nothing can bring you happiness but yourself.
- ralph waldo emerson

yesterday was a day i was thankful for, even if it involved an entire day of cleaning. it was our day of spring cleaning, just in the fall. since steve won't be here for the big spring cleaning, we decided to do it yesterday--we cleaned every screen and window (inside and out) in our house, washed the cars, thoroughly cleaned the bathrooms, and organized the garage. steve has also been working on finishing kiele's bed. he built it from scratch and is now doing the finishing touches. steve is amazing with woodworking. in the past, he's built a 7-drawer dresser, two beds and three book cases.

it was so refreshing to get all the stuff done that we did and...i can't even tell you how good it feels so good to have clean screens and windows. :-)

the last thing i did yesterday was scrub my tub and as i was scrubbing with a magic eraser, i thought i should share my love for the magic eraser on my blog. then i remembered how a dear and talented friend of mine had recently shared 10 of her favorite things on her blog. sooo...

i share with you ten of my favorite everyday things:

1. magic eraser.

if you haven't heard of magic eraser, run to the grocery store and buy yourself a few boxes. i promise, you won't regret it. if you have heard of magic eraser, i'm sure you're nodding your head in agreement. i love, love, love magic eraser. from cleaning my tubs to cleaning marks off the wall that won't come off with anything else. hands down, a must have in every household. although i do joke with my friends about how nothing should be able to do what magic eraser does and all our hands are probably going to fall off in 20 years b/c of the 'magic' chemical in magic eraser. seriously though, i use it all the time.



2. hoodies.

yep, i LOVE hoodies, especially lucky brand hoodies. i'm not sure what i would do without my hoodies. i wear them almost year round and the grungier they get, the more i love them. my favorite lucky brand hoody is currently hanging on by strands but yep, i still wear it and love it.



3. jessica mcclintock perfume.

by far, my favorite perfume. i'm pretty much a minimalist so i only have a handful of perfume bottles but i've used jessica mcclintock since as long as i can remember. it smells beautiful and romantic, yet fresh and clean.



4. dwell magazine.

i love modern / mid-century modern. someday we hope to own a mid-century modern home. owning an eichler is our dream. i drool over the homes, furniture, wall decor...everything, in the magazine. love, love, love it so.



5. cucina

i discovered cucina products at a friend's house, and i've been hooked ever since. recently my mother-in-law was visiting and she, too, is now hooked. i prefer the 'coriander and olive tree' scent. but, if you're a liberal dish soap user, this product might not be for you (it's not cheap).



6. method.

well, i pretty much love method everything. but my huge fav is the lavender, all surface, non-toxic cleaning spray. i love lavender and i love clean...so for me, the combination is more than perfect. although i have to say that i do also love the clorox (with bleach) cleaning spray. did i mention that i love clean!



7. anthropologie.

i love the antrhopologie store. if i had all the money in the world, i would probably own one of everything in the store. not only do i love their clothing, but also their decor. i'll frequently go in there, just for some design ideas.



8. mexican food.

i could eat mexican food every single day--morning, noon and night. and i mean it. i love mexican food.



9. the sound of my kids giggling and laughing.

couldn't help list it in my top 10. they are outside playing and i just keep laughing as i listen to them play and giggle together. it makes me happier than anything else ever could. they always have so much fun playing on the trampoline (that's where they just were).



10. blogs.

i love posting on my blog. i love reading others' blogs.

and here are a couple blogs, that i recently stumbled upon and love checking (i couldn't tell you how, or though who, if you paid me). i check my blog feeds pretty much every day, for recent updates.

somewhere...i can't remember where, i heard about the nie nie dialogues blog. i want to say that it was on the radio or somewhere like that. i can't even remember what they were saying about it, but at the time, i remember saying to myself, i need to remember that name and google it when i'm home. and then one day, when blog surfing, i came across her sister's blog, c jane run..

stephanie, the author of nie nie dialogues, and her husband were in a private plane crash back in mid-august. her husband is now in rehabilitation; however, stephanie is still in the burn unit, fighting for her life. stephanie's sister, courtney, regularly posts updates on stephanie on her c jane run blog.

the bliss blog shares the most wonderful products.