June has been a super busy month so far and we’re not even halfway through yet! When I was pulling together my Lauren Lately post, I realized that I had quite a bit I could discuss on the vacation/trip front. I went to NYC for a BEA-related event but didn’t actually go to BEA or Bookcon, so that necessitated a post. I also went to the Bay Area for Cristina’s wedding the following weekend and turned that into a long weekend trip with some friends. We split our time between the Livermore area and downtown San Francisco. BEA Party When I was invited to the Big Honcho party during BEA weekend, I knew I had to make it happen this year. I was invited last year when living in Maine but obviously that wasn’t feasible at the time (at least compared to when I live in Connecticut!). I went down to the bottom of the state Friday afternoon and took the Stamford train into the city before the party. I met with Natasha (my friend you’ll see in the SF recap below) for dinner before heading to Madalyn’s hotel. I got to meet her friends Chelsea and Alexa before heading into the party. IT WAS SO GREAT TO MEET MADALYN IRL because she has been one of my favorite people in the community since she joined Novel Ink. Long overdue meeting, folks. We also caught up with various other bloggers and booktubers, including Kristin, Alexa, and Rachel. It was great […]

I circled back through my Lauren Lately posts to round up some of my favorite new products, purchases, etc. from 2018. As you’ll see, it’s mostly makeup and healthy/beauty related because that’s where most of my money goes. Sorry, not sorry. [Links will be mostly to where I bought the item, or on Amazon if it makes more sense.] Skincare / Body / Hair Body Anti-Chafe Balm | This was great when I went to NYC for a weekend and walked everywhere! I’m not a city gal and don’t often walk around, but when I visit cities in the summer? This will be my go-to from now on. I love wearing shorts or breezy dresses to keep cool during those months, but walking 20,000+ steps around a city requires some kind of anti-chafing system. This worked well and I didn’t even notice it was there! Keep it in your purse if you have to reapply. Thayer’s Witch Hazel | This stuff just feels so nice on my skin. I learned that witch hazel makes a good toner and this is the one I use during the daytime. It’s light and doesn’t feel like anything, but refreshes my skin. I don’t massage it in with a cotton pad – I just kind of let it absorb and apply the COSRX liquid (below) right after. Revlon One-Step Hair Dryer and Volumizer | I know I just talked about these in my last Lauren Lately but they’re both already favorite purchases this year. I love being […]

I love September and beyond. Sure, summer is great, but I prefer not to sweat all of my makeup off immediately. My birthday, anniversary, and the start of football season in September bring me a hell of a lot of joy. I make big autumn plans and bucket lists every year, which usually involve many decorations, pumpkin picking, and other falltime activities around New England. I thought I’d follow up with you and share some of my decorations this year, as well as other autumn highlights and adventures! I also decided to work on the TBB Asks survey this month because it’s fall-themed (it’s supposed to be from the beginning of the month but oh well). I like all the fall colors, but I often dress in maroon/burgundy shades and lately some mustard! Apple cider should always be cold. LOVE it, especially when it comes fresh from a local orchard. Nope, I’m not a caramel kind of gal. I don’t like it when it’s all sticky (like on a caramel apple or in a candy bar), but I don’t mind something with caramel flavoring (like coffee). Hmm this should be tougher because I love all things pumpkin, but apple cider donuts are my freakin FAVORITE THING. They are so sugary and delicious. Our farmers market usually has a truck with fresh ones but they haven’t been around lately as much 🙁 I love long cardigans because I will mostly wear them with comfy leggings and a basic shirt underneath. In […]

As you may know from a couple of other posts, the fates were on my side when the football schedule was determined back in April. I knew my team (obviously the Panthers – if you don’t know that by now, what have you been doing on this blog for the past 4 years?!) would be playing my mom’s team (Cowboys) at some point this season. When the schedule was released, we learned our teams would be playing each other in the SEASON OPENER, ON MY BIRTHDAY, IN THE PANTHERS HOME STADIUM. Talk about the best effing birthday I could imagine. We immediately hopped on getting tickets (me, my mom, my stepdad, and Chris), and the rest is history. We headed there on Saturday the 8th and returned home Monday the 10th for a quick weekend trip to one of my favorite places, to do one of my favorite things, with some of my favorite people, on the best day of the year. Saturday September 8th We technically started our trip on Friday night, when we stayed overnight in Rhode Island to fly out of TF Green in the morning… very early morning. We headed to the airport, got some Dunkin, and boarded our 6:15 AM flight. We were nervous we’d be hanging around the city for hours without a hotel room but we got lucky – they had one available for us to check into at 9 AM! We freshened up and set out to explore a bit. We went […]

I love when Grace does these posts so I decided to participate! I thought it was appropriate to post today since I am currently in the Hamptons for my friend’s bachelorette party. More on that later, I assume! 1. Will you go on a summer vacation this year? Let’s see, I’m currently in the Hamptons for my friend’s bachelorette weekend, so that counts. Chris and I don’t actually have summer vacation plans as of right now? We may try to sneak in a long weekend somewhere in August. Our next trip is currently planned for my birthday in early September. We’re going to the Panthers’ home opener in Charlotte with my parents, since they’re playing my mom’s team! 2. Do nothing but relax or pack it all in vacation? Chris and I tend to get antsy if we don’t plan a few things, but there’s definitely a balance. We usually travel places to see specific sights or do certain activities. When we went to California, we were busy nonstop, and it would have been nice to have an extra day or free afternoon at some point. I like to relax for part of the day and do something that takes up 50-75% of the rest of the day. 3. What month do you like to vacation? We actually don’t do a lot of summer vacations, honestly. A lot of our trips are long weekends. In the winter, we hit ski mountains. In the fall and spring, we go somewhere a little warmer […]

Oh man, I can’t believe my vacation in California has already come and gone! I remember booking the plane tickets in April and thinking it was never going to be here. This is especially the case because our return home marks the final week in Maine. (Yes, the timing was screwy, but hey – I didn’t tell my friend when to get married!) As you can tell, the primary goal of the trip was to see one of my best friends from high school get married to her college sweetheart. I also took this opportunity to schedule some face time (and finally meet!!) with two of my favorite blogging friends – Cristina (and her fiancee) and Morgan (and her husband). It was a funnnnn-filled five days, so I’m here to recap! Wednesday – Travel I have to say, I’m very impressed with how well I planned my days for this trip. I knew that I didn’t want to get up super early for flights or anything, so our first flight was scheduled to leave Portland at 1 PM EST. We would be arriving in Santa Ana around 6 PM PST. (Going back in time is the BEST!) Our layover was in Chicago, which meant I was planning on some major popcorn eating. We had a very easy travel day; everything went unbelievably smoothly and we didn’t have to rush OR wait forever during the layover. Once we arrived in Santa Ana, we took a Lyft to our hotel in Long […]