Friday, we meet again.

Hey y’all! Happy Friday (or almost Friday if you’re reading this on a Thursday, Catherine).

First off, I want to thank you for you all for your comments yesterday! Unfortunately, something’s up with Disqus right now and I can’t respond to you, but I’ll get back to you asap. I guess this means you can’t comment on today’s post? After reading all of them, I’ve decided to add a goal:

1. Be on time to school more- My first period teacher is incredibly chill about being late, and 7:35 is ridiculously early for life, but being late is a bad habit and I hate the feeling of being late period. I also get really annoyed when people are late and what’s worse than being a hypocrite right?

Moving on, this week was pretty great, as weeks go. Lots of happy little moments, productive time, and pleasant surprises. 

I tried a green smoothie! It was so yummy- definitely writing out a recipe for this!

So I keep seeing posts about "snow days" and "WOW Snow in AL" and "Snow in Austin!" Yay for you, but uh, California finally got some rain. 

So all of you out there in the cold, please pray for some more precipitation for CA!

Surprise lunch date with mommy! FYI, just because there is something green on your plate does not mean its healthy. It just means that it's prettier to take a picture of. 

Y'all. If you have not been to the Melt, GO. 

Found this practically baby picture of my friend Meera and I. Would you believe that this was just TWO years ago? I've been told I look 11 years old here...

Not sure if this should be considered a highlight, but....I really hate this game and how bad I am at it. 

Happy Friday, loves (wait LOL that's so weird and not me. Never saying that again)

xo, Hima

P.S. I want to punch Blogger right now for all the formatting problems these last couple of days.

February Goals

Hey y'all. After 30-something days of slogging through 2014, it's time to figure out what the heck I'm trying to do with myself for the next month. I also wanted to check back in on my 2014 blogging goals and update all y'all on my progress. 

January Goals: 

1. Write more- I said I wanted to write 3 days a week and I owned that. I've developed this blogging schedule where I write on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday nights, and they count as posts for the next day. I read/comment on blogs almost every day though! 

2. Make more blog friends- totes did this. And I'll definitely continue to!

3. Participate in at least two exchanges. LOL NOPE! Working on this.

4. Figure out how to use Pinterest and Twitter. I tweet a ton, but 0 traffic from Twitter. Pinterest, on the other hand, isn't too bad! Thanks to Ashley for her tips!

5.  At least 1 recipe post per month and a monthly goals post at the beginning of the month- I had 2 recipe posts this month, and I have another in the works. Overnight Oats and Raspberry French Toast Bake (both under 5 minutes prep time!)

Definitely going to try to continue to keep up with all of these- I'd like to try for TWO recipe posts.

Please enjoy this incredibly relevant picture of one of my outfits last week.

February Goals: These aren't really blog focused, just somethings to try for in general
1. Read at least 4 books, and write reviews for at least 2. I've wanted to incorporate book reviews into my blog for a really long time, like Marla and Tiffany, and hopefully this goal will force me to. Recommendations would be much appreciated.

2. Get to the gym 5 days a week. This is going to be really hard, but I know that if I make a goal and make it public, I WILL do this. I've been averaging 4 for all of January.

3. Take my DSLR camera out at least twice and use it. I really love photography, but I tend to take most pictures with my phone, just because it's infinity times more convenient.

4. Start my favorite bloggers series. This has been marinating in my mind (ew that's such a gross idea I take that back) for such a long time now, and I finally want to sit down and get it all put together!

5. Compliment someone every day. Why not spread some more love and happiness? :)

6. I'm currently working with Shutterfly to put together a 20th anniversary gift for my parents. (Long time, I know!) I hope this goes well, and I'm so excited to write about the process.

What are you going to get done this month? Let me know in the comments below. Don't forget to tell me about your favorite book!

xo, Hima

It's a Dog's Life [Letter from Bella]

Hi friends!

Bella here, stepping in for Hima because she’s

1.     under a pile of annotations (15 pages, size 8 font) due tomorrow

2.     too lazy to get together her February goals post

I’d like to assume you’ve met me before, mostly because Hima is a little bit obsessed with how cute I am, but here’s the formal spiel. My name is Bellatrix, and I was rescued from the shelter 2 years ago. I didn’t like people very much before, but I have a lot of friends now! Hima just said something about my typical day- I’m not really sure what she meant, but I really liked the title I came up with, so I’ll just go with that. 

I wake up around 6:30 each morning, around the same time as Hima and our brother Yash do. The first thing I do is run into everybody’s room and say good morning. After getting all the belly rubs I can get, I begin my morning rounds through the house, making sure that nothing was taken during the night. Sometimes, if I see a leaf moving through the window, I bark my head off, because clearly this leaf poses a huge threat to my family. You never know, it could be hiding a scary robber or something!

I assume my position on the top of the couch to watch the kids eat (I can get some of their food if I’m lucky!!) and just keep a general lookout. You know, in case there are more robbers. Or one of the kids is eating peanut butter. I’m all over that!

After Hima and Yash leave for school, I kinda laze around for a while, until someone takes me for a walk. I love laying on the carpet in the sun- it’s just so warm and comfy and makes me so sleepy! Walks- I love them. Of course, I do my doggy duty and stop to smell every single blade of grass and mailbox and flower and rock and crack in the sidewalk- just keeping up with what’s important.

Sometimes, I get to go pick up Yash and Hima from school, which is always fun. I love seeing Hima’s friends. I’m not always sure that they’re her friends though, so I bark at all of them. Better safe than sorry right? Oh, and I always have to sit in the front seat of the car. I don’t care if there’s anyone already sitting there- I just sit on them.

When we get home, we all have a snack. I have whatever the kids are having…well, whatever they give me really. Yash is pretty good about resisting, but all I have to do is look at Hima and she practically puts the plate in front of me. I love it!

This is what I do when I want food. It never fails. 

I really like when Hima takes homework breaks and plays with me. She’s really good at throwing the tennis ball around the house without breaking anything, and she’s the only one who will get under the couch to grab it out when it rolls under. My passions include Tug O’ War, dancing, and doga (dog yoga). What can I say? I’m well rounded.

This continues until 10 or 11, and then we all go to sleep. Or I have to pose while Hima takes pictures of me. Which is literally all the time. I'm so done with her and Instadog or whatever it's called. Anyway, I've gotta go inspect the perimeter of the house again. I'll see you next time Hima is too lame to function! busy. 

Stay classy, Bella. 

P.S. So today (2/4) is National Cancer Awareness Day, and Chevrolet is partnering with the American Cancer Society to raise money for cancer research. For each person who changes their Facebook/Twitter profile to purple (just follow the link), Chevrolet is donating $1. I definitely purpled it up, and I'd encourage you to do the same! :)