Weekly Recap #31, 2022

I’m currently writing this post from Minneapolis, Minnesota, after enjoying a much-needed shower following a weekend of camping. I flew out to the Twin Cities on Thursday to visit my brother and sister-in-law for a long weekend, and we just got back from a campsite in Mille Lacs county, about an hour and a half outside the city. I love camping, but it seems most of my friends and relatives in close distance do not… so I’m super glad my brother and his wifey are into it and that they were willing to take me! 

Monday, August 1 

I had an important meeting at work today, but sadly I had to go home early because I was really not feeling well. I went back to bed and woke up much better—it was so weird! I hardly ever get sick, so I wonder if I ate something off or had some sort of reaction. Anyway, I just chilled out for the rest of the day and went to bed early. 

This dress was a gift from my mom, but they only had the XXS left, which is two sizes too small… So as cute as it is, I hardly every wear the dress because it’s super uncomfortable! It bunches funny around my booty and is way too tight in the shoulders. Ah well, I still love the look of it and think it’s so cute for the fall. 

Patterned Dress: Cabi, $40 ($13.33 per wear), last worn here | Beige Booties: Sam Edelman via DSW, $70 ($0.86 per wear)

Tuesday, August 2 

I felt completely normal today, but I decided to work from home just in case. In the late afternoon, I joined my aunt poolside and relaxed until my boyfriend came over for dinner. I haven’t worn this top with my denim skirt before, and I was a little unsure about the mix of warm tones (the burgundy mock-neck and the leopard belt) with the cool tones of the blue skirt. I think I ended up liking the outfit, though. What are your thoughts? 

Mock-Neck Top: JCPenney, $11 ($0.31 per wear), last worn here | Denim Skirt: American Eagle, $24 ($6.00 per wear), last worn here | Snakeskin Sandals: DSW, $30 ($4.29 per wear), last worn here | Leopard Belt: Francesca’s, $9 ($1.00 per wear), last worn here

Wednesday, August 3 

I went back to work in person today and it was super busy—lots of meetings and it was the first time I interviewed a client one-on-one, which was equally intimidating and exciting. After work, I swung by my grandma’s place to say hello before my boyfriend came over again. He brought his second TV for me to use in my apartment, which is so nice! We ended up starting a new show, and sitting there watching TV, curled up on my blue couch, was the first time my new apartment truly felt like home. 

Red Top: JCPenney, $18 ($0.56 per wear), last worn here | Patterned Skirt: Down East Style, $30 ($2.50 per wear), last worn here | Brown Sandals: DSW, $45 ($0.82 per wear), last worn here

Thursday, August 4 

I woke up bright and early this morning—2:50 am, to be exact—to catch the redeye flight to Minneapolis! I was definitely questioning my life choices on the way to the airport, but it was the cheapest flight (and I needed one early enough where I could land and start my work day at the usual time). My brother picked me up from the airport, and then I spent most of the day in their apartment, working from home. Once everyone got off work, the three of us walked down to the Mississippi River and ate dinner by the water. My brother had a soccer game later in the evening, so my sis-in-law and I watched and chit-chatted on the sideline. 

This is what I call my “cowgirl shirt” because I’m pretty sure my mom got it at one of those western stores (and it has those pearly snap buttons). I thought it looked surprisingly cute with my jean shorts and fake Converse for a long travel day! 

Red Button Down: Hand-me-down | Jean Shorts: H&M, $25 ($1.14 per wear), last worn here | White Sneakers: Primark, $10 ($2.00 per wear)

Friday, August 5 

I worked from home again today (so nice that my job offers that kind of flexibility) and video called my bestie from study abroad in the afternoon. Once the others got home from work, the three of us packed up all our camping gear, grabbed some takeout dinner, and hit the road! While I have a backpacking bag from hiking the Camino de Santiago in 2019, I’ve never actually backpack camped before—only car camped. It was a very different experience to park and then hike into our campsite, with only as much supplies as we could carry on our backs. I’m so used to the cush camping of packing as many canned goods and drinks as you want and locking your food in your car at night (as opposed to hanging a bear bag). It was great practice! 

But I will say, it was a bit of a rough night… We got to our site right as the sun was starting to set, so I think we were all a little tired and stressed from the dwindling light. It also felt like a very remote campground—we were in the middle of the forest and didn’t see a single other camper, which was honestly very creepy once it got dark out and there were lots of crackling noises coming from the woods. Not to mention, the BUGS! Since it’s so humid out here, the amount of bugs was insane. We even crawled into our tent to go to sleep only to find a few ticks on us (thankfully none in us). The cherry on top was that it poured and lightninged all night, definitely adding to the spook factor. I don’t think any of us slept! 

Saturday, August 6 

We woke up to find that some of last night’s rain had seeped into our tent, which was not ideal, but at this point everything that had gone wrong was a little comical. We made oatmeal over the fire for breakfast and then hiked back to our car, driving to a nearby lake for the day—a lake which, by the way, looked like the ocean. I couldn’t really see the other side. My brother and his wife recently bought blowup paddle boards, so we spent a few hours paddleboarding, snacking on big sandwiches, and reading by the lake, with 500 of our closest bug friends. Little did we know, we went to deflate the paddle boards and found a leech on the bottom side… woohoo! Ticks, leeches, lightning… What else could a girl ask for? 

We drove back to the campsite and spent the night chatting and playing cards by the fire—thankfully it was much dryer tonight and we all managed to get a little sleep. 

Sunday, August 7 

We slept a little better last night and had a slow morning, eating breakfast and packing up our campsite. On the way out of the park, we stopped to check out an old fire tower, which I guess are quite common in the Midwest. We climbed all the way to the top to take in the views—flat as far as the eye could see. 

After driving the hour and a half back to the Twin Cities area, we stopped at a lake for the afternoon to paddleboard some more—sans leeches. It was so relaxing! We took some much-needed showers back at the apartment and chilled out for the rest of the night. 

. . . . .

This is the first full week I’ve used my new phone, and my trip has been the perfect excuse to test out the fancy camera. So far, I think I’m impressed! The first pic in today’s post is super cute and has surprisingly decent lighting, considering the sun is at my back. Sometimes it does seem to add a lot of saturation, though, almost as if I’ve applied a filter. Regardless, I’m excited to take my first full blog photos with it soon.

Anyway, I hope you had a great weekend and have an even better start to the new week!

 

Miles of smiles,

Grace