Remember when I was so glad that August was over? I straight up welcomed September with open arms, and it did not disappoint. So many fun things happened this past month. Here are a few of my faves:
If you missed Two Lane Hi-Way at the Ritz two weeks ago, you should make it your mission to see them the next time you have the opportunity. It was such a fun show with some terrific guest singers, and, y’all, they’re all from right here in this little town. It was remarkable. Make the effort to support your local theater. The people running it are pouring their hearts and souls into the performances. We have a special thing going here in Greenville.
The Edge is reopening! I heard a tiny snippet of the radio interview about it one morning on the way to school. The prices are going to be stellar, too. I hope they’re able to get more mainstream movies. I know that can be difficult with it being such a small theater, but I’m hoping some of the movies coming out close to the holidays (hello, Mary Poppins Returns) will be coming here. Aren’t y’all pumped?
Speaking of the movie theater, I went this past month to see A Simple Favor with my friend, Taten. It was interesting to say the least. At the end I looked at her and my exact words were, “What the hell did we just watch?” I immediately wanted to watch it again to catch some of the things I might have missed that would help explain the story. I mean, I understood it, but I need to see it again. Also, Anna Kendrick was awesome and hilarious. We laughed so much at her. My girl crush on Blake Lively was just reinforced with this movie. Her take on menswear with a feminine edge is So. Good.
Also, Henry Golding, the male lead, is super cute and a fantastic actor. A Simple Favor was his second movie. His first is Crazy Rich Asians (which I’m also dying to see) just came out recently, too. He’s going places.
I got to spend some more time with friends when I got to attend my first book club meeting. We read Girl, Wash Your Face and met at my house to discuss the book, eat soup (yay, fall), and talk a lot! It was a fun night. Can’t wait for the next one.
Speaking of Rachel Hollis (again, I know), I discovered she is doing a fun challenge. She calls it Last 90 Days. The idea is that instead of giving up on your health goals at the end of the year, take those last 90 days and go ahead and get ahead of your new year goals. It started October 1st, but that’s only a few days ago so jump in now. You can sign up here and you’ll get videos emailed right to you each week. I watch them while I’m getting ready in the morning. I think this is genius because every October I get sucked in with the Halloween candy that people feel the need to gift teachers, and it spirals out of control from there. By the new year my pants are tighter, and I feel terrible. I know I’m not alone. Anyway, it’d be fun to do it together. If y’all sign up or are planning to, let me know so we can hold each other accountable.
I’m going to share something totally random, and I usually don’t share too many things about my day job, but at my school we held Student Council elections. And, y’all, it was pretty amazing. My school is made up of just 3rd and 4th grade. As you can imagine, that makes us a very small school where all the students pretty much know each other. Our Student Council chairwoman and co-teachers put in a lot of work to set up the process of signing up, campaigning, giving speeches, and voting. The students that wanted to run for President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer had to make a poster, a video, and give a speech in front of the whole school. It was incredible to see what these students were capable of. Some of them are better public speakers than adults! And when they got up to give their speeches, the students not running for an office were cheering on their classmates. Very cool. Each afternoon leading up to the election, we watched a compilation of all the candidate’s videos so the students were familiar with each person. And the voting was done on the computer which made tallying the votes much faster than paper ballots. It was so cool, and some of my students were elected! Well done, Mrs. Stinson, Mrs. Heartsill, Mrs. Coker, and all the students who participated! I love that we’re exposing children to voting. They are paying attention to what’s happening in our world, and to let them dip their toes into the water of running for office, campaigning, and voting is paramount to how they’ll grow up and participate in society when they’re of age. So happy this was done at our school.
Let’s talk beauty for a minute. I’m having a slight obsession with coloring and possibly cutting my hair. I’ve been a blonde for most of my life with a brief stint as a red head, and I took it a little darker about 3 years ago. I’ve got a pretty important wedding to go to in November, and I’d like to have made my decision by then. In the meantime, I’m looking at the following color options and pretty much keeping my hair long but taking care of split ends and breathing some life back into it.
What do you think? Take it a bit darker? Maybe add in some red? Keep it blonde with a little dimension throughout? It should be mentioned that I’m completely aware of my obsession with SJP. She’s just so stylish, dang it.
I have a new favorite hair tie. I was a firm believer in Emi Jays for a very long time, but ever since Wisteria Cottage started carrying Teleties, I gave them a try, and I love them! I never get a bend in my hair, my hair never gets stuck or pulls out, it fits comfortably on my wrist, and I even sleep in it. We have plenty of color and size options at Wisteria, so come up and visit me one Saturday to get yours.
I feel that since school’s started back that my schedule has gotten so much busier, even at night. This past week I had something to do every night except Friday. (That’s the only reason you’re reading this post, because I took the time Friday night to write it!) Sometimes on these super busy nights I’m so tired and ready to get in bed that I don’t want to go through my whole nighttime beauty routine, so I use the Beautycounter One-Step Makeup Remover Wipes. They remove all my makeup and cleanse my face all in one step. They truly remove it all and leave my skin feeling soft and smooth. All I need is to put on moisturizer, brush my teeth, and hop into bed. I recommend them for this reason, and I always recommend them for teens. Cheerleader mama’s, your girls need these in their cheer bags for after a practice or game to wash off the sweat so their pores aren’t getting clogged and causing breakouts. Get yours here.
After my grandparents died, we had to do something with all the plants my Granny was so good at keeping alive. I decided to take a Mother-in-Law Tongue and name her Lady Grantham because Downton Abbey. She started, um, laying down in the pot she was in, so I took her to my dad, and we discovered there were two plants in there and we could separate them. They still live in the same room, but I’ve decided to have Lady Grantham in the black basket and Lady Mary in the white planter. (I also hope The Edge gets the Downton movie when it comes out!) I love the way it turned out, and they both seem to be doing well. Hopefully Granny would be proud.
My guilty September pleasure is Pumpkin Spice Creamer from Coffee-Mate. I find it so hard to break up with this stuff after fall is over. I drink it well into the new year, but I do know it’s not good for you. It just tastes like comfort. I only have about two cups of coffee a day with just a little of the creamer, so let me have my thing, okay?
I definitely brought out the pumpkins before fall actually began, but I sort of hoped if I decorated with pumpkins that the cold weather would come…like Field of Dreams. It’s not working so well on the weather front, but the pumpkins sure are cute. If you need fall decor inspiration, come back Saturday for some fall pretties I’ve found on the good ol’ inter webs.
Wow! Lots of good things from September. That’s pretty great when I can look back at what I’ve written and conclude with a Wow. I hope all of you had a great September as well. Share some of your favorites from September in the comments with me. As we enter my favorite time of year, I wish you much joy and happiness in October and in these last 90 days of 2018. Let’s make them great!
