Happy Friday // 05

It’s been awhile since I posted a Happy Friday post. The last time I sat down to work on one of these posts I hit myself in the head with my computer. Yeah, let that sink in for a moment. I have no idea what happened, but somehow I hit myself in the head with my computer. I’ll paint the full picture for you: it left a bump and it hurt enough that I was told an ice pack might help. (If you follow me on Snapchat, you’ve already heard this story.) The ice pack was so helpful that I took it home for the weekend… and by home I mean my sister’s house, because I was dog-sitting. While I was there I came down with the flu, so I spent a week away from the blog… and life in general. I basically slept all week. And that brings us to  this week. I feel like I am on the road to recovery, but sometimes you’d wonder when you hear me talk.

Anyway, this post has been put together over a two-week span.

(Also, here’s a photo of The 4onthefloor who I saw the day before the plague hit.)

Gratitude

A lazy weekend that allowed for plenty of rest, and I needed that rest once this week rolled around! (This was written before the bump on the head and the plague.)

My puppy, because she always makes me happy, even on the longest of days.

Coffee, because… well… if you saw my Colombia vlog, you’ll know how I feel about coffee. (Also, since I wrote this I haven’t really had much coffee. I don’t like drinking hot coffee when I don’t feel well and I haven’t gone out to get iced coffee. I got some today–thanks to a friend who stopped by work and brought a cup in–and it’s amazing how much it revived me.)

An exciting TBR pile. I’m reading a book that I’m really enjoying and a few other books came in this week that I’m so excited to get to!

[Tweet “What are you thankful for this week? #gratitude #petitejoys”]

Read

8 Tips for a Better Work/Life Balance  |  Summer gives some advice for creating a better work/life balance. This is something I need to work on and I’m sure I’m not the only one!

Kindness Goes a Long Way  |  Love Chrissy’s post on kindness–something that’s so needed in today’s world!

Satisfying Your Restlessness Locally  |  A great read from Joy Lynn, especially when the wanderlust is hitting hard.

[Tweet “Catch up on these articles from @summertelban, @brave_wanderer and @joyandreasen1!”]

Watch

Reading Short Stories: Where to Start  |  Jen Campbell and I have very different taste in books, but she’s one of my favorites on Booktube because of her passion for stories, which comes out in each video that she posts. I absolutely loved this video and thought it was a great introduction to reading short stories, if short fiction is something that you’re interested. If you don’t read a lot and would like to read more (something I hear quite a bit) and feel like time is an issue, I’d recommend checking out short stories. You don’t have to track through a 400 page novel, so when you have time you can read a cohesive story, put it down and pick up the collection again later.

I was going to include some of my own short story collection recommendations in this post, however as I thought about it I realized that it should probably be its own post. Look for that in the next week or two. This might also give me time to finish two collections that I’m in the middle of. There are some short stories in each that I’ll want to talk about. I have a soft spot for short stories, so I’m excited to share some of my favorites with you.

Pursuit of the Week

Survival. And I think I’m at a point where I can say I’ll probably survive this plague. Let’s hope the next few weeks are a little more productive in terms of creative pursuits.

What inspired you this week?

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