Four Favorites.

Happy Friday! I hope you have a wonderful weekend ahead. I am hoping to spend time outside with a few runs, including a 5 mile long run. I'm crossing my fingers that we get to fire up the grill at some point, even if the temp only tops out in the 50s. I'm also looking forward to Sunday ladies brunch plans and relaxing. K and I were out of town the past two weekends, and I had a few long nights for work this week due to travel.

In the meantime before the weekend officially begins, below is a list of my four favorite things this week. {I love reading favorite weekly posts from my blog list!}

Book:
I finally finished reading The Goldfinch this week, which was at the top of my list of books to read this year. It was perfect timing as the book won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction a few days ago. I read the Kindle version on my phone app on the train to work, so it took me quite awhile to finish {*cough 3 months *cough}. Donna Tartt weaves an intricate story about a young boy's life after a tragedy and an object that complicates his life for many years.

{Image via Amazon}

Spring dessert:

I found this lovely sweet recipe on Pinterest this morning - Easy Blueberry Lemon Napolean Dessert, from she wears many hats. Cream cheese, lemon, blueberries, honey - this would be perfect for Mother's Day, or any weekend evening for that matter.

{Image via Pinterest, and she wears many hats}

Race:

Don't forget to enter my giveaway for one free race entry to a US 2014 Reebok Spartan Race! The giveaway ends tonight at 11:59pm. The founder of the Spartan Race, Joe De Sena, has a book coming out in May that I'm excited to read soon - Spartan Up!: A Take-No-Prisoners Guide to Overcoming Obstacles and Achieving Peak Performance in Life. The book is about achieving potential and De Sena's motivation in life: "commit to a goal, put in the work, and get it done." I'll be sharing a review and Q&A with De Sena in the next month.

{Image via Spartan Race; book information via Amazon}

Notebook:

K and I are planning a Europe trip this summer, and I've been looking for a small notebook to record the details of our travels. I think this Moleskine classic version is just the size I need. We are traveling to Italy, Switzerland, and Germany. I am most looking forward to celebrating our first wedding anniversary in Cinque Terre, and wine tasting in the Tuscany region. We will also be visiting friends and family on this trip, and it will be wonderful to have 'locals' to show us around.

{Image via Amazon}

{Disclosure: Affiliate links are included in this post. Thanks for your support!}