Things That Made Me Smile: January

List of things I'm thankful for, things I'm loving, things worth sharing...

• •My inspiring high school friend made it on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list.
• •I was sick this month, but thankfully had ingredients in the pantry to make this lovely homemade chicken noodle soup. It was perfect. 
• •Launching my online shop for home knitwares, Hygge and Wool. This has already become something I'm looking forward to growing in 2016. The shop itself was a mere thought, and I decided to run with it. I'm so glad I did because I'm finding inspiration in the unlikeliest of places. While out shopping, I'm so much more keen to attempt to make something that I see. This gives me the opportunity to curate a home and wardrobe of things I can customize to my preferences. Friends and family are ordering custom items, which is creating co-designed pieces that I love, like the Constellation Blanket for my cousin.
• •I love getting inspired and creating new pieces for the shop. Even when mistakes were made on new designs, I'm inspired to keep going. I was working on a striped blanket and accidentally made the second set of stripes thicker than the first. So I ran with it, increasing the stripes size as I went, and it came out better than if all the stripes were even. 
• •Working with Labina Studio on a custom web design for my blog rebranding. It feels really nice to be able to create something from scratch, instead of picking a template that is already created. I've been purchasing templates from Labina for a while now, and I am always impressed with her talent. Stay tuned!
• •Practicing photographing on manual mode. I am finding so much better quality photos on manual mode, and although I have read plenty of blog posts about that, I never took the time to really practice with trial and error. I've been having a lot of fun with it by styling the photos and re-shooting in order to get the lighting just right.
• •Mordechai has been so good lately. The weather has warmed up just a bit, enough for him to enjoy his walks again. I think he's also adjusted to the routine of being inside more. He's such a gem. 
• •Eating so many avocados. The produce market near us sells tiny avocados, the perfect size for a week day breakfast, or weekend brunch with eggs on toast. They sell them as low as 10 for $5! Good fats, right?
• •This illustrated film that the museum created in honor of Bill Stanley. I only got to know him a short time, but he was such an inspiring person, and his curiosity was contagious.