Midweek Ramblings.

 

{Where I spent as much of my weekend as possible- on the couch watching the new season of Sweet Magnolias! Follow me on Instagram @miss_alk}

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Ramblings:

• Sweet Magnolias Season 2: OH.MY.GOODNESS. Sweet Magnolias Season 2 y'all! I am not sure that I have ever been so emotionally invested in a TV show... ever. The love I have for this show is too much! I don't want to give away any spoilers if you haven't seen it yet. If you liked Season 1, this is a must-watch! If you've never seen the show, start ASAP with Season 1! If you have also finished Season 2 and know how it ends, this interview with the show's executive producer is a must read!
• Golf lessons: Today is my first day starting golf lessons! I am equal parts excited and nervous. The sport of golf has fascinated me ever since college- I was roommates with a golfer one semester, and also had a good friend in my major who was on the golf team. I always thought it looked like a really fun sport, but I had no experience at all with golf. Virginia Beach is a great area to learn to golf as there are a ton of reasonably priced public courses here, and it seemed like the time was now to finally give this sport a try. I signed up for a package of four lessons with a local golf pro, and I start this afternoon! I'm excited to share more soon. I'm hoping to really love golf and that it will become a sport that I can play for life. 

Weekend recaps:

• Last weekend: On Friday night, my friend Caroline visited from Richmond and stayed with me. It was so good to see her and catch up. We went to a rooftop bar and then dinner in Downtown Norfolk. On Saturday morning, I went to check out a great local consignment shop sale! (More on that below.) On Sunday after church, I went to brunch with a new friend and then my friend Amanda came over for wine and cheese in the afternoon. I also spent a lot of time this weekend binging the new season of Sweet Magnolias of course!
• This weekend: On Saturday I'm going on a day trip to my favorite little southern town, Edenton NC! My aunt and uncle live there, and I haven't spent a day there since Thanksgiving. I'm excited to see them, and I'm also hoping to explore more of Edenton's downtown this time. On Sunday, I was invited to a Galentine's brunch at my friend LeighAnna's house, and I'm really looking forward to that. 

Purchases: Clothes Mentor is one of my favorite consignment store chains, and the Virginia Beach location had its 90% off clearance day on Saturday! I was able to get four clothing items from stores like J. Crew and LOFT for a grand total of $6.33!! Amazing right?! Since it's consignment I can't link the exact items, but here are similar in-stock versions to what I purchased:

• Blue and white striped midi skirt
• White LOFT dress pants 
• Watercolor short sleeved sundress
• Floral flowy pants

Wishlist: 

• I feel like I need this golf themed sweater in honor of starting golf lessons?! Haha!
  
• I saw this darling pajama set in my local Target store this week- aren't they cute?
• A gorgeous blouse that could be dressed up or down. I love the blue and pink colors. 
• In honor of the fact I start golf lessons today, here's an affordable and cute golf skort I'd like to get.
• This wrap dress is stunning! It's modest enough for work or church, while still featuring a classic fun Lilly print. 

Currently reading: Not Your Mother's Rules: The New Secrets for Dating (The Rules) by Ellen Fein and Sherrie Schneider - The Rules is a popular dating book for women that I believe was originally published in the 1980s or 1990s. While I never read the original, I was intrigued by this updated version that the authors wrote with their daughters a few years ago. A lot has changed about dating culture over the last 20-30 years, with the rise of cell phones/texting, social media and of course dating apps. I've been listening to the e-book over the past couple weeks and I'm almost done!

Recipe of the week: Perfectly Pink Pasta from Chrissy Teigen's Cravings: All Together - I love making homemade pasta sauce- I much prefer making it myself to buying it premade. I hadn't tried one of Chrissy's sauce recipes before, so I wanted to give this one a go. It wasn't bad!! Probably not my favorite-ever homemade sauce I've made, but it was fairly easy and tasty. 

Song of the week: Latin Moon by Mia Martina - This was one of my favorite songs in high school! Mia Martina is a Canadian artist but her songs from this timeframe were European dance influenced. I was obsessed with her first album in high school. It randomly came up on my Spotify this week and I remembered how much I loved the song Latin Moon! 

Favorite blog posts of the week:

• Chronicles of Frivolity - Loved this newsletter style blog post from Katey- I hope she keeps this as a monthly tradition!
• The Thrifty Pineapple - Angela shared a sneak peak of the  kitchen at her new house, and a fun DIY kitchen project.
• Come Home for Comfort - Whitney had such creative ideas for sending care packages to long distance friends and loved ones- I might have to steal some of these someday.

On the blog this week:

• How to Make a Bachelorette Party *Extra Special* for a Bride-to-be

      God Bless,

      xoxo Annaliese