10 Things That Made Me Happy This Week

Happy Sunday. It was a busy work week, and I was really looking forward to the weekend. It's been a while since we had a weekend full of events and places to go. I was really looking forward to the Spooky Festival on Friday, a date with John on Saturday, and going to the last day of market season today.

1. I took Raphael to the school Book Fair and had so much fun checking out all the books. We bought two books and a couple of pens. 

2. John and I voted. This was at the top of my to-do list for the week. When I went, the wait wasn't long at all. Please, please, please remember to go vote.  

3. Costco Lady Offers Patron Much Needed Perspective.

4. After hearing so many good reviews on Barebells Cookies & Cream protein bar, I decided to try it. I was surprised that they tasted pretty good. It didn't taste like other protein bars I've tried. It wasn't overly sweet and didn't taste dry or chalky.

5. On repeat: Last Love by Allegra Jordyn

6. I was so excited when I received a notification from my library that a copy of Mestra by Madeline Miller was finally available for pickup. I can't wait to read it. 

7. I was finally able to try Ruby's sourdough cinnamon rolls, and oh my goodness, they were delicious!

8. We went to the Spooky Festival and were delighted to see so many vendors. The event was definitely bigger than last year, which was a nice surprise. Raphael wore his costume, but the rest of us wore Halloween-themed T-shirts.

9. On Saturday, John and I went on a date. We went to The Corner Taqueria, then to Sincerely Yours Bookstore. On our way home, we made a quick stop at the grocery store and stopped by Mami's house.

10. It definitely felt like fall this weekend, and I'm so excited that we will continue to have cooler weather for the next week. It's still wild how we went from almost 90-degree weather to upper 40-degree weather. We will have to go through our fall and winter coats and sweaters because I'm pretty sure the boys have outgrown some of their outerwear.

What made you happy this week?

Thanks for visiting!

Until next time...

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10 Things That Made Me Happy This Week

Happy Sunday! This week felt like it went by both fast and slowly. Some days were busier than others, but I was thankful when Friday finally arrived. Because of the storm and the weather forecast, we decided to stay home. We didn't have any major plans for the weekend, so at least we didn't have to cancel anything. Honestly, it was the perfect fall weekend. Cooler weather, rain, and lots of candles. It was perfect.

1. Physical therapy is still going well. I still can't believe I waited so long to go. I also went to an important doctor's appointment. I can't believe how much I had neglected my health over the past few years. 

2. A wonderful reminder that small things and wins absolutely count. 

3. This story about two best friends was incredibly heartwarming. I'm so glad they got the chance to travel to France together.

4. I finally finished reading I Feel Bad About My Neck and Other Thoughts on Being a Woman by Nora Ephron. This is the second book I've read by Ephron. The first was I Remember Nothing, and I read it in 2025. In fact, it made my 12 Favorite Books of 2025 list.

5. On repeat: Kiss It Better by Rihanna

6. These tips and thoughts on returning to reading.

7. How cute are these colorful gourds?

8. I mentioned last week that John and I went to Trader Joe's and found so many good things. Well, we tried several of the stuff we bought and loved them. Will definitely add them to our grocery list again.

9. I made a langostino pasta recipe and used a Cajun Alfredo sauce that was fantastic. It was so filling and delicious. It was so easy to make, and I'm going to add it to our list of go-to recipes.

10. I'm looking forward to the upcoming week. We are planning to go to the Spooky festival and a few other fun places over the weekend.

What made you happy this week?

Thanks for visiting!

Until next time...

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October 2026 Goals

Happy Monday! It's finally October, and I'm so excited for this month! As you may know, October is one of my favorite months. September was an absolute whirlwind of a month, which was a little surprising because I thought we would only have a week or two of busy days. The second half of the month was especially busy, which really caught me off guard.

Although we were very busy in September, we did have fun. We celebrated John's birthday, and it was fun celebrating all month long. We celebrated early and went to the Smyrna Market Village. We stopped by Ruby's Sourdough Pizza for some different slices of pizza. We also tried some of their treats and coffee. 

In September, I tried the Little Debbie X Crumbl cookies and loved them. I also tried RYZE's Pumpkin Spice latte sticks, which are a new current fall favorite. I visited the farmer's market almost every week and even went to the Upper West Market, which one of my favorite vendors recommended. 

We all went to Spirit Halloween to check out the animatronics and costumes. We're still unsure what we're going to dress up as, and this year Halloween may look a little different for us, especially since I have two teenagers. I started making a list of spooky movies and shows I want to watch in October. 

This month, I'm looking forward to all things cozy and spooky. I plan to make a lot of hot chocolate topped with Dandies marshmallows (a new favorite). I'm looking forward to movie nights with John and the boys. I'm looking forward to a spooky festival with my family and, of course, Halloween.

Since September was such a busy month, I'm surprised that I actually remembered some of my goals. I'm anticipating October to be another busy but fun-filled month. However, I do hope to work on a couple of goals and cross off a few things on my Fall Bucket List. Since I mentioned goals, let's quickly recap my September goals and look at my new goals for October.

Recap of September Goals

• Read 2 books I borrowed from the library: Raphael and I read a lot of fall and Halloween themed books in September. I also read Love, Creekwood by Becky Albertalli and Address Unknown by Kathrine Kressman Taylor. For such a slim and quick read, Address Unknown was absolutely fantastic.

• Read 2 books I received from NetGalley: I did read several books I received from NetGalley, but only finished one of the books. I read Love and Frida Kahlo: an anthology of art and poetry edited by Cheryl Robson. This was an amazing biography and anthology. 10/10 highly recommend.

• Try 1 new-to-me recipe: I made a delicious rice bowl using pork loin strips. I'll definitely make this again. It was seriously so good. 

• Watch or stream a movie and a show: So I didn't watch anything new in September. I just didn't make any time and still couldn't decide on what to watch.

• Work in my journal: I didn't work in my journal. I really hope that I make time to work in journal in October. Most importantly, I really hope that I get over this fear of messing up my journal/sketchbook and perfectionism.

October Goals

• Read 3 books I borrowed from the library
• Read 1 fall/Halloween themed book
• Read 2 books I received from NetGalley
• Watch or stream a new-to-me movie and a show
• Work in my journal

What are your goals for October? How did you do in September?

Thanks for visiting!

Until next time...

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10 Things That Made Me Happy This Week

Happy Saturday! This was such a busy week, but I was so excited for Friday! It was a really great day, especially after having such an unexpectedly busy week. 

1. Can you believe it's already October? I'm beyond excited for this month. October is one of my favorite months of the year, and I can't wait for Halloween. 

2. After having such an incredibly busy week, it was nice to have an easy day at work on Friday. My colleague and I were incredibly excited about how easy the day went. 

3. May we all have a gentle October.

4. This Atlanta By The Coffee art print is amazing! Now I want to visit every single coffee shop listed. I also love that so many people mentioned other coffee shops in the comments. I added a few more to my list.

5. We finished setting out our fall and Halloween decor, and I can't stop smiling every time I pass my little haunted house and mini witch figurines.

6. On repeat: Fill the Void by The Weeknd, Lily-Rose Depp and Ramsey

7. A new favorite drink: Popwell's Blackberry Lime

8. Coffee + Crumbs final collection is live! Every piece was great. I especially loved Molly Flinkman's Forty Somethings.  

9. John and I went to Trader Joe's, and I bought so many new-to-me things. Lots of snacks, treats, and a few things for different meals throughout the week. I'm so excited to try a new recipe.

10. The mornings have definitely felt like fall. We've even started wearing our sweaters! I really hope the afternoons get cooler soon.

What made you happy this week?

Thanks for visiting!

Until next time...

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September 2026 // A List

1. Oh, September. It was another busy month, especially in the second half of the month. It was a month full of appointments and meetings. But there were also a lot of celebrations and fun events.

2. We celebrated John's birthday, and since his birthday was actually on a weekday, we did a lot of celebrating over the weekend. But we kept the celebration going all month long. We also did our usual birthday traditions, which are always a blast. How lucky we are to celebrate another year.

3. We also celebrated my niece's birthday and had a pool party on Labor Day. It was so nice to spend time with family and see the kids all together.

4. I found so many new-to-me products that I absolutely love. Some are treats like Dandies marshmallows (and they're vegan!), Miils (my absolute favorite right now), and CVT soft serve ice cream. 

5. There were many trips to the farmers market for crimson apples and apple cider. I went to a new-to-me indoor market, the Upper West Market, which was recommended to me by one of my favorite vendors. 

6. I celebrated fall's official arrival by lighting a candle in the morning, making a pumpkin spice latte, and completing some physical therapy exercises before the boys woke up. 

7. Although most of the month was extremely hot, fall is definitely coming out to play. The mornings have been so much cooler, which has been much appreciated. 

8. I devoured an outrageous amount of s'mores in September. It was my go-to dessert for the month.

9. Raphael and I have been reading so many fall and Halloween-themed books. We still have a bunch more on hold at our library. I can't wait to get them all. 

10. Physical therapy has been incredibly helpful. I still can't believe I waited so long to actually go. 

11. Fall break was great, and I was so happy we didn't have to go to work or school. Although Raphael and I were feeling under the weather during the weekend, it was still a great week. 

12. This month was full of good food. I made a fantastic rice bowl with pork loin strips and veggies. It was so good. Mami also made us a feast when she realized that Raphael and I were sick. There's nothing like Mami's homemade food.

13. The state of the country and the world is still frightening. My heart is breaking for the young female student at Cornell. I'm at a loss for words and don't even know where to begin. My heart goes out to this young woman.

14. We went to check out Halloween costumes, but we still don't know what we'll dress up as. I think this Halloween will be a little bittersweet. My older sons don't really want to trick-or-treat this year (they're teens, so I guess that makes sense), but still...it hit me a bit hard at the realization that they really are growing up.

15. So long, September. You were an eventful month. A month full of lessons. There were a few rough days, but the good days definitely outweighed the bad. Hello, October. I'm so excited for you. I have such high hopes. May you be a month of peace, healing, and all things cozy. 

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10 Things That Made Me Happy This Week

Happy Sunday! This was such a great week, especially since we were on fall break. I'm so sad that we have to go back to school and work tomorrow. 

1. It's officially fall! I celebrated the first day of fall by lighting a candle, making a homemade pumpkin spice latte, and doing some of my physical therapy exercises before the kids woke up. 

2. I've been devouring s'mores. It's been my dessert after dinner for a few days. Also, I highly recommend using Hershey's milk chocolate bars with caramel candy to make s'mores. They are amazing!

3. "Librarymaxxing: The Secrets Librarians Wish You Knew." This was such a great article. 

4. Sometimes social media (Instagram) can be useful. I discovered a new-to-me artist, Cheryl Andrey, and love her work. 

5. On repeat: Catch Me If You Can by Allegra Jordyn

6. I kept hearing about Fat Bear Week and had no idea what in the world this even meant. After Austin Kleon mentioned it in his latest Substack article, I finally looked it up and was surprised it's a competition. You can learn more about it here.

7. Current Favorite: SmartSweets Candy Salad. This was an impulse buy at the grocery store, and I don't regret it. I love the mix of sweet and sour candy. It was a nice little pick-me-up.

8. We went to Spirit Halloween to check out costumes. We're all not sure what we're going to dress up as, but I was pleasantly surprised to see more costumes this year than last year. 

9. Must-watch: Air Wick Mexico's Día de los Muertos commercial had me in tears. 

10. It's almost October, and I'm so excited. It's going to be a very busy month, but I'm so excited for all the fun events we plan to attend. 

What made you happy this week?

Thanks for visiting!

Until next time...

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Fall 2026 Bucket List

Happy Tuesday and First Day of Fall! As always, I'm so excited that fall is officially here! This morning, I started my day with a pumpkin spice latte and some physical therapy exercises before the kids woke up. I also lit a candle and played some fall and Halloween-themed songs.

We're on fall break right now, and I'm so excited for our plans(and the fall season). I plan to watch a couple of spooky movies or a show, finish one of the books I'm currently reading, and go to the fair. I plan to start decorating our home for fall, and I need to switch out my mugs.

In honor of the first day of fall and continuing with one of my favorite fall seasonal traditions, it's time to share my fall bucket list. As always, I've kept my usual fall favorites and traditions on the list, but there are a few new things I've included. I can't wait to start crossing things off my list, and I may just return to add some things to the list. 

• Read 8 books
• Read 5 spooky books by October 31
• Participate in a Fall or Spooky book challenge
• Read 2 books on my TBR list
• Watch a new-to-me scary movie
• Go to a Fall festival
• Donate clothes and other items
• Document fall
• Go to the fair
• Make s'mores
• Work in my sketchbook/journal
• Work on 1 crafty project
• Make caramel apples in a cup
• Go to the farmer's market
• Go to the Upper West Market
• Make a fall simmer pot
• Publish a photo essay
• Drink apple cider
• Go for a walk on the Silver Comet Trail
• Visit Oakland Cemetery
• Buy Halloween costumes
• Carve a pumpkin
• Roast pumpkin seeds
• Go to the spooky festival
• Decorate the house for fall
• Go see the I SPY! Walter Wick's Hidden Wonders exhibit at the High Museum of Art
• Visit a pumpkin patch
• Watch The Haunting of Hill House
• Go for more evening walks

What is on your fall bucket list?

Thanks for visiting!

Until next time...

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