Sometimes you never know how much you enjoy doing something until you can’t do it anymore.

Like a lot of people, I’ve been hunkered down in my home for the last year, only leaving for the essentials. For most of the last ten months, my world has consisted of my home, the path I walk my dogs down three times a day, and the grocery store. That’s it.

So when my grocery store stopped carrying my preferred brand of dog food, I had to get online and try to find it somewhere else. Target came through for me. Their online inventory showed they had five bags in stock.

Bravely, daringly, I donned nitrile gloves and two masks, and drove to Target last week. My plan was to go directly to the dog food aisle, grab a bag of food, zoom through checkout, and be back in my car before any germ, virus, or lint had a chance to settle on me.

But a funny thing happened when I got inside the store. As I walked past one of my formerly favorite aisles—filled with stationary, journals and office supplies—I heard a siren song I could not resist.

Short story, short: I ended up buying (in addition to dog food) three journals and three matching pens. Aren’t they lovely?

And the really amazing thing was how happy these simple journals and pens made me feel!

Until I saw them, I didn’t realize how much I missed shopping; how good it used to feel to wander through a store, looking at pretty things, wondering how they’d look in my house, or getting inspired to use them as a starting point to create something fresh on my own.

Buying these journals and pens reminded me of all that; and reminded me that one day I’ll get to enjoy shopping again. Just not yet. In the meantime, I’m happy with my new purchase. I keep looking at them and wondering how I’ll use them, and that makes me happy, too.

Thanks, Target, for making me happy.

What made you happy last week?