And that means BLISS. And the BLISS LIST.

Oh, what a lovely list of bliss this week. It was my birthday, you see, as  trillions GAZILLIONS of my not-so-nearest but definitely DEAREST best friends EVER posted greetings on my Facebook wall. Ah, I am still basking in the luuuuuuuuv, my sweetums. Positively glowing. In fact I’m glowing so much we don’t even need the lights on tonight.

Now that’s bliss.

Portabella Bliss

And so is this. Portebella ‘burger’ with roasted red pepper, melted cheese. Brie? Brie? I do not recall but IT WAS DELICIOUS. Beyond delicious. It was BLISS ON A BUN. And the salad dressing was some sort of garlic attack in the most goodly of ways.

And of course there was puppy love. There is always puppy love on my list. Count on it. This week the puppy really is a puppy. Just a baby.

sleeping puppy

Awwwww…Look at that fat little belly. Soft little puppy hair. PUPPY BREATH! Don’t you just want to pick him up and kiss him! And kiss him! And kiss him!!!  And snuggle him against your shoulder and KISS his little head and make silly little sing song noises like a completely besotted fool.

Don’t you?

There is NOTHING that brings your blood pressure down better than a puppy. Especially a sleepy puppy. Nothing.

My co-workers and I are lining up to love on the newest perk at work…BUBBA. Not to be confused with the late, great Bubba mine. Who was the best dog ever, RIP. May baby Bub grow into the next best dog ever.

collaborative painting

Speaking of work…ta ta…a collaborative painting by two of my favorite students. Two of my absolute favorite people who just  happen to have Down Syndrome. This photograph doesn’t begin to do the painting justice. Layers and layers of jewel tone glazes make the underpainting POP. And it’s for sale. The artists get 60% of the profits. The rest goes towards purchasing new supplies for the Neighborhood Center of the Arts. You can read all about this place here. And if you’re interested let me know.

And if you could see these guys paint…oh man, it’s even better than puppy breath. And how do you top that??? They LOVE to paint. They LIVE to paint. Totally focused, totally into it. No inner critic on their shoulders. They just PAINT. And smile and laugh and sing and dance.

brownie

And what would a week be without chocolate?  This week’s yummiest bliss is the. most. DECADENT. brownie. EVER!!! It’s baked in the local co-op, in their own little bakery. And oh my, I cannot eat more than a smidgen at a time. It’s that rich. I had about a quarter of it over two days and gave the rest away to three other people. And it’s only maybe three inches square, total.

It’s. That. Rich. Which bears repeating…so I did.

Those are all good things. Happy feeling making things. But the thing that came beyond all that, beyond even puppy breath and chocolate, the thing that sent the Bliss-O-Meter over the top—

studio under construction

ahhh… the absolute KNOWING that this space, this studio-in-the-making, is the right place at the right time of my life.

I’d love to hear from you. What rocked your world this week? What made you smile? Share it in the comments section below. We all want to know.