Things I’m loving right now

Confession: Things have been a little weird around here this week. I am making a last-minute trip to Indiana on Thursday to visit my 94-year-old grandfather who just got out of the hospital for pneumonia. Even though he’s out of the hospital, they moved him to a rehab facility, so he definitely isn’t back to 100% – prayers are definitely appreciated. In the meantime, since my cooking schedule got a little shifted around this week, in lieu of a recipe for today, I thought I would share some of my current favorite things with you!

1.) Have y’all heard of Noonday yet? Essentially, it is a collection of free trade jewelry and accessories that are made by artisans from countries like Uganda, India, Peru, and Rwanda. Noonday jewelry provides a pathway out of poverty for many families around the world, but also helps families here in the US raise money for adoption – when adoptive families host trunk shows, 10% of the sales go directly towards their adoption.

Pretty cool, right? Well, I recently won a $50 voucher for Noonday from the lovely Natalie over at Perry’s Plate, who just so happens to be a Noonday ambassador. I was so excited, and within 5 minutes of receiving my coupon code I had ordered this necklace and these earrings. Gorgeous, right? And they’re pieces that I can feel great about wearing. I have a feeling this won’t be my last Noonday purchase.

2.) Regular readers may remember that in my last “Things I’m Loving Right Now” post I couldn’t shut up about The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. Welp, my friend Stef loaned me An Abundance of Katherines last week and I plowed through it in just a couple of days. Unlike The Fault in Our Stars, which had me sobbing for a solid hour halfway through, this book was incredibly upbeat and funny. It is about a recent high school graduate who is trying to come to terms with the fact that he is a child prodigy who seems yet to actually do anything substantial with his intelligence, as well as the fact that he has just been dumped by the 19th girl named Katherine. It is a quick, light read, but one that I definitely recommend. Side note: Does anyone else think that John Green looks like he is about 16?

3.) I know I’ve told y’all before how much I love coconut oil as a moisturizer, and that it is about the only thing that seems to help my terrifically dry skin. Seriously, without it I’m just a straight up flaky alligator. Not a cute look. At any rate, I’ve recently discovered the tremendous glory of using this stuff as a deep conditioner for my hair. Now, I have very curly, dry hair, so I can’t honestly say what this would do for straight hair, but you curly girls listen up: About every other time I wash my hair (which is every 3-4 days…yes, my hair is dry enough to get away with this), I shampoo as normal, rinse, then rub a small amount of coconut oil into the ends of my hair. I then let it hang out for a couple of minutes while I wash my face or whatever, rinse, then condition as normal. I can’t tell you how sleek and bouncy my curls are after doing this. As my hair therapist always says, “A moisturized curl is a happy curl.” Amen.

{For those of you wondering, “hair therapist” is a term my mom’s best friend coined for her hairdresser and we love it. When you’ve got high maintenance hair, you definitely need some therapy thrown in with your cut and colors.}

4.) This song. But not quite as much as Mirrors by good ol’ JT. {Marry me.} {No? Ok, fine. I’ll settle for Adam Levine.}