Can someone explain to me how it is already the end of October? This month flew by, and I know the rest of the year likely will as well. I knew going into October that it would be a hectic one, but I don’t think I realized just how hectic it would get. I don’t think I really let my feelings of this month’s craziness hit me until last Monday when I started to feel overwhelmed. Fortunately, yesterday ended my knowingly super busy period, and I’m hoping that November will calm down a bit and I’ll be able to focus on blogging (and finally catching up on emails, sorry if you’ve been waiting!) a little bit more than I did this previous month.
I was in a bit of a funk on Monday, and the rain definitely didn’t help. My to-do list filled every single line of my planner, and I still felt like there was more to do. I was able to narrow down some options for the thing that was really stressing me out as well as respond to emails, complete an expense report, send invoices, resend complimentary copies, and order in products for upcoming shoots. All in all, it was a very productive day, but I was ready for the workday to end. After work, I went to a class at True40 before heading home to shower, eat dinner, and attempt to get more work done. I can proudly report that I at least got in bed at a normal hour, which made Tuesday go more smoothly.
I was in a better mood on Tuesday and was able to square away a few things that were stressing me out, which was nice. I spent most of the day finalizing details for an upcoming shoot and then writing social captions and scheduling them out. Tuesdays tend to be my most meeting-heavy days, but for whatever reason this week, I only had one. I worked outside for a little while in the afternoon since the weather was especially nice and headed back to my house after work. My friend Macy came over around 6:00, and we went for a walk and to dinner at Saw’s together after not seeing each other for a few weeks. We got back to my house after 8:00, and she left, and I continued to do a few tasks before getting in bed to read.
I spent most of Wednesday thinking it should be Thursday, but in all honesty, it was good that it wasn’t since I still had lots to do before the week ended. I scheduled out all the social posts I had written the day before and spent my lunch break darting around to look at a couple of locations to potentially use for upcoming shoots. My afternoon was spent continuing to get through some things at the office since we were gearing up to review our binder for our January/February issue. After work, I got stuck in standstill traffic and ended up having to cancel my true40 class for the night since I wouldn’t have made it in time. I decided to take advantage of the weather and go for a run through Crestline, which ended up being a lot better than I thought despite how quickly it got dark (don’t worry, mom and dad, I was on the sidewalk). I got home and showered before making myself dinner and trying to be productive before bed.
Thursday was overall a good and productive day, which made me feel better about getting ready to leave town over the weekend. I finished our resources for an issue, packed my car with some props needed for Monday, made returns for a stylist, and finished up two pieces of copy for The Cottage Journal’s Winter issue. I skipped working out and instead came home to do laundry so that I could pack and finished attempting to get ahead on my to-do list for the shoot planned for Monday. Nell dropped by that evening and caught up as I got stuff done, and eventually, I showered, ate dinner, and packed before going to sleep.
I woke up at my normal time on Friday morning so I could shower and pack before heading to work. It was really rainy, so I didn’t even stop at Starbucks knowing that the later part of my day was when I would need to be more caffeinated. I got through what I needed to do at work and loaded my car with lots of props for a shoot on Monday before heading to pick up a few last things before leaving town for the weekend. My friends and I went to Baton Rouge to stay at our friend’s house for the LSU-Auburn game. I had never been to Baton Rouge and was excited to see what it was all about. Nell and our friend Mary rode with me, so I picked them up around 1:40 on Friday, and we began the drive. The weather was awful, and I was thrilled once we finally made it to Baton Rouge around 8:20. Our friend’s family set up a huge spread of gumbo, jambalaya, other soups, and desserts for us to enjoy once we arrived but even better than that was when all of their dogs came barreling inside in LSU jerseys. We stayed up for a bit talking (what you’d expect with nine girls staying together) before heading to bed.
Saturday morning, Katie woke us up to Calling Baton Rouge and the smell of a homemade breakfast. We all ate and had coffee before getting ready to head out to tailgate. We made mimosas before heading out to her family’s tailgate. It was pretty overcast all day, which made it really comfortable to be outside all day. At the tailgate, there was tons of food, and we got to meet a lot of Katie’s college friends. Katie’s sister is a Golden Girl (LSU’s dance team), so we went with her parents to watch their pre-game show before eventually heading into Death Valley. Our group was split up between seating sections, and my ticket ended up being near the band and student section behind the endzone. It ended up being a really good game and was a fun one to watch, given that I wasn’t necessarily rooting for either team. The game ended around 7:00, and we walked to get pizza afterward. Some of our group decided to go out, and the rest of us went home to hang out and talk with our feet in the hot tub before eventually going to sleep.
We got up around 7:00 on Sunday morning so that we could head back to Birmingham and have time to do things after a six-hour drive. We ended up getting back around 3:00, which was good since I still had a lot to do to prepare for the shoot the following day. After a quick errand, I finally finished and loaded everything into my car around 8:30. At that point, I showered, ate dinner, and did a few finishing touches before heading to bed a little later than usual!
I hope y’all had a good week and weekend, and I look forward to working on new posts for y’all after feeling like that had to take the back burner the past couple of weeks!