As you can see it is now the afternoon on the east coast and I am just not around to getting this blog posted. I am on the struggle bus today hardcore. Let's see how this currently list is gonna work.

Currently:

We have made it to Friday and I couldn't be more thrilled! This is kind of a Friday five post to a point. I am going to tell you about 5 things I am excited about currently. Make sense?

1. I FINALLY broke down and ordered a camera tripod. I have had my DSLR since Christmas and haven't fully utilized it. I am hoping by having the tripod will motivate me to pick it up more often. I am all for taking photos with my smartphone but sometimes I need the fancy pants camera to get the perfect shot. I just ordered it yesterday so it make take a few weeks before I get to use and it showcase my work here.

2. I haven't had a chance to talk about my mini vacation! Me and R went away for the weekend and visited a town in Pennsylvania called Easton. Doesn't sound that exciting right? Wrong. We went with little expectation other than to relax and get away. (I had a free hotel room at an Easton hotel that I won last year somehow..) Anywho... We had a BLAST. They had so much going on down in the area, which is right outside of Allentown and Bethlehem. We visited 2 festivals. An Octoberfest sponsored by Yunegling Brewery (One of my fave beers!) on Saturday where it rained a lot but I got to meet up with an old coworker and eat steudel. Score!

On Sunday we headed to the Garlic Fest in center square Easton. It was AH-MAZ-ING! The weather cleared up and it was a beautiful fall day. Right off of the square is the Crayola Experience. We didn't go in but we had a blast photographing the outside! Giant crayons and markers everywhere! We also sampled a ton of great garlic dishes. We attended a dessert competition where everything had to incorporate garlic. We had cheesecake, rice crispy treats, ice cream, and brownies. The cheesecake was TO DIE FOR!

Such an amazing day! I would recommend Easton, PA for a quick getaway. So much to do. I hear there is a bacon fest in November...
3. We got the venue for the wedding booked this week. I had my first dress fitting, which was super exciting. Things are moving along nicely in that department. I feel like 2 large items have been checked off my list, which takes the stress down a few notches.

4. I am attending a Cider festival this weekend. Can't wait to see what that brings. I love the fall for this reason alone. So many great festivals! Lots of eating and drinking. What's not to love?

5. I am officially launching a new series next week! I talked about this months ago and it never got off the ground. The series is called "Short Stories" and it is all related to all us short girls out there. I am going to encourage you to send in stories of your own if you are 5'3 and under. I am so exited for this.

6. Last but not least.. my first ever giveaway on the blog ended yesterday. Thank you to everyone who entered and supported it. Look for the winner next week! Could it be you?

Have a great weekend folks!

Two months. It's been two months since R popped the question. Two months of being engaged. I have to admit. I have accomplished a lot more than I had anticipated. We officially booked our venue this week AND I bought my dress. That last detail there still doesn't seem real. I. Bought. My. Dress. I keep saying it but it's not sticking yet. 

Six days after getting engaged me and R attended a bridal expo. There were two bridal dress shops set up. One was David's Bridal and one was a local off the rack boutique called Dressellas. I scheduled a consultation with David's Bridal and chatted with the ladies at Dressellas. They both seemed like perfectly good places to start when it came to looking at dresses. A few weeks later I stopped in at Dressellas and also scheduled an appointment with them the same day as David's Bridal. I was pumped.


The date finally arrived and my parents came up for the day. We left my dad and R to their own devices and made the hour trip to David's Bridal. The appointment was at 1 so we decided to stop for lunch. The restaurant was literally right next door to David's Bridal, but the food never came and we had to take it to go. Not off to the best start.

We walked into David's Bridal and I was taken care of immediately. This was great however I was not feeling any of the dresses. Each dress felt like it was the same dress over and over again. I am really short so all the dresses were super long and there was nothing for me to stand on to see the full effect. After the third dress I pretty much lost interest in trying on anymore dresses. They must have put me in 10 dresses and I started feeling sad. None of these dresses were for me.

We came to the end of the dresses they had for me to try. Everyone looked pretty frustrated. Me, at all the dresses that didn't work out. Them, at all the time they just spend with me just for me to tell them I wasn't interested in any of them. I felt really awful when I left. None of the dresses felt special to me and the mood in the place had me wanting to run away and never look back. I am not sure exactly what the problem was, but I didn't feel like it was the place for me.

After all of the disappointment, we hid in my car and ate our lunch before proceeding the hour back home. We were now headed to Dressellas. We arrived about 10 minutes early and I was really considering cancelling. I was in no mood to try on any more dresses. We were greeted immediately and were told we could go and pick out any dresses I was interested in trying. This was shocking to me as I didn't get the option at David's Bridal.

I selected 5 dresses to start. The first 2 were not worthy of even leaving the dressing room but the third was getting me interested. I came out of the dressing room and was told I could go stand on the pedestal in front of the 3 way mirror. This was AWESOME. I was able to see the dress in its entirety. It flowed down to the floor and for the first time I was able to picture myself as a bride.

I put aside a dress and decided I should pick out something big and crazy as I said when picking through the racks. I emerged with a dress I would have NEVER thought would be something I'd like. I put the dress on, stepped on the pedestal and that was it. I had found "the one". It flowed down so beautifully and I felt comfortable and confident in it. This was the dress for me.

I had a wonderful experience. I was smiling. I felt beautiful. My mom shed some tears. The boutique was really the best option for me. I was not happy at David's Bridal. They didn't do anything wrong, but I just didn't feel connected at all. I can't even explain it. I tried to explain what I wanted but it didn't seem to work. I mean no disrespect to the chain, but it wasn't for me.

Where did you get your dress? What do you think? Chain or boutique?

And then it was October.. Also known as my favorite month of the year! There are many reasons why this is true, but mostly it's a time of transition. Metaphorically speaking of course. September was a time for me where I wanted to re-introduce creativity into my daily life. I have always enjoyed art and photography and creative writing to a point. I feel like as I've gotten older I have pushed those things out and replaced them with past times that weren't quite as important to me.

In September I decided to clean the slate and find my creative self. This is a lot harder than it sounds. Let's see how I did:

Start a Journal

I vowed to write in my journal every day in September. Well sadly I didn't write in my journal everyday, but I did write 20 of the 30 days, which is a pretty good if you ask me. On days I didn't write in the journal I was writing drafts for upcoming blog posts or assignments for my writing class. I still feel like I accomplished this goal for the month. I did more writing than I have in a long time. I am going to keep this goal open and see where it goes.

Collaborate

I had plans to collaborate with a few ideas for October but I didn't get them all established. I am however hosting my first giveaway on the blog! (You should enter! It's open until Thursday!). So I would say even though I didn't get all of my ideas out, I did accomplish one. I will keep this goal open for the rest of the year and see where I'm out in 2016.

Up My Stats

I was aiming to reach 10,000 views for the month and I sold myself short by taking a blogging break. I am do not regret taking the break but it did affect my stats. There is always next month right?

Blog Planning

I took a blogging break to help myself re-focus. I feel like this break helped me do better with planning out my posts. I have been able to find more time to set aside for blog related activities. I am spending more time on my writing. photographs, and interacting with the blogging community. I would say I did a great job on this and will continue to practice this into the future.

I feel like I accomplished a lot in September. There were definitely some set backs but I came out of everything with a better attitude and less stress. Now to move into October. I want to focus on confidence. That will be my Happy Project word. Now what I want to accomplish.

• Finish my writing class. Start researching more classes to better enhance my writing and business skills. This blog is my second job and it's about time I start treating it like it is. 

•  Send out 2 pitches to brands I am interesting in working with. I am ready to start monetizing my blog and this is something I need to do. I need to get over the nervous hump and just do it. The worst that can happen is the word no right?

• Post more photos of myself. I know this sounds vain but it is a confidence issue I have. This blog is about me and my life so it is about time I start showing you who I am. This is the goal I am most afraid of. Wish me luck.

 What are your plans and goals for October? Have any fun things planned? Keep up with me as I start showing you who I am and where I want to go with this. Happy Tuesday!

Fall is one of my favorite times of the year. I love everything about it! The colors, the scents, the food, the clothes. It all makes me so nostalgic and it keeps the world magical. I look forward to wearing boots, wearing scarves, lighting yummy candles and of course who can forget pumpkin EVERYTHING! I have compiled a few of my favorite fall things to get me into the full fall swing.

1. I am in the market for a new pair of cute boots an I am loving the zip on the side of these lovely ankle boots.

2. Leaves by Bath and Body Works is one of my all time favorite fall scents. I am in desperate need for a new one as I burned mine completely down last year.

3. The pumpkin dutch oven is the cutest thing I have ever seen! I need this in my kitchen stat!

4. Next up, DD Pumpkin everything. My FAVORITE! It's even more exciting because it is already back!

5. Next up is fall eye shadow palettes. I love the warm colors and this one is AMAZING. I need to buy it!

6. Scarves! I own so many scarves and I can't wait to bust them out. I have a soft spot for plaids..


What are you favorite fall items? Do you splurge this time of year? I know I do!