Friday Favorites: This is Us, Loft Sale, Rose, Graduations, Work Different and Lax

Today I am linking up with Erika, Narci , Andrea, Amanda, Bright on a Budget, Della Devoted, Cup of Tea and By BMG for Friday favorites and sharing with you the things that I am finding Joy in this week.

1) Graduation photos:

Keep in mind that I do not have anyone graduating from anything at the moment, but I am finding great Joy in seeing all of my friends photos on Facebook, especially the kids heading on to high school from our school. How can the "big kids" who were in third grade when we started at our school be going to high school already? I love seeing the Joy that is overflowing from both the kids and the parents. So many of these families are so special in my heart. I have such Joy watching as as they get ready for their next adventure, some of which are even including college.

2) Starbucks as my office:

What is it about a change in venue that can some days help you work Better? This week I was headed to a class presentation in Hockey Guy's school but I needed to do about an hour or so of work. Since the contractors were at the house, I ran through school drop off and then headed to the Starbucks around the corner. This gal was able to be super productive for about 90 minutes before heading to see Hockey Guy's Norway project.

Was it the skinny mocha, or the John Mayer music in the background that helped me fly through those emails? Not sure, but it may also have something to do with the fact that it was fairly quiet in there and I was totally uninterrupted. I love having the ability to "work differently" when I need to from time to time.

3) Bauer Rose and meeting the wine maker

Last Friday night I stopped in our local wine store to pickup a bottle of wine to go with our pizza. They were having a wine tasting as they often do for Bauer wine from Austria. The Best part was that the wine maker Joe from Bauer vineyards was actually there talking about the wine. Austrian wine is new to me but I can tell you after sampling all of the Bauer wines, all of the wines they had were Good.

I purchased the Joe's rose which is a dry rose. There are a lot of bad roses out there but not this one and has a price tag around $12. Light in color and a blend of grapes including a grape similar to the granache made this one of the Best roses I have tasted at this price point.

Wine Gal K and I are thinking of doing another Pro/Am wine tasting just on roses...thoughts?

4) Lacrosse Playoffs:

Hockey Guy had lacrosse playoffs last weekend.  They won BIG on Saturday and well Sunday...not so much. There was a really bad call or two on Sunday and it was crazy hot. One kid was so "intense" on the other team on Saturday he was ejected from the game. Win or lose, Hockey Guy really has the Best outlook on everything. After his team came up short on Sunday we were walking to the car he said to me "Mom, I am not mad about this. I scored the only two goals today and we had a really good season." This kid is pure Joy.

5) Loft Sale: 

Loft is so on point this season and I have really bought a lot from them. There is a denim jacket that they have that has been sold out in my size for a while. Well it was back in stock in my size this week and it was on sale. In fact, almost everything is on sale and what can be Better than that? 

Here is what I picked up at the Loft sale.  Keep in mind, I really need some work skirts right now.

Denim Jacket

Pull on Flippy Skirt (I chose black)

Watercolor Floral Drawstring Skirt 

Eyelet Skirt 

(I typically would wear a size 6 but this only came in a size 4--we shall see if this fits)

Striped Eyelet Skirt

So I already own this skirt but just wanted to post it again because I love it so much. I totally think I will style it with my new denim jacket.

This is how I have been styling this skirt for work.  Again, selfies are not my Best skill.

6) This is Us at Year 12:

Running Daddy and I will be married 12 years on Sunday. Sometimes I cannot believe that we have been married this long and yet most of the time I feel like we have always been together. He is probably the Best person I know. He is funny, sweet, loves The Bachelor, Housewives and Southern Charm. He is the Best dad and works harder than almost anyone I know. He is generous, Good and loves Jesus with a quiet but strong faith.

I know that it is not easy to be married to someone who has a chronic illness (me) and that can make life totally unpredictable. He takes it all in stride and never complains when I need to go in and sleep on the weekend for a few hours.

About a month ago I was at Barre and one of the teachers, who is younger than I am, commented on my Barre 3 tank. I told her that Running Daddy bought this for me for my birthday along with a 10 pack of classes. She asked how long we were married and I told her almost twelve years. Her response was "after twelve years he is still doing things like that for you? What a great guy. Tell him he is Barre 3 approved." Yup he is. He is what I always wanted when I was dating all the wrong people for too many years. He is the reason why people shouldn't settle.

So here we are...then and now. This is us and us brings me Joy.

2005

2017

Have the Best weekend!