Today, I’m featuring some of my favorite things from my very own house, as opposed to all the ones I posted last month, which weren’t photographs I took of actual things in my house.

1.  Meal Replacement Shake.  Ever since the beginning of January, I’ve tried to drink one of these smoothies for a meal every day (usually breakfast, but sometimes lunch).  I use about 1.5 cups of almond milk, a banana, a serving of soy protein powder, and ice cubes.  It’s heathy, full of vitamins and minerals, and low calorie . . . about 275 calories.  It usually gets me till snack time without a problem.  I totally dig it, because it’s easy and because it keeps me from eating something like waffles and syrup which I otherwise would probably eat for breakfast.

2.  My Las Vegas Starbucks mug.  I bought this in 2012 when I went to my photography conference.  My friend Rachel and I bought matching mugs.  I smile every time I use it.

3.  My christmas present.  I NEVER thought I would be a “nook” girl.  I adore reading, though I don’t do it as often as I used to.  I like holding a book in my hand.  I like the pages and text.  I’m too cheap to buy digital books for a device like this.

My brother was in town a bit before Christmas and he told me all about how you could borrow e-books from a lot of libraries, and when we visited the library, he asked about for me, handed me the pamphlet, and low and behold he was right.  You can borrow e-books from the library.  Well, that solved my biggest problem–my cheapskate problem.  So, James got me a Nook for Christmas.  I just finished reading The Help on my nook, and I enjoyed it more than I thought (the nook, not the book–I knew I would enjoy that already).  The pages still look like a book, so it’s not bad at all 🙂  PLUS, the best part is that there are no overdue fines!  The book just stops working after your lending period is over.  Perfect.  You can’t lose the book, and you can’t get charged.

4.  I’m totally digging our very old and used, but free new piano. I play everyday, though sometimes it’s only for five minutes.  Since we’ve gotten it, I’ve learned how to play a version of Rufus Wainright’s Hallelujah from Shrek, which I adore.  Youtube version. 

Lately, I’ve been trying to learn River Flows in You by Yurima from Twilight, which is going to take me some time.  I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to play it fluently, but I’m enjoying learning it little by little.

Four Favorites for February 🙂