Hello! I’m writing to you from my hometown in Nebraska! I’m so excited to be back even though it seems like I was JUST here.
I wanted to start a new series called “Happy Things.” I noticed I’ve been complaining a lot in the past couple of posts or the tone just seemed a little more negative. I blame this cold or allergies or whatever ailment has been dragging me down the past three weeks.
I’m totally fine with sharing the struggles that go on in my life or having a negative opinion on something. I think that is necessary to having a genuine blog. Some things in life are good and some are bad, right?
The thing is, I don’t want my little space on the internet to be a total downer. There is so much in life to be happy about and I want to start high lighting those things every once in awhile. I know it benefits me to look on the positive side of things and hopefully it will remind you of the happy things in your life as well!
Let’s start the series by recapping some awesome treats I had last weekend.
Happy Thing #1: Friend in Town
Our friend JD was in town over last weekend (if you remember Forest Gump who ran the marathon last year while I ran my half—that’s the guy) so we ate out..a lot. Like 3 times in two days with an ice-cream stop– a lot. I suppose we could have made food at home, but when you live in the twin cities and someone is visiting from Nebraska, you kind of want to explore a little.
If you follow me on Instagram (you don’t?? get on it! ), you may have seen some of these photos since I was pretty good at documenting the foodie aspects of the weekend. Instagram is also super handy for bookmarking the location of a restaurant in case you want to go back. Does anyone else do that?
Happy Thing #2: Yummy Food
Our first stop was meeting our friend Chris for brunch (ish) at Pizza Luce, a hip pizza joint with a couple of locations in the twin cities. We had been there once before with JD, and really wanted to go back. For some reason I wanted to try their breakfast and went for a breakfast wrap (and eventually a mimosa..peer pressure!), but also sampled the dudes’ pizzas: Baked Potato Pizza, The Bear (which we are now calling “the meat raffle” per the humorous description) and The Boss. Since we had 3 boxes of leftovers..the pizza also made a tasty afternoon and late night snack.
From there we decided to hit up Izzy’s Ice cream since I had a coupon for a free cone from way back when I attended the Minnesota Blogger get-together. (I actually have a follow up from that event about my newfound Pinterest skills. I told myself I’d write it when I doubled my followers and..we are about there! Get excited!)
Apparently Izzy has it’s own scoop size. With any regular sized ice cream cone, you get an “Izzy scoop” on top. Super adorable. You can also get an Izzy sized scoop AND cone, which is super helpful if you are lactose-intolerant and shouldn’t probably be eating too much dairy anyways.
Happy Thing #3: Shopping
We headed to Albertville on Sunday to shop at this ginormous outlet mall. We went to a bunch of stores before JD spotted these Shwings. Basically flair for your running shoes. You can make fun of me, but I am so excited to wear these things! Maybe they will make me run faster…
Then we found a Maurice’s. If you know me, you know that Maurice’s is probably my biggest weakness (after Target of course). And we were at an outlet store so basically everything was buy one, get one 50% off…so I bought many things.
First of all, I found the most comfortable pair of jeggings (jeans + leggings = jeggings) in the entire world. So I bought them in two colors. Buy one, get one 50% off right??
Next, I fell in love with two sweaters. It’s definitely the season for sweaters..especially in Minnesota! Two scarves also caught my eye…especially that plaid one!
And then at the last minute, I grabbed this running jacket to try on. Over the course of the evening it was decided I should be a zebra for the Halloween party the following week AND on my 10-mile Monster Dash race. I happened to find the perfect thing at Target.
Happy Thing #4: 7 Mile Treadmill Run
I’ve been sick so I haven’t kept up on my training for the Monster Dash, but last Monday I just decided to head down to the treadmill and bust out my long run. There was a lot of walking (which I’m totally fine with for long runs) and I was able to watch a couple of episodes of Walking Dead. I woke up with super sore shoulders from slightly hunching over and watching it on my phone (oops) but that’s beside the point. I did it! And that’s a happy thing! I should probably figure out a more ergonomic solution for next time though…
Happy Thing #4: Trip to Nebraska!
This trip involved the pumpkin patch, family and a 7-mile run, but more on that later. It just has to go in this week’s list because it was a happy thing.
[Tweet “The Happy Things Series #positivity #happythoughts”]
Tell me….
Something happy!
PS I’m all about Pinterest this year, so I would LOVE IT if you could pin one (or two!) of these images!
Pin with me!
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Linking up to:
MIMM with Katie from Healthy Diva Life
Treat Yourself Tuesday with Becky at Olives n Wine
What I Ate Wednesdays with Jenn at Peas and Crayons
Thinking Out Loud with Amanda at Running with Spoons
Fitness Friday with Jill at Fitness, Health and Happiness
Friday Favorites with Katie at Running 4 Cupcakes
Five Things Friday with Clare at Fitting it all in
Friday Favorites with Heather from Housewife Glamour
(All of the lovely link-ups I participate in here.) 
I started doing the 100 Happy Days challenge recently. The challenge is to post something you are grateful every day for 100 days. It can be on Instagram, Facebook, etc. It is cool because it really makes you stop and reframe things. Also, the dailly reminder of being thankful is always good. Hope you are having a good Monday!
I’ve seen that! 100 days seems like a lot though! Does it have to be all in a row?? I love those kind of challenges, but it’s hard to keep up with them!
My sister came over to visit with me and see my son who is two weeks old. It was so nice to spend the afternoon chatting!
Eep so little! I’m heading to your blog to see if you’ve posted baby pics!! 🙂
Love the running jacket and the fact that it doubles as a zebra costume! 🙂 Great idea with this series!
I know! I was so excited when I realized it would work for the costume because I wasn’t sure what kind of costume I would be able to tolerate running in!
And thanks! Sometimes you need a little intentional positive thinking! 🙂
I love this idea for a series! Also, I, too, often struggle with finding a healthy balance between “downer” posts and more upbeat ones. I’m so glad to see I’m not the only one!
Yes I’m sure it’s something a lot of bloggers deal with..I’ve definitely heard complaints about too many happy posts on certain blogs (which is a little silly) so I’m sure it’s the same with too many gloomy ones.
You know what they say…eat, pray, love for happiness 🙂
Totally makes sense. Sometimes the simplest things seem TOO simple but it def makes sense!
Love the new series! I would be happy with all that pizza! 😉
Something happy? Well I think I might have found a job after almost 9 months on the lookout! Yay!
Ahh congrats! So exciting!!
I’m in the market for some more jeggings!
Seriously I love those jeggings because they are highwaisted and just the right amount of stretch!
Lovvvvve Maurices. I’ve been avoiding the store so I don’t do damage. 🙂
haha I do try to avoid it, but then I get a coupon in the mail and I can’t help myself! Or everything is buy one get one 50% off…gah! I don’t regret my purchases though because I know I will wear all of them! 🙂
Mmmm, I could totally go for some pizza right about now!
I could go for pizza on a daily basis! And I’m pretty sure we did for a good 5 days after this haha
Gahhh – so many treats! Pizza, mimosas, ice cream, shopping, running <– obviously I love all of these 🙂 And the Monster Dash is SO much fun! You will have a blast even if you aren't 100% trained.
I’m super excited about the monster dash! I think running 7 miles is enough training for a 10 mile race..right?
Pizza and ice cream… if I could eat that forever I would.
Love the new pieces from Maurice’s!
You do fall better in the midwest than we do.
I do enjoy having all 4 seasons here in the midwest and fall is probably my favorite, however, I wish the winter season wouldn’t last so freaking long here in Minnesota!
I think focusing on the good things in life can make such a huge difference in our overall level of happiness. I started consciously practicing more gratitude almost a year ago now, and I’ve definitely noticed big improvements in my mood. After all… “every day might not be a good day, but there’s good in every day” 🙂
YES. I love that quote!!
I’m happy to be having my third thanksgiving today! I LOOOVE thanksgiving food haha ps love the new look on the blog 😉
Yay for thanksgiving! That threw me for a minute but I forget you live in Canada right? 🙂
And thank you! Thank you again for letting me know my blog was funky!