August 2020 Monthly Recap

Boy, August was a whirlwind of a month! SO much happened, and I managed to stay extremely busy with a visit from family, my job, and of course, the blog. I start the trek back to school this Friday, so this week is all about tying up loose ends and, more importantly, soaking up my last days at home with my family! I think it’s going to be extra hard going back to school this year after so much time spent at home. But nevertheless, I’m excited!

Fashion

There was no hesitation deciding on my favorite outfit from August—the fun palazzo pants from my July Monthly Round-Up post (see below) were hands-down the best. I have so many outfits planned with them… paired with a black tank, paired with a white tee, paired with the black version of that teal mock-neck top, the list goes on… I even plan on wearing them with a sweater or two once the temperatures drop.

Otherwise, I’ve spent the majority of the month wearing athletic clothes—going for walks in the mornings with my mom and then doing chores in the afternoon. I can’t wait to get back to school so that I can find a good place for my mirror, get dressed in a cute outfit everyday, and start filming my outfit-of-the-day videos on Instagram again!

An exciting thing that happened this month is that I won a leather jacket through an Instagram giveaway (!!!). Obviously it’s still too hot to wear it, but I’m really looking forward to featuring it in a blog post come fall. It’s retailed for more than $300! Seriously, it was such an exciting moment when I found out I won.

Favorite Purchase

I haven’t really bought anything all summer, but I finally decided to do a little shopping the last two days as a treat for working so much the past few months (I’m a research assistant for a project about criminal justice reform). You can scroll through a few of the items I purchased in the widget below, but none of them have come in the mail yet. As always, I got some great deals on everything because, naturally, I refuse to pay full price.

Hair and Beauty

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen that I gave my mom a crown braid the other day (see below). I’ve always wanted to try this type of braid, but I’d never be able to do it on myself. So I was excited that my mom wanted me to try it on her, instead! I think it turned out pretty great for a first try, if I do say so myself. And the hair rings (old from Icing) were a nice touch.

As far as beauty goes, I finally bought that Urban Decay eyeshadow primer that everyone raves about. I never wear eyeshadow because it always settles into my creases right away, but now I’m really excited to try it out again on top of this primer! I’ve heard so many great things about the product, so fingers crossed. I think my mom and I will be doing makeovers this week before I leave to test it out.

Books, Movies, and TV Shows

I’ve been the worst about reading this summer, but I’m pleased to say I actually watched a lot less TV this month! Here’s what I saw:

• “Veep” Season 7 on Amazon Prime: My mom and I finally watched the last season of VEEP, which if you haven’t heard of it, is a political comedy starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus. I think the show is super funny, but the last season wasn’t the best. Her character just becomes so… irredeemable! But it was good for a laugh nonetheless.
• “Perry Mason” on HBO: This show was SO GOOD. It’s a reboot of the original Perry Mason show from the 50s/60s, and if you love detective/mystery dramas, I highly recommend this. Warning though: It is pretty graphic and has some very unnecessary nudity. But it also has John Lithgow (the voice of Farquad from Shrek!) so you gotta love that.
• “Umbrella Academy” on Netflix: I watched both seasons of this with my parents. It’s not the best show ever, but I still enjoyed it and all its quirkiness. I absolutely LOVE Klaus’s character and think he’s both hilarious and cute. Also, the second season was better than the first, in my opinion!
• Doctor Sleep on HBO: This is the sequel to The Shining, and though I’ve never seen The Shining, I thought this movie was SO good! I would definitely recommend it, but I would suggest re-watching The Shining first, as it will make the movie easier to follow. I wouldn’t want to watch Doctor Sleep alone though because it is kind of creepy!

Quote of the Month

Last month I didn’t pick a quote. I had just received my new academic planner for the year, so I was kind of all over the place in terms of my usual journaling and planning. I’ll have to find a good one for September though! What are some of your favorite quotes?

Last Month’s Goals

My goals for August included hitting 1,000 followers on Instagram and 430 blog followers. I’m so excited to say that I finished the month with 1,037 on Instagram! I’ve been working towards 1k followers for SO long and it seemed like such a far-off dream two months ago, so I’m really over-the-moon that it’s now a reality. For blog followers, on the other hand… I only gained four in August! So obviously I wasn’t even close to meeting my goal, but it was still an important lesson for me: I really fell off the bandwagon for engagement on other blogs during August, so not meeting my blog goal was not surprising at all. Engagement really does make such a difference.

This Month’s Goals

I don’t know if this is possible… and I know it’s a super lofty goal… but I would love if I could hit 2,000 Instagram followers by the end of the year. In order for that to happen, I have to get to 1,250 this month! Like I said, probably not gonna happen, but I’m going to try anyway. Otherwise, I’d like to spend September fixing up some things on my site and making everything more professional. My post notification emails, for example, are completely screwed up. I’d love to start using MailChimp as my mail service instead, but that seems like a lot of work to set up—so we’ll see!

This Month in 2019: {Shopping} Apocalypse Now | Fashion in España | B2S Series: How to Make the Most of College

This Month in 2018: To Pack or Not to Pack? The Struggles of College Dorm Living as a Fashionista | Planning Your Weekly Outfits | The Lifelong Search for Joy (Not Happiness)

This Month in 2017: Flower Crowns: From Fairy to Functional | B2S Series: Go Ahead, Collar Me | B2S Series: My Morning Routine

This Month in 2016: Peachy Keen | Ready for the Weekend | Sparkly Espadrilles | Trendy Tassels

(“This Month in…” is Styled by McKenz’s idea)

Other Happenings

August was exciting because I found out I was accepted to be a Passion Planner Ambassador, which is my first relationship with a brand. I love the Passion Planner company (as you can read about in this post) so I was so ecstatic to be accepted. Now that it’s been a few weeks, I’ve gotten a better understanding of my role as an ambassador! I do earn a commission if people use my code on a purchase, and I also get to complete weekly and monthly activities to redeem rewards. It’s been really fun so far.

My brother and his girlfriend also visited a couple weeks ago, so we had a blast playing all sorts of games (Bananagrams and Euchre), going on bike rides, etc. I even threw an awesome backyard party (pats myself on the back), which I’ll be talking more about in a special post this Saturday.

Well, if you made it to the end of this post, thanks for sticking around and reading! Even though I still have a lot of stress and nerves about going back to school/the state of the world/corona, I’m also feeling pretty hopeful, as there are lots of exciting things to look forward to in September. What was your favorite thing from August? And what do you plan to accomplish in the new month?

Have the best day!

 

Miles of smiles,

Grace

 

Green Leopard Blouse: Cabi, $89, last worn here | Black Corduroy Skirt: Francesca’s, $35, last worn here  | Black Stud Sandals: Dillard’s, $30, last worn here | Black Fringe Purse: Unknown, $50, last worn here

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