Things I Love Thursday // 09.26.13

• The sound of the girls giggling and whispering to one another after lights-out ~ I can't even get irritated that they're not sleeping. The fact that they are having such a great time with one another is just too precious.
• Every Day Counts: The art of making every day a special day ~ An IKEA coffee table book I just came across. It's full of beautiful pictures, great advice on entertaining, crafty ideas, and recipes. It's also pretty cheeky with the captions which is fun. AND it's only $8 if you have a (free) Family Membership. 
  
• How to Get Flat Abs, Have Amazing Sex, and Rule the World in 8 Easy Steps ~ A great article about expectations and chasing the media-driven idea that "I will be happy when..." by Kate Bartolotta. Definitely worth the few minutes it will take you to read it. I've been thinking about this article off and on all week. Good stuff.
• The Storybird website for writing books and poems ~ If you have school-aged children, I highly recommend this as an alternative (or addition) to consumer-laced, self-promoting "kid websites" like Disney or Nick Junior. I am even thinking about registering as a user myself and playing around with a story or two... 
• iOS 7 ~ Listen, life is not static. Embrace change and get to the good stuff: enjoying this beautiful and user-friendly update. I'm not even sure about half the $hit my phone can do now--but I'm happy about what I've seen and I'm excited to figure the rest out. What I've played around with so far is fantastic! 
• King of Pops popsicles ~ I've had the pleasure of Raspberry Margarita, Salted Chocolate, and Banana Pudding. Looking forward to Grapefruit Mint, Plum Ginger, and Vanilla Whopper (to name a few). 
  
• Having Greg's dad (otherwise known as, Papa Mike) here visiting us this weekend
• Hosting play dates for both girls this week and finding that the new classroom friends they've made this year are such great girls :)
• My cozy Gap moccasins ~ that have been great "between season," daytime, go-to pair of shoes. They really do feel a lot like slippers. 
• Busting out the crock pot again for late-evening, soccer practice, weekday-night meals ~ Tonight was Mongolian Beef over rice with stir-fried broccoli florets (a meal I prepared on Monday and stuck in the freezer along with Chicken and Dumplings, Thai Red Curry Beef, Broccoli Beef, Sloppy Joes, Pasta e Fagioli, Vietnamese Roasted Chicken, BBQ Beef and Beans, and Coq au vin). Have I mentioned this system of shopping, prepping, and freezing crock pot meals that my girlfriend Gretchen and I have been doing for about a year now? It's amazing. And 'tis the season to get busy with the prepping!