Making Me Happy // 01

Happy Monday! Hope everyone had a great weekend. Mine was fairly low-key and consisted of a bunch of "me time" and it was much needed. Here are a few things that are making me happy.

Bookstores

| When's the last time you went to a bookstore? It had been a while for me, but I popped in a Barnes & Noble this weekend and I forgot how much I love that place. The second I entered the store I could smell the fresh-cut pages of the new releases. That smell combined with an endless supply of gorgeous cover design was enough to keep me occupied for a half-hour. I almost splurged on a hardcover version of The Goldfinch. It's been on my reading list for several months, but I'm like 200th on the hold-list at the library. Maybe I'll cave. I'm just so happy bookstores are still a thing.

Reading

| Speaking of bookstores, I'm finally reading again. I haven't really had too much time to read, plus I couldn't get into any of the books I had. But I started Gillian Flynn's Dark Places, a novel about a Kansas family murder massacre mystery, and I'm intrigued. Luckily it's fiction...

Window Shopping

| Another thing I haven't done in a while was window shop. Sure I stop by the mall every now and then, but it's usually just to run to Forever 21 to grab a new top or necklace for the weekend. I walked around an outdoor mall for a few hours over the weekend and didn't buy a thing. I can't remember the last time I didn't buy something or want to buy something. But because I didn't have anything I necessarily needed or wanted, it was nice to just to take it all in.

Black Dog Coffee

| Sunday afternoon I swung by Black Dog Coffehouse a local coffee shop in Lenexa. They serve almond milk lattes so of course I was sold. I even sat outside – which was pleasant for the first half-hour until it got windy. Regardless, I can definitely see this as one of my new spots.

Emma + Andrew

| Um, am I the only one who didn't know Andrew Garfield was English? He apparently fooled me. Anyways, did you guys see Emma Stone, Andrew Garfield, and Jamie Foxx on Ellen? I definitely didn't watch the episode, but I did catch the highlights – which was practically the entire segment. Ellen tries to get Emma and Andrew to talk about their relationship, which they avoid in the most adorable way possible. Seriously, watch this. And this, this, and this. #swoon