Weekly Recap: Mogul's 5th Gotcha Day, Labor Day Weekend, and My First Starbucks PSL (Like Ever)!
Now that we’re well into September (how???), I have to say, HAPPY FALL YA’LL (I can see Alex now, reading this, rolling his eyes, and mumbling: “Fall doesn’t start until September 23 this year, it’s not fall!” — FALSE, fall is September and September is fall). The past couple weeks have been equal parts busy, overwhelming, tiring, and fun. I’m hoping for a better, calmer week, but let’s see how that goes (positive attitude Jen, positive attitude).
What I’ve been up to:
A couple weeks ago, we celebrated our dog Mogul’s 5th gotcha day, one of my favorite days of the year. It feels like just yesterday we brought our sweet pup home, so I’m not sure where five years disappeared off to. Since the very beginning, we’ve made a tradition of celebrating Mogul’s gotcha day with a picture. You can see this year’s picture on my Instagram. To further celebrate, we took Mogul for a car ride out to Lake Rim Park, which he very much enjoyed. So much love for our boy who brings a smile to our faces every single day.
Labor Day Weekend, on Saturday, we had a fun thrifted ghost painting party with a few friends (see the TikTok trend videos — some look really cool). I didn’t have the best painting to work with, but I’ve got my eyes peeled for something different so I can try again. Such a great spooky season activity if you’re looking for something artsy to do. Labor Day Sunday, we joined our friends for a boat day at Jordan Lake. We had a blast cruising the lake, drinking and laughing with friends. I recapped in more detail in last week’s blog post, check it out if you haven’t already.
Part of last week (Wednesday/Thursday), I was in Charlotte for work. After a tough Wednesday, I needed a coffee/pick-me-up Thursday morning on my way to the office, so I broke my 31 year streak to try a PSL from Starbucks for the first time ever. I love, love, love pumpkin, so I’d definitely have another one, though I prefer my local coffee shop’s version way more.
This past weekend, on Friday night, we met friends out for dinner at Pierro’s, then went across the street for night cap drinks on the patio at Gaston Brewing Company. Saturday, Alex and I had the stormy brunch of my dreams, less the fact we almost got struck by lightning. We listened to the rain and thunder and watched the lightning flashes while enjoying our food and drinks (which for me meant coffee and a Bloody Mary). Spontaneous brunch dates are the best dates.
Saturday evening, we had suite tickets to the Woodpeckers game, but unfortunately, due to weather, the game got postponed. But not after an obnoxious 2-hour rain delay. Though we didn’t get to watch any baseball, we still had fun drinking and socializing with friends and coworkers. During the game, our wedding photographer sent more sneak peaks from our wedding day and I posted a few of my favorites to Instagram. Pro-tip for your wedding: find a talented photographer you vibe with.
After a slow Sunday morning, Alex and I drove out to Spring Lake for pumpkin pie lattes from Morning Jump Coffee Company (my favorite local coffee shop). Post-coffee stop, we ran our grocery shopping errand, then settled in to watch opening weekend NFL Football. Glad the Pack is back and super happy that we’re 1-0 to start the season.
What I’ve been reading:
The Only One Left by Riley Sager — I finished this book right before the end of August and LOVED everything except the ending. A solid, four star read, for sure my favorite Riley Sager book so far (I haven’t read many but will work through his backlist soon). I’m just so perturbed by the ending — the final twists were a bit too much for me. Now to listen to @gracesreadingnook’s podcast episodes featuring The Only One Left (her July book club pick).
Can’t Look Away by Carola Lovering — Not the stalker thriller I was anticipating, but a fun listen on audio. I gave it three stars because it wasn’t exactly what I wanted it to be, but it was good!
The Connellys of County Down by Tracey Lange — I’m about 70 pages in, but I keep picking up other books over this one. Going to stick with it and try though! I liked her last book We Are the Brennans, but it was a slower read too.
The Stranger Upstairs by Lisa M. Matlin — Started over the weekend and it’s getting spooky. I’m hoping for a twisty thriller with a solid ending, fingers crossed it delivers.
The Five-Star Weekend by Elin Hilderbrand — I read the first 100 pages back in early July, then set it aside. Trying again via audio this time around.
What I’ve been listening to:
Olivia Rodrigo’s newest album GUTS — No sophomore slump for Olivia Rodrigo! I loved GUTS — such a good showing of artistic growth. It’s been on repeat for days.
I’ve been giggling with Giggly Squad again (finally!) — Last week I listened to the latest podcast episode and man, I forgot how much I loved the Giggly Squad podcast.
What I’ve been watching:
Shane Gillis: Beautiful Dogs comedy special on Netflix — Recommended by my sister — pretty funny!
Berk Kreischer: Razzle Dazzle comedy special on Netflix — Watched right after the Shane Gillis special. Also funny, though I need to watch the last 15 minutes because I fell asleep.
NFL Football — So glad it’s back. I love having football to watch Sundays, Mondays, AND Thursdays.
A few other (random) things:
We got our Eras Tour movie tickets and October 14th can’t come soon enough! I said to Alex, it’s either going to be super fun or obnoxious as hell, and I can’t tell which one it’s going to be lol!
I bought a Nespresso! Looking to swap out my expresso machine for something a little more low maintenance, hope it does the trick (still need to set it up).
Love the Mrs. Meyer’s Apple Cider scent cleaning products. They’re back in stock for the season, so you bet I placed an order.
The blog’s been super active post-wedding, so I’m going to insert a shameless plug to check out my latest posts:
Enjoy!
JBW