Happy Friday, everyone! It’s been a while since I’ve done a fabulous friday post around here… excited to get back to it!

Here are 5 things I’m loving right now:

1. Being home and soaking up time with my sweet family. Greg heads back to USC tomorrow {for his final semester of business school… craziness!} and we are going out to dinner as a family tonight. We’re going to try out an Indian restaurant downtown that Greg has been eying for awhile. I haven’t had Indian food for a looooong time, and I’m looking forward to some quality time with three of my very favorite people!

{And Murray knows he is my favorite pup!}

2. My sweetheart made it safely to Kenya, and he and his group successfully summited Mt. Kenya! They only have sporadic Internet access, so I haven’t been able to communicate with him very much, but one of his group-mates posted this photo on Facebook of them all at the peak of Mt. Kenya. {There he is, second from the right!} I’m really proud of him, and excited to hear about all his adventures when he returns home in about a week!

3. Allison Williams. We watched her interview with Jon Stewart last night and I was completely charmed. I only knew her from the Peter Pan Live special, but now I’m seeing her everywhere — including on the cover of the Glamour magazine!

I loved what she said about the importance of knowing yourself before looking to others for outside validation:

“I’ve just figured out who I am. I am now rarely confronted with a feeling, physical or emotional, that I can’t place. … Part of getting to know yourself better means that all the relationships in your life improve: friendships, family, fiance, all of it.”

Also, while watching the Jon Stewart interview last night, my dad said, “Hey Dal, she kind of looks like you!” Maybe I’ve finally found my celebrity doppelganger?

4. Alexandra Franzen included a link to this amazing singer-songwriter, James Bay, in her latest newsletter. I can’t get enough of his soulful voice and lyrics!

5. This past Wednesday, I went to the book launch party for Jennifer Niven’s new YA release, All The Bright Places. It is a really wonderful book — like The Fault in Our Stars meets Eleanor & Park meets The Perks of Being a Wallflower — and Jennifer could not be nicer or more gracious. It was so exciting to meet her!

BONUS: I have some writing-related news to share with you!

My YA romance ebook, “How I Became a Coffee Addict,” is available for FREE through January 10th on Amazon! Grab your copy here.
My short story “Receiptless” was recently published in the literary journal The Literati Review; you can read it online here. Hope you enjoy! 🙂

Questions of the day:

What are you loving right now?
What are your plans for the weekend?

Here’s what I’m loving right now:

1. I love music and I love senior citizens, so a friend recommended I watch the documentary film Young at Heart about a senior citizens choir group that performs rock songs. I watched it with my brother and I can’t remember the last time I saw such an amazingly inspirational movie. I even cried, and movies hardly ever make me cry. Here’s a sneak peak: watch their beautiful rendition of the Coldplay classic “Fix You.”

2. Starbucks salted caramel hot chocolate. Pour in some Kahlua and you’ve really got it made!

3. Sara Bareilles’ gorgeously bittersweet song “Manhattan.” I especially love the live version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05GZ6G2FZLM

4. Jon Stewart’s heartfelt send-off to John Oliver, who is getting his own show on HBO and so is leaving The Daily Show after 7 years. I got teary-eyed at the end, I’ll admit!

5. Board game night with my family. We played Sorry! and it was a close race … in the end, Greg stealthily snuck up from dead last place to a thrilling comeback victory! I, on the other hand, went from leading the pack to ending the game in fourth-and-last place. I blame my red checker piece! {At some point in childhood we lost one of the red pieces so the checker became a substitute.} Mr. Mur-dog wanted in on the fun and was sassy, as usual.