What a month it has been. Man, October seemed to just fly by! How can it be November? 2015 is going to be here before I know it. To me, October was filled with long hours of work, Pumpkin Spice Lattes and Pumpkin Chai teas from Starbucks, the first loss of the Notre Dame football season, Oprah’s Life You Want Tour and, overall, a great time. I know I have been MIA from the blogging world (and don’t get me wrong, I totally missed it), but I needed to take the energy from the blog and invest it in myself, my work and my relationships. I know that November and December are going to follow similar patterns to October, but I hope that once the ball has dropped in on the New Year, I will be able to devote more time to this special part of my life and to this wonderful community that it brings. Thank you to all of my followers for sticking with me through this crazy and amazing time in my life!!
OK, so now to the real point of this post – My October Favorites!!!
1. Reflecting on my Life
This blog post from The Every Girl really hit home. I can’t help but to go back to it and reflect on who my authentic self is.
Oprah’s The Life You Want Weekend was absolutely fantastic!! Not only did I get to see Oprah in person and hear all of her advice, but I got to hear from some her favorite experts, aka Trailblazers.I can not tell you how much I walked away with from this weekend. I left feeling energetic and excited about my future. To make the life you want, you may have to go through a few labor pains to birth it! Thank you Iyanla Vanzant! There are a few tour dates left – if you have the opportunity to go, I would highly recommend it!!!
As the weather is getting cooler, I love curling up in a cozy chair, with tea and Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. With the movie out this month, I wanted to read this suspense thriller prior to seeing the movie. Boy, was I not disappointed – I found this to be a page turner and could not put it down. (P.S. Thanks to Birchbox for providing the book via Birchbloggers. They featured all three of the Gillian Flynn novels for the October Book Club – what a great idea for the Halloween season)!
I have had a few breakouts recently and tea tree oil has always been my go-to for treating these breakouts. I also recently found out that you can use this oil can be used as an all-purpose cleaner, soothes skin irritations and the smell helps de-stuff my nose (I know, totally the right medical term). While scrolling through Amazon a few weeks ago, I came across the Apothecary Extracts 100% Pure Australian Tea Tree Oil (c/o). It was a great value and when I used it on my breakouts, they were gone by the next morning. I have also noticed that the congestion from my fall allergies was significantly improved when I had the oil on my face. The scent of this oil was milder than others I have used, but I appreciated that! Overall, this team tree oil was fantastic as an antiseptic and when I need another bottle of tea tree oil (which won’t be for awhile because of the size of this one), I will be sure to use the Apothecary Extracts one on Amazon (thanks for the free shipping)!!
4. Flywheel
Being able to experience the wonderful things different cities have to offer is one the greatest things about travelling for work. Besides trying restaurants, I enjoy testing out exciting workout classes! I have tried a few spinning classes before and have only stuck with them for one or two classes. Last night was my 5th class at Flywheel!! The instructors are super energetic and motivational, the playlists are fantastic and the process of it all is super easy. A few days before the class I want to take, I go on to the mobile app and reserve the bike I would like to ride. When I arrive a few minutes before class, I check in at the counter and get my spin shoes from the assigned cubbies. The staff has been super helpful in getting my bike adjusted to the right height to help me have the best ride I can.
On the left hand side of the bike, there is a technology panel which shows you your metrics throughout the class – torque (aka. resistance), RPM, power (the total amount of energy you are producing based on the torque and RPM) and your total power (the relative metric which provides the total power accrued throughout the class). During the class, the instructor provides “guidelines” on where your different metrics should be. I say guidelines because I really had and still have to listen to my body. During my first classes, I turned the torque down about one or two levels from the guideline to make sure that I could endure the entire class. As I have gotten stronger, I have been able to work up to the pace the instructor provides. Another thing I love about the class is the Torque Board – throughout the class, the instructor will display the ratings of the class on television monitors (you can totally opt out of the board – I did for my first few classes).
In addition to torching my legs throughout the 45 minute class, we also do a songs-worth of isometric arm exercises with light weights. Man, my arms are sore the next day! Overall, I really look forward to going to these classes and love the great workout they provide!! Flywheel has locations in over 10 states, so if you get the chance, I would highly recommend checking out a class!
5. Halloween
I had such a blast this year getting ready for Halloween! I really love getting dressed up and being able to do outrageous makeup and who doesn’t love all of the spooky decorations (and of course, the left over candy)!!
This year, I was Raggedy Ann. I found this costume online at the beginning of October and couldn’t resist. Unfortunately, I could not find a reasonably priced yarn wig, so I Googled/You Tubed how to make one and $10 later, I had this awesome wig!! (Check out this video here, for a great tutorial!!) I mentioned to one friend that I wish it was appropriate to wear everyday, because I totally would….. I hope you had a Spook-tacular Halloween! What did you dress up as?
Happy November!! I can’t believe the fall is almost coming to an end, but I’m looking forward to all of the turkey and cranberry dinners this month….Thanksgiving, Friendsgiving, Turkey at the A&M tailgate…. man, I just love November. Oh, I am so excited to have more Chestnut Praline Lattes from Starbucks. I had my first one this morning and I love it! It is has a lighter flavor than some of the other holiday drinks, but still enough sweetness to make it different from a regular cup of coffee.
P.S. Parts of this post were gifted to me in exchange for this post. Please know, I will always provide you with my honest opinion of these items and will never recommend a product that I did not 100% love.
I am linking up with Celebrate Southern and the Collective Hop.
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4 Comments
J Trogstad wrote:
I went to Oprah’s tour too and thought it was fantastic! I’m glad that you got to go and enjoy it as well! Wasn’t inspirational?!? Thanks for sharing this post with Celebrate Southern this week dear! xoxo
I can’t tell you how inspired I was walking out of that weekend. It was so great to see so many people wanted to push each other to be their absolute best. Similar to the blogging community, I found it to be extremely supportive and uplifting!!!
I love reading Bless Her Heart Y’all and wish you all of the success with the new link up!
Okay, so I am ordering that Tea Tree oil ASAP! I also went to Oprah’s Tour and it was so great! Thanks for the recap and I hope to read new posts soon from ya, but I get it…life comes first! Thanks for sharing this with Celebrate Southern this week! Happy Holidays dear! xoxo
I went to Oprah’s tour too and thought it was fantastic! I’m glad that you got to go and enjoy it as well! Wasn’t inspirational?!? Thanks for sharing this post with Celebrate Southern this week dear! xoxo
Hi J! Thanks for stopping by!
I can’t tell you how inspired I was walking out of that weekend. It was so great to see so many people wanted to push each other to be their absolute best. Similar to the blogging community, I found it to be extremely supportive and uplifting!!!
I love reading Bless Her Heart Y’all and wish you all of the success with the new link up!
Happy December,
Emily
Okay, so I am ordering that Tea Tree oil ASAP! I also went to Oprah’s Tour and it was so great! Thanks for the recap and I hope to read new posts soon from ya, but I get it…life comes first! Thanks for sharing this with Celebrate Southern this week! Happy Holidays dear! xoxo
love gone girl, have you seen the movie? i haven’t yet, but i’m hoping it lives up to the book. and cute halloween costume!
b