Making Me Happy This Week

It's a LONG WEEKEND!!!  'Nuff said.  

1.  This Vanilla Date Smoothie just speaks to me.  Imagine those sweet sticky dates being pulverized in that smoothie.  Ooooo and a dash of cinnamon?  Breakfast of champions. 

2.  Uh yikes, this post was a little too real for me.  I am the QUEEN of justifying things!  Dessert, makeup, whatever.  You name it, I can justify it.  

3.  Vanilla Cornmeal Crumbcake?!  The woman is a genius, pure and simple.  

4.  Looking for a good LOL?  Coast your eyeballs on over to this list of "Every English Novel Ever."  I love it.  Being someone who has often fantasized about living in 18th and 19th century England, this list just feels right.  

5.  Bad news guys, we're definitely doing it wrong.  Apparently, Marilyn Monroe ate a cup of warm milk with raw eggs every morning for breakfast.  And here I've been spending all my time eating raw eggs for lunch.  

6.  In reality, I'd be lucky if I could successfully execute even one of these Projects You Can Make With Paper but a girl can dream.    

So what's making you happy this week?

8 Things Making Me Happy This Week

I won a $50 gift card at Ulta this week (which I promptly spent) so I'd say it's the best week of the year.  I have low standards.  

1.  This easy cold-brew iced coffee is callin' mah name!  I've been making coffee at home every weekend (instead walking up to Dunkin Donuts to feed my addiction) but the summer heat is creepin' in on me.  I plan to test this recipe this weekend!  

2.  I won't blame you if you're entirely unfamiliar with Hilda the pinup model from the 50's and 60's but I urge you to familiarize yourself via these Etsy shops.  I can't get enough of these prints!  I've got my eye on this one.  And about every other dang one too.  Now it's just a matter of finding the right space on my wall......

3.  I hope you're ready to get all deep and stuff with this Thought Catalog list.  The thing is, I think I'm guilty of nearly all of them.  Sooooo, that explains a lot.  

4.  Sometimes the easiest desserts are the best desserts.  I present you, Exhibit A:  Salty and Malty Brown Butter Treats.  I don't want to meet the person who doesn't like that.  

5.  I've never read the book Hatchet but that doesn't make this "How Long Could Survive in Hatchet" list any less funny.  I hold no illusions about my survival instincts (i.e. I have none) so this list is pretty accurate.  Eric, on the other hand, would fashion some sort of Rube Goldberg contraption to hunt and kill animals for food or something.  We make a good team (if you define "team" as one person does everything and the other person is helpless).  

6.  Mkay, I'm not gonna say much but I'll just leave this link right here.  (OH MY GOD THE LORAC PRO PALETTE 2)

7.  It's kind of amazing that I need constant guidance on how to properly apply blush.  When I get it right, it looks great but when I get it wrong it looks so very wrong.  Perhaps this will help.

8.  I loved this adorable photo series of sister stuff!  If my older sis and I did this, much of it would be pretty similar.  If my younger sister and I did it, you'd think we weren't even related.    

So what's making you happy this week?     

6 Things Making Me Happy This Week

Images via Instagram @AnniesCtyKtchn

1.  I came across this Instagram account of a little girl who is not only a fashion designer but she also designs everything in paper.  And then models it.  Also, I'm a little bit jealous of her haircut.  And, she's 4.  So congrats everyone, a 4 year old is a lot better at life than all of us will ever be.  Let's just all accept it.  

2.  So in the fantasy version of my life, I live in England and someone pays me to bake all day and I'm the kind of person who takes baths.  I follow a lot of British beauty bloggers and they ALL take baths.  Religiously.  (I'd like to point out that I bathe, but I don't take baths.  Showers for me.  Glad I cleared that up).  And I've done it a few times at home but I'm not quite comfortable, my tubs have always been quite small and shallow, and no matter how much I clean, I'm always positive that I'm sitting in a gross tub.  So ANYWAY, my whole point is, I found this DIY Epsom Salt Spray which is genius!  It's the benefits of an Epsom Salt bath but you don't have to be living your fantasy life in England.  Perfect!

3.  This tutorial on blue eye shadow has made me think that maybe possibly someday somehow I could pull off blue eye shadow too.  A girl can dream.  (Also, that gif picture?  Genius).

4.  Avocado Hollandaise.  Uh yeah.  You read that right.  I could eat the hell outta that.  

5.  LOVE these Chocolate Chip Cookie Energy Bars!  I've made my own Clif Bars with a similar technique and I loved the flavor and super chewy texture.  Plus, hello, they're no bake and practically one bowl.  Duh.  

6.  This Jimmy Fallon bit with Tina Fey is entirely stupid but so hilarious that I could barely hold in my laughter (because maybe I was at my desk at work while watching).  We all already know that Tina Fey is a perfect goddess and Jimmy Fallon is perpetually 22 years old so how could you not like it?  

So what's making you happy this week?

7 Things Making Me Happy This Week

image via Pinterest, source unknown

Have you noticed my new logo up-top?  I had absolutely zero intentions to change it and then I saw someone else's new blog design and I got inspired and two hours later I had burned some vegetables in the oven because I was so wrapped up in re-designing! I think I like it so far but I may still do some tweaking.  Anyway, on to happy-making things:

1.  These are equal parts hilarious and alarming.  Though I do get the sense that they can't all be real.  Otherwise, we should all be very concerned for our futures.  

2.  This is cute overload.  The baby with the french bulldog puppies?  I cannot handle it.  

3.  If there is ever a dialect quiz, I will take it.  This one was nearly spot-on for me.  I've also noticed that many of my friends from Ohio will refer to something that is diagonal from them as "catty corner" when it is OBVIOUSLY called "kitty corner."  Or that just a Chicago thing?  

4.  I'm just gonna continue being obsessed with eyebrows for awhile.  

5.  Oops, another Buzzfeed.  But this one was VERY necessary.  

6.  This chia seed pudding.  I would happily call that dessert any day of the week.  

7.  Game of Thrones.  I know Season 3 is well over but I'm only making my way through Season 2 right now (though I've read the books through 4).  Despite the violence and gratuitous nudity, this show is right up my alley!  English accents, handsome gentlemen, and old-timey clothes.  It's practically Downton Abbey.  (Except that it's not even a little bit like Downton Abbey).  

So what's making you happy this week?

7 Things Making Me Happy This Week

1.  A very thoughtful gift from my little sister for my birthday means that my tree is now adorned with adorable ornaments of pie slices and tiramisu.  Perfect to christen my brand new tree!  

2.  Normally I find these "things I would tell my teenage self" lists sorta annoying but I actually liked this one quite a lot.  None of them are earth-shattering revelations but sometimes it's nice to read something like that as gentle reminders. 

3.  Gifting homemade cookie dough (in those adorable pints no less!) so genius!  I think I audibly "eeped!" when I saw this idea on Twitter.  

4.  No shocker here that I read a TON of beauty blogs and I'd like to think I've got a pretty firm grasp on the cat eye but Amelia Liana has the BEST post about it here.  So many unique tips.  I'm about to run out and purchase myself some post-it stickies right now!  Who am I kidding, I'll probably just try it with scotch tape.  

5.  This commercial guys.  It touched me in a real way.  GIRL POWER!  

6.  Oh look, I took another personality test, surprising no one.  I'm a "harmony-seeking idealist" according to my results and the line that I am "deeply hurt by criticism or rejection"is about 400% true.  I just want everyone to love me all the time ok?!  

7.  Well I could get lost in this graph for hours (first and only time I've ever said that).  According to that, Ann reached the height of it's popularity in the 1950s and Annie in the 1880s.  I guess I'm just an old soul.  And the name Mary held the #1 spot for 70 YEARS, from 1880 to 1950.  Jeez, way to be original America.  

What's making you happy this week?   

6 Things Making Me Happy This Week

1.  Trips to Disney World! Ok well, my trip was last week but I'm still grateful for it this week too.  It was about as hot as the surface of the sun and we walked MILES AND MILES a day but a vacation is always a beautiful thing and I had a lovely time.  

2.  Fall weather!  My goodness I am just happy as a clam with the weather in Chicago.  Especially after spending a week on the surface of the sun, I'm so grateful for the chance to wear boots and scarves.  

3.  This SNL Wes Anderson spoof.  If you've seen any Wes Anderson films, you'll probably find this hilarious and spot on.  

4.  I finally got my hands on the Lorac Pro Palette.  I'm sure you'll see this surface in a beauty post in the near future because this palette is total perfection.  

5.  Pancetta at Aldi!  Do you shop at Aldi?  I practically live there because the prices are so amazing.  However, they tend not too carry many specialty items but that seems to be changing.  I've gotten almond milk, goat cheese, organic baby kale and now pancetta!  Aldi knows the way to this girl's heart (through meats and cheeses).   

6.  Pioneer Woman marathons.  Whenever I have a quiet Sunday morning to myself, I like to queue up a Pioneer Woman marathon on Food Network.  I'm a bona fide city girl but sometimes I could see myself living in the middle of nowhere and baking all day long.  

What's making you happy this week?