Happy Sunday, friends! First off, I want to wish a very happy birthday to my beautiful friend Chidelia! Happy birthday, sweets! I love you!

I also want to send love and prayers to everyone in the UCSB and Santa Barbara community… I am heartsick and horrified over the tragedy that happened in Isla Vista on Friday night. It hits very close to home to me personally, as Santa Barbara is just up the 101 from my hometown. Both my parents went to college there {that’s where they met} in addition to my cousin Melissa, a number of my friends and many of my high school classmates.

It’s been a quieter weekend than last weekend around here, which has been nice. Yesterday after teaching I came home and caught up episodes of New Girl before hitting the sack early. This morning, Allyn came to church with me and then we had a lovely lunch together at Lettuce, one of my favorite salad/sandwich eateries in Walnut Creek. It is beautiful and H-O-T here today!

Before I move on to goals, a quick shout-out to my blogger friend Sarah @ The Pajama Chef for her wonderful, insightful review of my dad’s book Wooden & Me. Thank you, Sarah!

Here’s how I did on my goals from this past week:
– write ten pages
– send out three query letters/submissions
– send acceptances for new young writers project
– read up to page 400 in Wolf Hall
– go to two yoga classes
– connect with two friends

And here are my goals for this upcoming week:
– write ten pages
– send out two query letters/submissions
– complete final students evals + certificates
– finish reading Wolf Hall
– go to the gym twice
– complete my 27 random acts of kindness for my 27th birthday!

And here are some recipes I’m drooling over this week:
– coconut brownies via Two Peas & Their Pod
– italian tortilla roll-ups via The Pajama Chef
– crockpot freezer meals for the summer via Money-Saving Mom
– sugarless homemade granola via Recipes Happen
– rhubarb walnut muffins via It’s Progression
– funfetti cookies or cake {my current birthday front-runner}

Questions of the day:

• What are your goals for this upcoming week?
• What recipes are you drooling over lately?

This post is featured on Menu Plan Monday!