In July our office officially went to a hybrid model and I started to go into the office two days a week. It has been wonderful to feel like I have a schedule again. The routine of leaving my apartment and commuting to work has been so needed and while this month I am working more from home with traveling and isolating before traveling I started to document some of my work looks again. As a reminder, I work in a tech marketing firm that has a very casual atmosphere. 

I will go ahead and say these tanks from Old Navy are my current favorites. I own about 7 right now in various patterns and solid colors and they are my go-to outfit. I am in a much larger body than I was pre-pandemic and I am working through loving my body well, eating intuitively, getting back to moving my body daily, and dressing my current body well since it I deserve to look and feel great in clothes.

What has been your favorite clothing purchase recently? 

I can't quite wrap my head around the fact that it has been 20 years since 9/11. 

I can still vividly remember walking up the street coming home from school and our neighbor greeting us to grab her kids and telling us to get inside. We turned on the TV just in time to watch the second tower fall. I was living in Germany at the time. My father was stationed in Germany for three years and we attended school on base. With the attack, our base shut down. I did not go to school for two days but sat home watching the television (we only had 7 American channels) afraid of what could happen to my Dad. My Dad had been in the Pentagon that same month. He was spared when so many lives were lost. 

I am thinking and praying for all of those that lost someone during 9/11 and the 20 years of conflict in the Middle East that occurred after. I continue to pray for all of our service members who tirelessly sacrifice for our safety as well as first responders who saw lifelong effects from their service on 9/11. I pray for those who lost parents, children, friends, and family in the towers as well as on flight 93 and at the Pentagon that day.

I hope you can take a few minutes today to reflect on the tragedy of 9/11.

Waking up to a cool fall morning of 59 is making me excited for all the Fall things. Now if only my allergies would get under control. I'm sipping on some hot tea with honey this morning since my local Starbucks was out of the Honey Citrus Mint Tea and I was going to treat myself to one. Oh well. I have a pretty laid-back weekend planned with lots of reading and watching TV as I am starting to cut out social plans in prep to see tiny people at the end of the month. Here are five things I am loving this (short work) week:

one. Puppy cuddles.

I am currently watching a friend's 1.5-year-old Corgi. E is very sweet but filled with energy especially after work so it has been hard finding a balance between relaxing after dinner and keeping her occupied. I'm very thankful for friends who trust me with their little ones since it means I get puppy cuddles. Don't worry, I have checked on my sweet cat, Max, every other day so he is doing well while I am away.

Also, last Friday afternoon, I got to stop at my co-worker's house to meet four puppies. Beci shows and breeds Cavalier King Charles Spaniels and her current litter is so sweet. They will be off to new homes by the end of the month.

two. Ted Lasso.

I finally started watching Ted Lasso thanks to signing up for Apple TV+ with Target Circle's 4 months free. I started watching the first season on Monday with my friends Traci and Jordan. I actually finished the first season on Thursday night. If you need a funny and heartwarming show (and you don't mind the language) I would highly recommend checking it out. 

three. Brunch.

I had not been out to brunch in what felt like years and I was so glad to catch up with my friend Ashley on Sunday at First Watch. We enjoyed lovely food - I got the traditional breakfast and Ashley went for the Fall special of Pumpkin pancakes - and caught up on life. Our next adventure will be Torcy's Tacos in October.

four. Owl Keds.

I love my Ked flats and wish Ked's would bring back this style. I tend to wear these a lot when I am teaching Pre-K at church. They are very comfortable, washable, and with the fun owl print, they can be a conversation started to welcome a cautious little one into class. I am currently looking at adding one of the Rifle Paper slip-on Keds to my Sunday morning rotation but if you want the owl flats, check out Poshmark (here's a pair for $20).

five. Heir of Fire.

Other favorites:

Olive & June's Fall Collection. I love Social Studies and Geometry. 

Bath & Body Work's Lakeside Morning Candle.

Fuji Apple & Cheddar Cheese for an afternoon snack.

College Football is back! GO HEELS!

Allergy medicine since my allergies have gone crazy the last few weeks.

Being brave and stepping outside my comfort zone. I applied for two things this week (fun not new job things) and it was a good reminder to just try/go for it.

As usual, I am linking up with Andrea of Momfessionals and Erika of A Little Bit of Everything today.

What are your plans for this weekend?

one. Walk at least 5,000 steps a day. 

I want to get back into a workout routine and being healthy but with mask mandates, I don't think I can make it through a whole 60 min dance cardio class at the Y masked up quite yet. I am terrible about getting up and moving when I work from home so this goal is to make sure I get outside and move my body especially as the weather cools down. I actually took the step count from my Apple watch and looked at the last three months' averages and they were all below 5,000 so that's where my goal began. This way my monthly average will be at least 5,000 steps if not more. So far I have only missed one day and that was by less than 70 steps so it's working.

two. budget/track all expenses with my new The Budget Mom workbooks. 

I ordered last year's Budget By Paycheck Boxed set (they are undated) on sale and dove in after watching lots of Miko's YouTube videos. Her new designs go on sale next week and she has a lot of free printables as well if you want to try out her Budget method.

three. enjoy my vacation. 

I am headed to the west coast at the end of the month to see my best friend's family (and meet her son born in August) as well as see most of my mom's side of the family. It will be good to see everyone and I can't wait for the memories (and meeting 5 little ones that have joined the family since I was last out there in October 2018 including my cousin's daughter born last week). 

four. use up items in my pantry.

I am terrible about going to the store and buying items when I know I have a lot of food in my pantry and freezer. I want to be a better steward of the items in my home so I am challenging myself to use up some items in my pantry every week. These items could be trail mix, popcorn, pasta, tomatoes, rice, etc. 

five. Breathe study.

Bonus goals:

What are some of your goals this month?

I think I am in disbelief that it is August and it's almost my favorite season, FALL! However, I am still holding on to reading all the light fluffy beach reads for this season especially with a beach day trip planned for this weekend.

I am very ahead on my Goodreads goal of 85 books this year and I attribute that to a winter of audiobooks when I had to be in the office working on a scanning project. However, I only actually read two books this past month. The rest were audiobooks since I took a trip to my parent's town and I had more driving around town visiting friends (before this variant picked up in NC). Here's what I read last month:

admiring.

anticipating.

This is the three of us when we hosted a spaced theme dinner in May once we were all fully vaccinated and didn't need to keep space between us! This fall will mark 13 years of friendship. 

enjoying.

sweet tea from Chick-Fil-A. Also, if you didn't know you can purchase a 5lb bag of CFA ice for under $2.

Olive and June polish. I am currently wearing Honest and True.

swimming in my parent's pool.

Sharon Says So podcast. I am very excited for this week's episode on why Texas cannot secede from the US.

All the sandwiches since turning on an oven isn't happening.

Fresh pens. I told you I love back to school season. I did grab some new flair pens for my Write the Word journals and some new inkjoy pens for my planner.

spending.

I spent a lot of time watching the Olympics the last two weeks. My bedtime needs to get under control after all the midnight nights watching late-night coverage.

saving.

What is your August looking like?

 Hey y'all,

I have drafted a ton of posts but actually publishing them has not happened since January so if you stuck around, thanks you. The last year was hard and for someone who loves to socialize and plan for the future, it was filled with lessons on God's provision and timing. I am glad I am healthy and can now see small groups of friends again. 

I am also trying to be gentle with myself as we slowly return to "normal" with gentle August goals. 

Movement.

I returned to the Barre3 Chapel Hill studio about a month and a half ago and I would like to keep up with at least one class a week. 

I also joined the YMCA since I have a few friends who are members so I have built-in gym buddies. I have gone a few times a week to just walk (since it is a million degrees right now) and started taking classes. My goal is to go to the Y at least 3 times a week. 

Budget.

No random spending. I am great about making a budget but following through is harder. Two of my best friends are getting weekly texts this month about if I did unnecessary spending. So far, on day three of the month I have only spent money on gas, groceries, bills, and my bestie's birthday gift (planned spend).

Sleep.

Get to bed by 11pm. I have been terrible about bedtime the last year especially with working from home. I am now in the office twice a week and would love to work out the other mornings. Also, the Olympics are killing any hope for me to go to bed at a reasonable time. So I am making an effort for lights out to be 11 pm.

Mental health.

I have gained weight over the last two years and for my mental health, I went through my closet and I am getting rid of everything that does not fit now. I am not holding onto the "one-day" things. I want my closet to be filled with things that fit and I feel good in. I do not want to continue to see items and think about what my body looked like in the past. 

I am slowly posting things on Poshmark with the goal for everything to be up by the end of the month. If things don't sell by the end of November the items will go on Facebook or ThredUp.

Books.

I felt like this week flew by but I think that was mainly because I went back to my office on Tuesday to work on a project digitizing files. Our company has not returned back so I have seen at most four people in a day but it has been nice to slowly ease myself back to an office routine. That has meant that I come home and have had to do all the chores and things I have squeezed into a break like a load of dishes or laundry but it has been nice to see my office. Here are a few things I have loved this week.

one. The inauguration. 

two. New Morning Mercies.

three. Peloton Wicked Week.

This week, Peloton is back to their broadway series with Wicked. Wicked is my all-time favorite musical so I am so excited to take the run, yoga, and strength classes. I took the 30 min cycling class last night with a friend. I did belt out the songs while riding so I got a bit breathless during the middle of class. You can try the Peloton app out for free for 2 months right now. I use the app and then have a Sunny bike for the cycling classes. I streamed class last night on my FireTv.

four. Aldi flowers. 

On Sunday after I got the all-clear that I just had a cold and not COVID I swung by Aldi for a few groceries and picked myself two of the $3.99 bouquets. I put them together in a mason jar and they have been a bright spot every morning while I packed my lunch. 

five. The That Sounds Fun Podcast with Annie F Downs and guest Kendra Adachi. 

I would say the last half is very powerful about bodies but it was a great podcast to remember what is important to you. If getting a homecooked dinner is important to you then you should work on becoming a genius at that but it does mean you should be lazy about something else, maybe you outsource the actual grocery shopping. 

on the blog this week.

My plans for the weekend.

As usual, I am linking up with Andrea of Momfessionals and Erika of A Little Bit of Everything today.

What are your plans for this weekend?

Breakfast options

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

We have made it through the first two weeks of 2021! I felt like 2020 was both the fastest and slowest year. I am really trying to focus on my habits this month and thinking through my routines. This could be my daily quiet time, my cleaning routine, as well as my health. 

This week has been interesting as I am fighting what appears to be a cold but I am waiting on my PCR test to confirm I am negative for COVID. Because of that, this week has been spent in my apartment as I don't even want to walk in my apartment complex and get too close to anyone. 

So while I have been drinking all the orange juice here are five things I have loved this week. 

one. puzzles.

two. routines.

three. Laura Cox Collection.

four. Matchless.

five. Castle.

I received seasons 4-8 of Castle on DVD for Christmas. I loved the show when it was on air but I don't remember finishing it. I started season one last week and I am almost done with season two. It has been a great show to watch in the evenings when doing the dishes or other house chores.

Plans this weekend.

Well, I am waiting back on a COVID test to see if I have just a mild cold. Before that, I had plans to meet a friend to watch Disney's On Pointe. It's a docuseries about the School of American Ballet in New York.

Since that is on hold, I will be finishing my book club book, watching church online, working out with Barre3 Chapel Hill via Zoom, painting my nails, attending our book club Zoom on Sunday, meal planning, and blogging.

On the blog this week

I did a re-introduction post as well as some of what I am currently reading, watching, and wondering.

As usual, I am linking up with Andrea of Momfessionals and Erika of A Little Bit of Everything today.