Simple Joys of the Week, August 1st Edition

Oh dearie me, it's August 1st. I'm not sure what's crazier--the fact that it's already August or the fact that Ben and I have now lived on the Cape for 9 months. Yowzers. Do you think I should stop telling people that I just moved here? ;) 

I won't get into my thoughts re: July and August, since I did that in my August newsletter, but I will say that I am glad it's Friday. This has been a trying week and I'm ready to move forward... 

But--BUT!--even though the past couple of days weren't necessarily very peachy, I was still able to enjoy some simple pleasures, which is always a treat, even when sandwiched between lots of things going wrong ;)

Here are some of the little things that have brought me joy over the past 7 days...

HEAR: "Somethin' Bad" by Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood
This was a good theme song for this week, and it made bad things happening sound kinda fun and good (!). I love, love, love both Miranda and Carrie, so this duet is a dream come true for me. You can listen below ;) 

SEE: The outpouring of support, resources, and recipes from all of YOU! 
You guys, THANK YOU for all of your emails and messages and links in response to Monday's post about my new strict diet! I feel a lot more hopeful about eliminating wheat, dairy, AND sugar for the next 5 weeks (1 week down!) because of all of your help and support. It's nice to know that many others have been though similar elimination diets and that some of you have found relief through doing so. I sure hope that I do and will keep you posted...

[Pictured above: some of the great recipes you sent my way!]

TASTE: Homemade Fruit Juice Pops
Because I can no longer eat added/non-naturally-occurring sugar, I've had to be creative about sweets this week. The best treat that I've found this far? Making homemade popsicles out of 100% fruit juice. I've been using Organic Pomegranate Blueberry juice and the pops are GdoubleO-D good. Sayde and Ben have enjoyed them, too! 

SMELL: Coconut Milk
Coconut milk has become my new milk substitute. And although I don't enjoy my daily chai tea *quite* as much as I did with a splash of regular milk, it's been a fairly good alternative. Plus, I have to say that it has a pretty yummy scent and it isn't too bad to start the day out with a whiff of coconut--I've always loved the smell of it and it kinda makes me feel like I'm somewhere tropical ;) 

TOUCH: "Salty" Tank by ARTichoke
Look at the cute CC-inspired tank I got from the girls at ARTichoke! Last weekend, I went to my first LoveLocal Fest (I'll be selling my art at the last one in September!), which was fabulous, and I finally got to check out the screen-printed goodness of this local mobile boutique. So fun and I love my new soft, snuggly tank!

And with that, I want to remind you that there will be no SJOTW next Friday because I'll be on my mini, 1-week August blog break! SJOTW will be back on Friday, August 15th (hopefully with LOTS of fabulous simple pleasures to share from the prior two weeks!)... 

Have a beautiful Friday, everyone!