A few good gems

Happy Friday! I'm definitely getting to that point in the school year where I'm just hobbling from weekend to weekend. It's enough already with the early mornings and packed lunches and school projects. Momma needs a good long rest. And . . . my college girl comes home in just two weeks! There are lots of good things to look forward to, and in the spirit of that goodness, here are a few good gems to get your weekend inspiration humming.

via MarthaStewart.com

We usually have eggs benedict on Easter morning, but I have to say I'm rather intrigued by this Martha Stewart recipe of Sesame Toast with Poached Eggs and Avocado. 

I originally came upon this article courtesy of Cup of Jo, and while I don't like to recycle links -- this article bears repeating. Published as an opinion essay in The New York Times, the author, Akhil Sharma, writes about his own fruitful experiences with looking outside of himself. This is a must read.

How to make a bow. I had a clearanced wreath from Target and a front door in dire need of some Springifying. In the past I've always had my mother or one of my talented friends make bows for me. But those folks weren't around, so I turned to my BFF the Internet. Girlfriend always delivers.

Also on the DIY front, I experimented with removing oil stains from t-shirts. Indeed, it has been an exciting week. You know those mysterious oil stains that show up on the cool t-shirt you JUST bought on your ski trip and only wore ONE time? Yeah, I'm doing something about those. I tried this tutorial. I had three dime-size oil spots on the bottom of the shirt. I did the WD-40, the baking soda (twice), and the Dawn. Then I washed. Afterwards, the dime-size oil spots were gone, BUT the area around them was stained. I think I made a mistake by only scrubbing the Dawn into the stains themselves. So, I did the whole thing again, brushed the Dawn thoroughly over the entire area, and VOILA! Oil stains no more. I'm serious. This may have changed my life.

I made Fried Quinoa with Spicy Honey Chicken for dinner this week. This recipe is a keeper.

Have you seen this video about the waitress who gets three life-changing "tips"? What if it was your job to go around and make people's dreams come true? I wonder if you'd have to write a dissertation to qualify for that. 

Root Beer Float Cookies? I'm in.

I'm going to try these smoothies next week for an after-workout treat. (But let's be real -- you should really get chocolate or an entire loaf of bread as a reward for working out.)

There's a compelling article in The Atlantic about a playground designed to get around overprotective, middle-class, suburban parenting. And it may or may not involved fires. Interesting read.

And that's it folks! We posted every day this week . . . so can we have the chocolate and bread NOW????