oh, friday

i am not sure how about guys, but i am more than ready for the weekend. bring it on. this week has been a long one, and i am ready to relax and unwind. definitely looking forward to some down time.

here are some things that i came across and liked lately:

+++ i thought that this was a great post on two words for all college freshman
+++ i am definitely going to make salted almond butter cookies soon, and my heart aches for this mom as she lost her little boy ryan in a tragic accident earlier this year. she talks about ryan in the post and my heart aches for her. i bought a print that was done as a fundraiser for her and her husband after they lost ryan, and it is framed and in our living room. i think of them every single day.
+++ i just got the happiness of pursuit today and am so excited to start reading it. the author traveled to every country in the world (did you know that there are 193 of them?). i am going to go to a book reading when he comes to seattle in october and am pretty excited about that. i really enjoyed listening to a podcast (episode 26) where he talked about the book and his travels and goals. good stuff.
+++ another one of elise's podcasts that i loved (ok, let's be honest, i have loved each and every one of them and listen to them first thing on wednesday mornings) was episode 27 this week. jessica o'brien talked about being a working mom and that thing we call "balance". so great, i caught myself wanting to high five her many times while she was talking.
+++ i was shaking my head up and down when i read this post from elise about goals. bring them on. i am going to work this weekend on coming up with next round of goals.
+++ i thought that kelle's post on parenting was so, so good.
+++ i have loved this song for quite a while, finally got it downloaded it onto my phone this week.
+++ i could potentially buy one of everything in kal's shop (don't panic barrett, i won't) because her art is so awesome. i have shared her you are awesome shop before too, and if i could get everyone i knew a print, i totally would.
+++ i got a beautiful mess happy handmade home a few weeks ago and it has been so inspiring for projects to do around the house or gifts to make. might need to call in sick to work all of next week to keep making my way through it...cough cough, kleenex please.
+++ my friend chris gave me wonder for my birthday, and it is the next book that i am going to read. i am going to crack it open this weekend in fact, and from all of the good things that i have heard about it, i am pretty sure that it won't take me long to move through. look for a book report soon.
+++ chocolate pumpkin bread. um yes, and don't think that i am not going to find a way to make a gf version of this. my mouth is watering just looking at the picture.
+++ totally thinking about signing up for lens of joy because a) anything ali does pretty much rocks, and b) it would be a great focus to have in november.
+++ for the ladies, i had mentioned that i had picked up a copy of darling magazine a few weeks ago. i read it on the plane ride down to cali last week and i thought that it was ah-maz-ing. so good. yep, pretty much going to need a subscription on that one. great articles (one or two i wasn't totally interested in but i have never found a magazine where every single article is perfect for me), super photography, some poetry mixed in - so good.
+++ marta has really cute autumn bucket lists and trick or treat tags in her shop.

happy weekend peeps, hope it is a good one for you.

last, but definitely not least, happy birthday to my big brother - the best bro that a girl could ask for, love you (and this last sentence is the reason that this post is past 10pm so you can't get made at me because it is about you).