When I think of something small that brings me joy, it’s animals in party hats.

Or any hat, really.

I have celebrated holidays this way and wished friends happy birthday this way.

For my first birthday with Heath, I asked for  the dogs, cats, and goats we were taking care of to wear party hats. Heath delivered in the most unexpected and delightful way possible. He bought party hats for the dogs and photoshopped party hats onto the other animals, as well as some of my friends who sent in photos for the occasion. In the photo below, you can see one of the goats in the upper left corner, and that’s my niece in a turkey hat taped to the chair.

I even relegated a dog to prison this way at a friend’s request.

I look at these creations with a source of pride and hilarity that keeps me motivated like nothing else to keep producing them just for fun.

For years, animals in party hats have brought me joy.

So, as you can imagine, when I was given the chance at a writing conference last weekend to ask author and illustrator Sophie Blackall about her book If We Were Dogs, I asked the most pressing question on my mind – other than dogs, what other animals should wear party hats?

Her answer was perfect – all of them!

I bought the book, had her sign it, and we laughed at how much we love animals in party hats.

At the end of the conference, Sophie was the closing keynote speaker. She gave us a wonderful and inspiring lecture on the lessons she had learned along the way to being a Caldecott Medal illustrator and NY-Times best-selling author.

When she was finished speaking, Sophie held up five signed prints of the If We Were Dogs book cover.

She announced that she would give them to whoever wanted one, with the caveat that the person had to give it to someone else.

My hand, which had been ready to shoot into the air, stayed at my side. I didn’t know who would love that print more than me. So I didn’t ask for one.

Sophie came into the crowd to hand out the prints. She immediately headed to our table and handed the first one to my friend sitting beside me.

Lucky, I thought. Who is Tiffany going to give this to?

The second Sophie put the print in Tiffany’s hand, she immediately gave it to me.

You’d think I could have seen that coming. I did not. So much so that the surprise and appreciation I felt in that moment manifested as tears, surrounded by a table of children’s book authors and illustrators. It wasn’t only that Tiffany knew that I would love to have the print. It was also the speed at which she acted.  She totally gets me, and if that’s not friendship, I don’t know what is.

As the world continues to devolve into cruelty and destruction, these small moments of joy are what help me get through the day. How lucky I am to know that the little things matter.

And luckier still that those little things include animals in hats.