Happy Monday!

I feel like any Monday after a holiday weekend is such a drag! I wish I could go back to Sunday watching little kids during an Easter Egg hunt and drinking pink lemonade. But unfortunately, my alarm went off at 6:30am and I am back at work writing this post on my lunch break! I can’t remember the last time I had a day off during the weekend and it was so nice to be lazy on a Sunday night. I spent Sunday night in my summer pajamas and a cozy blanket catching up on tv.

This week just flew by…like I actually enjoyed every single moment of it. Yes, my life is still crazy chaotic, but for some reason I got excited when I woke up in the morning to start a new day. With both jobs I didn’t get a day off the last two weeks until yesterday and instead of complaining about it, I appreciated the challenge and got so much done this week.

What I’ve Been Up To

I’ve been a little MIA with the blog lately…I have dozens of posts waiting to go up, but never enough time to shoot photos while it is still light out! Hopefully with this warmer weather and the sun setting later at night I can get everything done!

I celebrated National Pet Day on Tuesday with Ed. I’m never home so on the rare minutes I am, he immediately runs to my side and curls up on my lap.

The weather this past week has been slowly getting warmer. During my breaks at work I like to walk around and get my steps in for the day. I found an amazing dress at Banana Republic that I am obsessed with. It was less than $25 and can be worn at work too which is an added bonus! Right now most stores are having major sales for the holiday and to make room for their summer rollout. More information about the current sales here.

You know how I love to talk about cleaning on the blog? Well on Thursday before work I woke up super early, got the oil changed in my car and dropped off a ton of bags of donations to Goodwill. I cannot tell you how amazing my home looks and feels since I have been doing weekly Goodwill dropoffs. Even my parents are noticing how much space we have in our home after getting rid of a lot of this stuff. In January we purged 80% of our basement and there is very little left in there. Now we keep a bag in each of our bedrooms and one on in each floor so we can easily collect items to bring. If we find a shirt doesn’t fit well anymore or if there is something that is collecting dust we just immediately throw it into the bag that is heading to Goodwill.

NETFLIX FAVORITES

I have been watching a lot of tv lately because I like to sit and do nothing before bed to unwind from the day. I finished 13 Reasons Why on Netflix and had a lot to say about it…more specifically 13 problems I had with it. You can read about it here. It was a post I was really afraid to share and took me a few days to write. I received a lot of positive feedback from it and it is one of the most popular posts on my blog to date.

I try not to talk about politics on my blog because I want this to be a space for fun and sunshine and rainbows. The last few weeks watching this current administration in the news, it has made me want to re-watch The West Wing on Netflix. If politics on TV is too depressing or if it confuses you, The West Wing is one of my favorite shows of all time and does an amazing job at explaining what goes on in the White House. I have been a dedicated viewer of Showtime’s Homeland since the show first premiered. This season they took the show in a new direction. If you want to learn more about terrorism in this country and globally, this is a show to watch. I actually cried multiple times during their most recent season. If you stopped watching after Brody, now is the time to pick up the show again.

The series finale of Girls was on Sunday. Earlier this week I decided to put off watching the finale and rewatch and catch up on previous seasons. GIRLS received a lot of mixed reviews when the show first premiered and people have strong opinions on the story lines on the show. For me, it was a show that described how millennials are living life perfectly. It is ugly, exhausting and embarrassing at times, but we still keep living and yes, we continue to think the world revolves around us at times.

LIFE

Guys…I did an adult thing this week and did my taxes by myself. I feel like out of all of the adult things I do right now like pay my own car insurance or car payment every month, buy my own groceries and understand there are no such thing as sleeping late. Doing my taxes is the most adult thing I have done to date. I used TurboTax and it only took an hour or so. This time last year I wrote a blog post on it that you can find here. In the last year I have had three jobs and made so much money that I don’t get any money back from the government. If only my savings account reflected that!

I was reading College Prepster today and stumbled across this article about side hustles that Carly talks about in a post. To summarize, it talks about how many millennials don’t work just one job and usually have a side job on top of their full time job. I know a dozen millennials that have their 40 hour a week full time job and usually work another job or hobby on the side. At work there is a girl I work with who joked that she works another part time job because the money she makes at her full time job doesn’t give her the life she wants. My mom has always said that if I want something, I will find a way to get it. If I realllyy want some silly thing from Target, I will budget my money so I can get it. If I want new shoes, I find a way to buy them. I think that goes for a lot of us Millennials. We get told that we are the generation that got awards for just participating as a negative, but in my experience, if we want something, we will find a way to get it. My mom lived in tiny apartments and didn’t care about where the furniture came from after graduation. However, now I find that my friends who live in apartments or are looking for them, are very picky about the kitchen cabinets and the counters. We know what we want and we will get it. Even if that means we have to get a job on the side to afford it.

But working a side hustle, or another part time job on top of your current full time job isn’t just because you want extra money to eat out with or to shop with. Yes, working multiple jobs definitely helps me pay my AmEx bill every month, but I chose to work multiple jobs because I was bored sitting at a desk all day. Having a side hustle allows us to enjoy our hobby, be social with other people while at the same time being paid for it. I am in the process of looking at full time jobs with no desire to quit J. Crew. I may cut back my hours a bit, but I actually enjoy working retail. I don’t function well when I am bored, so having a side hustle is what allows me to be social and it is something to look forward to.

SHOPPING

Speaking of side hustles, I did some spending this week…

These shorts are on major clearance right now with an additional 50% off and you can find them here. I was able to get them for $10 in store!

Do I need new jeans? No. But they are on major sale right now! I loved how different they are compared to my other denim. You can find them here.

THINGS I LOVED THIS WEEK

Easter was the first sign of spring for me. It was 87 degrees outside, the grass was green and there were pretty flowers everywhere. My dads friend told me to wear my bunny suit…so I did! You can get the outfit details HERE.

I picked up these tulips up from Costco for our Easter table and I think I may turn this into a weekly thing!

We went to our friends house for Easter and of course you have to bring desert! My mom and I made Joanna Gaines’ Lemon Pie and it was super easy to make!  It was a big hit at the Easter party and very Instagram worthy! You can find the recipe here.

Have a wonderful week everyone!