I read something recently (a tweet? a recipe blog post? an Instagram post?) that talked about measuring vanilla with your heart. 

It’s so true, I think. Rarely does the listed teaspoon of vanilla do what it needs to do.

But I’ve heard my inner life coach urging me a lot recently to measure other things with my heart. Here’s a partial list:

• Vanilla – The O.G.
• Garlic – No recipe recommendation has ever come close.
• Hot sauce – If your heart says less hot sauce, you do you; my heart almost always says MORE.
• Chocolate chips – That “1 cup of chocolate chips” line in the ingredients lists? It’s just a suggestion.
• Mushrooms – More mushrooms will only help.
• Parsley – My heart says no.
• Lime juice – I made my mother-in-law a cocktail the other night and she said, “Oh! That’s nice and lime-y!” That’s because I ignore the recipe and follow my heart.
• Pepper – The pepper grinder at restaurants hates to see me order a salad.
• Cheese – I’ve never said “that was too cheesy” about anything other than a rom-com. 
• Wine – As an ingredient, you can often use a bit more than requested; in a glass, let’s all be optimists, shall we?
• Exclamation points – They add pizzazz! I don’t care that they make me seem slightly unhinged!
• (Likewise, parentheses – and dashes, of course.)
• Shampoo & conditioner – I have long hair, and sometimes it needs a little extra.
• Glitter – It’s going to get everywhere anyway, might as well go all out.
• Cleaning spray – Let’s get things REALLY clean.
• Laundry detergent – No way am I filling that cup up to the line for a normal load of laundry. Much better to do it by feel.
• Library books – Do we have but one reusable bag to fill? Indeed. And yet we fill our arms as well.
• Blog posts – Could I say something with (far) fewer words? Perhaps. But the heart wants what it wants.