happiness list

The pretty manicure pictured above, that while I was having my nails done, I had the brillant idea to paint the ring fingers a sparkly gold. This made me ridiculously happy, and though I know it’s not a new trend by any means, it certainly has made me feel extra pretty all weekend.

Committing to the LivingSocial deal I bought a week ago and going to all the classes I purchased at a place that I was not loving. The workouts were good, and I thought the teachers were focused, so I was liking that part of the studio. I, however, was not feeling the clientele, and didn’t feel like I belonged. So for not wanting to go back, I finished  the pack of classes out as quick as I could, which feels like something worth celebrating.

Taking 10 minutes to plan out how to set my DVR for fall premiers. I have my favorites to make sure I don’t miss, as well as slotting in some new shows to test out. I really realize how spoiled we all get not having to plan to be home to catch our favorite programs at the right times.  Plus there’s nothing I like better than a rainy weekend in which perching on the couch all day is 100% acceptable, and doing a marathon viewing of everything on my DVR.

Making some pretty terrible gluten free bread over the weekend, I was so excited to make it and then it was not the best. Edible, but not very tasty – perhaps I really just wanted cake or something sweeter, but the bread’s only redeeming  quality was that butter made it better. It was still great to fire up the stove after a long summer hiatus. I am looking forward to more baking and cooking in the coming months.

Starting to plan a bit for one of my holidays in 2014. I am starting to think about an NYC staycation. Feeling like it’s time to plan out a fantastic week of a New York City trip, play tourist, finally check off some of that bucket list. Anyone who knows me, I need to have holiday time planned or at least in the formulation mode. Already on my list, is a Natural History Museum Trip, and the Cloisters, and maybe seeing a Broadway show.

me before you

If you are looking for a book that will bring you through a slight emotional roller coaster, including smiling uncontrollably, and some heartfelt tears, Me Before You by Jojo Moyes will be right up your alley. This book follows a young man, who at the top of his life has a debilitating accident that he will never fully recover from, and the young woman who becomes his caretaker and eventually his friend. The story has all sorts of ups and downs, and I loved that both of the main characters really learned so much from each other. I was definitely sad to have this book end, because I really wanted to know what was going to happen next for the characters, even though the ending was good. No spoilers here, but I think if you can handle some turns in a story and are interested in what people do in hard situations, i.e. when life hands you lemons, and lemonade is tricky, this is a great book to pick up.

(photo via pinterest, no source to the original (but I love the book shelf!))

humor for your wednesday

Fall is super busy at my job- I feel like you come off a nice and peaceful August right into the start of what I will just call my crazy season. It’s manageable, but sometimes you just find yourself in need of some humor – which brought me to the website – hot-dog-legs. Oh the selfie (officially a word in the dictionary, and now regularly used by my mother), a time honored tradition of beach trips, is taking a picture of your legs in the sand.  This website poses the hysterical questions, legs or hotdogs? Which really some you cannot tell if these are someone’s knees or the end of a frankfurter. Hope you enjoy this distraction.

 

top 2 photos from hot dog legs and the last is my own attempt

party like its 7th grade

When I was in middle school in the mid 1990s, we use to have dances all the time which were probably the best thing ever. I remember the first time one of my friends and I were like should we go to the dance in sixth grade, when we were the babies of middle school. It seemed like such a big decision to go, and well dance – and it’s not like I grew up in the Footloose town. I just remember that not many sixth graders got to go to the dances, particularly in the fall of that year, by the time you were a seventh grader parents got over that fear of letting you go to a chaperoned outing (or finally figured out they could go out for dinner by themselves by letting you out of the house for 3 hours on Friday night). In true form these days, I’ve been listening to a heck of a lot of music from those formative years. I remember slow dancing to Boyz II Men (wow, some of those lyrics are racy, did I get it then?), grooving to TLC, and the weird dance the girls made up to “500 Miles” – we thought we were cool, but I prefer the notion of tragically hip.  I also remember wearing bigger clothing then I probably wear now as that was all the rage – it was like a flip between 7^th and 8^th grade when the more fitted clothing made its way back into the norm. Definitely enjoying the trip down memory lane provided by Spotify these days – some of the recommendations are so spot on it is scary!

PS – my seventh grade self -  loved me some JTT. Oh those hours of watching Home Improvement.

(photos via pinterest via )