Life Lately – February 2019

Last year, I started a series called “Wednesday What’s” and quickly burnt myself out trying to keep up. Basically, it was a collection of things I was loving, listening to, etc. If you’re all that intrigued (I don’t expect you to be), you can find the old posts in my personal blogs here. What ended up working a lot better was keeping track in a note on my phone of milestones, events, trips, and more from the year. I summarized those in my 2018 best of blog, but missed being able to look back on certain seasons of my blog and reflect on more specifically what was happening in life. One of the hardest parts of what I do is writing and blogging – I am not a natural or talented writer and find that I have a hard time saying something of value, giving encouragement, or creating content when I am not feeling inspired, which (surprise!) is most of the time. So instead of being super specific and keeping things personal 1x a week every week, I’m just going to commit to blogging something 1x a week (Tuesdays) on my lunch break. We’ll see what happens. (I will also mention that not every week will be a life lately. Some weeks it might be my recent work, some might be educational, etc. The “Life Lately” posts will almost guarantee iPhone images!)

So – life lately. Pretty normal, to be honest. My closest friends know that I am not particularly social, so it would be no surprise to them that I was in bed by 8:30PM all three nights this past weekend. I am a certifiable grandma and value my sleep a lot more than being out and about with a big group of people doing something that requires a lot of effort. Maybe that comes from working 2 jobs? Running my business and holding a full-time gig – both of which I love dearly and want to bring my A-game for? I don’t know, but I try to not think about it too hard or else it’s overwhelming hah.

Since August, I switched over to OrangeTheory from Crossfit (which I was a committed member to for 5 years and owe a lot to when it comes to my own personal body image and view of health. It changed my life.) I am now at OTF 5-6 days a week in order to make the absolute most of my unlimited membership. The more I’m there, the cheaper it is per class! It’s also one of my 2019 goals to run 1 mile under 8:00. Just one, hahaha. As an ex-gymnast, running doesn’t keep me entertained. I ran a 5K last November (about all I can take after my half marathon in 2013) and decided I’ll run one a year for funsies.

My friends Emily & Tanner got married on New Year Eve, and their wedding photos arrived this past week. Carsyn Abrams knocked it out of the park & I hope it’s okay that I’m sharing a few of my personal favorites from the night. I’ve never had more fun at a wedding than I did at this one and she captured so many incredible moments from the day!

If you follow me on Instagram, you have heard me talk on my stories about Rent The Runway, which is also quite literally changing my life. Basically, I get to rent 4 designer items at any time (clothes, handbags, and accessories), keep them as long as I want, or return them whenever I want, and request a new piece after. I’m a BIG TIME shopper (hello, Anthropologie addiction), and this has kept me from purchasing a single item of clothing for almost an entire month. It’s a miracle. It will also be particularly helpful this year with all of the wedding showers, rehearsal dinners, and weddings I’ll be attending! Here are a few pieces I’ve rented so far that I will continue to document without shame in mirror selfies!!! (L – dress, R – red cardigan sweater and Tory Burch bag) Please don’t laugh at me in HomeGoods hahahaha. The photo from the top of this post also includes a RTR coat that I think a lot of you saw and commented on as well…

That’s all for now!

Have a great week friends!

Melanie