Happy Friday! You know what this means, right? One week till Halloween!! Do you have any ghoul-tastic plans yet? {Haha, someone is obviously a liiittle too hyped up on caffeine right now… sorry!} Earl Grey before yoga + post-yoga endorphins + pumpkin chai latte from Starbucks after yoga = this version of me you are hearing from right now 🙂

Moving right along… this weekend, Allyn and I are going pumpkin-patching {don’t know if that’s actually a verb, but it is now} and I’m planning to hit up a craft store for a couple last-minute touches for my Halloween costume. If you’re looking for an easy, fun Halloween costume but don’t have any ideas, feel free to check out this post with some costumes that have worked well for me in the past!

Here are 5 things I’m loving right now:

1. This beautiful autumn bouquet from ProFlowers that arrived on my doorstep a couple days ago from my incredibly sweet and thoughtful dad! He sent them just because he was thinking of me and wanted to send some sunshine my way. How amazing is that? I am the luckiest daughter on the planet. I miss you, Daddy!

2. My favorite dessert of late: peanut butter toast topped with mini chocolate chips!

3. Every time this song comes on the radio I do a little happy dance: “Riptide” by Vance Joy.

4. This heart-wrenchingly beautiful and wise short essay my brother wrote for HuffPost called The Girl Effect and My Grandmother. Read it, and believe me — you’ll be glad you did! Here’s a teaser:

“The agony of these missing parts applies not only to our deceased loved ones — it applies to when we allow fear to dampen courage; ignorance to imprison knowledge; and hatred to overwhelm love.”

5. My grandma’s soup. Her chicken tortilla soup just might be my favorite, but she also makes a mean split pea and curried lentil + barley. I’ll try to get the recipes for those latter two up on here soon!

Oh yeah, and one more thing that might explain why I’m feeling so dang happy and excited … I FINISHED MY NOVEL!!!

Happy weekend, friends! Sending lots of love & joy your way! Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogosphere. It means a lot to me 🙂

Questions of the day:

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

Here are 5 things I’m loving right now:

1. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service on January 20th. I can’t think of a better way to remember Dr. King than a national day of service in his honor. I’m excited to get involved with a community service project on Monday. Here’s a wonderful link about the Day of Service with a helpful guide to find projects happening your area! Or, do an act of kindness!

2. Morning yoga. I’ve started going to a yoga class that meets every Tuesday & Thursday morning. I may not be the most talented yogi in the land {a not-so-nice instructor once told me, “You are the least flexible young person I’ve ever seen!” Ummm, thanks? At least I’m trying!} … but I always feel way energized and refreshed after yoga class. And I’m improving, little by little, day by day. I’m even contemplating adding a morning Saturday yoga class to my routine!

3. Big ol’ salads. {Which always makes me think of this Seinfeld episode!} One of my health goals for this year is to eat a salad or a green smoothie every day. My body just feels better when I feed it good fuel. Right now I can’t get enough of crunchy toppings like fresh bell pepper, celery and edamame. YUM.

4. My aunt’s two poodles, Lucy & Rocca. This week I’ve been writing at her house during the day to keep her dogs company so they don’t get too lonely. Mr. Mur-dog will always hold the key to my heart, but these two dogs are pretty dang sweet and adorable, too! {Just don’t tell him I said that.}

5. This “revamp my spirit” playlist by Heather Waxman. My current favorite playlist, guaranteed to start my day off on a great note! I especially love the first track, “Riptide” by Vance Joy.

Day-By-Day Masterpiece

Tag Archives: Vance Joy

fabulous friday #38

Here are 5 things I’m loving right now:

“The agony of these missing parts applies not only to our deceased loved ones — it applies to when we allow fear to dampen courage; ignorance to imprison knowledge; and hatred to overwhelm love.”

Questions of the day:

fabulous friday #8

Here are 5 things I’m loving right now:

Now, your turn: