Valerie Bertinelli Reflects on ‘Small Things’ amid New Project: ‘I’m So Grateful to Be Working’

Valerie Bertinelli is expressing gratitude.

In an Instagram post on Monday, June 16, the celebrity chef reflected on simple pleasures while anticipating an early arrival on set.

“It’s the small things that can always make me happy and grateful,” wrote Bertinelli, whose tagged location said she was in Vancouver, British Columbia. “Dancing sunlight streaming through a window in the morning? Happy. 😊”

“4:18a call-time tomorrow morning?” she went on. “Maybe not happy per se, but I’m so grateful to be working 🥰”

Bertinell, 65, then asked her followers, “What’s something small that makes you happy and/or grateful?”

Last week, the One Day at a Time star revealed that she was about to start a new project for Lifetime.

“It’s an amazing script written by an amazing writer and the cast is beyond my wildest dreams,” she wrote on Instagram. “It’s a beautiful role where I must break down all my barriers, shut out the outside noise and be openly vulnerable. It’s the only way to let the real, authentic emotions flow.”

Bertinelli went on to note that she hasn’t acted in a single-camera production for “at least” four years.

She added that she realized how “really terrified” she was when she looked at some selfies she’d taken.

“I thought I was doing a pretty decent job of walking and talking through the fear and anxiety but my eyes never ever lie. 😅 You can see the fear and doubt in them,” she wrote.

“I know, in reality, this is just my process and I’ll be fine,” Bertinelli continued. ”I’ve been doing this for over 50 years, (it’s like riding a bike, right?) but I just love this script so much and I wanna do it justice. There’s always that thought that I’m gonna be the one that f—s up the whole project, right?”

While the Food Network alum opened up in May about “going through some of the most emotionally excruciating eight months of [her] life,” she’s also been posting about positivity.

“Call me a Pollyanna if you like, but if there is one thing about me, I will look for the glimmer and be damn grateful for it,” Bertinelli wrote on May 9. “To me, a glimmer is that satisfying tease of joy that’s already sitting inside us and itching to find its way out, but it’s too often covered up by our brain which struggles with every day challenges and overwhelming feelings that can then pile up when we try to numb them or suffocate them.”

“Sometimes little things get in our way, and sometimes it’s big things, but that glimmer is always there sitting right below the surface,” she added. “Have a confirmation bias for glimmers. Look for things to be grateful for to spark that inner joy. Gratitude encourages glimmers. Acknowledge those sweet glimmers and thank them every time they show up and they’ll show up more.”

Bertinelli also wrote about feeling “blessed” in an Instagram Reel celebrating her 65th birthday on April 23.

“Went through it all 😅 in the last handful of years and I’m so grateful for the downs as much as I am for all of the ups I am blessed to experience,” she captioned the post. “The light at the end of the tunnel is finally here. I can see it. I feel it.”

“I love my family,” she continued. “I love my friends. I love all of you out there supporting me and being a part of our community here. I am one lucky and grateful mofo. XOXO 💋♥️”