The Sunday Edit – Volume 29

In The Sunday Edit, we talk about two things: 1) Struggles – real moments that happened from my week that were not so great and 2) Shines – awesome things that happened along with what products have been making my life easier, what new Gem finds I’ve come across, and the best sales going on right now!

**This post may contain affiliate links (which means I make a small commission when you shop from them) and gifted items because we all have to pay our bills, and I’d rather keep creating awesome content for you than get a real job. All opinions are my own.**

New Posts on The Gem:

• The Sunday Edit – Volume 28
• Gal Meets Glam Dresses on Sale

Life Update & Thoughts:

Ohhhh Gems!

This week has been a WHIRLWIND. As you know, moving is the big “next step” in my life that I’m currently working on and that starts with figuring out exactly where I want to live!

The plan was to explore areas in Virginia and North Carolina the third week of June and then my family was going to all go on vacation to Charleston in July. Over the July trip, I was going to spend time exploring areas in South Carolina and Georgia. Well, on Tuesday, outside circumstances left my mom with no choice but to cancel the July trip. So, I spent most of last week figuring out how to fit 4 states into one trip in JUNE – like the week after next which is so so soon (hence why I have been totally MIA).

Because I’m prone to making the most out of everything I do, I thought this would be the perfect time to search for unique hotels, charming inns, quaint towns, one-of-a-kind boutiques, small businesses, and friendly fitness studios to feature on The Gem to make your travels easier. I have been spending SO much time researching and as overwhelmed as I am, I am wildly excited for the spots I’m visiting and the partnerships that are falling in to place! Last week, I mentioned I had zero things planned for the trip and, looking back, I supposed it was a blessing that I didn’t have anything figured out yet because if I had had more solid plans in place, it would have made things much much harder to rework.

Needless to say, I am STRESSED. Life has a way of doing that, doesn’t it? Taking the things you’re most looking forward to and slapping a super stressful spin on them, you know what I mean?

I see what you’re trying to do, life. You won’t win. You can throw any challenge you want my way but you won’t be able to take my excitement about moving or all of the exploring that’s about to happen this month. I’m extra excited because my sister and 2-month old niece are coming with me. I’m really looking forward to making memories with them that we’ll remember forever!

I may be stressed. I may not have washed my hair for 4 days. I may be very behind on laundry. And I might be running off of 4 hours of sleep and lots of coffee (ilysm Dunkin Donuts). But I am going to be excited. I am going to look forward to this. I am going to let it fill me up with joy because I’M TRAVELING (which has always been one of my major life goals) and I’M MOVING!

Shines:

• I have been booking lots and lots of photography sessions! I already have a few on my calendar for July and that makes me so very happy.
• I went to see Aladdin on Friday and Gems, it’s SO good. I had some mixed feelings about the Genie’s songs, but that was the only thing I walked away feeling iffy about. The songs that Mena Massoud sang as Aladdin though were perfect! His voice and tone absolutely worked for copying the originals! It is 100% worth going to see and it’s the best live action version of a Disney classic out of all of them they have made so far! I especially appreciated the costumes and the enhancements they made to Jasmine’s character to present her as an inspiring, resilient woman.
• I finally got around to editing more of the newborn photos I took of my sweet niece. She’s the cutest. I got lots of baby snuggles in yesterday and loved every minute of it.

Struggles:

• I need to take a moment to reflect on the July vacation being canceled. I had such tricky emotions over it this week because one hand, the vacation wasn’t canceled for an emergency, it was actually canceled for something really wonderful. My littlest sister made the cut to be in her high school band! So proud of her! She now has mandatory practice the week we were going away and with my mom’s work schedule, there weren’t any other weeks that would work to go. It put such a big damper on my timeline and plan to figure out moving though. Like to the point where I was in tears at TGI Friday’s when my mom and my other sister were out to lunch on Wednesday. I felt so terrible for being so stressed and distraught about something that was a really great thing for my littlest sister (good thing she wasn’t at lunch!). I also gave my mom more brevity and attitude than she deserved in our texts after she told me we weren’t going (sorry mom!). I wasn’t mad at her or my sister, I was just mad at the situation and the impact it has had on my plans. Sometimes my anxiety gives me permission to go with the flow, but more often than not, it turns my world upside down when my plans fall apart (loose alternations to the plan are fine, I can roll with those, but huge changes to the plan are hard for me).

Currently Loving: