1. So yesterday David and I were having a really blah day so in order to salvage it we decided to go for a family shopping trip. We don’t usually do hardly anything on weeknights because it’s just too much but it was needed. We went to Target, of course, got a Starbucks and popcorn in the store, let Meredith ride in the back of the cart, and just browsed.

2. One of the things we bought was a new backpack for Meredith. The picture above shows her old backpack, which I love, and she loves, and she always runs to it when I pick her up, and it’s a cute little pink mouse, and oh the nostalgia of being me as a mom, because it was very, very hard for me to get a new backpack even though the old one is all beat up and torn and the zipper was coming off.

3. We also ordered her these shoes because they were out of stock in her size, and apparently they’re the most popular kid shoe ever, or something.

4. Then I dragged David into Ulta and as soon as we got in he told me he didn’t know how long he’d last, and I browsed their selection of natural facial moisturizers because mine is out and I didn’t find one at Target, but all theirs were either way too expensive or not natural enough, and why is it so hard to find the perfect product I ask you?

5. We were letting ourselves shop because David won a small amount of money on a scratch-off lottery ticket (shut up they are fun ok). Also I realized I had a Visa gift card from my birthday I hadn’t spent so I ordered this cross stitch kit and now I’m contemplating how to spend the rest, on something fun like stamps or boring but necessary to complete my projects like picture frames.

6. One reason yesterday started off so blah for me is that I was listening to The Fault In Our Stars on my drive to work and despite there being a lot of really funny and uplifting parts to it, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s about kids with cancer and I hit the point yesterday that was really freaking sad and I was just hopelessly crying and trying not to ruin my mascara, and then I had to come and face more cancer all day. I knew I shouldn’t have read this book.

7. So even though I’m on the last disc of that book I decided to listen to the Joy the Baker podcast this morning instead and I was much happier and had a better day.

8. I didn’t think I’d love Joy the Baker’s podcast as much as everyone else because she’s primarily a food blogger and I’m not a foodie by any means and I don’t cook or bake for fun and I didn’t want to listen to a podcast about baking but turns out it’s about regular stuff! And it’s awesome!

9. So now I follow the blogs of Joy the Baker & Tracy from Shutterbean even though they’re mostly food blogs because I like them and sometimes they write about other stuff. Also they don’t make me cry.

10. Another book that is not making me cry is Katherine by Anya Seton. I am so digging the historical romance thing right now, even though it’s taking me forever to finish because I am pretty much only reading on the shuttle ride from my car to work and back which is about 20 minutes a day.

11. It’s almost Friday. Supposed to be a doozy at work but it’s doable knowing the weekend is around the corner.