After Sandy whipped through the Eastern seaboard Monday night, millions of people lost power, public transportation shut down, trees fell, roads flooded, data centers of major online publications  went down and at least 30 Americans lost their lives.
We felt enormously lucky to be unharmed and terrible for those facing major damage. But as our stir-craziness grew, we began to feel grateful for other things as well -- the sorts of things forty-eight hours homebound with limited air circulation make you appreciate and/or crave. Although we're more thankful for our safety than anything, we thought we'd share with you 10 much smaller things we swear, as of this evening, never to take for granted again.
1. Coffee made outside our apartments, by people more skilled than us. The moment one of us realized one tiny coffee shop a block away weathered the storm and is open for business was priceless.
2. A breeze. Sitting in a small apartment for hours leaves a person feeling pretty disgusting. A light breeze has never felt so refreshing.
3. Sunlight. After a day and a half cooped up, we felt like drooping houseplants. The brief period midday Tuesday when the clouds broke seemed miraculous.
4. A light rain. Yes, a little sunlight is necessary, but pretty much any type of weather that isn’t dangerous is just fine with us going forward.
5. How quickly information can be passed in the mobile Internet age. Sure, web access wasn't enough to stave off the cabin fever, and some of us went through periods without Internet. Still, the degree to which our smartphones in particular enabled us to stay in touch with loved ones and co-workers throughout the last two days was enormously comforting. Twitter, Facebook and Instagram kept us informed about our friends' and families' surroundings and wellbeing even when they were miles away.
6. Candlelight. It has the ability to make even a tiny studio apartment bathroom feel romantic. We won't wait for the next hurricane to create more ambiances.
7. A glass of wine. We don't advocate medicating with alcohol, but a few sips of Pinot Grigio sometimes is just what you need to take the edge off. We will henceforth keep emergency bottles on hand on the off chance that another storm named after a "Grease" character blows in.
8. The joy that comes from making chocolate chip cookies from scratch ... and eating some of the raw dough, obviously. Again, doing this WAY more often post-Frankenstorm.
9. A collaborative work environment. As much as we all talk about how great it is to get a day out of the office, we realized that we actually missed working right near each other..
10. Friends who live nearby. All of us were able to spend our “Hurrications” with storm buddies. We passed the time with people who care about us.



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