Itinerary Update {6}

Oh, hello! It's more than likely that you haven't noticed--except Hannah--that I've been pretty MIA in regards to the blog the last few months. I've loved doing special posts like Galentine's Day with Alexa, Hannah, and Rachel and UK Recs Fit for a Queen & UK Recap with Hannah, but I just haven't been motivated to write reviews or travel posts or lifestyle posts. I don't know guys, blogging has always been a passion project of mine; a place to call my own to express my thoughts on books, travel, and life so if I wasn't feeling inspired to blog or write...I wouldn't.

UK Recap Fit for a Queen // Back at Home • Mug Life 5

Mug Life is a periodic feature on the blog where I talk about what
I'm reading, wearing, drinking out of, and wanderlust dreaming about.

If you've been following on the blog or Instagram, you know that Hannah and I were traveling in the UK--but kind of don't bring it up or I'll cry all the tears of sadness that 1. I'm no longer with her 2. I'm not in the UK anymore and 3. I'm no longer with Hannah. I didn't think it was possible to love her more but it was! I am mourning the loss of this trip still today but I digress. While we were there, we did a UK Recs series for books, TV/Movies, and places we love; we thought we would do a parallel 3 day recap talking about books, what we did, and a back home mug life!

On Monday, we talked about the books we read while traveling; Wednesday was our trip recap, and today is our Mug Life featuring the book we read when we got home. The fates aligned and Hannah and I had a parallel with the first books we read after our trip together. She read something I rec'd to her and I read something she rec'd to me! We both fell in love with our respective books AND the London mugs we bought so, of course, a Mug Life was born!

UK Recap Fit For a Queen // Besties Abroad

If you've been following on the blog or Instagram, you know that Hannah and I were traveling in the UK--but kind of don't bring it up or I'll cry all the tears of sadness that 1. I'm no longer with her 2. I'm not in the UK anymore and 3. I'm no longer with Hannah. I didn't think it was possible to love her more but it was! I am mourning the loss of this trip still today but I digress. While we were there, we did a UK Recs series for books, TV/Movies, and places we love; we thought we would do a parallel 3 day recap talking about books, what we did, and a back home mug life!

Yesterday we talked about the books we read while traveling, today is our real recap of what we did and 3 Good Things about each day. Hannah and I both keep a 3 Good Things planner/journal so this was the perfect format for us to reflect back on what we did AND what our favorite parts of each day were.

Mug Life {4}

Back for another edition of Mug Life! I seriously love this feature so much, I can't wait to do a quick update on all the fun stuff!

Instalife {5}

Eep! It's been quite a long time since I did an Instalife, like since January and it's now July, so clearly it was about time. I love doing these because I seriously love Instagram, and taking photos in general, it is my favorite social media platform because it has very minimal bullshit. But I digress. Here's what I've been up to on Instagram, and of course I'd love if you followed along!

Row 1

#WanderlustWednesday in Bratislava, Slovakia. Loved their town center! // Getting that summer hair and letting it sit while reading Cocoa Beach // Mug Life with one of my favs mugs and the last of my Beatriz Binge reading!

Mug Life {3}

Back for another edition of Mug Life! I seriously love this feature so much, I can't wait to do a quick update on all the fun stuff!

Words Have the Power to Change Us // The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

If I haven't said it about a thousand time already on Instagram or Twitter or in my recent review, I'll say it again; I recently read The Alice Network by Kate Quinn and I LOVED it! I was so inspired and empowered and moved by it that I want to shout it from the rooftops! It was incredible! So it's no surprise I found a quote--there were several but I chose this one because it really struck me--that I wanted to represent on Words Have the Power to Change Us. There really were so many beautiful moments in that book that I could highlight or talk about but this one was the most powerful to me.

Why I Was Wrong About the Planner Life

Listen, I'm about to get real. I have always been intrigued by people's elaborate planners. I love the idea of them and being organized. But looking at what people did with them and the time they took to decorate and use stickers and washi tape overwhelmed me and, I won't lie, I secretly mocked them in my head. I could never see myself spending the time on them and I always thought it looked like people spent more time writing down their life than actually living it. I am here to say for about the fifth time in my life...I was wrong.

I was wrong. I was wrong about the planner life. I was wrong about the time it took to utilize it. I was wrong about how simple it could really be and I have to thank Hannah for that. While visiting her she educated me, lol, on how she uses hers and how simple it is to organize and use the planner and make it your own. I fell in love! I am now obsessed. And I love every second I get to use not only my planner, but my new traveler's journal as well! Let me break it down...

Adventures in the Great Wide Somewhere // Short Flights vs Long Flights

Last week when I was flying to Denver I read my book the whole time. Not something unusual. But for whatever reason it made me realize that I have different habits when I take a short flight vs when I'm on a longer flight. Of course, I took that thinking opportunity and turned it into a post because the more I think about it the more curious I am if other people are the same way.

That's My Bag, Baby {2}

Inspired by Hello, Chelly's What's in My Bag

It's been a while since I've done one of these and the last few weeks have definitely changed what I carry in my bag because, le sigh, I've succumbed to the traveler's notebook trend. After visiting Hannah and having her weave her Fae magic around me aka tell me how simple it is to use and how organized it makes her I was all about it. To be fair to Hannah, I was thinking of getting one for awhile but just couldn't find a cost-effective dupe but, again, she has magic she found one for me at JoAnn's! Woot woot! So here's what's in my bag as of late!

Mug Life {2}

Hello from the ATL! Last week when I was with Hannah, she had the best idea to do a dual Mug Life because 1. We were together and taking it for everything it was worth 2. We couldn't stop talking about ACOWAR because it was coming out in a few days, currently out now. So we give you the above picture and below MUG LIFE! Just a fun FYI, those mugs on top of the books represents the hero of the book the mug is sitting on top of. If you've read the series--WHY HAVEN'T YOU READ THE SERIES YET--we hope you have a nice chuckle over the mug representation. We sure did...

Adventures in the Great Wide Somewhere // BFF in the ATL

If you've seen my Instagram or Twitter, you'll know last week I had the most amazing time  visiting one of my very best friends, Hannah, in Atlanta! I was so excited to finally visit her and hang out and meet her new little man! I can honestly say this was one of the best weeks ever. Hannah and I had so much fun and I wish I could have just moved into her guest bedroom and stayed for a long time. Geography continues to be my best and worst enemy because leaving made me so sad but I'm legit already looking at cheap flights to get back. This was how Hannah and I spent our time in the ATL!

Adventures in the Great Wide Somewhere // Climbing Mt Kilimanjaro

If you've been following me on Instagram you'll have already seen some of my Mt Kilimanjaro photos and--spoiler alert--I made it to the top! It was without a doubt, the most incredible experience of my life. I have been thinking about climbing Kili for my 30th birthday for almost 5 years. Ever since reading Me Before You where the main character, Will, says that's what he did for his 30th birthday, I've been inspired to do something epic when I reached that milestone. When I first read it, I thought to myself, 'Yes, I'll do something really exciting but I could never do that.' And after thinking about it a few weeks, I couldn't get it out of my mind and my stubborn streak reared its ugly head and finally said, 'Why CAN'T you climb Mt Kilimanjaro? What's stopping you?'...and from there the dream was born.

Itinerary Update {5}

Hello, friends! It's been awhile! Hope you're all still here...was anybody there to begin with? Oh, well. Per usual, after a trip it takes me awhile to get back into a blogging routine, it's one of my many flaws. I just keep reading and writing reviews and just never schedule them. No idea why I do this when all the hard work is already done. Oy vay. 

What's new with me? I got back from my birthday trip a few weeks ago! It was so much fun! Rome was incredible and I found new restaurants and places I haven't been before. I also was able to see different parts of the Colosseum that were previously and currently off-limits unless you book a special tour. AND!!! I succeeded in climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and it was hands down the most amazing and incredible thing I have ever done in my life. It was 8--long--days and we summited on Day 7 and I actually reached the top! I say actually because nothing about that climb is a guarantee. Two people in my group of seven alone didn't make it to the top due to acute mountain sickness so shit is real up there to put it in perspective. I'll definitely be writing a post about it and including pictures--goal is to have it up next week Wednesday for Adventures in the Great Wide Somewhere--so hopefully y'all stay tuned for that! I don't really know what I want to write about it so if y'all have any suggestions of what you wanna hear I'll do whatever. Otherwise I'll just do a quick write-up of what it was like/how I felt going up. *shrugs*

30 Things I Learned By 30

As cliche as it is I couldn't resist reflecting on my life when I was approaching 30 and writing about all the things I've learned thus far. The big day was Tuesday and it was such a great day! Thank you all for the birthday wishes and tweets and messages, it means so much to me! When I was thinking of what I wanted to write it was almost impossible not to feel a little emo. I tried to include some funny ones as well but for the most part I felt really introspective and it felt very cathartic writing these and thinking on all the things I truly have learned over the past 30 years. So here it is, the good, the bad, and the foody, I mean, funny.  

1. Love yourself.
It took me almost 26 years to truly learn to love myself. We are all unique and beautiful and bring something special to the table. Know your worth.

2. Have no regrets.
This one is hard because there are so many places our path could have diverged but I also believe everything happens for a reason. Own your choices, even when you're wrong. Especially when you're wrong so you can learn and grow from your mistakes.

3. Quality not quantity.

With friends, purses, books, anything. I'm definitely a less is more kind of person and really love eliminating unnecessary extras in my life. Y'all know how I treat my TBR :)

4. Travel.

To the next town, next state, next country, next continent. See as much as you can, the world is full of beautiful places. One of my favorite quotes is from One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid and it says, "I had predicated my life on the idea that I wanted to see everywhere extraordinary, but I’d come to realize that extraordinary is everywhere." We all know I love to travel but I love the small moments in everyday life just as much.

5. Be open minded.
About other people, their lifestyles, their cultures, life's too short to be a bigoted asshole.

Kiss List {January 2017}

*Token sentence about how I can't believe the first month of 2017 is already gone* I personally feel like the month hasn't flown by! Probably because I started my new job and sitting in 8 hours of orientation for 7 days will make any month seem long. With that said, with the month feeling a bit longer it was PACKED with AMAZING books! Because of that, I'm going to be doing a special Kiss List post on Monday highlighting all the incredible reads of January. The purpose for Kiss List 2.0 came about because I wanted a post to gush about my favorite book of the month that really stood out to me but this month I honestly could not choose. Once you see my pics, you'll understand if you've read any of them. But that's Monday, TODAY is about all the rest...

Adventures in the Great Wide Somewhere // Why I Love Traveling {1}

This is a serial post I've been wanting to do for awhile. I love to talk about travel--obviously--and I'd love to be able to expand and talk a bit more in-depth of what it is about traveling that speaks to me on a deeper level. So I thought the perfect first topic would the reason I keep booking plane ticket after plane ticket. That reason? The feeling.

That's My Bag, Baby {1}

I'm always on the lookout for new ideas and fun posts for Fridays and after seeing Rachel's post 'What's in My Bag?', I knew I wanted to do something similar! She told me she's seen a lot of lifestyle bloggers do something like this and I am SO excited to add my bag into the ring. And if you were wondering why I titled this feature 'That's My Bag, Baby,' it's an homage to an Austin Powers quote and if you already got the reference, you are my people.

Itinerary Update {4}

We are almost done with first week of the New Year, where has the time gone?! Haha. I hope you all had a fun and happy holidays and New Years! I spent most of my time with family and it was wonderful. I am super close with my cousins and grandmother and aunt and uncle so it was a great Christmas Eve and Day. My favorite part was my cousin and I had each other's names for our Secret Santa. Over the summer I recommend he read the Throne of Glass series and he read the whole thing in a few months and loved it! So i was able to get him a signed copy of Throne of Glass...and unbeknownst to me he had my name and ordered me a travel mug with the Rattle the Stars quote on it! It was awesome! Such a thoughtful and beautiful moment on Christmas it made me all warm and fuzzy inside.

Adventures in the Great Wide Somewhere // Make Travel Dreams a Reality

With the New Year a few days behind us and 2017 a beautiful, blank sheet of paper in front of us, the optimistic resolutions people make sometimes seem overwhelming in the beginning. Especially if they've been longterm goals that have seemed unattainable in past years, it's hard to decide where to start. Travel more always seem to be on people's lists and Hannah gave me the great idea to make my first post of the new year about a few key tips in how to make travel a reality. I've come up with 3 simple things you can do today that can help you achieve your resolution and make your dreams of travel a reality.