Choose Happiness.

It always amazes me when I meet adults who are clearly working pretty hard at being unhappy.

Why would someone do that?

I mean, we have this one life, and sometimes good things happen and sometimes bad things happen. But given a choice of being happy or being sad...like, why would someone CHOOSE sad?

I'm not saying that you shouldn't feel your feelings. You know, allow yourself to be disappointed when something doesn't work out, or grieve when you or someone you know has a loss. I mean sometimes I grieve for a sec when the office fridge's Diet Coke is all expired.

Yuck.

But being crusty in general just seems like a lot of work to me.

When you're a kid, adults are always telling you that happiness is a choice and that no one else can "make" you feel a certain way. That always kind of bugged me and it was hard for me to understand. But as we grow up and experiment with what works best for us, I think most of us come to realize that external influences are too volatile and unpredictable to base our attitudes on.

I'm in no way perfect at this. I find myself pouting for the dumbest reasons. But I think I'm a pretty happy person, and I think it's because I want to be happy.

We all need to work at it, but some of us need to work a LOT at it.

Just sayin'.

And if we don't do it for ourselves, we should at least try to do it for the people who have to deal with us every day.

I’ll be hunting all weekend long.

D.I. nightstand to coordinate with the one I already have

Fabric to cover a chair and a down blanket

Paint to zshuzsh up some tired home décor items (including my newly-found cutest ugly lamp ever. Pretty sure it was Betty Draper’s before it was mine.)

Some sort of closet organizational system

Flirty bridal shower gift (read my lips: no new maternity clothes for this bunless oven)

High octane sandpaper for the kitchen table

Sofa of my dreams

I’m thinking with this tall order, it will be mostly a hunt-but-don’t-shoot weekend. (Especially on the large furniture front.)

Mark’s got a deer tag, though, so any goodie he stalks tomorrow, he can snag. (I hope it’s small.)

So in summary...

Yes, Shade is going out of business. Hurry! Get your stretchy cotton clothes while you can!

No, I am not pregnant, just been stifling my shopping reflex for too long, and crazy purchases have been sprouting randomly.

Notes.

1. Today on my lunch break, I went to buy a flirty bridal shower gift and when I walked out of the mall, the scorecard looked a little like this:

Lingerie: nil/Maternity tops: 2

Shade Clothing was going out of business, OK?

2. Last night Mark and I went to Target to get some organizing things. There was a whole aisle of University of Utah regalia/paraphernalia. We’re not in Provo anymore…

3. Tonight I am baking some brownies for Mark’s coworker’s birthday. Do you think I should frost them? I love frosting but I think I might be alone in that.

That's all I've got for you today.

New apartment.

Someday I'll have to sit you down and tell you about the apartment hunting mission that was my own personal hell for the month of July. But for now, I'll just tell you that we finally found one! We moved in! We love it! The kitchen is kind of put together, so for those of you who have asked for pictures, here you go! More to come as we get situated.

Here’s how you know you’re moving.

Well, first of all, Bear Lake was beautiful. Perfect sunny skies, sparkling blue water, best raspberries I’ve had in a year…good times.

So here’s how you know you’re moving:

I like to make some kind of treat every Sunday night. It’s a tradition from growing up that I think is fun, so we do it. Plus, I tell myself that this is my treat for the week. (yeah, right)

The past few weeks, we’ve been pretty into peanut butter no-bakes. We’ve also been trying to avoid buying food and just use up what we have, to lighten it up a bit when we move everything.

So last night, I went to start the no-bakes, and what do I find, but only 1 cup of white sugar left on the shelf. No-bakes take 2 cups of white sugar. They’re a real health food. I have brown sugar and contemplate using that.

Mark was going to the neighbors’ real quick anyway and I thought about actually for the first time in my life, literally borrowing a cup of sugar.

But then I see we have no milk.

“Can we ask them for sugar and milk?”

“Why don’t we just ask them to make us some cookies?”

So I tell Mark, no worry, I’ll just bake us some peanut butter cookies. Oven style. And he leaves.

But then, no eggs.

“What can I use as an egg replacement?” I ask the inside back cover of my red and white plaid cookbook.

It replies, “2 egg whites, or 2 egg yolks, or egg substitute.”

Smart a**.

Like someone who didn’t have eggs in the house would go to the inside back cover of their trusty cookbook to learn that egg substitute can be used in the place of eggs.

So I just whipped up the dough, eggless, and called it good. That’s one way to feel good about eating cookie dough…amiright?

As of late.

The past couple of days, I have believed firmly in my heart of hearts that the forces of nature did not intend for me to be at work.

I adore my clients and coworkers, but sometimes a job is still a job, and you want a vacay.

So this weekend I'm off to the lake with my husband's fam. Should be pretty great.

And yes, I just told you I'd be out of town, like a total airhead. But I didn't erase it because it's true...this would be a fabulous time for you to rob my house. Just think: whatever you steal, I won't have to move next week. Really this is a golden opportunity for us all.

Bon week-end!

I am so sad. I love Twitter. But I'm so sad.

So today @fuggirls tweeted this little gem:

Don't worry, it's a video compilation of Rachel Zoe saying the word "literally," literally 50+ times.

Of course I was so happy to find it, but then I was so sad to learn that the new season of The Rachel Zoe Project starts tonight and I realized I can't watch it.

I don't miss my former life all that often, but I do miss my fancy cable which allowed me to watch Millionaire Matchmaker and The Rachel Zoe Project.

I just love those ladies.

I hope Rach is on Hulu.