10 Things That Made Me Happy This Week

Happy Friday! Today I'm linking up with Charlotte, Lindsay, and Beth for their weekly grateful and happy list link-up.

1. This video made me smile

2. Reading books set during autumn

3. This video gave me flashbacks and is also hilarious 

4. Singing with Raphael

5. Funny conversations with my sons and John

6. Hot chocolate with marshmallow whipped cream

7. Seeing Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas displays out (Merry HallowThankmas, I guess)

8. Coffee mugs at Target and Big Lots 

9. Rihanna is back with new music!

10. Halloween candy

What made you happy this week?

Thanks for visiting!

Until next time...

Why I Bought A Pack of Cupcakes With Sprinkles Last Friday Afternoon

Because it was Friday and the weekend had arrived. Because I wanted to treat myself, the boys, and my husband. Because I felt like I deserved it. Because after a few stressful days the week before, this week was absolutely amazing. Because my youngest son is feeling so much better after being sick last week. Because my sons had a great week at school. Because I can't resist cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Because the cupcakes also had sprinkles. Because I started cramping and just knew what was going to happen. Because that was all the more reason to get the damn cupcakes. Because I worked so hard. Because I finally decided to do things my way. Because I got everything done on my to-do list and wouldn't have to do anything during the weekend. Because I've been getting so many ideas and feel inspired to write and work in my journal. Because I feel so alive during fall. Because it's the little things in life that make me happy. Because it's the month of October...one of my favorite months of the year. Because it's comfy and cozy season, and cupcakes always bring me a little bit of comfort. Because I wanted cupcakes with cream cheese frosting on a random Friday afternoon.

This post is part of a blog hop with Exhale - an online community of women pursuing creativity alongside motherhood, led by the writing team behind Coffee + Crumbs. Click here to view the next post in the series "A Question."

Just Five Things

1. Oh, I love this fall weather. The mornings are really starting to feel like fall. It was 41° this morning, and it was glorious. I enjoyed feeling the chilly air on my face and loved that I could start wearing my cozy sweaters.  

2. During the fall, I always have the urge to want to bake and eat all the baked goods and treats. My family has enjoyed eating these Thomas chocolate muffin tops. I've wanted to bake something for a few days and remembered I bought a muffin top mix from Betty Crocker. Oh my goodness, they turned out delicious! I highly recommend trying the Betty Crocker muffin top mix. Now, I'm hunting for an excellent homemade chocolate chip muffin top recipe and a blueberry one. 

3. I'm reading The Twig Man by Sana Rasoul, and I really love it. The Twig Man is a middle-grade horror story about a boy, Ari, who attempts to find and save his missing older sister. He believes that she was taken by the Twig Man, but no one will listen to him. There are some spooky moments, and I'm surprised at how much I am enjoying this book. I can't wait to see how it ends.

4. We're working on a new bedtime routine for Raphael, and let's just say it's been an experience. It hasn't been too difficult, but we're still getting the hang of it. The hard part is that Raphael wants to stay up with his older brothers. He doesn't seem to understand why he has to go to bed earlier than his brothers. I will say that I was amused that despite Raphael saying, "I'm not tired," he would fall asleep almost immediately after getting in bed. 

5. We just received Target's holiday catalog in the mail, which made me smile. I'm not rushing this season because I love fall, but I feel that this winter will be a good one. I'm also excited about the holidays, and I'm already planning for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and Gabriel's birthday. 

Thanks for visiting!

Until next time...

10 Things That Made Me Happy This Week

Happy Friday! Today I'm linking up with Charlotte, Lindsay, and Beth for their weekly grateful and happy list link-up.

1. Treating myself to some cupcakes

2. Planning for Halloween

3. Hearing hilarious, random conversations that my boys have with each other

4. Receiving an arc of a book that I really want to read

5. This photo

6. Words by Morgan Harper Nichols

7. Going to Party City and looking for costumes

8. Finding new recipes to try (I really want to try this strawberry crunch banana pudding)

9. The internet (I've watched so many hilarious videos this week, lol.)

10. Writing in my journal

What made you happy this week?

Thanks for visiting!

Until next time...

If You and I Had Coffee

If you and I had coffee...

We'd meet at Starbucks and order a pumpkin spice latte and a pastry or two. Rather than sit inside, we'd take our drinks and treats and walk around the neighborhood. 

If you and I had coffee...

I'd tell you that I've been enjoying being part of the Exhale community. One of my goals this month is to participate in the upcoming blog hop. I'm really excited about the blog hop this month and have been taking the time to work on my essay. I have also been enjoying the creative exercises for this month and was so inspired that I am currently working on two pieces and plan to either submit them or publish them on my blog soon. 

If you and I had coffee...

I'd tell you that I am really enjoying this season. I love that the mornings now have a chill in the air. I can wear my favorite sweaters and consume all the pumpkin things. Fall TV is the best. I have one episode left of the Sandman to watch, and I'm sad that it's almost over. I still have a few other series to catch up on as well. 

If you and I had coffee...

I'd tell you that I'm currently reading Meet Me in the Margins By Melissa Ferguson for the Exhale's book club. So far, it's good. I'm also currently reading a few other books as well. There are so many books that I want to read, but I'm working on finishing the ones that I've already started. 

If you and I had coffee...

I'd tell you that I read a really great piece by Marlee Grace. Marlee mentioned that she gave herself Saturdays to do whatever she wanted. It's a day when she has no plans, meetings, or commitments. I really love that idea. Although I am a mother and wife and have started working a few hours a week, I have found that I still have things to do every single day. A parent never really has a "day off," but I really love the idea of a day with no chores or plans. 

I definitely think that having a day for yourself is essential. I've mentioned before that I am a firm believer in having "me time" and practicing self-care every day (even if it's only for 30 minutes to an hour), but I think having a day where you choose to do anything you want can be beneficial. So for this upcoming week, I made plans to not do any chores on the weekend. I already try to get as much stuff done during the week so my weekends are somewhat relaxing, but I'm really aiming to not have any chores or errands. Instead, I want to focus on my family and take time to work on my writing and my creative projects. 

You know...I just realized that this past Saturday was kind of my day off. I made sure to get everything done during the week. I barely had anything to do besides laundry; thankfully, it wasn't a lot. I was able to work on my writing, finish reading a book, and finish watching a movie. Oh, it was glorious. 10/10 would absolutely recommend.

If you and I had coffee...

I'd tell you that I am so happy that we were able to meet up. I hope you have a great day, and I hope this month will be a great one for you. 

What would you tell me?

Thanks for visiting!

Until next time...

Photo by Alexander Schimmeck on Unsplash

10 Things That Made Me Happy This Week

Happy Friday! Today I'm linking up with Charlotte, Lindsay, and Beth for their weekly grateful and happy list link-up.

1. Treating myself to some Starbucks after a terrible day

2. My coworker

3. Reading all the books

4. S'mores cookies

5. Chicken noodle soup on cold mornings/nights

6. Wearing my favorite leggings and sweater 

7. Awesome sales at Target

8. Text messages from my little sister

9. Great meeting with one of the boys' teachers

10. It's finally Friday!

What made you happy this week?

Thanks for visiting!

Until next time...

Atlanta Mom Blog

Happy Wednesday! I'm over at Atlanta Mom with a new post. I'm sharing a few ways to celebrate Latinx and Hispanic Heritage Month. Feel free to check out my post and tell me what you think. You can check my previous posts here. 

Thanks for visiting!

Until next time...

October Goals

Happy Monday! I am so excited that it's finally October! October is one of my favorite months. There's so much to celebrate and so many things that I'm looking forward to this month. I don't know about you, but I come alive in October. I feel much more creative this time of year, especially during October.

I'm looking forward to celebrating my little sister's birthday, celebrating Halloween (all month long), watching all the spooky and scary movies, making a few Halloween treats, buying our costumes, and reading so many good books. I also plan to work on a few creative projects for this month, and I think I'm going to use a Moleskine pocket sketchbook to hold my projects/work. 

As much as I am excited about October, I have to say that September was a good month. It was a dream. We celebrated John's birthday. The boys, especially Raphael, were excited about the cake. John loved the gifts we got him. Last month marked a whole month of me working at my new job. So far, I have really enjoyed my new job. I did a lot of reflecting in September, which was really good for my soul. It was a great creative month too. I didn't work on too many projects, but I got a lot of ideas and was inspired by many things. I'm excited to put those ideas and inspirations on paper.

Recap of September Goals

• Read 5 books: I read 30 books last month. I read a few novels, novellas, and children's books. My favorite book for the month was The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. I highly recommend it and definitely think it should be required reading.

• Read and review 3 books from Netgalley: I read and reviewed four books I received from Netgalley. I read Sidney the Lonely Cloud by Tim Hopgood, The Coat by Séverine Vidal, The Curse on Spectacle Key by Chantel Acevedo, and Tales of Whimsy, Verses of Woe by Tim DeRoche. 

• Try 2 new recipes: Once again, I can't remember if I did try any new recipes, so I'm going to assume that I didn't. If I did try some new recipes, they didn't "wow" me (or disgust me...so I guess yay?), so I guess it probably wasn't worth mentioning. However, it's more likely that I just forgot about this goal and didn't make try any new recipes.

• Complete 1 half-finished memory-keeping project: I didn't complete any of my half-finished projects, but I worked on a few, like my Project Life album. I'm still not caught up on my Project Life album, but I'm glad about the progress that I've made.

• Complete my Little Summer Joy mini-album: I completely forgot to work on this project. I will try to work on it this month, but I know I probably won't finish it. I have so many things I want to work on this month, and unfortunately, I know I won't have as much time as I'd like to work on my summer mini-album.

• Complete at least 5 prompts from the ALP's 30 Days of Showing Up challenge: This is another challenge that I completely forgot to work on. I really need to keep better track of my challenges. I also need to stop trying to do too many challenges and projects simultaneously. It usually never ends well, but of course, I still do it.

• Drink more water: Yikes! I did drink more water, but not as much as I should. I've definitely had a ton of hot chocolate, pumpkin-spiced lattes, and mocha frappuccinos. 

• Publish two personal pieces on the blog: I shared my monthly "end of the month" list, my monthly "If You and I Had Coffee" post, and the books I read for Buzzfeed's Summer Book Challenge. I'm going to count these three as personal pieces, but I hope to share a few pieces this month that aren't part of my usual monthly posts. I've been working on a few pieces to submit for a couple of publications, so I didn't have much time to work on content for the blog. Here's to hoping that I can do that this month.

October Goals

• Read 5 books

• Read and review 2 books from Netgalley

• Try 1 new recipe

• Complete 1 half-finished memory-keeping project

• Work on my Project Life album

• Work on my October memory-keeping projects 
• October Daily
• Here: Five Things course
• ALP's October prompts

• Publish 1 personal piece on the blog

• Participate in Exhale's October blog hop

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

Thanks for visiting!

Until next time...

Photo by Jess Bailey on Unsplash

10 Things That Made Me Happy This Week

Happy Saturday and Happy October! Today I'm linking up with Charlotte, Lindsay, and Beth for their weekly grateful and happy list link-up.

1. This Latino Heritage Month Black Floral Scrunchie

2. These photos from September 

3. Getting stuff done ahead of time

4. Halloween memory keeping and craft supplies from Michaels

5. Chocolate croissants

6. Calm Down by Rema and Selena Gomez

7. Preparing for October memory-keeping projects

8. Getting ideas for blog posts and...possibly a book!

9. On Thursday, it was finally cool enough for me to wear my favorite sweatshirt.

10. It's finally October!

What made you happy this week?

Thanks for visiting!

Until next time...