Weekly Small Pleasures #121

This week was very different to the usual because Josh was traveling for work Monday to Thursday. This meant I had the car to myself and I didn’t have to cook or clean much, kind of at all. So instead of sitting at home alone in my computer all day, I went into “run-errands mode” and kept myself quite busy.

I went to many different places including the post office, the mechanic to have the tires balanced, the grocery store, the OB doctor, the coffee shop once to work from there and once to kill time while they fixed the tires, Target to get a few things for the house, and the hair salon to get a haircut. I also did a lot of arranging at home, since we recently moved.

I was very productive. And I did all that while 36 weeks pregnant and in 100 F degree weather. By the end of the day every day I was exhausted and sore. I didn’t even have time to wind down while watching TV before bed, except for one night. I did end up taking two baths though. And I absolutely had a few small pleasures through the week…

1. Delicious coffee

I checked out a coffee shop near our new place and I’m kinda obsessed with it now. They wood-fire roast their beans, making the coffee smooth and less bitter. And they combine the drinks with house-made moon milk that has 7 secret ingredients. The stuff is goood.

2. Being happy with my haircut

So, believe it or not, in the last 9 years that I’ve lived in the US, I have never gone back to a hairstylist twice because I am never fully content with it. To their credit, we move a lot, and I get haircuts many months apart. Also, I tried to get a haircut with my usual stylist every time I traveled to Mexico, which for a few years was about twice a year. I don’t think I’m very picky, but my simple humble Mexican hairdresser always knew what to do with my hair.

This week, I kind of nervously tried out a new place and I’m happy to say, I will be going back next time I need a haircut. She totally understood what I wanted. It’s really short though! I don’t think I’ve had it this short since 6th grade. But the heat of the summer and the pregnancy made me do it. I just felt I wanted to go short. I have a lot of hair and it grows fast so it was a good idea. I wish I had done a before and after pic.

I guess you can compare to the recent photo below:

3. A break from cooking

As mentioned, because hubby was gone I didn’t have to cook. When he’s here, I spend literally several hours in the kitchen every day, whether it is prepping, making breakfast, doing dishes, preparing lunches, or making dinner. Of course, I have to eat but when you’re alone, you don’t whip up from-scratch meals.

I do cook breakfast for myself every day, either eggs +toast + avocado, or cacao PB oatmeal. But my lunches usually consist of scrambling for whatever in the pantry and fridge, like dipping seed crackers in hummus, maybe adding some sliced cheese or avocado, munching on fresh fruit, grabbing a protein bar, crunching on some nuts, etc..

But this week I treated myself to a few takeout meals while I was out running errands so that I would make myself eat enough during the day (since I’m growing a baby and all). But all in all, it was pretty great to get a break from that, and the dirty dishes that come from that.

4. Flowers

One of the things I got to do while running all my errands was buying flowers. I rarely do so and it was definitely lovely having them at home. Vincent the cat also seemed to have welcomed them with open paws.

5. Awesome dream

I don’t remember the last time I woke up with a lingering feeling of excitement and happiness from a dream I was having. It happened this week. The dream was totally silly, but I still remember how excited I was about it. The short version is that apparently they were filming an episode of Doctor Who on the street where I used to live in Mexico City, and apparently I somehow was part of the filming.

The dream skipped that part, but then I watched the episode only to find that I was in it, and not just as an extra with one or no lines, but a decent amount of time. In the dream, I never expected them to use any of the material I was in at all and was extremely happily surprised when I found out they did. And then I woke up. Haha. Silly.

6. Souvenir

My husband is not the type to buy me gifts, you could say that is definitely not his love language. But he got me a great one from his recent trip to NYC. He managed a visit to the Met and at the museum store there got me a wonderful hardcover book about Van Gogh and a more compact one about Monet. Loved them.

7. Cash prize

I am not one who ever wins anything based on luck, but this weekend during Josh’s company annual picnic, we all played bingo and I won on one of the 5 rounds. Prizes were increasing from $50 to $200, and I won the $150 dollar prize. Not bad haha.

See what others were happy about:
This week’s small pleasures #59– Thistles and Kiwis

Have a great week!

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Weekly Small Pleasures Blog Event

Share your happiness!

I find that the small things that make us happy every day are easily forgotten.

This blog event is simply about remembering and sharing those small things that made you happy during the week; things that made you smile, made you laugh, made you do a happy dance, made your heart smile…

You can share in any format you like. For people to find your post, tag your post “Weekly Small Pleasures” and link to my most recent post for a pingback! You can also just share in the comments.

Read the full details, and see previous posts.

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