Happy Thoughts Thursday

It's a long weekend and you're almost there, folks. Chin up, fight through today, and you're home free. Wheat and I will be heading to good old Iowa for my cousin's wedding in Des Moines. It's not exactly where I imagined spending my 4th of July weekend, but it will be nice to spend some quality time with my family.

Other than impending family bonding time, here are some things that are making me happy this week:

+ World Cup soccer. I will be the first to admit it: I'm a bandwagon fan...of sorts. By no means am I a soccer fan, but I do like rooting for the U.S. and I'm a sucker for international athletic competitions of any kind. So, like a good American girl, I painted my fingernails red, white, and blue and ventured to the Match on Mass watch party on Tuesday. After parking in Timbuktu, walking to Mass Ave, pushing my way into the extremely hot and smelly crowd, scanning drunk faces for anyone that looked familiar, and failing to find anyone, I opted out. Instead, I met Wheat at Elbow Room for some ice-cold Coca-Colas and air conditioning. I regret nothing.

Amazing day for soccer in #Indy. The crowd at #MatchOnMass from atop @ChathamTap, via @MichaelAdams317: pic.twitter.com/ArUQrgiEYH
— Cori Faklaris (@heycori) July 1, 2014

+ Old Navy Drawstring Terry Shorts. At the risk of sounding dramatic, how did I live without these? It's been so hot lately and I'm not sure how I could survive outdoor concerts and trips to King's Island without these bad boys.

+ Rick's Cafe Boatyard. As part of Wheat's birthday present, I made us reservations for dinner at Rick's Cafe Boatyard on Eagle Creek Reservoir. Although it was a bit expensive and the weather didn't cooperate, the view was lovely (and certainly didn't look like Indiana), the food was great, and the company was even better. We decided to split the calamari, which was excellent. I had a buffalo chicken sandwich and Wheat had a crab cake sandwich, of course. After dinner, we took a short stroll along the water for some pictures and hand-holding. He's so dreamy.

+ True Blood. Look, I know this show is awful, but it's one of my guiltiest pleasures. I'm so very happy it's back, even if I have to secretly sneak the episodes in while Wheat is at work. Jenn and I also have a series finale viewing party in the works, so that pushes my Eric Northman-fueled happiness to a whole new level.

+ "Closer" by Kings of Leon. It's an old one, but it reminds me of summer for some reason. Enjoy.



Are you a bandwagon Clint Dempsey soccer fan, too?
Are you tuning in for the final season of True Blood?
What's making YOU happy this week?