Previously, I had to apologise for the oddity of my British behaviour and ask that they put the teabag in with the hot water straight away.)

3. I stand in Foyles at King's Cross, breathing in the new book smell next to the New Releases. It's not only the pages; it's in the very air. I've never noticed this anywhere before.

4. The super friendly, super polite, blue-eyed Costa guy with the French accent sees me struggle and carries my bag over to a table with better wifi. Which warranted a fourth beautiful thing.

3BT: translation, chatting and haircuts

1. I spend a happy hour drinking coffee, listening to Mozart's flute and harp concerto, and being transported to sunny Southern France by the translation I am working on. This is what I pictured my life would look like, and I like it.

2. One of my favourite students is chatty today and we spend an hour analysing the joys and challenges of teaching; we're both extroverts who spend most of our day alone at home, so it's a lifeline for both of us, and fun.

3. A new haircut: if always feels as if cobwebs are being swept away along with the old hair.

3BT: lessons, orchestra and twiddly bits

1. One of my favourite students tells me that her English lesson always brings her "positive energy", that even if she's having a bad day it also picks her up.

2. I look up from my seat in the orchestra and see that one of my neighbours has come to hear us play: her grandson plays the guitar. I never invite anyone, partly because I'm nervous that I won't play beautifully, so it was great to have someone there.

3. I don't miss any of my cues or mess up my twiddly bits or solos: redemption from years of being glared at and terrorised at Youth Orchestra by a Mrs T and never getting the interesting parts.

3BT: beautiful things, laughter and sunshine

1. I climb into the taxi, where the radio is playing an interview about the importance of positive thinking and thankfulness, and specifically - I kid you not - about finding three beautiful things in each day. I decide that it's time I started doing this again.

2. I laugh a lot with my beginner's English class. (I'm preparing them for an exam and debating the intricacies of the present perfect versus the past simple, so it's not a given.)

3. The sunshine and the longer days have been making me feel as though a weight has been lifted from my shoulders.