Happy to be Alive, Because: Pretty Dresses & Coachella.

Happy to be Alive, Because Fridays are based off of my new novel, Happy to be Alive, Because.   Feel free to join in with #happytobealive2014.

1. I get to get all dressed up and go out with my husband tonight!  He has a fancy pants medical dinner, which means I have a pretty dress and expensive wine that I will pretend to be sophisticated enough to like.  Everyone is happy!

2.  I got this text from two of my friends:

With the caption, "We are happy to be alive, because we have a friend who is a fantastic writer."

My heart. 

3.  This post from my girl Jordyn about the difference between 18 & 22.  "At 18, you think you're a grown up, and wish more people would treat you like you are.  At 22, you know you're supposed to be a grown up, but wish more people would stop treating you like you already are." Amen.

4. "Coachella" by Brooke Fraser.  "I am bright as the sun, you are high as a kite, we are daughters, sons, brothers, and sisters tonight..."  It makes me want to dance around wearing a flower crown.  Aka, every day of my life.

5.  It's Friday.  And sometimes that's just enough.

What makes you happy to be alive this week?

b u y   m y   b o o k :

I'm happy to be alive because of gold & glitter & cheap headbands.

1.  It's supposed to be 88 degrees today, and I will be enjoying every single one of those degrees by the pool.

2.  I haven't really been sleeping, and while that kind of sucks as a whole, I've had time to make things like this:

gold & glitter & ampersands, these are a few of my favorite things.

3.  I love April already.  I got to meet my mom for lunch yesterday and had the best time ever celebrating the start of book & birthday month!

4.  I'm so incredibly close to making my last payment on all things book related.  To help with the final push, I've dropped t h i s  h e a d b a n d down to $8, no code necessary, for this weekend only.  {psst, and I dropped t h i s  o n e down to $5!}

5.  Reading through your question emails this morning is so much fun!  Keep them coming!

What makes you happy to be alive this week? 

s h o p   h e r e :

Happy to be alive, because...

In case you missed it, the title of my book is Happy to be Alive, Because. 

I love thankful Fridays, and I thought it would be fitting to move them in a new direction by making them happy to be alive Fridays. 

1.  My book is available for P R E - O R D E R.  What?!  When I woke up on Wednesday, I had no idea the day was going to end by hearing from friends and family that they had just ordered my book.  There were a lot of happy tears. 

My dad sent me a video of him, my mom, and my little brother standing at the computer ordering my book.  Tears on tears on tears.  I love my family

2.  My husband is officially done with his second year of medical school!  He's halfway to being a doctor and that's just exciting.

3.  There are so many good people in my life.  I had to write my book dedication/acknowledgments yesterday, and I really could have filled up roughly seventeen pages with all the things I would have liked to say.  I've never been one to keep a lot of people in my life at one time, but the ones I do have are downright amazing. 

4.  It's supposed to be warm again soon.  This whole, pool one day, winter coat the next day saga is getting old. 

5.  The incredibly encouraging words you guys left on my blog.  Blogging is such a weird and wonderful thing.  This is such a crazy journey for me, and getting to share it on this little space on the internet is amazing.  On that note: I wanted something to keep track of all of this excitement, so I'm going to use  #happytobealive2014 on instagram and twitter.  I would love for you to use it too!  For anything from talking about the book to simply pictures or tweets about why you're happy to be alive. 

So!  What makes you happy to be alive? 

s h o p  h e r e: