Happy Thoughts Thursday

With everything that has been going on lately, it seems that happy thoughts aren't as readily available these days, but I'm still finding reasons to smile. Here are some of my recent favorites:

- The Blue. Those of you who have not yet experienced the tastebud celebration that is the blue ice cream (blueberry) at King's Island should do everything in your power to change that. Now. There is an adorable little ice cream shop in Maineville called Whipty-Do! and I'm pretty sure it's the only place on earth that sells it outside of King's Island. Wheat and I went there last weekend for our first blue cone of the spring. The blue and vanilla swirl cone is truly a game-changer in my opinion.

- Pittsburgh Penguins. They beat Columbus on Monday night and have advanced to the second round of the playoffs. Hooray!

- Pacers Playoffs. Wheat has been jetting in and out of town for the Pacers' series against the Atlanta Hawks. It's been rough spending so much time apart, but a small consolation is that I get tickets to some of the home games. So, Dad and I went to Game 5 on Monday. Unfortunately, the Pacers lost, but it was wonderful to spend time with my Dad.

- Mom is home! Without going into the details, it turns out my mom doesn't have ovarian cancer. She actually has colon cancer that had spread to her ovary (which led to the misdiagnosis). At any rate, she had to have major surgery again last week to remove the tumor. She was released from the hospital yesterday and she's safely back home to heal with her favorite child, Prince.

- Cincinnati Enquirer. Because the Enquirer doesn't have a beat writer that specifically covers the Cyclones, they ran my playoff game story in the print edition! It was the first time I've ever been published in a major newspaper and I felt a really cool sense of pride when I saw my story in the same paper that was delivered to our door growing up.

- Sam Smith. I'm absolutely obsessed with his voice. I think my favorite of his songs is "Lay Me Down," but I've been avoiding it lately because it makes me cry. Instead, here is "Latch" by Disclosure featuring Sam Smith. So good.

Have any of my Cincinnati people tasted the blue?

Are any of your teams still in the playoffs?

What's making YOU smile this week?