Friday I'm in Love

Good Morning!!

It may be raining outside here today, but...

...because it's FREAKY FRIDAY!! :) We made it!

I'm linking up today with Mary Beth, Kendra, Misha, Amanda, and Laura for "Friday I'm in Love."

Grab a cup of coffee, and read through some of my favorites from this week!

1. New Frappuccino Flavors - Mini Sized

Unless you have been living under a rock, you probably heard that Starbucks released 6 new Frappuccino flavors on Monday. The goods are: Carmel Cocoa Cluster, Cinnamon Roll, Cotton Candy, Cupcake, Lemon Bar, and Red Velvet Cake. Starbucks is doing a "Flav-Off" where they want people to vote on their favorite, which I guess will be offered a discount (a whopping $3.00 for Grande) at the beginning of July.

Admittedly, I'm not a huge Frappuccino customer on the regular. Let's be clear - this is a MILKSHAKE, not a coffee drink. If I wanted a milkshake, I would go to Steak & Shake. However, what did intrigue me is that they are offering MINI SIZED Frappuccino's right now. Mini size anything and sign me up!

I glanced at the mini-sized nutrition facts and it looked to me like you are investing in up to 250 calories for the treat. Don't quote me. Google it if you are really concerned :)

So, to treat myself after work one day this week I stopped at Starbucks and ordered the Cupcake Frappuccino in a "mini." What was almost better than the drink itself was how excited the Baristas were to make it. I guess they hadn't made the Cupcake yet, so they made a "tall" and then took the extra for themselves to try (#perks).

The Cupcake is just the original Vanilla Bean with Hazelnut mixed in and I have to say...holy yum! I would definitely order this again or another flavor if they keep the "mini" size.

2. This Quote 

I had to send this quote to a few of my best girlfriends from my home town. We have known each other for WAY too long and they definitely know WAY to much about me. You know those friends?!? The ones who know you inside and out...who have known you through you awkward stages (overweight and braces, yuck!), seen you ugly cry a million times, and know all of your indiscretions, but love you just the same anyway. Shout out to you ladies! :) 

3. THIS Article 

Someone shared THIS article about "10 Changes to Make in Your 30s" and I loved it. The big 3-0 will probably be on my mind all this year. It is joked that I am already an old soul because I am married and living in the suburbs (and have almost been for 3 years!), but I definitely still need to work on some of these. I've started and stopped so many journals, but I really wish I could get into the habit of keeping one. I also want to be better about saving money. We tried to enact a "envelope system" budget this year that bit the dust after about a month. Whoops! 

4. Speaking of planning...

A favorite lately has definitely been my Jesus Calling daily devotional book. This week continually each day it was like the passages were written for exactly how I was feeling in that moment. Tuesday was a big one. 

If you know me, you know that I am a huge Type-A planner of all things. I'm not going to kid myself and say that is going to change now. But, what I am working on is trying to let go of the anxiety of worrying that things won't go the way I had hoped or planned, and trusting that everything is going according to God's plan and that that, in and of itself, is the good outcome. This is very, very difficult for me. The above passage helped this week. 

5. Thursday Night Date Nights

We used to do date nights on Thursday nights all the time. I really couldn't tell you the last time that happened, but last night, we had a little date to a restaurant in downtown Arlington Heights we hadn't tried yet - MAGO. It was pretty quick, but it was so nice to catch up one-on-one for an hour or two without the distractions of the TV, or our phones, or chores to do around the house. I'm thinking we should re-make this a thing! 

I love this list...

Do you have any date night ideas??! 

6. Brainstorming Blogging Ideas

I slacked a little on the blogging this week (sorry!), but I am having fun looking ahead. One thing I am considering is bringing in a "Throwback Thursday" series recapping some things from the past couple of years that I was on a blogging hiatus...wedding posts, trip recaps, home-buying and project posts. 

What do you guys think?? 

I really do hope you all have a fantastic weekend and thank you for stopping by! 

xoxo 

Jess