Cheer one: It's been legitimately cold here for the past few days and on Friday it even rained, which of course meant a rare chance to wear my Muji rainboots without looking like a bad-weather wannabe. I took them, along with my neglected umbrella, out for a long autumn walk. Except for the annoying way my socks kept inching down further and further into the boots as I walked uphill, it was great.

Cheer two: I've gotten in the habit of buying a one-pound kabocha at the Hollywood Farmers' Market and incorporating it in meals throughout the week. A cold-weather recipe I started making in Japan, where there's a kabocha around every corner, is kabocha gratin -- basically sliced kabocha tossed with cream, bread crumbs and cheese and baked until it's soft, gooey and delicious. Even anti-pumpkin Rob is a fan.

Cheer three: I'm listening again to Sabriel, Lirael and Abhorsen, the three books in a young adult series by Garth Nix I discovered last year, about a mythical kingdom where young people (mainly young women) are charged with the task of keeping the dead from returning to life. Smart, eerie and imaginative, the audiobook has the added bonus of being read by Tim Curry. It's my favorite thing to listen to on chilly days when all I want to do is curl up under a blanket and knit the day away.