10 Things That Made Me Happy This Week

Happy Friday! Last week, I didn't get to post my happy and grateful list because we were on vacation. But I'm back and linking up with Charlotte, Lindsay, and Beth for their weekly happy and grateful list link-up. *Just a heads up, I'll also be sharing some things from last week.

1. I recently found Kelcey Ervick's substack newsletter, The Habit of Art, and I absolutely love it! I love her illustrations and the mini-essays she shares about writing and drawing. You can also check out more of her work here.

2. After Hours (Cater 2 U Mix) by Kehlani. This song has been on repeat. 

3. We went on a family vacation to Savannah and Tybee Island. We had a great time, and it was a much-needed trip. (You can see a few photos on my Instagram highlights.)

4. I read Always Haunted: Hallowe'en Poems by LindaAnn LoSchiavo and absolutely loved it. It's still summer, but now that my vacation is over, I'm in autumn mode. I'm ready for all things spooky and pumpkin spice lattes.

5. John and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary, and it was nice to celebrate it while we were on vacation. 

6. One of the highlights of my trip to Savannah and Tybee Island was swimming in the ocean with my sons and husband for the first time. The boys were so excited. I hadn't been to the beach since I was a child, but it was amazing to go back. We're definitely not fans of the sand, but we absolutely loved swimming in the ocean. 

7. Lately, I have been loving watermelon. I bought a big container to take to the beach, and I have been buying and consuming large amounts of it ever since. 

8. I finally had the courage to go to the dentist. I've always been terrified of going to the dentist. We ended up switching dentists, so you can imagine that the change only made it that much worse. Thankfully, the appointment went well. The dentist, hygienist, and the entire staff were so friendly and kind. They made me feel comfortable and were so patient with me. Honestly, I'm so excited to have found a dentist who really cares about their patients and loves what they do.

9. I had a great first day back to work. After being off for the entire summer, waking up really early was hard. However, the day went by quickly, and meeting some new people was great. I have high hopes for this year and will try to stay positive.

10. Checking things off my many lists. With school starting again soon and returning to work, I have a bunch of lists. Thankfully, I'm almost done with everything that I need to do. It's been so satisfying checking things off. 

What made you happy this week?

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 happy and grateful list link-up.

1. I bought some Korean BBQ sausage from one of my favorite local farmer's markets. Since I'm still on a pasta kick, I  decided to make some Korean BBQ sausage pasta. I absolutely loved how it turned out. I made a bit more than we needed, but John took some of the leftovers for work.

2. Floating by Alina Baraz feat. Khalid has been on repeat for most of this week. Two more favorites on my playlist are Someone To Lose by Ashe and I Don't Love You by Aidan Alexander. 

3. I have been using my new Get Messy art supplies. I've had so much fun using the stencils and the acrylic paints. 

4. I don't use TikTok, but for some reason, I kept hearing about the TikTok Whipped Coffee recipe on Instagram. Of course, the pictures looked amazing, and I was curious, so I decided to give it a try. I've never tried instant coffee, but I received a sample pack from Target. I also had the rest of the ingredients, so I decided to give it a try. I used a hand mixer with a whisk attachment, and it took a while to beat the mixture. This was surprisingly delicious. It did taste a little strong, and there was more than enough whipped coffee for two people. If you're only making it for yourself, you can refrigerate the leftovers, and when you're ready for your next drink, you can mix it again and add it to your drink. I'll definitely try this again. 

Side note: I recently discovered that the whipped coffee recipe is called Dalgona Coffee and became popular in South Korea during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

5. My new headbands from Zillymoose arrived, and I'm so excited to wear them. You can check out more of the headbands here. This is not sponsored; I just love these headbands and this small shop.

6. I just finished reading The Universe in Verse by Maria Popova. I absolutely loved reading this book. This was a collection of fifteen short essays on various science-related topics. Some topics include dark matter, trees, stars, mushrooms, and octopuses. There is a poem at the end of each essay, followed by art. One of the things that I loved about this book is that many of the essays included information about scientists (and many of them were women). It saddened me to realize that many of these women are not well-known despite their major contributions to science. 

7. I've been daydreaming about autumn and decided to make a pumpkin spice hot chocolate affogato. Oh my goodness! It was absolutely delicious. 10/10 highly recommend. 

8. John and I have been catching up on the second season of Blood of Zeus. So far, this season has been great. We still have several shows we need to catch up on, like The Witcher and the Dead Boy Detectives.

9. I have been reading Nishant Jain's newsletter, The SneakyArt Post, on substack and love his Tiny Stories series. In his series, he shares a drawing of tiny people and asks readers to pick a tiny person and write a story for them in the comments. It's been so fun reading the tiny stories, and they are a great prompt to encourage writing (and even drawing).

10. Making lists. I have a busy day today, and having a couple of lists will definitely make my day easier. I even got a head start on the day, so I'm happy. 

What made you happy this week?

Thanks for visiting!

Until next time...

Target Finds

Happy Monday! It's time for another Target Finds! I found some great things at Target over the past few weeks. Target was in full summer mode and I absolutely love it. You may notice that most of my Target finds this month are summer and snack-themed. Can you tell I'm still in summer vacation/school break mode? Well, let's get to the good part and check out my current favorite Target finds.

Crumbl Cookies Cereal

I was so excited when I learned that Crumbl Cookies launched a cereal. Of course, I was on the lookout at Target and immediately bought a box when my store finally got some. I have yet to try the cereal, but I will definitely share a quick review once I do.

Square Indoor Outdoor Planter Pot

We needed to buy a planter pot for Raphael's pea plant. I spent an embarrassing amount of time looking for one but eventually found a simple and inexpensive one. We currently have the planter outside, and so far, the plant is still thriving.

Chocolate Dipped Blue Ice Cream Cones

It's ice cream season, so of course, I had to buy some ice cream cones. I love that these cones are chocolate-dipped. I also thought the blue cones were cute. However, be aware that the dye is intense. You'll definitely notice dye on your tongue and teeth. I'll stick to buying regular cones and dip them in chocolate.

The Good Crisp Company Sour Cream and Onion Chips

This was an impulse buy. I saw these chips were on sale and decided to try them instead of buying Pringles. They were okay. I didn't hate them, but they were also not my favorite. I could definitely tell the difference between these and Pringles. However, these are a nice alternative. The flavor was not overpowering. The boys really liked them, so that's a plus.

What are some of your favorite Target Finds?

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 happy and grateful list link-up.

1. Going for an evening walk

2. Finding turtles at the Arboretum and Pond

3. Trying the new Strawberry Shortcake from Crumbl Cookies

4. iPhone photography tips

5. These words by Molly Burford

6. Summer prompts by Amy Turn Sharp

7. Summer in Five Senses by Haley Weaver

8. The 4th of July flowers and festive bowl 

9. Spending the 4th of July at Urban Air

10. Ice cream cones

What made you happy this week?

Thanks for visiting!

Until next time...

July Goals

Happy Tuesday! Can you believe it's already July? I'm actually a little sad that June has now passed especially since it means that we have just a few more weeks before school starts again. However, I'm going to make the best of these next few weeks.

We had so much fun last month. John and I took the boys to Funbox and had a blast bouncing around the inflatable park. We went to a new-to-us restaurant called The Corner Taqueria. I think it's safe to say that this restaurant is going to be one of our go-to spots. We also tried Chiptole for the first time. John and I had a date night at the Atlanta Botanical Garden and we saw so many amazing exhibits. I took an endless amount of photos...everything was so beautiful. I found a new-to-me coffee shop, Cafe Lucia, and really enjoyed their coffee and sandwiches. I also attended an Atlanta Mom event at Bartaco with some of the ladies on the team. The food and margaritas were delicious. We took the boys to see Inside Out 2. We also got our entire downstairs of our home painted and decluttered a bunch of stuff before the painters arrived. I'm in still in awe at what a fresh coat of paint can do to a room. Of course, it wouldn't be summer without several visits to the pool. Overall, June was such an amazing month filled with fun activities and events. 

Although I'm sad that June is over and July is here, I'm excited to continue to spend the rest of the summer having fun with my family. This month, I'm looking forward to more visits to the pool. This may sound a little bit odd, but I'm looking forward to decluttering our closets. We went on a major deep cleaning of the downstairs area of our home that now we've been working our way to decluttering and organizing the rest of our home. We've only got the bedroom closets to declutter and then we'll be done. Although, I'm not looking forward to school and work starting again, I am looking forward to back-to-school shopping. I'm a sucker for school supplies and I'm excited to update the boys (as well as mine) wardrobe. I'm also looking forward to celebrating my wedding anniversary. I'm not sure what John and I are going to do, but I can't wait.

Before I continue to ramble, let's have a recap on my goals for June and then check out my new goals for July since it's a new month.

Recap of June Goals

• Read 6 books: I read 19 books in June. Some of my favorite reads were Going Into Town: A Love Letter to New York by Roz Chast, The Painter and the President by Sarah Albee, and Sticky Notes by Matthew Eicheldinger.

• Read 1 book I borrowed from the library: I borrowed several books from the library and read Going Into Town: A Love Letter to New York by Roz Chast. I've been on a Roz Chast kick and actually borrowed several of her books. I'm currently reading another book by Roz Chast, Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant and have been enjoying it.

• Participate in Exhale's June blog hop: I did participate in the June blog hop. You can read my piece here.

• Go to my local handmade market at least twice in June: I did go to my local handmade market at least twice. I had a blast everytime I went. The vendors are so kind and there's so much good stuff everytime I go. 

• Work on my Project Life album: I worked on my Project Life album, but not as much as I would have liked. I'm hoping to work on a few layouts throughout the month of July.

• Try 1 new recipe: I can't remember if I tried a new recipe so I'm going to just say that I didn't try one. Honestly, I did not cook as much as I should have this month so I'm hoping to try new recipes in July.

• Participate and complete the latest round of Here: 5 Things: I did participate and I completed the prompts. I answered the first few prompts on paper, but then I completed the rest of the prompts on my phone. I'm hoping to put the rest on paper in the next week or so.

July Goals

• Read 5 books

• Participate in Exhale's July blog hop

• Work on my Project Life album

• Work on one Christmas themed project

• Try 2 new recipes

What are your goals for July? How did you do in June?

Thanks for visiting!

Until next time...

Photo by Maddi Bazzocco on Unsplash