Simple Joys of the Week, December 14th Edition

It's the last Friday that we'll be in town before Christmas! We're headed to Marco Island, FL tomorrow, and while I'm not looking forward to the travel day (I don't love flying with a toddler, no matter how amazing she is on the flight...), I am excited to be in the sun + take a week off from work. I know we all need one right about now!

So, one last #SJOTW before we head out...I'll be taking the week off from blogging, too (obviously), so I'll see you back here after Christmas!

Here's what brought me joy over the past 7 days. What made you smile? 

HEAR: The Dream podcast
Have you heard of this podcast? It was recommended to me by a bunch of people and I finally binged it while working this week; I'm so glad I did because it was really eye-opening. It's all about MLM's--the history and politics behind them, their shady practices, how they hurt people (and how they can help *some* people), etc. If you have any interest in MLM's or if you're involved in one, I definitely suggest you listen! 

SEE: The Color Purple (the book)
Somehow, despite being an English major in college and taking lots of advanced English classes in high school, I'd never read The Color Purple before. I'm not sure how this happened, but it did. And I didn't even realize it until I saw the book show up for free on Prime Reading (yay!) and read the blurb, thinking, 'Have I really not read this?' So I read it and I now understand why it's a classic. It is SO incredible.  It's still free on Prime Reading so check it out if you, too, missed it somehow!

TASTE: Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies 
Ben made us homemade cookies last weekend and they were the tastiest! He even added walnuts, just like I like them ;) My only complaint? I wish he hadn't eaten the majority of them so I could have enjoyed a few more (haha). 

SMELL: Sayde
Did you see on social media? Sayde came to stay with us from Sunday-Tuesday! It was SUCH a treat! Her new owners had to head out of town for a few days and asked if we would keep her. Of course we would! We fell right back into our normal routine and it was heavenly. I miss her so much--her warmth, her snuggles, her constant companionship, her scent. Having her back was really wonderful*

*But it was also a reminder of how hard it was to have her here and how hard it was to keep her and Charlie Mae separate all day long, so it validated our decision, too, which was good. 

TOUCH: Wrapping up my last week of Etsy orders of the season!
Today is the very last day that my Etsy shop will be open before Christmas. If you wanted to snag any last gifts--do so today! It feels weird to be closing shop before the final busy week of shopping, but it also feels nice to know that my crazy packaging and wrapping days are coming to a close for the year. Thank you SO much to everyone who shopped with me this season and all year long. 

And that's it from me for now! I hope you can find some time to reflect on your #SJOTW today, too. 

Have a WONDERFUL holiday season and I'll see you back here once or twice more before 2019 (eek!).