…and Blue Sky

Happy Friday, everyone! Here’s what I <3 this week.

1. THIS GUY!

I’m working on a post about my return to riding after over a decade off, but I can’t imagine anything else topping my list of favorite things right now. Hanging out with horses again makes me super happy.

2. These socks!

I got these at Target this week – I think I’m developing a sock addiction! They’re designed to match that cute octopus sleep top that was in my Target post from last week! (Nope, haven’t bought the top yet since I’m waiting for a sale, but the socks were only $4. Even I have that to spare!)

3. I’ve been loving the Rude Tudors history podcast. No idea how to link to it, but I trust that you guys are smart enough to use the iTunes search box! It’s hilarious and educational and covers great topics in renaissance history. (There are episodes on cats, coffee, and contraception – all right up my alley!)

4. Yoga – As I mentioned in this post, I’ve been trying to do yoga every day this month. In reality, I’m actually making it onto my mat about half the time. (I do some kind of stretching every day, but I’m not counting it unless I get in at least a good 10-15 minute practice at the very least.) I’ve learned a few new poses that I love, and it’s really helping with the ouchies that come with starting to ride horses again! (Actual conversation with my trainer the other day- Her: “Focus on using your thighs and lower back muscles.” Me: “It’s adorable that you think I have those.)

On the achy muscle topic – my decade old foam roller (with lots of knicks from being scratched on by cats and dents from use) probably needs replaced asap. Any recommendations?

5. I’m not a fan of the original “Out of the Woods”, but I really like this cover:

Don’t forget to enter my Bath & Body Works minis giveaway! Just click the image below to visit the giveaway post!

Linkup time!

1. Two words: Bernie. Sandwiches.

If you follow my main Twitter account, you now that I’m like a hormone crazed teenager when it comes to my Chris Hayes crush. Hayes = Bae. Anyway, I was watching the NH primary coverage when…

Yup. He totally said Bernie Sandwiches.

Apparently it’s been a thing on Colbert, Fallon, and @Midnight since then. My imaginary boyfriend is super famous now!

2. I’m so happy that How To Get Away With Murder is back! Last night’s episode was confusing, but oh man do I enjoy looking at Charlie Weber & Matt McGory!

Speaking of murder…

3. ADNAN SYED’S PCH HEARING!

I love that both Serial and Undisclosed have done updates about each day of the hearing. It blows my mind that he has been in prison since the year I graduated high school. I can’t even imagine what that would be like, nor can I imagine how crazy it would be for him if he actually gets a new trial and gets released – not only being free for the first time since he was basically a child, but having that freedom come with a pretty major level of fame.

I have to admit that I’m SO hoping for a new trial not just because I lean towards his innocence, but because I think it would be riveting to follow!

4. My Cloudy Cat finally got his drain out on Weds! That poor little fluffball is so OVER vet trips! Since he spent most of his last visit hiding inside my sweatshirt, I decided to take his towel out of the kitty carrier this time so he could snuggle it in between being poked and prodded. It ended up working out really well! He got to feel safe AND look like he was auditioning for the next Star Wars movie.

5. I’m going riding again today!

I originally scheduled my 2nd lesson at the new stable for today because it was supposed to be like 57 degrees, but now it’s going to be a whopping 45. Oh well, HORSIES! I carried my phone in my jacket pocket last time but was too wrapped up in what I was doing to take any pics, so hopefully I’ll do better this time and have pretty pictures to post tomorrow.

And yes, I really am posting this at 5:30 in the freaking morning. The cats woke me up around 4 and I have to be up at 7:45 to get ready to go ride, so it looks like I’m just staying up at this point. Oh well, who needs sleep?

Fabulous Friday linkup time!

Happy Friday, everyone! Here’s what I’ve been loving this week:

1. My BFF/#girlcrush Rachel Maddow hosting last night’s #DemDebate!!!

Things got pretty intense! There are a few topics that I wish had been covered in more depth (or at all), but overall I liked the approach of the moderators mostly staying out of it and just letting the candidates go.

In case you were unaware, Rachel & I are totes BFFs. See?

She has also RT’d pics of my cat, which is basically a marriage proposal in my book.

2. I’m currently kinda obsessed with “Child Genius” on Lifetime. I had a super high IQ as a kid, but I’m still blown away by how crazy smart these kids are at like 10-12 years old. For the memory round, they had to memorize the order of a shuffled deck of cards, and one of them actually remembered all 52! I consider myself pretty good at geography (I kick ass at Sporcle’s “name all of the countries of the world” game and I can usually get 120-130 of the capitals correct, and while I’m not super accurate I can generally at least get pretty close to estimating where they are on a map), so I was surprised that I only knew like half the questions they asked the kids, like “What is the national currency in Azerbaijan?” I totally want Adrian, who is going to graduate high school at 12 next year, to win, since as he puts it – he has a single mom and the tuition at Harvard is “kind of expensive.” (The prize is $100k for college.)

3. I was sooooo excited to see this dress at Target earlier this week!

It’s basically the exact same dress that I loved last summer, just in three new colors/patterns. I have last year’s version in two different colors, and wore it constantly. I am obsessed with cute summery dresses that you can just throw on and feel effortlessly cute!

Last year’s dress paired with denim vest. 

The new ones are only $22 (same as last year’s, I think?) but I have “the poor”, so I’m holding off buying until there’s a good sale or Cartwheel deal. C’mon, BOGO!

4. I recently started a new thing of doing”Office Hours” a few times a week. Basically, I pack up the laptop and head to the library (or hopefully other locations soon if I can find somewhere else that works!) so I can totally focus on work for an hour or two.

Change of scenery!

I love working from home, but getting totally away from any possible distractions for a while makes it WAY easier to focus, and is actually giving me a divide between work and non-work time that’s a lot more clear.

5. And finally, I like this a lot:

I have SO much to catch up on writing about, including a post that I started back in December and 2 from AUGUST! Maybe I can knock a few of those posts out of the draft folder this weekend! Next week includes Cloudy Cat finally getting his tube out on Monday (Hooray for cats without holes in them!) and my 2nd riding lesson at the stable I just started going to after a TEN year break from riding! (Spoiler alert: I suck now! But I can’t wait to tell you guys about it!)

Linking up with these lovely blogs: