Happy Weekend! Ben and I have FINALLY snagged a weekend to do slightly more relaxing than running around and is exactly what we needed. This week's top three is a place, a person, and a food that I honestly don't know how I've been living without. 

This week I finally followed the advise of pretty much everyone on my newsfeed and tried Noosa yogurt. I've always wanted to love yogurt because it's good for you and all that, but I just couldn't ever get into it. This yogurt is my game changer. It doesn't have that tangy Greek yogurt flavor but tastes just as high end. Try it!

As you can see, I'm currently reading Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat Pray Love. I know that I am WAY behind on this one, but I absolutely had to after listening to her wise advise on her podcast, Magic Lessons. She is the biggest believer that everyone should engage with their creativity and become a maker, not just consuming, but creating. She has sparked some brand new thinking in me and I love her incredible eloquence in both spoken and written word. If you're looking for some fresh perspective, get to know this woman's work. 

TRADER JOE'S. The hype is real and it is right on. I am totally obsessed. Like - drive 30 minutes to Dublin for no reason - obsessed. The vibe is perfect, the food is unreal, and the COOKIE BUTTER. I mean come on. Someday soon, I'll be posting about my Trader Joe's top 10, but *spoiler* cookie butter is number 1. It may be the most unhealthy food in world, actually that seems probable to me, but it's worth it. Treat your self, you'll thank me. 

In lieu of your regular weekend reading, I wanted to let you know about an exciting new business and opportunity in our area that I was moved and inspired by today. 

This afternoon, Ben and I had the absolute pleasure of attending the kick-off meeting of this beautiful new business and I was stunned at the obvious work of God in the brave leap of faith these young women are making. Last year Ben worked alongside two high school English teachers who left teaching this year to start a coffee shop called Paper City Coffee whose proceeds will support the mentoring project based inside the shop. The idea is to provide an at-risk teenager with a stable, supportive, and loving relationship that they can count on even in the midst of complete instability.

Ben is jumping in head first and is so excited to align with Paper City Coffee to be the hands and feet of Jesus to a young man or woman in our hometown. The program is asking for a one hour a week commitment over the next two years. If any of this is tugging at your heart, I encourage you to look them up. I've linked their social media below. What a beautiful way to get plugged in to a powerful work, to give sacrificially of your time, and be who you needed when you were younger. 

Have you every heard of a staycation? It's time dedicated to exploring and appreciating the spaces and events that happen around you. Ever since my honeymoon, and my incredible first leap into traveling, I've caught the travel bug. Now, I find myself struggling to stay content with my day to day, which will be increasing in routine as I get closer to my first school day (that's Wednesday.....yikes). Luckily for me, my husband is exactly like me in this way, always itching to discover something new but too poor/busy to run all over creation whenever he wants. So we have recently committed to living large right here in Ohio, and planning small trips to neighboring cities whenever we can. We will be heading to Nashville and Chicago next month, but to tide us over we spent the week finding out that our home cities are pretty amazing. 

First things first. The Bubble Run that both Ben and I have been posting about non-stop was every bit as fun as it looks. We are signing up for the Donut Run in October and the Hot Chocolate Run in November and are SO excited to keep running 5K's. We are definitely not serious runners, but that's probably what makes it so great. You are having so much fun, you hardly notice how miserable you are!

We might also be going slowly broke with our exploring of the Columbus restaurant scene. We are LOVING each place we stop and walk away swearing it's our "new favorite." Recent favorites are Condado and The Golden Bell. We are finally starting to make a dent on our restaurant bucket list. 

P.S. If you haven't tried Trivia Night at the Local Cantina yet, you need to experience that. 

Finally, I took my new husband down to maybe my oldest haunt: The Ross County Fair. Now that my days of Fair Court and Goat Showmanship are far behind me, it is so much more relaxing to walk around the fair. I love watching my sisters show their projects, seeing old friends, and TEX'S LEMONADE. Trust me, that will be the best $3.25 you spend this year.

How do you do staycation? Comment below and tell me all about it!
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This Weekend Reading is really more like Weekday Reading, but I'm so excited to share some of the little places and things that are bringing me joy in this season. In my personal life, and after being hugely inspired by Annie F. Downs Looking for Lovely, I have been working on finding beauty in the smallest blessings. Here are some from this week. 

1. Bakersfield in the Short North
Here's my confession, while in Cozumel I developed a huge taste for a good margarita, and have thankfully and finally  found the perfect one at Bakersfield North in the Short North. Order the Bakersfield Margarita and the chips and guac and sit/stand outside to get a full and perfectly summery experience. 

2. Shauna Niequist
This woman is one of my new found role models. Oh my gracious, her writing is just insane. I love her sensitive and poetic descriptions of coming together over a table of food in her book Bread and Wine, I love listening to her share her wisdom on the many podcasts she appears on, and have recently discovered her beautiful blog (which you can check out by clicking the button). She just released her brand new book, Present Over Perfect, and I am SO excited to get my copy!

3. These Perfect Sunglasses
I hate sunglasses shopping. It's true. I always find them to be overpriced or ridiculously cheaply made. So now that I have found the perfect pair, I honestly don't know if I'll have to go sunglasses shopping ever again. These are $10 from Amazon, and if you have Prime (P.S. Listen, you should), shipping is free! They're linked below!

5. Hair Ties
Speaking of finding perfect things, these are the perfect hair ties. Because my hair is super long, it is stupid heavy. I had always been a Goody hair tie girl and had just accepted that my lot in life was to have my hair be ever so slightly pulled at all times. But these beautiful things are the fix. They are adorable enough to wear on my wrist and somehow don't ever pull or break my hair. Yes, they are an investment. But SO worth it guys. It really is the little things.