Fall is here and my closet is happy! Today I’m sharing an easy fall outfit that I wore recently to run errands. Not only is my cardigan very affordable, it looks very similar to the Madewell cardigan that was very popular last year but was a bit out of my budget. This cardigan is lightweight and very cozy making it perfect for early warm fall days into the chilly winter. My goal is to get dressed every day and this cardigan has been an easy way to make an effort and look put together without much effort. I love throwing on some jeans, a t shirt and this cardigan in the morning because it’s an easy and fun outfit! I’m sure I’ll be adding some more cardigans into my closet this fall because it’s the perfect cozy outfit for this fall!
It was a fun summer in North Carolina and now we are back to Philadelphia full time! The long vacation was nice but now it’s back to the routines at home. While I am unpacking and getting settled back into the house, I realized quickly that I need to do a reset. It’s been a long time since I have been home and want to get settled into the house and my routines. I have a post it in my planner that I move to the first of each month that is a list of things I need to do that month. It helps keep me on track and organized for the month to come.
What did I like and dislike about last month? Waking up early or hitting the snooze button too much, slacking on working out or kudos for daily walks. This helps me reflect and make the next month better.
What do I want to do this month? I have a ridiculously long to do list that I use every day that has a list of things I want to do and then I write a daily to do list of things that I can do that day. From home projects, errands to a book I want to read, I like creating plans that are feasible and then picking from a list everyday.
Finance Check I’ve talked about this before on the blog and I do this every month. Know where your money goes!
Make plans with friends. Instead of making last minute plans, reach out to friends in the beginning of the month to make tentative plans.
Make note of upcoming birthdays and get cards ready. I used to be the worst but now I have a list of birthdays in my planner that I can quickly see who to get cards for.
Organize your digital photos. I save everything on Google Photos and then put those photos in albums on Google Photos and my photos app before I delete clutter on my camera photo roll.
Read your emails and then delete or file away. I try to keep up with my emails every day but I spend more time at the end of the month to clear my inbox as much as I can.
Make a note of work and home projects. I have a list of projects to do around the house and projects coming up for work. Change of decor, closet change and any big cleaning projects are written down in my planner.
Deep clean fridge and pantry. I clean my fridge whenever we do a grocery run but I take everything out to deep clean my fridge and pantry every month. I have a magnetic notebook on my fridge to keep track of what we need to get.
Schedule fun date night ideas. Instead of doing the same things or staying in because it’s too much energy to make plans, we are sitting down to schedule date night plans in advance. I’ve been making plans in my Google Calendar and inviting Jake so we both can make time for just us to spend intentional time together. We have a list of restaurants to try and things we can do together so we can pick an activity and a day we are free.
Start a new hobby. Being at home so much put me into a slump so now I want to work on a new hobby every month. I’m not sure what I’m going to do the next few months but I’ve committed to reading every day, crafting, gardening and weeding the backyard.
I am really looking forward to this weekend after a productive and busy week. We have plans to spend as much time outside and enjoy this nice fall weather we have been having lately. There is a fall harvest festival in the city and I think it’s the closest thing I’ll get to a pumpkin patch this year so we are going to take advantage of it. I’ve been going on a walk every day around the city to get my steps in and I keep going another block just to enjoy the sunshine! It’s been a great way to get some exercise in, I’ll put on a podcast and walk for an hour. It’s also been amazing for my mental health!
I’m one of those people who binge watched Emily in Paris on Netflix in 24 hours. Sure it wasn’t completely accurate but I loved that it was a fun show to watch full of beautiful scenes of Paris and the outfits left me inspired and were so fun! We are in a Pandemic right now and I prefer fantasy over reality any day.
I’ve been sticking to my routines and doing my nighttime skincare routine every night as soon as I get out of the shower. To make my life easy, I put all of my skincare products into this makeup bag so everything is in one place; serums, creams and face mask ready to go. I’ve been loving this serum at night before bed. The next morning I wake up to soft glowing skin in the morning.
For my daily walk, I like to treat myself and put on some makeup and do my hair. I’m having fun with the new makeup I got in the mail last week and even though I may not see anyone all day it’s still nice to get ready for myself. It takes a few minutes to make an effort and improves my mood for the day.
This week we did a Trader Joe’s run and got some of the fall items that we love and a few new ones to try. Wish we had a car because I would have stocked up on pumpkins and mums for the house but that will probably happen later this week. One thing I love to buy there are the fall flowers that I can dry and dried wheat that can be used throughout the year in vases around the house.
I am loving my daily walks and exploring the city on foot.
Moved some furniture around the house and loving this new setup.
Moving into my first apartment was fun because I had an entire apartment to myself to decorate any way I wanted. When it came to deciding where things went, I was able to have everything fit perfectly and easily to get to. Now fast forward to moving in with my boyfriend and we have a house with two apartments worth of stuff so it’s been a bit of a challenge to unpack and both find room for the stuff we need.
One thing I needed to find space for in the bedroom was my jewelry and makeup. We have a good size bedroom but we still had to get creative to arrange the furniture in the best place so we had room for our stuff. Once the dressers and bed were delivered, we sighed in relief because there was still a good amount of floor space and room for my vanity and our end tables. I thought it would be helpful to do a full post on how I store my most used items without taking over the entire bedroom. Thank goodness Jake doesn’t mind the color pink and most of the furniture besides his dresser is from my original bedroom.
Jewelry
I have a jewelry wall organizer that holds all of my necklaces perfectly so I just needed to find the perfect spot for it. Luckily, there is some wall space behind the bedroom door so i can be easy to get to it but doesn’t become an eye sore. While moving, I found another jewelry organizer in a storage bin that fits perfectly above it to hold my earrings and bracelets. I found that if I don’t see what I have, I forget all about it so I like having everything in one place so I can quickly look and grab something on my way out the door, literally!
I thought about investing in a big jewelry box or some piece of furniture, but we just don’t have the room for something like that. Now after a few months of having everything in one corner, it becomes so easy to see what I have since it’s all on display.
Makeup
I have so much makeup but I don’t like seeing it on display so I keep everything in my vanity. The items I use the most are on top of my vanity in a cute storage container and everything else is in my vanity drawers. I’m constantly surprised by how much this vanity can hold and it’s been a great investment piece!
I hope you found this post helpful and helps inspire you while finding storage solutions in your home!
Happy Fall Y’all! I honestly laughed when I got back to Philly after spending a few months in North Carolina because it was COLD here! After a summer in the South, I got used to 100 degree weather and most days it’s 60 degrees here in Philly. The change in weather is getting me excited for the change in seasons. Fall is going to look different for all of us. Right now, Jake and I are debating whether we will even go to a farm to do the usual pumpkin picking this year so I wanted to make a list of fun things to do this fall so we can celebrate in our own way where we feel safe. A lot of us were not expecting this pandemic to last long so I want to avoid getting into a slump and enjoy fall in a different way this year.
Get your planner out and make some plans now to make this fall special in its own way.
Buy Real and Fake Pumpkins
I hope to make my way to Trader Joe’s soon and get some real pumpkins soon! For now I am so happy I have accumulated some faux pumpkins so I can easily decorate without having to buy pumpkins every year. I found some amazing ones and put them in a blog post here.
Get Mums at Hardware Store
In the past I would buy mums at Home Depot or Lowes and this year I want to shop small. Shopping for fall mums and flowers is a great and easy way to support local businesses right now. We got flowers and soil at Rittenhouse Hardware in the spring and they had a great selection right down the street from us. Even though we don’t leave the house often, I want our front door to look welcoming for me because it’s such a fall tradition. It’s also going to encourage me to go outside and sweep our sidewalk to keep it clean which is a big task in a city!
Try New Coffee Shops
I want to make it a weekly treat to take a long walk and try new coffee shops around Philly. There are so many cute coffee shops in walking distance so I have a list of places to try in a note in my phone to try. It’s also an excuse to put on real pants and get a long walk in so it’s a win-win! I never imagined I would go this long without buying coffee and it’s nice to save money, but I miss sipping a hot coffee while I walk around the city admiring the sights.
Decorating My Home
I love decorating my home in the fall with cozy blankets and candles. With just a few small changes in my house, it gets me excited for the changing season. I like to get items that I can use year after year so I got some great faux flowers to use around the house. Target and Walmart have some great affordable options! And most importantly, you can’t forget about the fall hand towels! Our guest bath is super cute in the fall with some fall decor and fall themed hand towels…. for the guests we won’t have. Oh well!
Closet Swap for Fall
This year I am swapping out my summer clothes to my fall clothes differently. Usually my closet holds all of my work clothes and I rarely see my cozy fall clothes because they are jammed in a drawer. This year, I brought out all of my favorite fall clothes and put work clothes that are not being worn right now into storage. Clothes that I know I will not wear anytime soon are in labeled boxes in our basement so I can easily get to them if needed. My current wardrobe is t shirts and comfy clothes so I want those to be easily accessible so my office clothes are going to storage! It has definitely helped me really think about how much I have and how much goes unworn because there is no room for it.
VOTE!
Make a plan, register to vote and volunteer in any way that you can! You can go to VoteSaveAmerica.com to learn how to vote and how to get involved in your state.
Halloween Movies
Freeform has their Halloween movie lineup posted for October and I am so excited to light a fall candle, get cozy under a blanket and watch one at night! Jake and I are being more intentional with our time together so even though we are both home all the time, we are making plans to do things together. On Fridays, we have been ordering in and watching a movie together and now we can plan on watching Halloween movies together to get into the holiday spirit.
Long Walks
My goal is to go on a walk everyday to get some steps in, more specifically 10,000 steps. It’s a great excuse to also get some fresh air after being home all day. I got spoiled being in the South because I spent most of my day outside so I want to keep doing that. Jake and I plan on walking around the city or taking advantage of the hiking trails nearby on the weekends. I am so excited to enjoy this fall weather! For a while I dreaded going on errands because it’s a long walk to everything but I want to look at it as an excuse to get some air on a long walk.
Try New Recipes
Jake and I have been spending a lot of time in the kitchen making dinner together and we want to keep trying new recipes this fall. On our long walks we can go to Trader Joe’s and our grocery store to stock up on ingredients to make sure we have a stocked kitchen. We are still having our produce delivered through Giordano’s so we eat really healthy and have shifted to more clean eating instead of eating processed food. I’ve been spending a lot of time on Pinterest saving recipes and bought some new cookbooks to try new things. Bring out the crock pot because it’s chili season!
Get Dressed
And finally, as a promise to myself I want to get dressed everyday. It’s something I started to do this summer and not only did it help improve my mood and give me energy, but I was happy to wear my clothes. My closet has amazing clothes and a great fall wardrobe that should be worn, right? Get dressed everyday for yourself, I promise you won’t regret it!
Sitting on the couch right now watching Get Organized with The Home Edit on Netflix. I’ve been a big fan of Clean and Joanna for a few years now and the show is the right combination of motivation to get organizing and humor. This was our last week of staying quarantined so I’m excited to start going on daily walks and running errands again. Happy October! Feels like fall is here and September feels like it flew by taking away those last few warm days. Another month is passing and we are still living in a pandemic. I have always loved the traditions of fall but this year it’s going to be a little different… I’m waking up early and getting dressed every day to keep up my spirits. Our home is decorated for fall and we have plans to get some pumpkins and mums. Will you be decorating for fall or getting pumpkins this year?
Schitt’s Creek – finally making time to watch this show and I regret I didn’t watch it sooner!
Hart of Dixie – Jake and I like a good show to watch together so I rewatched while Jake saw it for the first time. It’s so good no matter how many times I watch!
The Spanish Princess – It’s part of a series on Starz about King Henry VIII that is educational and entertaining.
Veronica Mars – I spent last night crying a bit after binge watching the show because I wanted more episodes!
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I’ve been using my Mrs. Meyer’s cleaning sprays to clean up the house every day and I love how they smell!
When we were at Costco I picked up Dawn Powerwash because I wanted to see how well it worked for cleaning. After cooking dinner one night I had to clean the stovetop and using the Dawn Powerwash is a game changer! On Tuesdays I like to tidy up so I sprayed some on the windowsills to clean up the dirt that accumulates and it was a game changer!
Ordered these shoes in brown because I love the ones I have in black from last year.
After missing the chance to get the striped Madewell cardigan that everyone had last year, I acted fast and got a great cardigan that looks just like it for a very affordable price!
I’ve been really into baking recently so I made chocolate chip muffin mix into a loaf so we could have an easy breakfast or treat at night. It’s delicious and so easy to make! A few days later we had some bananas going bad so Jake made banana bread with M&M’s and walnuts.
Fridays are our date night so we recently watched a movie and ordered M2O burger. Now that our two week quarantine is over, we went out to do a small grocery run on Thursday night and it was so nice to get a walk in.
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