2,001 Ways to Pamper Yourself

1. Choose three fabulous chocolate truffles and savor them slowly.

2. Give yourself a day off during the week.  Stay in bed and do nothing.

3. Take a scented bath by candlelight.

4. Rake leaves on a crisp fall morning when the sky is cobalt blue and there's a faint smell of wood smoke in the air.

5. Hire a professional to help you organize your closet.

6. Call a car service instead of taking the bus or subway.

7. Go to a romantic movie in the afternoon.

8. Make love in the afternoon.

9. Drive a Harley-Davidson as fast at the law allows.

10. Subscribe to a magazine you've always wanted.

11. Telephone your closest friend and talk as long as you like.

12. Do yourself a favor, throw away every item of your clothing that doesn't look great on you.

13. Go on a house tour and swoon over the gorgeous interiors.  Then go home and be glad you don't have to take care of all that stuff.

14. Have bagels, cream cheese, and lox on Sunday morning.

15. Instead of milk, put cream in your coffee.

16. Take the time to build a roaring fire in your fireplace.

17. Make twice as much popcorn as you can eat.

18. Let your partner massage your feet.

19. Curl up and reread your favorite novel.

20. Read a novel you've always meant to pick up.

21. Read a biography of someone you admire.

22. Reread the book you loved most when you were nine.

23. Give yourself a break: stop looking backward with longing; start looking forward with anticipation.

24. Take a child to a petting zoo so you can pet the animals.

25. Visit a museum and treat yourself to a wonderful lunch in the museum cafe.

26. Put a "do not disturb" sign on your office door.

27. put a "do not disturb" sign on your bedroom door.

28. Have your broken jewelry repaired.

29. If you've got a secret yearning for the footlights, try out for a part in your local theater group's next play.

30. Make a list of everything in your home that needs fixing, and hire someone to do it.

31. Use your answering machine to screen your calls when you don't feel like talking to anyone.

32. Get call waiting.

33. Get rid of call waiting.

34. Buy fresh flowers every week for a month.

35. Try lavender cologne.  It's said to have a calming effect and it's as fragrant as a later summer day.

36. Get a full body massage.

37. Leaf through your old high school yearbook and remember how it felt to be sixteen.  Be glad you're grown up.

38. Let a professional makeup artist give you a new look.

39. Go to the annual family reunion.

40. Don't go to the annual family reunion.

41. Dress up and go swing dancing.

42. Drop in at a jazz club and stay until the wee hours.

43. Get up early and go canoeing with your sweetheart.

44. Have an old-fashioned picnic, complete with picnic basket, red-checkered cloth, and deviled eggs.

45. Go apple picking in autumn; berry picking in summer.

46. Eat a ripe, sun-warmed tomato while standing in your garden.

47. Have an accountant or tax lawyer fill out your tax return this year.

48. Head for a comedy club and laugh til you fall out of your chair.

49. Raid the refrigerator at midnight.

50. Learn a craft you've always wanted to master: knitting, woodworking, stenciling, needle point.

51. Do yourself a favor: buy only water-soluble art supplies for your kids.

52. Throw a tantrum.

53. Have dessert first.

54. Take a laundry holiday - let it pile up for two weeks.

55. Go to a department store and try on evening dresses just for the fun of it.

56. When you're feeling fragile, be good to yourself: stick close to familiar routines, eat your favorite foods, see your best old friends.

57. When you're feeling strong, be good to yourself" take on a new job, travel to a new place, meet new people.

58. Paint your bathroom the color of the Mediterranean Sea.

59. Take a yoga class.

60. Take a stretch class.

61. Buy yourself a snuggly stuffed animal.

62. Attend a wine tasting at a vineyard.

63. Listen to audio books while driving to work.

64. Use as many self-stick notes as you want.

65. Make yourself a present of the cookbook you've been eyeing greedily at the bookstore.

66. Have your palm read.

67. Don't be embarrassed if you've shown your worst self.  Your best self will have its turn later.

68. Be like water: If there's a crack, a path, or a route for moving forward, water will find it.

69. Watch the early Disney animated films: Fantasia, Cinderella, Snow White, Bambi, Dumbo.

70. Ride a merry-go-round.

71. Go skating in the moonlight.

72. Pick wildflowers.

73. Snag the Sunday paper before anyone else, and do the crossword puzzle.

74. Watch videos of the television shows you loved when you were a kid.

75. Sing duets with Ella Fitzgerald, Bonnie Raitt, or Dolly Parton.

76. Learn salsa dancing.

77. Scout a gourmet food shop for three things you've never tasted before.  Take them home and try them.

78. Visit a toy store and reminisce.

79. Sit in a sculpture garden and meditate.

80. Spend a weekend in a hotel in your own city.  Go sight-seeing.

81. Order a champagne cocktail in a dimly lit bar.

82. Eat a whole jar of macadamia nuts.

83. Subscribe to a concert series.

84. Give yourself a break: Don't try to do everything at once.

85. Take your emotional temperature: How are you feeling today? Do you want quiet? Adventure? Comfort? Provide yourself with whatever you need.

86. Have a marathon movie session: Rent three or four videotapes you've always wanted to see, and watch them all.

87. Make yourself a glass of chocolate milk.

88. Lounge on your porch on a perfect summer night.

89. Sit on a mountainside and watch the sunset.

90. Lie on a beach and watch the sunrise.

91. Float in a pool.

92. Listen to a recording of Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner doing the 2000-Year-Old Man.

93. Have a manicure, and be sure it includes a hand and arm massage.

94. Have a pedicure and be sure it includes hot wax.

95. Bake a batch of chocolate chip cookies and keep them all for yourself.

96. Once in a while, put on your pajamas or nightgown and bathrobe as soon as you arrive home from work. Relax.

97. Have oatmeal for supper.

98. Alphabetize your books.

99. Do yourself a favor: Organize just one bookshelf, drawer, or closet.

100. Adopt a kitten.

101. Adopt a puppy.

102. Have someone bring you breakfast in bed on your birthday.

103. Try aromatherapy, with a diffuser and a selection of essential oils.

104. Buy yourself a wonderful new hairbrush.

105. Treat yourself to a clock radio with large numbers that you don't have to squint to see.

106. Pamper your cold feet with an electric foot-of-the-bed warmer.

107. Eat dinner by candlelight.

108. Read a really great old mystery by Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, or Josephine Tey. 

109.