Saturday, December 29, 2012

Winter Wonderland.

I was hoping to get images from our first snow storm of the season, but by the time I was able to the snow was grey and sludge-like. Not living in the country and being swallowed whole by a blizzard left me with little options but to sit and wait for more snow.

When it came, Tuesday and I were both outside at 9am, pouncing snow mounds and barreling through untainted landscape like maniacs. I caught snow with my tongue, threw snowballs for Tuesday to chase, and walked around in wonderment over how beautiful everything looked.

We haven't had a real winter in so long that it all took me by surprise. Driving around in it has not been joyous, but playing in it sure has been!









Monday, December 24, 2012

Friday, December 21, 2012

A Pick Me Up.

 

You know what helps get rid of a super sour mood?

Retail therapy.

Aren't these just beautiful?

I'd literally been looking for an inexpensive pair of flat brown boots that were fitted at the calf for FOREVER (I mean, look at them, they're perfect!). I finally, finally found a pair on Ebay (for $38 with shipping) and was told that they'd be delivered to my house by the end of the month. 

It's like I can't even remember why I was grumpy this morning.

Thursday, December 20, 2012

A New Face Lift!


I am thrilled to have a new header image courtesy of What Peggy Said, which features my dog, Tuesday!

Tuesday is a 4 year old Welsh Corgi who I absolutely love and have had since he was just a puppy. He was named after the day in which my "golden birthday" (where I turned 21 on the 21st) fell, and was really the only name he ever responded to anyway. So, it all worked out.

Creating a blog about happiness was going to be impossible if I wasn't going to make him a top subject, so obviously I had to go a step further and put him in the main image, too. Having him up there makes me so happy I can barely stand it. I mean, look at that face!

I thought I'd share one of my most favorite pictures of him, which was taken by Taryn Lindsey just a few weeks ago. She got him to smile for the camera so many times, I just watched in jealousy. Anytime I've ever tried to take a cute picture of him, he just turns away from me and manages a grumpy face or a scowl instead. Silly dog. Nevertheless, I'm happy to have little illustrations of him on just about everything, including my new blog! =]

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Summer Longing.

(Images courtesy of Shelter Co.)

A Cup Of Jo posted a lovely image set of Shelter Co.'s pop-up lodging service in California, and it made me miss summer terribly. I'd love to be able to snuggle up inside one of these English style tents on a warm night, with friends, laughter, and lots of books all around me. I know that winter brings its pluses too, but can it just be spring already?





Each set-up includes a stocked library, a bed with down comforters and pillows, a beauty station, a lounging area, and about 50 other amazing amenities. I guess it's time to move to California, eh? 

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

It's a Very Happy Christmas!


Last night my roommate and I had our first Christmas party at the new house.

We'd been waiting patiently to throw another get-together since our housewarming party a few months back, and this was the perfect opportunity to do so. With our house already pretty festive, it wasn't much effort to put up some candy cane garland and a DIY photobooth wall (decorated like a giant present) to take pictures up against. Armed with silly hats and headbands, we started the party off with enough holiday cheer to carry us through just about anything. 


We decided to put together a pizza bar, to ensure that all of our guests could have a customized dinner that they were able to make themselves. We even made stars out of mozzarella, which melted perfectly in the oven! Being college students on a budget, this was a good solution to serving an inexpensive dinner, and was enough to fill up our guest's stomachs. A win, win all around! 


Delicious! 


We bought eight themed headbands and hats at the dollar store, which were all such a great investment for the party. Even the less enthused had a pep in their step after putting on a pair of bobbling snowmen! . 


With toasts of our delicious spiked cider and a bellies full of delicious food, we were able to deem this party an official success! Even our rowdy gift exchange made for some fantastic memories. Neither of us can really wait to do it all over again next year, and we've already thought up another dozen or so ideas as to how to make it even better. Ever the daydreamers we are!


Monday, December 17, 2012

The Geminid Shower.

Last Thursday night we went out to watch this year's Geminid Meteor Shower.

At 2am (2am!) we packed the car with sleeping bags and blankets, put on 3 different layers of clothing, and drove 30 minutes away to a remote field that was far from any city lights. With hot chocolate in our gloveless hands, we waited anxiously for the peak hour to hit and the show to start. We were not disappointed! After countless minutes squealing and gasping at the meteors shooting across the sky, we settled into our blankets and watched for nearly an hour as dozens upon dozens of comets danced above us. It was such a magnificent sight and the skies were so clear that it really made for a fantastic memory.

My silly iPhone couldn't take very good images of the occasion (obviously), so I've added a few here from online that were taken of the shower. Nothing quite captures seeing it in person, but these images really do leave me in a state of awe. I'm not only deeply impressed with Ken Brandon's talented photography, but also incredibly impressed with mother nature, too!

This year's shower crossed with the debris of a new comet called 46P/Wirtanen, which doubled the amount of shooting stars that were visible to us on Earth. It was the first time on record the two comet debris have ever crossed paths, which was very exciting! If you missed the event, don't worry! The Geminid Showers occur every year in December.

Image credit: Ken Brandon


Image credit: Ken Brandon


Thursday, December 13, 2012

A Positive Reminder


Not too long ago I had decided that I wanted to start blogging about all of the things in life that made me happy. I imagined it would serve as something of a daily reminder to stay positive, despite any bad moods, or bad days, or bad encounters with the people around me.

And so with a little forethought, I created Positively Bri.

I'd like to think that eventually this blog will be both a reminder and a source of happiness for my future readers, who like me, need a few of those little, "ah ha!" moments, too. Since there's never really a day that goes by where we're not at least once thinking that our life is awful, or our job is the worst, I figured that this was a great task to take on.

So welcome my little patch of happiness!

I hope to see you again, soon.