Happy iced coffee season

And other small joys Small rituals for delight YOUR GUIDE: [Sofia Sokolove]( The first day of spring was, officially, March 20. But my personal spring equinox came on Tuesday, April 4, at 7:39 a.m., when I walked into a sun-drenched coffee shop and ordered my first iced coffee of the season. I have nothing against year-round iced coffee drinkers (whom I’ll hereby refer to as YRICD); they’re apparently [a growing majority](. But I do pity them. YRICDs miss out on the very particular kind of joy I experienced the other morning, which I can best describe as a sort of conspiratorial meeting of the minds between me and my barista. He asked, with the tiniest twinkle in his eye, if I wanted a “Hot latte?” I responded, “Actually, iced,” and maniacal grins spread across both our faces. Just like that, the dreary, long slog that is New York winter had officially ended. Spring has sprung, y’all. The coffee is, once again, iced. Life is good. Finding joy in life’s daily pleasures is a job I take very seriously. ([It’s good for you]( Also, I’m a Sagittarius.) Experts say that accessing states of awe or wonder at the world around us is sort of [like using a muscle](. In my experience, no season offers better training conditions than early spring, when a cluster of perky yellow daffodils can emerge so suddenly from a mound of recently frostbitten dirt you can’t help but be struck by their beauty and grit. A few more small rituals I try to delight in: A morning walk with my dog—and without my phone. Lately I’ve been trying to let the sun hit my eyes before blue light does. It is very hard. Getting a [digital alarm clock]( helped, because it stops me from pawing at my phone first thing to turn off my alarm. (It also looks quite cute next to my bed, which is important.) When I do succeed in making it out the door [as a luddite]( I am infinitely more tuned in to the world around me—not just during my morning stroll, but throughout the entire day. Funny how that works. A vanilla cone with rainbow sprinkles. When warmer weather arrives, I average about 1-2 ice cream cones per week from the truck that parks itself on the corner of Fort Greene park. They always make me think of this perfect line from [an Alex Dimitrov poem]( “I love the grotesque ways in which people eat ice cream—on sidewalks, alone—however they need it, whenever they feel free enough.” Like my first iced coffee of the season, my first cone of the year is unplanned, spontaneous, perfect. A DIY happy hour. My fire escape has this spectacular view of the Manhattan skyline that I can’t see from anywhere inside my apartment. When I crawl out there each spring, it’s almost like I’m seeing it for the first time all over again. Don’t tell my landlord, but I like to take the occasional [glass of wine]( (or if I’m feeling crazy, a [canned cocktail]( out there for sunset. We independently review everything we recommend. When you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. [Learn more ›]( As mentioned above [A photo of someone pouring iced coffee. Pictured next to our favorite cold-brew maker.]( [Make iced coffee at home]( Mark the start of iced coffee season with the [best cold-brew coffee maker](. [A photo of our favorite alarm clocks.]( [Wake up phone-free]( Being even a little less tethered to tech can feel really good. Resist the urge for morning phone scrolling by using one of [these alarm clocks]( instead. [A photo of canned cocktails, two glasses with cocktailed poured into them.]( [Our favorite canned cocktails]( Take [these portable libations]( wherever you go on your spontaneous spring jaunts. [One more thing, on joy and coffee]( I recently splurged on a [Fellow Ode grinder]( which our kitchen experts like for pour-over devotees like me. It may sound ridiculous to call a coffee grinder beautiful, but it truly is, and it has made my daily morning routine infinitely more pleasant. [Save $55 on this one here→]( Isn’t she lovely? [A photo of Sofia's fire escape at sunset.] My happy hour fire escape. Wine not pictured. [View email in browser]( You are receiving this email because you signed up for Wirecutter’s Newsletter. Getting too many emails from us? To stop receiving Top Picks, [unsubscribe](. 
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