Simple Joys of the Week, November 30th Edition

Last day in November...like woah. The fact that it will be 2013 in a month is mind-boggling to me. But, I'll try to contain my amazement for a bit and lets attempt to live in the present moment for now, shall we? 

One of my favorite ways to do that, of course, is to first take a moment to reflect on all of the wonderful gifts that we're given on a weekly, daily, even hourly basis. I think that doing this helps us to cherish the small-but-wonderful things that we come into contact with throughout the day. So, here are my simple, sensory joys from the past 7 days. What are yours?

Hear: The XX's new album, Coexist

I've been overwhelmed with new, good music lately. A bunch of my favorite artists came out with new albums, my Dad and brothers shared some amazing new bands with me while I was home last week, and I'm constantly receiving recommendations from many of you (thank you!!!). However, this week, when I wasn't listening to the GLEE Christmas station on Pandora (it's perfection!), I was listening to Coexist by The XX. If you've never listened to this band, it may take you a while to get into them, as they're VERY restrained in their approach to music, but regardless, I find their songs to be super interesting, heavy with emotion, and somewhat haunting. Listen to one of my favorites, "Angels," below.

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Image courtesy of Kimberly Wilson

See: Tranquility du Jour Daybook Sneak Peek!

Almost one year after releasing her Tranquilologie e-course featuring my watercolor illustrations, Kimberly Wilson is releasing a Tranquility du Jour Daybook (it should drop in mid-December) and again, my watercolors are sprinkled throughout the book. You can get a sneak peek of the cover in the pic to the right, or on her blog, here. I'm so excited to see the finished product, as it's really thrilling to see your illustrations published in an actual book ;) Oh, and she'll also be publishing a hard copy of the entire e-course in the new year, so that will be another fun way to check them out! You can peruse some of the illustrations separate from the book or e-course on my painting website, here. Yay for Kimberly and all of her inspiring ventures! So honored to be a part of them.

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Image via Pinterest.com

Taste: "Friendsgiving Game Night"

Okay, so technically I didn't taste much at our "Friendsgiving Game Night" last weekend, as most of the dishes were for meat-eaters and I'd had a late lunch (Really! It wasn't just a lie to be polite!), but I did have some delicious wine and a WONDERFUL time, so I wanted to include it here. One of our dear friends, one of Ben's Co-Best Men, hosted this creative event last weekend, and it was simply a blast. We had planned on planying tons of different games, but ended up playing only one, "Celebrity," over and over again (a game without official pieces that I was very new to, but that I immediately fell in love with). I simply love playing games! If every night out was a game night, I would never go  to bed at 10pm on a Saturday night ;) 

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Smell: This gorgeous Orchid that I received in the mail yesterday -->

I seriously have the best friends ever. I know everyone thinks this, but really, I do! We returned home last Friday to a bunch of kind, thoughtful cards in our mailbox & donations in Anita's honor to the charities that meant the most to her, and then yesterday, I received this orchid in the mail from two of my best friends. Isn't it simply beautiful? I mean, beautiful. The first thing I did after I unwrapped it was read ALL of the care instructions. I don't want to kill this gorgeous flower! So, I'm going to do my best to follow all of the directions and nurture it like the pet that we can't have because our building doesn't allow it. Thank you, Laura and Jess, for being so thoughtful, loving, and supportive from afar. 

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Touch: New MacBook Pro

I finally got a new laptop! It had been 5 years! It's amazing! Although I know it's totally a #firstworldproblem, my old laptop had become so slow that it was starting to be too frustrating to work on. My new computer, on the otherhand, is 8 times faster than my old one. That's not a joke--that's actually how much faster it is, as I went from a RAM speed of 1 to 8 (that's the tech-iest you'll every hear me sound, and I might be phrasing it incorrectly...). Can you believe how much better they've made MacBooks in just 5 years? It's crazy. So obviously, a huge joy for me over the past week has been working on this new and improved, megafast computer. Everything takes less time, is easier, and I can multitask even better than before (although I'm not sure this is a good thing for me, hehe!). Big investment, but totally worth every penny. 5 more years!!!

What brought you happiness this week? What little surprises, moments, or events made you smile? I hope your weekend is full of beauty, fun + games, laughter, and lots of good tunes ;)

Don't forget to stop and appreciate the simple things...

Namaste!
Mary Catherine

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