Happy Sunday! How’s your weekend going?

Yesterday I celebrated my birthday (a few weeks early) with a small group of special ladies from different corners of my life. We gathered for brunch and vision board-making at Arte Cafe, where we enjoyed tasty food, drinks, and a lot of hugs and laughs. I’ve written on here about vision boards before, and I know it sounds cheesy, but I’m a big believer in using those kinds of visual cues to help you manifest what you want to see in your life. Sharing this with some of my favorite women seemed like the perfect way to mark my 30th birthday. 

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This Sunday, I thought I’d share a few links from around the Interwebs I enjoyed this week. But first, breakfast:

After thinking I was done for the year, the weirdly warm days this week had me craving smoothies for breakfast. I decided to give the Trader Joe’s maple water a try, which was a fun change of pace. I also finally realized that the company’s Super Seed & Ancient Grain mix makes a perfect smoothie topping. 

Here’s some Sunday reading and viewing for you. Have a wonderful day!

*Daniel Jones, the editor of the New York Times Modern Love column, discusses what he’s learned along the way.

*I’m always interested by the research coming out of the Cornell Food and Brand lab. I commented for this Yahoo Health article on a recent study suggesting that junk food is not The Cause of obesity in the U.S. I appreciate that the researchers stress that the big picture of your general diet is what we should focus on rather than on demonizing specific foods. I also like that they mention that physical activity plays an important role in weight management as well.

*I loved this Career Girl Daily post on 6 Ways to Be More Energetic in the Morning.

*So, um, CoverGirl has a Star Wars collection, and maybe I bought a lipstick from it? And maybe also a frozen-Han Solo iPhone cover? These lightsaber chopsticks are also amazing. #nerdalert.

*Now you can add “efforts to support animal welfare” to reasons to love Panera.

*Peanuts Comics + Smiths Lyrics = <3

*Gwen Stefani’s collaboration with Petco is adorable and ridiculous in the best way possible.

Have you ever made a vision board? How did you spend your last birthday?