I’M BACK! I had zero intentions of taking two whole weeks off from blogging, but given that the past two weeks felt like my first vacation in a while carved out solely to rest and be with family, it made sense. I am terrible at relaxing but can excitedly say that I actually did just that while taking some time away from my computer. I used to find it odd that bloggers (especially those that do it full time) wouldn’t post for a couple of weeks around the holidays since most blogging platforms allow you to schedule posts ahead of time. Well, some R&R showed me exactly why. Even if I had had time to pre-schedule posts before clocking out from my regular job before vacation, I would have been tempted to check in on the post, etc. Instead, I forgot to even let you know that I had decided to take a break and would be back in the new year, oops.
A little time off has me so excited to work on new posts for y’all this year, but we’ve got some catching up to do over the time I was away and a Step Into My Week(s) post is in order. Before I fully delve into that, you’ll notice that most of my typical end of the year posts will be going live this week and next since I did take some time off. Hope you don’t mind! Also, since this covers more time, I’ve opted not to go into quite as much detail of my day-to-day since I now can’t even remember what all I did each day.
I got to Fairhope on the Wednesday the week before Christmas since I had been assigned a photo shoot in town on Thursday. This made my break longer than I had expected, which was nice! I spent all day Thursday at the photoshoot, which is a Christmas home tour for 2020, and went to a coffee shop to work remotely on Friday. I still did work some other times throughout the break, but for the most part, I kept my work laptop closed. After I had finished up on Friday, I met Nell for sushi at one of our favorite restaurants, Master Joe’s, before walking around downtown and doing some Christmas shopping.
On Saturday, my brother and sister-in-law flew in from D.C. along with their dog, so my dad and I went to pick them up from the airport while my mom grocery shopped and prepared for us to go out of town for Christmas. I don’t really remember what all we did on Saturday and Sunday, but Sunday night Gil, Shannon, and I went to watch Elf at a local brewery and then made our way to the Christmas bar in Fairhope; which was so much fun! On Monday, we loaded up the cars with our stuff, the dogs, presents, and more to head to my grandparent’s house in Monroeville. It was fun to be all together, and we didn’t skimp on our Christmas tradition of fireworks, which will never fully make sense to me but is fun nonetheless.
Christmas morning, we woke up, made coffee, and opened our presents together in my grandparent’s living room. I forced the dogs to wear red bows (which they hated), but you’ve got to admit they looked pretty cute. After a big brunch and presents exchanged with more family, we headed back to Fairhope since my parents had to work the next day. I think I rode the Peloton that afternoon (I only missed a day or two while I was home which has me thinking I may like my mom’s Christmas present even more than she does), we ate dinner, and then I forced our family to watch Elf since we had left before the end of the movie at the brewery.
The 26th was my 25th birthday, and I began the day with a Peloton workout before showering and getting ready to meet some of my friends for lunch at Master Joe’s. My friends (both in Fairhope and far away) know how much I hate my birthday and were so sweet to make such a point of having me feel celebrated. Gil, Shannon, and I got coffee at my favorite coffee shop, and later in the afternoon I joined my friends Macy, Bowen, and Turner (they are sisters) for a bike ride to Tea Time at the Grand Hotel and we ended up staying to get a drink with their parents before biking back to their house. I went out to dinner with my family that night before coming home for cake and presents. That night before I went to bed, my mom asked me if I had a good birthday, and I could confidently say it was one of my favorites yet since it was laid back but fun and spent with so many people I love!
The next few days are a bit of a blur, although I got a new phone on the 27th and went back over to Macy, Bowen, and Turner’s one night for a bike ride to Tea Time, a drink, and a game night. Gil and Shannon flew to California, I Pelotoned more, my parents and I watched more of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and my dad made never failed to deliver my mom and me a White Russian while watching the show! On the 30th I packed up, said bye to my parents, and made my way to our beach house about 40 minutes away to wait for my friends to arrive to stay there before a friend’s New Year’s Eve wedding.
They got in town on Monday night and were so sweet to throw me a surprise belated birthday party complete with an Olexa’s cake, yum. We played What Do You Meme that night before having the laziest morning to round our 2019. I’m pretty sure I stayed in my pajamas until 12:30 as we watched The Hunger Games that morning, walked on the beach, and sat on the porch. Eventually, we went to get lunch before coming back to shower and begin getting ready for the black-tie wedding that night. The ceremony started at 6:30 with a reception to follow at the Pensacola Country Club. We had a blast, and it was a lot of fun not to have to come up with a plan for New Year’s Eve, given that the reception ended around 12:30. We headed back to the beach house, and the next morning cleaned up and drove back to Birmingham.
I worked on Thursday and had a shoot on Friday, so it was nice to ease back into the working world. Friday night, I went out to dinner with Macy, and then she came over and watched a movie with Rebecca and me. I had a very slow Saturday morning and spent most of it reading and drinking coffee by the Christmas tree. I went ahead and did my grocery shopping for the week and did some cooking before going on a walk and to Saw’s that night. Rebecca and I went to a friend’s house for a gathering for a little while and eventually came back and went to sleep.
Sunday morning, I woke up and put a meal in the crockpot and did some laundry before going to church. I met a friend for lunch afterward and then came home to film a video (which will be posted this week) and change into workout clothes before heading to Starbucks in an attempt to get some blogging end of the year tasks accomplished. Afterward, I went for a walk and talked on the phone to my parents before finishing cooking for the week, putting fresh sheets on my bed, and eating dinner. I had every intention of putting away all of our Christmas decorations and did everything but the tree, which is a top priority for the coming week.
I hope that y’all had a wonderful holiday season spent with family and friends and are as excited for the New Year as I am. I’m happy to be back on the blog posting again and can’t thank you enough for sticking around!
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