Happy Things

Just a little list of some happy things.

* Happy Thing #1: It arrived!!! Our baby girl bedding arrived, and this was a very happy thing.

It only stayed nicely wrapped up in its bag until Landon went down for a nap, at which time I proceeded to unload and lay out all ten of the pieces. I was just being a responsible mom, making sure there were no damaged items. Or I was channeling my obsessive can't-wait-to-open-my-new-toys inner child. Either way, out it came!

And it is beautiful!! I'm so thankful it turned out to look as cute in person as it did on the computer screen (even better!) No weird colors or disappointing patterns. Sadly I had to put it all back away though as Landon would have quickly drug every piece all over the house. But I'm excited for a couple of months from now when we actually get to hang all this up!

(And just in case you're wondering, no, it is not possible for a normal human to fold and repack all 10 items to neatly fit back in the small, space-saving packaging. Only manufacturing machines can do that apparently.)

* Happy Thing #2: I just finished my second wreath making project! 

Thank you Pinterest for the inspiration for this wreath! I love that it's not overly Christmas-y, which will justify me leaving it up until March.

* Happy Thing #3: Even Landon is starting to get in the Christmas mood!

Thanks to his little people Nativity set. He mostly likes taking everything out of the box and putting it back into the box. But he also enjoys dancing to "Away in a Manger" which plays when you press down on the angel on top.

He's even started leaving himself Christmas presents under the tree.

There's his snack container of Cheerios, placed neatly below the tree. Is that supposed to be a hint, Landon?

* Happy Thing #4: I finally discovered a winning "Chocolate Cake in a Mug" recipe. This Happy Thing just had to be shared, in case, like me, you find yourself in the cold evenings, gazing at the Christmas decorations, watching the snow fall outside (ok, maybe it hasn't actually snowed yet here, but I'm sure it will), and all you want is to curl up with a blanket, a book or movie, and a nice cup of coffee accompanied by some chocolate. And let's just say for the sake of argument that this happens to NOT be one of the most days of the week where you have freshly baked goods on hand around the house (yes, still addicted to baking). Well, I've experienced that chocolate craving a few times and was really excited when I started seeing chocolate cake in a mug recipes floating around on Pinterest. Unfortunately after trying 3 or 4 different ones that were all nasty for various reasons, my chocolate pregnancy-blamed cravings were left unsatisfied, until I finally came across this recipe:

It was the first recipe I found that wasn't rubbery, was still light and fluffy and actually had good chocolate taste. Her recipe is to make 2 mug cakes, but I just cut the recipe in half to only make one (yes, I do have some self control) and instead of whisking up one egg and using half, I only used the egg white. Follow her directions of microwaving it on medium heat! With a scoop of ice cream and cup of coffee, it totally satisfied my baby girl's desperate need for chocolate last night! So when you're in case of such an emergency, try it!  
It will make you happy :)