If you’ve been around here for a bit

the title of this post might look familiar to you. After all, it was once a series that I shared on a regular weekly basis, every Wednesday, without fail. I never officially ended it, but I did take a break from it. Somehow that short break turned into a long one which then turned into a semi-permanent hiatus and well, now, here we are.

I’ve wanted to bring Happy Hour back so many times. I’d gather the photos, prepare posts, write the words, but then, each time, I’d talk myself out of it, saying that it’s been too long and it’s time to just let the series go and move on. Besides, I reasoned that there wasn’t much use for sharing quick snaps of things I love from the week when I could just do it every day on Stories. I mean, everything is just so instant now, who would even care about something from a week ago??

But here’s the thing, I care. I care about slowing down in a world that’s always racing to go faster, I care about pausing and taking stock of the little moments in a world that is always moving onto the next thing and I care about being grateful in a world that only seems to be filled with greed. And even more, I care about my site, the content I curate and put out into the world, and this little piece of the internet that I own and get to call my own. So, today, I’m telling my inner voice to zip it {Not today , Satan! Not Today!} so that I can officially bring back one of my all-time favorite series and finally hit publish on the first Happy Hour post in far too long.

You might see a few new tweaks to the HH format throughout the year, but the general outline will be staying the same as it has been in years past. While I’m certainly excited for the series to make its return to the site (and I hope you are, too), I’m even more excited for the weekly opportunity to remind you all that there’s always time for a little happy hour aka to appreciate the joy in the little things, to pause and savor the small moments, to find the good in a bad day and that, no matter what, there is always something to be grateful for. Cheers friends!

// new plant

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The latest addition to our plant family, adding some much needed greenery to an otherwise very neutral corner

// PRETTY LIGHT

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Magical light and shadow play gets me every time, including this time, post-brunch, at one of our neighborhood favorites, Gjelina

// The Canals

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A quick snap from our new daily walking route through the Venice Canals

// Juice Pulp Muffins

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We recently got a new juicer, which we love, but instead of throwing out the pulp we’ve been trying to come up with creative ways to use it. Enter these juice pulp muffins. After making a carrot orange ginger juice we turned the leftover pulp into healthy carrot cake muffins. They were super delicious and even better we had a complete breakfast of muffins and juice without creating any waste!

// green juice

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We’ve been starting every morning with a glass of this green juice and have already noticed such a big difference with energy levels, digestion and skin clarity. I’ll be sharing our exact recipe on the site later this month.

// VINTAGE CAR

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Majorly crushing on this vintage car cutie that I keep seeing parked around our neighborhood

// THRIFTED FIND

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I’ve been wanting a tan blazer for a while now and I just so happened to find this cotton one for a whopping 99 cents at a thrift shop. I scored another, slightly fancier, tan blazer for $1.99, so basically I got two blazers for half the price of a latte in LA. Talk about the deal of the century! And a good reminder as to why thrifting is so great!

// Canal Cat

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Speaking of our walks, we recently spotted this canal cat cutie scoping out the scene + it has us excited to add our own little furry friend to our family hopefully sooner rather than later.

// This week I fell in love with some sleek mid-century modern chairs at the Austin Proper Hotel and immediately knew I needed to track down some similar ones for our own dining room. Enter these chairs that I now have my eye on.

// Glamping with goats? Sign me up!

// If this doesn’t sound like a perfect Valentine’s Day dessert then I don’t know what does

// A home tour giving me alllll the inspo for our own home design

//If short ribs are involved, my answer is always yes, especially to something that looks this cozy and delicious!

// If winter woes are troubling your skin, you’ll want to take a peek at this article.

// You’ll also want to buy one of these and one of these ASAP!

// And while we’re on the topic of winter skin woes, don't forget about your scalp, too! I’ve got my eye on this product to help my own dry scalp…fingers crossed it works!