In This Post: Even though I wear cute outfits (sometimes) and take pretty pictures, my Sunday Edit posts are all about connecting with you on the real, not so Instagram worthy moments that happen each week. I also include a few of my favorite things!
**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 on The Gem:
- Fall Wardrobe Essentials for 2019 That Should Be in Your Closet
- How to Wear a Long Blazer for Fall
- The Fit and Flare Dress with Pockets I Can’t Stop Wearing
- My Outer Banks Itinerary for a 5 Day Trip
- The Sunday Edit – Volume 37
- The Best Travel Underwear for Women
- Most Read Post: 15 Little Things Every Person With Anxiety Needs
- Most Purchased Gem Find: BB Dakota Women’s Wade Drape Front Faux Suede Jacket
- Most Clicked Gem Find: CALPAK Kaya Faux Leather Laptop Backpack
This Week in Life:
Hi Gems,
Given the events of the past two weeks, I just don’t know whether to be really happy or super stressed out. Like, I’m so glad that there’s been some goodness in the midst of a whole lot of stress (mostly family related at the moment), but I always feel an internal tension when things are so good and so shitty all at the same time. It can be really hard to let in the goodness of the good things when the stress seems so loud, you know? Does that make sense to anyone else? I am working on that though – giving myself permission to experience joy even when stress is everywhere. I’ve learned there’s never going to be a “right” time to be happy and there’s no need to wait for it. I’m starting to see that happiness is more of moments to collect rather than a state to strive for. You can only be thrown so many continuous, unwarranted curveballs in a row before you start to ask, “Is life always going to be like this?”. Right now, that answer seems like it’s a, “yes” for me, which is causing me to reframe what “being happy” looks like because, dammit, I’m going to figure out how to not feel stressed out every moment of my life!
Keep scrolling for this week’s shines and struggles, what I’m loving, photos from this week, sales you don’t want to miss, and what I could use your help on!
Shines:
- I BOOKED A PLANE TICKET TO FRANCE. I’m heading there at the end of December and it’s just a dream come true. It’s been my top travel destination since I started getting serious about ballet back in the days when I was dancing all the time. It’s ironic since just recently I was telling someone how I was really bummed that I didn’t have any solidified trips on my calendar.
- AND, I BOUGHT A NEW CAMERA. This is the one I upgraded to from a Canon Rebel. I have been thinking about buying a new one for months and I cannot believe it’s now in my hands!
- I took my sister to pick flowers today at Simmons Farm. There’s not a lot of middle ground on activities we both enjoy doing, so I was surprised and delighted when she agreed to go!
- My mom watched my niece over the weekend and I drove to her house every day to soak up all the snuggles I could. She’s getting so big! She is just the happiest, most smiley baby ever (photos below!). Her face lights up when she sees me and it makes me feel so loved! It doesn’t matter what’s going on in my day, she instantly makes it better and after a few weeks of barely seeing her, this weekend was the best.
- I spent Friday night and Saturday morning/afternoon at my friend’s cabin at Seven Springs with a bunch of my fellow Yoga Innovations teachers. I don’t carve out much time for social activities (note – not a life strategy I recommend), so it was really nice to spend a night away and be around great company!
Struggles:
- Okay, so maybe buying a new camera and plane ticket to France weren’t the best purchases to make back to back, but I’m in a “go for it and figure it out later” mindset right now which never really happens. Neither were impulsive purchases. It took me 4 months, tons of overthinking, and adding and then removing the camera to my cart 18 times over the past few weeks to actually make the purchase. And my friend and I have been talking about the France trip for almost a year, so they were intentional, important purchases, okay? (… as I cry about the $4,500 I just added to my credit card balance)
- More family stuff that I can’t talk about but it has all been really hard and exhausting to process. This is the stuff that makes owning a business really hard because when life hits you, you still have to get up and get the stuff done.
- How is it practically October? TIME IS FLYING.
Currently Loving This Week:
- The Jessie Dress from Gal Meets Glam Collection (pictured below). I desperately wanted this dress last year but it just wasn’t in my budget at the time, so when I saw that it was brought back for this year’s September collection, I could not resist! It’s just a timeless, flattering style that I look forward to wearing fall after fall for years to come. I bought it in Sage Green, but it also comes in Coral Sangria.
- Clinique’s Take the Day Off Cleansing Balm [c/o]. OH. MY GOSH. I just tried this for the first time for a campaign I’m doing with them and IT IS PURE MAGIC. I have never used anything the removes makeup this efficiently before. It’s worth every single penny.
- My BB Dakota draped jacket. If you haven’t gotten it yet, I promise you need to. It’s buttery soft, layers over everything, and it’s under $100.
- Aldi has toffee almond cookies and THEY ARE AMAZING (don’t forget your reusable bags or your quarter like me every time I go there)
This Week in Photos:
First up are some of the first photos taken on my new camera as I was playing around with it! And some with my new lens on my old camera while I was waiting for the new battery to change. To me, these are an especially big deal because most of them were taken late in the evening and my old camera would have never, ever been able to take shots this clear in that kind of lighting! I would have never dreamed of taken an indoor photo without natural life with my Canon Rebel!
Asking for help on:
- I need tall boots and I can’t find any that fit! I have muscular calves that never fit into regular boots but they aren’t big enough for “wide calf” boots. Any recommendations?
- Please let me know if you ever see typos in my content! I’m a one-woman show and it’s always so helpful when people catch the mistakes a miss.