And just like that, it’s another Monday!! While summertime days definitely make practicing Monday gratitude a littttle easier, I still love taking the time to intentionally be thankful for the little things in life. After all, the more I practice gratitude now (because I do believe it’s something we truly need to practice in this day & age / culture), the better I’ll be when it’s harder to see! At least that’s what I am hoping :)

So, as always, some things I am particularly loving this July Monday…

• Starbucks iced tea lemonades. This past week was full of meetings & coffee dates — and of course everyone wanted to set those meetings for the 20-something’s go-to: Starbucks!! In fact, I may or may not have visited the ‘bucks THREE SEPARATE TIMES on Wednesday. Oops? :) Anywayyyy, I always start the morning out with a Chai, but I thought three in one day would be pushing it…so I switched to their new Blackberry Mojito Tea Lemonade (ahhhh-mazing) and I also tried out the old-school Passion Tea Lemonade!! Definitely some new summer favorites — that may or may not require the Venti order. #slurpslurp
• Cleveland day dates with Chris! C signed us up for the Scene Ale Fest in Tremont a few weeks ago — after purchasing our tickets, all we had to do was show up, receive our 8 oz sample cup (woot woot!), and walk around to the 100s of draft beers & sample away!!! Chris got much more adventurous than me in his tastings, as I tended to stick to the Wyder’s Pear Cider tent (my beverage of choice whenever it’s available!!), but I did make sure to try a few new beers to stick with the spirit of the whole event :)  Of COURSE it pretty much poured the entire day (after a whole week of beaaaautiful weather!!), but we still made it a great time :)
• Sweet client messages & inquiries :) I am so excited to already be booking weddings into 2015 — and the fact that I have at least 1 session a month through December makes me want to jump around & do a happy dance!! I have so much excitement looking into this next fall — between a new set of freshmen & creative writing kiddos and the consistent photography sessions I have coming my way, I know it’s going to be a great year!!
• Speaking of my kiddos…I am LOVING my new Lily planner I just ordered!!! My good friend Allie surprised me with one as a HOORAY-YOU-GOT-A-JOB gift last year, and it was probably one of my favorite teacher supplies throughout the year!! This year’s is looking extra cute, and I can’t wait for it to arrive in the mail!! Perfect size, fun stickers, great doodles, and weekly AND monthly planning pages — it’s the best :)
• And finally, I am loving the generosity I have gotten from a friend from church and her desire to support teachers in the NE Ohio area! Kim is a Thirty-One consultant, and has decided to give 10% of all proceeds from my Thirty-One party back to my classroom in the form of school supplies!!! More than half of my students come from a low-income background, and I would LOVE to have support in providing them with the folders, notebooks, pencils,and post-its that come in so handy for English class! If you’re interested in checking out some of the awesome products from Thirty-One, check out my online party by clicking here — anything you purchase will count towards my classroom total :)

Hope you can find some things to be thankful about this Monday too — I would love to hear about them below!!! Otherwise, have a BEAUTIFUL day :)

Love love love,

Sami