Simple Joys of the Week, February 15th Edition

Oh, hello, mid-February!? Funny/crazy/weird to see you here so early! Life moves so quickly. 

Lets try to slow things down by stopping, pausing, and reflecting on all of the gifts in our lives, shall we?  Here are my simple, sensory joys of the week. What made you smile over the past 7 days?

HEAR: Gossamer by Passion Pit
I am obsessed with Passion Pit. Obsessed. Their latest album, Gossamer, is amazing. It's become one of my go-to painting albums, and I listened to it almost all day yesterday as I was working. You can listen to one of my favorite songs from the album, "On My Way," below:

SEE: Being featured on Mary Beth Larue's fabulous blog!
If you can't tell, MB and I have a bit of a love fest (as one of my readers called it) going on these days ;) Yes, she's the same person I featured on Monday, and I was honored to be profiled on her blog that day, as well. Great minds think alike, right!? Check it out.

*Bonus* SEE mention: This "Bucket Full of Sloths" video. I adore sloths and this video hit. the. spot. Watch it if you, too, like these cute little sleepy animals!

TASTE: Homemade Lentil Quinoa Salad (yes, I made up the recipe...)
If you've read my blog for a while now, you've probably picked up on the fact that I'm no cook. And it's not a sensitive subject in our household at all (ha!). But anyways, I do like to throw together random veggies/pre-made items to make meals for myself, and that's exactly what I did this week. On Sunday, I made a big batch of quinoa, added pre-cooked lentils from TJ's, a can of corn, grape tomatoes, walnuts, avocado, salt + pepper, and some chili pepper sauce (also from TJ's), and I ate it all week--served on a bed of spinach. It was delicious, and I was rather proud of myself for dreaming up the concoction ;) 

SMELL: My first (ever?) red roses on Valentine's Day
When the roses pictured above were delivered yesterday, I had the sudden realization that I'd never received red roses before. It felt like a very special, very romantic gesture from my wonderful, but totally-not-romantic-in-the-flowers-and-chocolates sort of way, husband. First Valentine's Day as a married couple, and he's off to a good start (although I hear he got a lot of help from the ladies in his office--thank you, whoever you are!)!

TOUCH: New paintbrushes
My fellow painters out there, you know how it feels, don't you? To paint with a new, untouched, perfectly-shaped paint brush? It's a HUGE treat, and I was able to indulge yesterday, as I worked on some fine details with the new *tiny* paintbrushes that came in the mail this week. I'm almost done with a commission that I've been working on for while now, and will definitely share some pics when it's complete! 

Other SJOTW? Hearing that my little brother, Patrick, got into the Peace Corps and leaves for his assignment in September (WOOHOO!!!), enjoying a perfectly low-key Valentine's Day with Ben (dinner at home + Mad Men marathon on the couch + early bedtime = perfect), and taking some amazing yoga classes. So grateful for all of these gifts.

I hope that you, too, had a week FULL of simple pleasures. Here's to a weekend filled with the same!

Namaste,
Mary Catherine