Check the entire “5 things that bring me joy this week” weekly series here, a collection of seemingly insignificant things that remind us to appreciate the little things — those small joys that make a difference in our day-to-day.

I bet you are excited for this week to end to, hopefully, enjoy a long weekend. I know I am! Our plan for the holiday is as usual — to avoid the crowds and traffic, stay at home, play games, and dedicate some time to our hobbies. As mentioned in my previous blog post, I made a turquoise necklace this past weekend, and I have quite a few other DIY projects I want to work on. Fingers crossed I get to them!

Here are this week’s 5 things that bring me joy:

• cleaning my makeup brushes and sponges. Because clean stuff brings joy. And may this be your reminder to clean yours?

• seeing Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. Okay, this is technically from this past weekend, but I’m still on a high from it. I loved all the movies, and this one didn’t disappoint either. Yes, it’s a bit slow in places, but it did not stop me from enjoying it. Oh, and of course, it brought up all sorts of emotions in me, and joy was one of them…

• an electric kettle. Yeah, it’s silly and shocking at the same time that it took us this long to get one. I try to limit buying appliances to avoid clutter, but I finally gave in and got an electric kettle once the temperatures went out of control. We chose this one because it’s fun to watch the water boiling (haha!), and because of the removable tea infuser. So yup, this trivial to some object is bringing me joy this week!

• getting back to working out. After skipping for a week, I am back at it and having lots of fun doing it. I blame the music — yes, this is exactly what I’m listening to and I swear it gives me energy. I feel more energized when I’m done than I felt before!

• a cart full of goodies! I did a poll on Instagram and you want to see what I’m buying this holiday weekend, but I won’t share until I secure my items. However, this dress has been restocked to sell out again quickly, I’m sure!

What’s bringing you joy this week?

xo,

Em