I wanted to take some time today to share a few things I have loved as of late. I am sharing things across so many different categories from music to products to ideas (if you will.) I am not sure how often I will create a blog post like this, but I think it will be cool to share with you what I have loved in hopes that you find something cool to do or listen to.

1. Alternative R&B

Spotify, coming through big time with this one. One night I was on Spotify looking for some music, I happened across a playlist called Alternative R&B, and I fell in love. It’s as amazing as it sounds, y’all. I am going to share this playlist down below with y’all so you can hear the amazingness of this playlist. It’s everything I could ever want from music and more. I have spent a large chunk of the last month jamming out to this playlist and discovering new Alternative R&B artists.

Speaking of:

2. Jamila Woods’ Album HEAVN

Jamila Woods is one of the people I discovered while I have been on my Alternative R&B kick. You guys, this album is everything. I have been sharing snippets with y’all on social media (specifically Instagram.) Here are a few of my favorite tracks from the album (although, I encourage you to listen to the ENTIRE thing)

• VRY BLK
• Lonely
• In My Name
• BLK Girl Soldier
• LSD

I mean, I could go on to list the entire album, and honestly, I almost did. It’s such a great piece of musical art, y’all.

3. My Favorite Desk Lamp From Amazon

This desk lamp is only $30, but it packs some serious punch, y'all. Earlier this year I was looking for the perfect desk lamp to go in my office because the old one that I found around the house was constantly going out and distracting me. I happened across this one while shopping for desk lamps and it has been an excellent small investment for me.

Why is this desk lamp so great? Simply because it has so many features to fit my lifestyle. It has different color temperatures that I can adjust throughout the day depending on the strain my eyes are currently having, and it also has a ton of brightness options. It is also adjustable in many ways at the base and at the light source itself. You can point it down at what you are doing, up towards the sky, or away from you. It is so freaking amazing. On top of that, it has a USB port built in so you can charge your phone or tablet from it!

There are some downsides, though. While it is well made, it is also very lightweight. If you want to adjust the light in any way, you are probably going to have to hold on to it, so it has some support to move. Also, every blue moon the device goes out for no apparent reason, but this has happened only a handful of times since I started using this lamp in October. Lastly, sometimes the controls can get sensitive if you have stuff like computer wires going over them. They are touch controls, obviously, so a touch from a stray wire may trigger them throughout your work session at your desk.

4. Creating Inspirational Pinterest Quotes

Recently I downloaded this huge pack of fonts from Creative Market, and I have been having so much fun using the fonts to create little Pinterest quotes. I link them back to The Happy Arkansan and share them on my Inspiration Pinterest board. I have loved the response to them. I started doing this at the end of November and one of my Pinterest quotes from this time has been pinned to 186 boards!

Here are a few of the Pinterest quotes I have been making:

5. Buying All The Books

I have been purchasing a ton of books lately. I need to get into reading more and taking time to read every day though; I am still not the best at reading every day. Normally, I will have a lot of spurts of heavy reading followed by no reading at all. If you have any suggestions for making yourself read every day, share them, please!

Here are some books I have been purchasing lately:

6. Adoring Fall Leaves

I am obsessed with fall leaves right now. There are still some excellent colors all around here in Arkansas, and I have been thoroughly enjoying getting to see them all fall. The only sad part to fall in Arkansas is how barren everything looks after a while. There are a few nice evergreen trees here and there, but after a while, I will have to be relegated to taking all my photos near brick walls/murals and away from nature because there won’t be much nature to take pictures within the next few weeks.

7. Writing Content For Days

I have been writing SO much content y’all. This week I am trying to write more content than ever before. In a perfect world, I want a month full of content written by the end of this week. I know that seems like a massive undertaking, but if I could get this month’s content done and over with, that would help me out SO much for the rest of the year. Then I could focus on creating content for January, securing sponsored posts, and writing more of the e-book I am writing. In the last week, I have probably written about 10,000+ words. I don’t keep up with the count, but I know it’s no small number. The editing article from Monday was 3,000 words by itself!

8. Focus Keeper Pro

If you have been following me for a while you know, I am obsessed with the Pomodoro technique. I have fallen back in love lately because I needed to get so much writing done. I recently upgraded my Focus Keeper app to Focus Keeper Pro, and I LOVE it. With the Focus Keeper Pro app (which is a $1.99 update) you can add so much more customization to your Pomodoro experience. I updated the music of my app a lot. For example, during my Pomodoro sessions I have rain sounds playing, during my short breaks it plays Beyonce’s Formation, and during my long breaks it’s completely silent, so I can do whatever I want during that time. It’s excellent, and my short breaks get me super pumped up.

9. ELF Cosmetics Everything

Another thing I am obsessed with lately is ELF Cosmetics everything. All my makeup is from ELF Cosmetics, and I love so many of their products. Here are a few things I have loved lately:

• Velvet Matte Lipstick (specifically in the color Vampy Violet)
• Rose Gold Eyeshadow Palette
• Mineral Infused Face Primer (I got the mineral kind, but they also have radiant glow and tone adjusting green)
• Makeup Mist & Set Spray

(Also, if anyone wants to know what's on my ELF Cosmetics wishlist, it's this Rose Gold Matte Lip Vault…heavy breathing, y'all!)

10. Dark Colors

If you check out my Instagram lately, you would know that dark colors have been my jam. I am currently doing a campaign with InComm & Walmart where I am wearing a lilac dress, and it’s the lightest shade you have seen on my Instagram in a while. I have just been so obsessed with dark velvet shades, everything burgundy, and black lately.

Conclusion

I have loved on so many things lately. It was so fun to sit down and share some of those things with you. I would love to continue the conversation down in the comments with you. What have you loved lately? I am always looking for new things to enjoy!