Hi again ♥

I know it's been far too long since I've made a post. Sadly, it's all too easy to get stuck in the routine of everyday life and forget to make time for other things that you used to really enjoy—like blogging! But I truly want to get back into blogging regularly again, and one of my resolutions for 2019 is to return to my roots and revive this blog. That's for a future post, though. Until then, why not follow me through a fun-filled Saturday? Enjoy!


Today I woke up to the sun shining in through my window, and I instantly felt overjoyed. These past few months, I've been going to and from work in the dark, either in the bitter cold or the pouring rain, and the weekends don't bring much nicer weather. This felt like the first sunny day I could enjoy in so long, and even though I know it's a long ways away, it made me hopeful for spring. I greeted the morning with some hot cocoa and watching a few videos from some favorite YouTubers. We got a late start today, but I didn't mind so much. 

After running a few errands first, my mom and I stopped by the library so that I could drop off a book and pick one up that was waiting for me as well. It was a good idea that I just happened to want to go to the library today, because as I was passing by the "for sale" shelf, I paused suddenly. Now, I always briefly do a once-over of the for sale shelf even though 99% of the time it's the same books that have been there since the end of time, books that no one would ever have any desire to pick up. But today, I saw a different book there and I couldn't believe my luck—especially given that all of the books on the for sale shelf are always $1.00 and I couldn't believe that I managed to buy this wonderful, globally-adored book for this price....

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak!




Needless to say, I snatched it from the shelf and it instantly made my day to have found this hidden gem. 

After that, Mom and I went to our Starbucks and said hi to the girls who work there, who also happen to be our favorite Starbucks baristas in existence because they're so nice and wonderful.... and they remembered our drink orders before we even had a chance to say them, which made us feel special and remembered! We found a table by the window and had a nice little sit-down snack...

Hot chocolate and a banana loaf

Mom and I also recently found out that there's an option to have your drink order be served in a Starbucks mug, so we decided to try it out for ourselves—and we have to say we really enjoyed the experience. There's something that much more personable and homey about having a hot drink in a mug, not to mention I actually really like their mugs. They're a simple design but still really cute and I loved the embossed Starbucks logo. All in all, it was just a nice added experience.

 


After doing one more errand, we eventually made our way home. After puttering around a little bit though, we decided to take an evening walk around the neighborhood, which we hadn't done in such a long time and we both felt we needed a bit of fresh air. We ended up walking to a closeby neighborhood and down a particular trail that we used to love going to with our dog, Jessie. We realized that we hadn't been down here since she died, so it was bittersweet but ultimately it was good to return there.



We walked down further and saw that the path ahead was incredibly muddy from the creek overflowing onto the path. Which is funny because I remember this from the last time I was on this trail, so it's just a but amusing that no matter how much time has passed and how much has changed, some other things still stay the same... 



Still, it was nice to be back to this place again, and it was especially beautiful once we saw the sun starting to set.

One of my favorite places to walk through on this trail

Of course, by the time we got back to our own neighborhood, the sky had grown even more breathtaking as the moon could now be seen, pink colors streaked across the sky, and the day was gradually coming to an end.