I can't believe it's been a month since we got back from our Europe trip! After my family trip to Puglia, Joe and I spent a few days in Portugal. Neither of us had been before, and we loved it! We spent 48 hours in Porto, and a few days in Lisbon. We absolutely loved Porto; it deserves a proper recap!
Every year, I recap my year in a blog post here. It's one of my favorite ways to reflect on my life annually and acknowledge how fortunate I am to have so much fun, health, love, and happiness in my life. Especially as I've (sadly) been writing fewer and fewer actual blog posts in recent years, it's nice to really sit down and think for a bit and write out a proper recap of my year.
2024 was a great year; the crux definitely being moving in with Joe after 3 years of long distance, and moving out of my first apartment in NYC (which one was the bigger deal?! lol ;). I traveled a bit less than I did in 2023, but still had my fair share of trips with friends, fun in the city, and lots of lake weekends this summer which was SO fun! I also feel like 2024 was a great year of strength for me in a physical sense; I got back into running, and started going to Solidcore regularly. From a work perspective, I was challenged this year on three different client projects, which was an interesting and exciting shift from previous years at work where I was primarily on long-term projects. I work in consulting, so getting to experience a few different clients, challenges, and ways of working this year was a great learning experience and growth opportunity for me. I am so proud to share that I was promoted again at work and I am loving my job more than ever! I am incredibly grateful for my job and I continue to feel so lucky regarding my work situation.
With those major themes covered, let's dive into the highlights of my year!
Last weekend, Joe and I went on a little weekend getaway upstate to the Hudson Valley and Catskills in New York! This is something I'd wanted to do ever since moving to NYC; the fall foliage is unmatched, and the drive just two hours outside of the city is absolutely lovely. We got so lucky with perfect weather and two lovely days together!
Last weekend, Joe and I traveled to California for my friend Sammy's wedding! We spent the weekend in Newport Beach, and then headed up to LA for a few days -- we'd never been! We had such a great time the entire trip and I'm excited to share a proper recap here!
If you've followed for a while, I'm sure you know Sammy; we met back in 2014 at a "conference" in NYC that we used to go to with all of our other little blogger friends at the time... those were the days!!! It's so crazy to think that we've remained such good friends over the past 10 years. Despite having only spent time in person a handful of times, we've talked almost every day for years, so it was so special to be able to celebrate with Sammy and Shane!
Happy New Year! I wanted to do a proper recap of my 2023 - I do this post every single year and love the tradition. This past year was really one of my best yet... if not the best year of my life so far, and I want to recap it properly!
After traveling a lot already this year, I realized I couldn't really join in on the entire Spain trip with my mom and brother; they started in Madrid and went to Barcelona and Grenada before Joe and I arrived. We tagged along just for the second half and it worked out so well! We stayed in Malaga, but we took little day trips to Marbella, Peurto Banus, and Mijas.
I am so excited to share a full Nantucket recap with all of you! I know this is long overdue, but who's really surprised? I truly had the time of my life on this girls' trip last month. Let's just jump in!
Myself, two of my best friends from home (Coco and Elizabeth), and six of my NYC friends all ventured to Nantucket for a long weekend and couldn't have possibly had more fun! The nine of us were all first-timers to the island and I, for one, was not disappointed. After many visits to Martha's Vineyard and years of reading Elin Hilderbrand's books, I felt like I knew what to expect and was still so wonderstruck. It may just be my favorite place I've ever been!
Happy Friday! It's been so long since I've done This Week's Top 10 but there are so many things I've been loving lately that I have to bring it back.
1. I've recently finished Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, and Happy Place. I liked both a lot, but both were pretty sad! Up next, I'm starting The Soulmate Equation from Grace Atwood's 15 Favorite Romance Books list! I've already read most of them and loved them, so I feel like I'd love the rest of the reads on the list as well.
2. I bought this NUXE Moisturizer in Italy when I was running low, and I've already gone through the entire tube - I love it! It's about half the price in Europe, so if you're not heading there this summer, you could skip it (although it does smell great!). I also recently tried a few samples of the Laneige Water Sleeping Mask and loved that as well - great gel consistency, perfect for summer. I'm planning to purchase it this weekend at Sephora when I'm in Dallas and inevitably in need of a moisturizer restock. Would highly recommend either of these if you're looking for a new moisturizer!
3. Speaking of skincare and beauty, Merit recently sent over their concealer and bronzer stick for me to try! I've been a longtime fan of their Brow Pomade, and I really, really love these two products now as well. The concealer is kind of a foundation/concealer in one so it's all I really need personally for a base, and then I love how the bronzer just melts into my skin. I went with the shade "ochre" in "the minimalist" (product name for the concealer) and "clay" in the bronze balm.
I just got back from the best girls' weekend in Nantucket, but first, I need to finish recapping Italy! I can't believe it's taken me over a month to get this post up, but I really don't want to forget to document the second half of my trip to Italy with my boyfriend, Joe, at the end of May. If you've missed the initial recaps, check out the Rome Recap, Cinque Terre Part 1, and Cinque Terre Part 2 blog posts!
I am definitely drawing out this Italy trip but I know if I don't recap the whole thing on here I'll regret it! So, I am back today with Part 2 of our time in Cinque Terre. Hopefully, after this, I can fit our Florence recap into just one more post!
Hiii! I'm excited today to share the first recap post from my trip to Italy last week with my boyfriend, Joe. We planned this trip in December, so it's hard to believe it's already come and gone after months of anticipation. However, we had an absolutely amazing time, and I'm so grateful we could go, enjoy fabulous weather (it'd been raining for weeks all over Italy before we arrived), and spend 10 days together since we're usually long-distance. So let's get into it!
For the sake of readability, I'm including many of the photos at the bottom of the post! Note to self: redesign this website, LOL.
Back again with another Paris post, this time sharing the details about everything I wore on my trip last weekend!
It may come as a shock (to literally no one) that I was a bit last minute pulling together my outfits. I purchased a couple of things for the trip, but for the most part, I just kind of winged it! I usually find outfit planning to be so stressful, but when I think of Parisian style, it's so simple and effortless, and I really tried to channel that energy. I think it worked out well- I was pretty happy with what I came up with!
Let's recap the outfits:
Welcome to the official Paris recap! If you're curious about where we stayed, and general Q&A regarding the current scene in Paris, highlights of the trip, and more, check out yesterday's post here!
If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know I never skimp on the details, so sit back and relax because this is a long one! At the bottom of the post is a map with all of the places we went!
Be sure to come back on Monday for everything I wore in Paris!
The first two times I visited Paris were actually within a few months of each other, in 2015. I studied French all throughout middle and high school, as well as half of college, and always planned to study abroad in Paris, but unfortunately, after transferring colleges, it was off the table. Additionally, my last trip to Paris was canceled due to Covid, so just a long way of saying I really was excited to get back!
Because it had been about eight years since my last trip, I didn't really remember much of the city. I was so shocked this time around to realize how big Paris is. It felt like every day we explored new neighborhoods and all of them just felt huge! I mean, New York feels so small once you live here, so it makes sense that anywhere with a little breathing room feels giant. But four days ended up being a great amount of time, and I'm just so grateful for the time we got to be there.
Let's get into the Q&A!
Two years ago yesterday, my brother drove me from Wisconsin to NYC in a U-Haul, and two years ago today we rolled up to my sight-unseen, crazy covid deal, 400 square foot one-bedroom apartment in SoHo (with a dishwasher!). The past two years have been some of the happiest years of my life so far. I feel like myself more than ever, and I really, really like my life.
