Happy Friday everyone! I just wanted to pop in to say hello and to assure everyone I was indeed alive. I finally decided to take a well needed break. September was super busy for me and I just needed a few weeks to be lazy on my couch. #sorrynotsorry.

So how are all of you? I hope well! I can't wait to catch up on all of your blogs. I miss reading. I will say it has been super nice to stay off my computer after work hours, but I do miss the blogging community when I'm taking a break.

I have so many drafts ready to go that I need to add finishing touches to, so hopefully I will get some done this weekend and get posting!

I celebrated my 1 year wedding anniversary on September 24th. I want to share on that. I also want to share on my trip way back on labor day weekend. That was an amazing trip and much needed. I also promised a stitch fix post on my 5 of 5 keeper.

It's all coming! I promise!

So tell me something good that happened to you this week?

Happy weekend!
Namaste

Tuesday sounds like a good time to talk about life updates right?

I had every intention of setting goals for September. I figured things would slow down as Summer was winding down. Man was I wrong.

Labor Day weekend turned into a very busy couple of days that wasn't planned for. I agreed last minute to house/dog sit.. so Friday and Saturday I made myself available for the dogs. We also had a birthday party on Saturday that we juggled in.

I had intended to relax those days as Sunday was my big drive down towards North Carolina for my girls vacation. I left my house at 730 am, picked up my friend at 930 am and we drove and drove. It was just after 8pm when we got to our hotel for the night. Long day.

We drove a few more hours Monday making a few stops along the way before arriving at our destination at 2pm.

We had a full day of relaxation on Tuesday but decided to start our drive home early. We drove 4 hours Tuesday night to get a head start.

Wednesday we drove the rest of the way home. I got home at about 8pm. Another long day.

I went back to work Thursday and Friday. Had to make another longer drive Saturday to attend a funeral. Again we left the house at 830 am and didn't get home until 1030pm.

I can't even remember what Sunday looked like at this point.

Another full week of work that seemed stressful and I didn't feel good. My body was tired and run down. Saturday was busy again. Teaching, apple picking, and celebrating a friends birthday. I was in bed by 1030pm exhausted.

So here we are at Tuesday, September 19th and I am kind of starting to slow down. Maybe just a bit. I don't see anything on my calendar for this weekend and I'm crossing my fingers that I didn't miss something.

Also, maybe I'll get a chance to write up a few posts that I have planned out. Trip details and my 5/5 Stitch Fix review.

How's your September going?

I have been seeing "first day of school" photos in my social media feeds for weeks, but today is the day when the kids go back to school in my city.

Last night I returned from a girls weekend in the mountains to an anxious almost 7th grader. He was packing his book bag, picking out his perfect "first day" outfit, and worrying all the same.

It took me back to my first days of school. I was a military kid so sometimes my first days were normal jitters and other times it was pure fear. I would sometimes start school with friends and sometimes I'd be the new student again.

I always loved the first day none the less. I'd get to wear my new "school" clothes and get to use my new supplies. I'm still a sucker for new office supplies.

It never failed the the first day of school would always feel just a little cooler outside. Almost like mother nature knew Fall was here and worked her magic to out a little chill in the air.

I'm sitting here typing this wrapped in a big wool knee length sweater feeling warm and nostalgic.

I'm wishing today was my first day back to school. Funny how that works when you're an adult. We miss the routine and innocence of being a child.

Instead I'm going to drink myself a cup of hot coffee, sit out on my deck, and count down the minutes until I have to go log into work.

Does the beginning of the new school year bring back memories for you?

Welp, it's happening guys. Summer will soon come to an end and Fall will be here. Not that Central NY got the memo. It's been pretty Fall-like here all week.

I was initially going to do a 6 month follow up for Stitch Fix to show you all of the items I've kept since starting with them back in February, but then had more fun turning all of the Spring/Summer items I got into Fall transition pieces.

I figured that would be a much better post. Don't you agree?  So here we go.. Fall transition style with all of my Stitch Fix keepers.

For those of you unfamiliar with Stitch Fix, it is a monthly clothing subscription where you get a personal stylist to send you 5 pieces according to your profile. You have the opportunity to write your stylist a note each month further customizing your fix. You pay a $20 styling fee each month to receive the fix, which is then deducted from the cost of anything you keep from your fix. If you keep all 5 items you also receive a 25% discount. Pretty great right? If you have interest in trying out the fix, I would appreciate it greatly if you used my affiliate link.

Fix 1: February 2017

My first fix was pretty great. I did not keep everything, but I did do a full review on my first fix. Make sure to check it out to see how I styled everything then in the winter verses my keeps for Fall transition.

I paired the Gilli Hilda printed aline skirt with my hubby's purple polo top and a pair of purple converse sneakers to bring together this back to school outfit.

Also from this fix I kept the 41Hawthorn Aiton grommet detail blouse. I paired it with a pair of bootcut jeans and boots. Perfect for those mild days that turn into chilly nights!

By midmorning on Saturday I had come to conclusion that I needed a vacation from my social media platforms. I was running late to my yoga class that I was teaching and the only option I had to get in touch with my students was via Facebook. I sent them each a message letting them know I was running behind and left it at that.

I arrived at my class exactly 30 minutes late to a room full of no one.

I quickly checked my phone and realized people had only just saw the message and probably came to the class thinking I just didn't show up. I felt crushed. I felt like an irresponsible person.

 I sat in silence for about 10 minutes when the thought came to me. I needed to get my priorities straight and a big part of that was disconnecting from social media and taking more to phone calls and face to face time with people.

I sent message off to my students asking for their phone numbers (the place I teach only asks for email on the registration sheet). In the future I would call everyone to let them know if there was a problem before they made the trip to the class.

Once I had the messages sent, I uninstalled Facebook from my phone. I had previously uninstalled Twitter as my phone was getting full and I don't use Twitter half as much as Facebook.

I made the decision that social media was too distracting and wasn't always reliable. From the moment I removed the app, I began to think about all of the other things I needed to achieve for the day. I did find myself  checking my phone for the first hour, but after that the habit seemed to pass.

I had a massage and then went a bought myself lunch. After buying lunch I went into a few stores. I bought myself a nice plush blanket for the fall and winter months and I headed home. I had the day to myself as R was out of town for the day.

I made myself a hot cup of coffee and downloaded a new book on my Kindle and cuddled up on the couch with my new blanket (yes it was chilly enough at one point to do this!). It was nice knowing I was controlling my own feelings of the world at that moment.

There was no social media to sway my thoughts. I didn't have to scroll across the latest Trump drama or see a friend ranting about something that was probably important for them at the time but would also probably realize later that it was silly to post.

My feelings and thoughts were in the then and now and the only one who could change them at that point was me.

I enjoyed the New York State Fair yesterday without distractions from my phone. I was with my friends and her kids and I had so much fun interacting with all of them then messing with my phone. My husband was impressed that I was able to control not being on my phone all day. I was proud too, but a part of me knew already that it wouldn't be hard.

I continued to live off the "social  media grid" through last night around 7pm. I did sign in to check my Yoga page messages to make sure I didn't have any issues I needed to respond to and I signed back out.

I think I am going to continue to keep myself off of social media, other than to do work stuff. I will post for my blog and keep up with my yoga page, but other than that I am going to focus on other things. I am going to get other things done first.

After 31 hours of being off the grid I realized, I didn't miss much. If someone needed to get in touch with me, they did. When I scrolled through my feed quickly I didn't see anything so important that I felt I missed something. It was pretty magical.

Now to continue this week as this coming weekend I am literally going off the grid to the mountains of North Carolina where they may or may not be any form of cell service.

Bring it on!

Namaste.