Southern Belle in Training

Fashion, Travel & Lifestyle Blog || Est. 2012 || Virginia Beach, VA

July 22, 2020

Midweek Ramblings.


{I spent a couple days this week exploring the towns of Chesapeake Beach and North Beach in Maryland! Follow me on Instagram @miss_alk}
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Ramblings:
  • Getting serious: I feel like things with COVID here in Central Virginia are starting to get pretty serious. (Not that it wasn't serious before! Just feels a little more pressing now.) There's a lot of anxiety in the area as UVA students return to Charlottesville in less than a month, so that will probably lead to higher numbers than what we are already seeing now. While I've known friends and acquaintances out of state this spring and summer who have either had COVID or had test scares, this is the first week of the pandemic that I've known several people locally here in Virginia who had symptoms and/or scares and had to get tested... all this week! It's a little nerve wracking! I'm planning to really be cracking down again on how many friends I'm getting together with and such. Fingers crossed things don't get really bad here.
  • Staycation update: Today is my last day of my first ever staycation! It started last Thursday afternoon after work. I'm still sad I didn't get to use these PTO days for travel as originally planned, but I've been making the best of it. Watching a lot of Netflix, trying to work ahead on the blog, do errands and housework, read... staying busy! I also got to spend a couple days of it in Maryland which was a nice little break in the middle. Have you taken a staycation instead of a vacation this year?
  • Dying malls: Another casualty of COVID? The American shopping mall. Malls across the country were already in dismal shape at the start of 2020, and since the pandemic began things have just gotten worse. This article was a really interesting read about the major changes in retail patterns, that have gotten more intense this year. (Sadly Charlottesville's mall doesn't seem to be doing too great, aside from a few stores.)

Weekend recaps:
  • Last weekend: Half of it was pretty uneventful and spent there, and then on Sunday my friend Emily and I left for Chesapeake Beach, MD! I found an adorable Airbnb up there, and it was another great socially distanced weekend away. We went to the beach, explored the town and the neighboring town of North Beach, and also spent a few hours checking out Annapolis, which is such a cute city that I want to go back to!
  • This weekend: I am getting my hair done and have blog photos- yay! That is definitely an exciting weekend by 2020 standards. 😀

Purchases:
  • A few weeks ago on Instagram Stories I did a poll about favorite eye creams. I was so surprised that this one was the winner by a long shot! I just ordered some so I'll be sure to share how I like it once I use it.
  • I also ordered more of my favorite acne gel- "maskne" is no joke. 😷

Wishlist: 
  • Another fun cocktail dress that makes me wish I had an event coming up and a reason to wear it! 
  • Loving this gorgeous new stone that Kendra Scott has for their customizable jewelry.
  • Considering that my apartment pool still isn't open (and probably won't be this year) I have zero need for new bathing suits, but this one is so cute!! It comes in a ton of colors and looks very flattering.
  • An under $20 workout top- I love the back of it. 
  • Vera Bradley just released a ton more fabric patterns and styles for their face masks! I have one and it's my favorite mask to wear on really hot days since it's so lightweight. 

Sale of the week: I found some select spring Lilly Pulitzer pieces on sale this week here!
Also stay tuned this Friday for the Nordstrom Sale preview! This is the first time ever that they're letting everyone preview this year's NSale merchandise before it opens to cardholders only for shopping. 

Currently reading: The Atonement Child by Francine Rivers - It's been awhile since I've read a Francine Rivers book, but I always enjoy them. This one definitely deals with some heavy subject matter (rape and considering abortion), but I am really enjoying reading it so far. 

Recipe of the week: No good new recipes to share with you today! 😥I tried three new ones in the past week and all were fails. Do you ever have weeks where everything you make is just a flop? Boo! Hopefully next week will be better for cooking. 

Song of the week: Go Crazy by Chris Brown ft. Young Thug - I'm not the biggest fan of Chris Brown as a person with some of the incidents that have happened in his personal history, but I do still like some of his music. I've been listening to this new song of his on repeat lately! 

Favorite blog posts of the week:
  • Southern Curls and Pearls - So happy for Caitlin and her husband Chris on their pregnancy announcement!
  • Southern Sophisticated - Naomi shared a round-up of her cutest pink outfits over the years of blogging- I loved all of them. 
  • Girl Meets Bow - My friend Gentry got to collaborate with my favorite artist, Evelyn Henson! Ahhh!! So many cute finds in this blog post. 

On the blog this week:


     God Bless,


     xoxo Annaliese 
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4 comments

  1. We just had our first friend come down with a case of COVID and he was actually hospitalized- it was super scary! Thankfully he has recovered but it's definitely something to take seriously. Thanks as always for the shoutout :)

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  2. Oh goodness, stay safe friend! It’s a scary time. I know several people who have had COVID. I hope you enjoy the rest of your staycation.

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  3. I'm so sorry to hear about the people you know who have COVID! I know of some people personally who've had it and it's such a scary time! I'm glad you had an opportunity to relax and get away!My husband and I love driving to MD from time to time since it's not that far from PA (around 2 hrs depending on where you're doing) and we love Annapolis! If you're ever back in that area Havre de Grace (a little bit further North) is pretty nice too!

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  4. I know what you mean about things getting serious. We live in a small town, so it was hard to feel like things were that bad-like they were in NYC or other big cities. But, once you start knowing people who are getting it, and you have to get tested yourself-it became a lot more serious! I know I'm taking it more seriously than I was(as bad as that is to admit.)

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