Women's weekend positivity... what's something that makes you happy to be alive?

A few days late, but my friends make me happy. We got together over the weekend to play some magic, that’s always fun! We are also planning on some D&D and board games too.

Also, bookstores make me happy to be alive. Specifically, indie bookstores, but walking through any bookstore is a sure fire way to brighten my mood and take my stress away.

Magic is fun! What kind do you do?
- We play commander mostly, sometimes draft. I brought my Shorikai, Genesis Engine EDH deck (moderately changed precon) because I wanted an easy to pilot deck since I had a crappy week. And I won! 😁

gurls (i’m gae)

I met a girl, I got a crush on her, I asked to meet, and she not just agreed to meet up but she dressed up real nice and gave me compliments like I had never heard before (I’m mtf and new to being pretty). And then we had more dates and each one was better than I could ever have conceived it would be. And we have the best chemistry ever, I had no idea that I could be this compatible with someone. Yeah, so uh, I’m in love with her. She says allll the time that I’m beautiful. And she wants to see me again. What could possibly be better. I never had this before in my life.

My grandma has been more supportive of me as a trans woman and has been referring to me and calling me by the name I chose. It’s been making me really happy.

That's great news! I'm so pleased for you
- Thank you so much! I’ve been crying with happy tears because of it!

This is random, but chance encounters with animals. There's a paddock abutting my backyard that rarely gets used, but sometimes there are a couple of horses that get turned out into it. I'm always excited to see them and would love to meet them if they come to the fence line!

Also, I don't do this often, but yesterday I took myself out for tea. There's a cute tea cottage not too far away that offers a four-course afternoon tea. First course is quiche with dressed greens, second is a scone with clotted cream and lemon curd, third is a variety of finger sandwiches, and fourth course is a variety of dessert bites. So I brought my kindle and drank an entire pot of tea over the course of the meal. It was a real indulgence and definitely made me happy to be alive ;)

I looooove afternoon tea! I'm really glad you did that for yourself. And chance meetings with animals are lovely 😍

Honestly I'm still in a rough place and I know I'm being a bit one-dimensonal with what I keep posting about but my relatively new found hobby in leatherworking is really making me happy. Its not just the fun and fulfillment of designing and making something but I've had so many nice comments on my work from so many people, family, friends, internet strangers and even from professionals who have praised me on the designs and execution to the point where they expressed interest to work with me and my patterns. I even made a new friend from it, an older lady whom I keep in frequent contact with over email about things we are making.

It has been my dream for a while now to have a side hustle with this and this feels like a good first potential step into that world.

It's not one dimensionsional at all, I genuinely really like seeing it! I'm dreadful at crafts, so I'm always interested in other people's skills. It's really nice seeing how you're progressing and I can already see improvement. The fact actual professionals are praising you shows how well you're doing.
I'm sorry you're in a rough place, what's going on?
- Thank you! I've always kind of been interested in making stuff but really struggled to find the right one for me - one where I could do the actual activity but also get my own creativity involved rather than only following patterns or other designs and I feel ive really found it.
  I'm ok, just stress from work and life in general... Hot water died, house needs sorting out etc, just boring life things piling up in existing insecurities and stresses.
Oh wait you're the person that made that cute little purple purse! You did such a great job with it. I've been thinking of getting into leathercraft myself - I did it a bit like 30 years ago in junior high and remember liking it. Do you have any suggestions for getting started? Materials, patterns, websites?
- That's me! Thank you, im actually quite proud of that one! I actually attended a taster course which was about 4 hours at a local leatherworking supply place where we made a card holder. If you can find one I'd recommend it, it is very hand holdy and you get a nice item at the end of it.
  They supplied the tools and after gave us a big deal on buying the stuff we used, which i used for quite a few little projects before looking into other tools and hardware like rivets and fasteners.
  So what I would suggest as a mimimum:
  Stitching chisels for making holes - I like the slanted french style but diamond is also good
  Craft knife or scalpel and plenty of spare blades
  Metal ruler
  Scratch awl - for marking on the leather directly
  Leather needles - i.e blunt tipped
  Thread - 0.6-1mm waxed polyester, cheap chinese ones on aliexpress or ebay is all I use
  Mallet for hitting the chisels - i use a nylon round headed one with a short handle but any is good so long as it isnt metal
  Self healing cutting mat
  Poundo board - a thick rubber mat that wont damage your chisels
  Edge burnisher
  Glue - you can get some fancy stuff but I started with a big tin of standard contact adhesive from my local diy store
  Fine grit sandpaper
  Card - for tracing patterns onto, stuff from a parcel will do
  A pattern - i found a load on 'Makesupply' such as this simple card holder - https://projects.makesupply.co/templates/make-a-folded-leather-card-holder-free-template-build-along-video-tutorial/
  You dont need to spend much money at all, most can be found super cheap. The chisels should be a bit more, avoid the mega cheap chinese cast things and get a set around the £15-20 ($20-25) mark and they will do a good job.
  As for the leather, look around for suppliers that do offcut boxes (even better if you can visit in person). All of my stuff so far has been made exclusively from offcuts.
  On my phone atm but i can send a few links later. I would recommend watching corter leather on youtube as his stuff is easy to follow and isnt on the full old style cordwaining and saddlers type work which, as a beginner, is too much. His saddle stitch tutorial is particularly good.

This might sound strange, but something that truly makes me happy is my best friend. She brightens my days and makes my life better just by being in it. I feel a deep sense of gratitude for having her. Meeting her and being met with the same affection, and being able to build this incredible friendship together, has been one of the greatest blessings of my life. What brings me joy, above all, is knowing that people like her exist and that I’ve been lucky enough to have her in my life. My best friend is an extraordinary woman. She has a huge heart and is beautiful, inside and out. She’s so kind that even to the people who’ve hurt her, she still wishes them well. I see it in her eyes. She genuinely feels compassion when she sees others suffering, even those who’ve wronged her. She faces life with such positivity and gratitude. She’s been through so many challenges, including serious financial hardship, and yet she always kept smiling. Even when she became homeless, she still made jokes and kept everyone’s spirits up. She’s a “girls’ girl” who never tears other women down, feels confident in her own skin, and lifts everyone around her, especially when it comes to self-esteem. She’s affectionate with all her friends, believes in true love, and lives with integrity. She is unapologetically herself and never hides who she is. On top of all that, she knows how to fight as a sport, which I deeply admire.

Despite not living in the same city, we’ve managed to overcome many difficulties together. When she was homeless, we joined forces and bought a camper van that she now lives in. It’s fully equipped, beautiful, and cozy, just like a real home, and she takes such good care of it. She’s so happy now, and that makes me incredibly happy too. One of my biggest dreams is for her to find true love in a partner and to be deeply happy, because she deserves all the love and joy this world has to offer.

She sounds absolutely lovely - you're both lucky to have each other!
I've got a long distance best friend too! She's amazing and I feel similar to how you feel about yours. I'm really glad you found each other

The prospects to learn new things (as in learn interesting facts, learn about technologies or animals and especially learn new skills). I mean, if i wasn't alive i wouldn't really notice but i also would't experience the joy of learning and mastering a new skill or hearing about new perspectives or grow as a person.

Also cheese.