100 Posts

Celebrating = happiness!

Reaching 100 posts seems like something to celebrate! Break out your party hats and noise makers. This week Describe Happy is getting it's first make over. You will notice the background is now white and have some thoughts on how I want to spice this place up again.

AND.. it's my birthday week!! *do the birthday dance!* "whoot whoot"

Happy Tails

I sure had fun sharing hiking things with you all week. I'm not sure what adventure I will have this weekend, but whatever it may be I will be sure to bring you snips of it next week.

Remember, happiness is all around us. We have to just make the choice to see it.

Happy Tails till Monday!

Running

I went running this morning with the dog. Well maybe quick walking or jogging is more appropriate? Katie sniffs A LOT which makes keeping a steady pace for the first few minutes tough. But when we get in our stride together and I am feeling good and she is smiling, life just doesn't get any better!

Good exercise endorphins and a cute blond to keep you company = happiness!

Rolling Eyes

Can dogs roll their eyes?

If they can, that's probably what Katie was trying to do in this picture. I am playing around with my camera to see what I can do with it to improve my skills (trust me a lot of room for improvement!). My favorite subject to practice on is Katie.

The poor thing probably just wanted the camera out of her face.

Horses

Seeing beautiful horses up close and personal = happiness!

I think horses are amazing! On the drive back from our hike this past weekend we passed a field full of horses. And the road was quiet enough that Mr. Happy was able to stop and let me jump out and tell the horses how pretty they were and snap a few pictures.

Aren't they excellent?

Cupcakes

Ending Wednesday's on a sweet note = happiness!

Wednesday's have become a sweet day for me lately. Not just because I get to bring you Happy Spot Hump day, but because I have discovered an amazing treat at the local farmers market.

CUPCAKES!! I can't say enough times how much I love cupcakes. Be prepared to hear it a jillion more times!

Big Girl Baking Company is my newest addiction for that moist homemade or as they put it 'honest' baking. They are the perfect size... two to three bites of heaven. Just the right amount of sweetness. Perfectly moist. And beautiful! I'm not sure if the cupcakes are on their website yet, but don't let that stop you from contacting them and begging for a taste!

My favorite is the chocolate buttercream on chocolate cake with chocolate chips -- I mean really, what's not to love about chocolate? I have also sampled vanilla with lemon frosting, vanilla with raspberry frosting, and chocolate with vanilla frosting. YUM!

My dear friends at Big Girl Baking... I will see you next Wednesday!

Extra bonus pour moi? ... Mr Happy has treated me to these little delights 3 weeks in a row. Better than flowers in my book. Yes sir, I'm a lucky gal!

Happy Spot Hump Day: Top of Slide Mountain

Climbing and finally reaching the top of Slide Mountain = happiness!
(making it back to the car was pretty cool too!)

As we bounced up the mountain we were surrounded by leafy trees and low brush as we walked up the loose stone trail. The trail had quite a bit of mountain water flowing over it. Walking along the trail sounded something like "splosh, splash, plop. splosh, splash, plop."

We passed a DEC ranger on the way up which lead me to day dream a bit on how he had the coolest job ever! He even had a fantastic, rugged, boy scout looking uniform with colorful patches and a professional looking ruck sack!

As we neared the top we started to see the sky (see yesterday's post)! That was an odd relief. It was only 2 1/2 miles of hiking to the top, but I think we went up 2500 feet which complicated matters and maybe made it feel longer? Or I am just a bit out of shape? Of course I could blame it on the water and loose stone we were walking on, right?

The top was fantastic! It did smell a bit like an incense stick, but it had a great open space with a large rocky cliff that made for a great picnic area. Spicy grilled chicken sandwiches and chex mix really hit the spot!

I have been hiking for as long as I can remember. Mr Happy and I even shared an 18 or 20 mile hike as our first date! But I'm stumped to think of another hike that gave me more satisfaction about reaching the top of a mountain. It sounds cheesy, but it was exhilarating to know I conquered that mountain! Who's ready to do it again?

Scent

So, by now you all know I have a dog. She's the size of a horse and is the apple of my eye. Love this darn dog! I know this space is to bring you things that evoke happiness and I will get to that in a bit.

This morning I let my dog out for business #1 and #2 while I quickly whipped up lunch for Mr. Happy and I. This is routine. I always let her out to sniff and do her thing and then we leave for a nice early walk. This morning was different. Yes, Katie (the dog) went out and sniffed, did her business, and came running back into the house to see if I was ready. I patted her head and was just about finished, but not quite. So, she went back outside.

I finished up and wandered out to round up Katie for our walk. Well, she looked like she had stuck her head in a big dirt pile and rolled around in the grass clippings. I mean my blond was chocolate brown from the tip of her nose to her neck and her fluffy hair had trapped tons of bits of grass. Not to panic... she is after a dog and these things happen. I grabbed a towel and started to try and rub off the "dirt." The "dirt" didn't budge. And it smelled funny. Like yucky funny. So, I wet the towel and tried again. Now I see the "dirt" is greasy. I'm thinking what the heck did you get into pup-pup?

I pulled out as much of the grass clippings from her legs and mane as I could and marched her up to the bathroom. It took a wet wash cloth with dog soap and 15 minutes to get that brown gooeyness off. The whole time I am getting this look from darling dog which went something like, "Mom I just spend all that time getting this great smell on me... I don't want it washed off."

I'm thinking she rolled in wood chuck #2. Not funny this morning. But, now that I have had a mug of coffee... it's really quite funny. I'm wishing I had snapped a few pictures of it.

So, in closing I would like to propose that silly dog antics = happiness!

Trees and Sky

Knowing you are near the top of the mountain because you can start to see the sky = happiness!

Climbing Slide Mountain was one heck of a climb. We sloshed through water, mud, and loose stone all the way to the top while at a steady angle almost like this / Honest it was steep! My legs were burning and their was no end in sight until we started to see the beautiful blue sky! What a relief!

I'll show you what the top looked like tomorrow!

Polyvore

Combining my love for Tano Handbags with a new addition to Polyvore = happiness!

I have recently discovered a site called Polyvore. (Have you heard of it?) I have to admit... I had heard of it before and even went to the site and flipped around a little, but never really did much else. Well, yesterday I took a leap into it and I am hooked!

Polyvore is a free, easy-to-use web-based application for mixing and matching images from anywhere on the web. It is also a vibrant community of creative and stylish people. Most importantly it's fun! Click on the link and get over the site and start creating your first set and then tell me you're not additcted?

I may have to start sharing sets with you more often... how about Polyvore Tuesdays? Here's another one I made yesterday which goes along with our hiking theme this week.