{friday mixing bowl} watercolor wishes, birthday buttercream, and more

<< I’m currently >>

in disbelief that…

…my little Cub is ONE! His birthday was yesterday, and we had some family over to celebrate. When it was Cubby’s turn to smash his cake, he took one taste of the whipped cream and spit it out. So I gave him some of this luscious buttercream to sample, and he spit THAT out. Who is this kid? Undeterred, I stuffed it in his face because I was going to have that first birthday messy cake picture! Wouldn’t you know, he was so offended that I would make him eat buttercream of all horrors and didn’t calm down until I gave him his pouch of spinach. Yes. Spinach. I don’t even know…

working on…

…all the workish things. I had a productive naptime on Thursday while my daughter was at school, and I’m hoping to put a few projects to bed very soon! In book news, I’m still plugging away, but there’s a story I hope to be able to share soon that deserves its own post…as soon as I type The End on Blake and Lacey!

biding my time until…

…I can spend some time with this bad boy. Isn’t it gorgeous? I want to practice my brush lettering as a hobby, and those blues and greens and pinks and purples have my name allllll over them.

listening to…

…these podcasts. Trying them out, so I can’t vouch for them yet. As I’ve said before, I have fallen in love with listening to podcasts while doing the mundane holy things like washing old bottles that have been lost under the couch for a week and folding tiny jeans. Any recommendations for me? (And please don’t mind the little red numbers if they bother you as much as they bother me 🙂

looking at…

…my new lock screen from French Press Mornings. She regularly releases gorgeous lock screens for free! I first heard of her via my agentmate Ashley’s Twitter post, and I’ve had a few different French Press Mornings lock screens ever since!

<< link love >>

• If you saw that gorgeous cupcake above, this is the chocolate buttercream recipe I used from the Add a Pinch blog. It was perfection (don’t listen to weirdo Cubby!), and I had to put the bowl in water immediately to resist eating additional spoonfuls of it.
• LOVED this post from Sarah Bessey this week. It’s a reminder not to discount the holy work in the more mundane, adulty things. To never think that where you are right now and what you’re doing isn’t important.
• “How to pursue your hoped-for work when you’re busy with your right-now life.” THIS. Kind of related. Definitely necessary reading.

<< in case you missed it >>

• On The Writer’s Alley this week, I shared an easy Instagram trick to help market your various content around the web.
• I also stole a fun idea from my friend Teresa and created a Beyond the Bio, an enhanced set of facts and confessions that let you get to know the real me beyond the formalities of a professional bio 🙂 Bonus one since I’m a romance writer: Country music is not my thing despite the whole Texas/Oklahoma roots, but the song “Making Memories of Us” by Keith Urban and “Then” by Brad Paisley are two of the most romantic songs ever, in my opinion! Your turn to do one for you!!
• This website got a tiny makeover, too! I downloaded a theme from Angie Makes that more fits with what I’m going for in this space now — and I have my eye on one of her premium themes to invest in soon!

Hope you have a fantastic weekend! What will you remember most from this week?