Happy Thinking Out Loud Thursday! No attempts at witty lead-ins today, I’m just getting right down to the randomness…

1. I’m being crazy ambitious today and posting twice. Well, if you want to get technical, then this morning’s recipe post was actually posted last night and scheduled for today, but you know what I mean…

2. Speaking of yesterday’s post, I discovered something in the process: Baby M’s empty nursery is the perfect setting for evening food photography (when it’s sunny). You might argue with my use of the word perfect since my photography skills rival a 4-year-old’s, but if I had the time, knowledge, and props, I could make it work (for the next few months at least).

picture taken last week; the walls are now completed and painted!

3. I don’t know about you guys, but I can’t get enough fresh fruit lately! Because I’m such a morbid individual, I was thinking this morning—while munching on fresh strawberries and juicy red grapes—that I could die happy if I was on death row and my last meal was a simple large bowl of fresh fruit.

4. But moving onto happier thoughts—today was an absolutely gorgeous day. We actually came close to hitting a record low last night/this morning, so the air was wonderfully cool and crisp. Perfect for my daily walk!

5. Mark and I finally finished watching season 4 of The Walking Dead last night. OMG!!! I was sooo skeptical of people’s obsession with this show, but we’ve been binge-watching the last 4 seasons for the last month or so, and I completely understand. I won’t spoil anything for those who haven’t watched yet—but DANG.

6. I know pregnancy is not the time for me to be worrying about my body, but I’ve noticed something recently: armpit fat. Yeah, that’s gross, but I think mine has increased in the last few months (probably because “the girls” have, too), and it’s just awful. Even though I’ve always been thin and had fairly low body fat, I’ve had this problem. I’ve read you can’t really fix it by exercise, but can somebody humor me anyway and tell me some good arm workouts that just might help?

7. Why, oh why, do I keep letting pregnancy take over my conversations? I’m sorry to any readers who have no interest in children at the moment, but I find it amazing that it’s in pregnancy, and watching my expanding mid-section that I finally and truly love my body. Months of Bikram yoga and the positive affirmations I’d been giving myself have helped, but even though my tummy is no longer flat, my cellulite seems a bit more noticeable, and my armpit flab has increased, I feel really good about myself. That’s not to say I don’t still have moments of discouragement (or wishing for less pit fat) or doubt (I do—like when I changed shirts 4 times the other day!), but I’m just in a happy place.

8. Speaking of happy places: I’ve thoroughly been enjoying being in my kitchen reading this baby.

I received it in the mail last week, and I’ve already made the cookie dough bites (and nearly consumed them all). While I was blogging one night and barre-ing another, Mark put together the mushroom tart and oil-free falafel, both of which were spectacular. I love cookbooks in general—particularly those with numerous, colorful photos—but I’m not exaggerating when saying you need to buy this one. Seriously, go here—and do it. Vegan or not, everything I’ve made from her website or from this book has been extremely satisfying.

9. I’m so excited for the beach this weekend—I just hope traffic isn’t a nightmare due to Hangout Fest (we’ll actually be in FL instead of AL, so we we’ll bypass all the back roads, I think). I may be cursing the warm weather in the next few months when I’m the size of a whale and it’s boiling outside, but right now, I can’t imagine anything better!

10. That’s all I’ve got—I need to be productive now! Don’t forget to head over to Running with Spoons for more random thoughts.