April 2025:
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Highs of the Month:
- I had the best time hosting my first-ever ladies' Masters viewing party on Masters Saturday in mid-April! It was so fun to create a cute golf themed tablescape and host some of my girlfriends for an afternoon of watching the best golf tournament of the year. I'm excited to hopefully make this party an annual tradition!
- For the first time ever, Ryan got to join me for a blog travel opportunity! We spent the last weekend of April visiting Virginia's New River Valley for the first time. I was honored to work with the Lilly Valley Inn, a boutique bed-and-breakfast with beautiful and memorable mountain and river views. I'm looking forward to sharing a full review of our stay on the blog in the next few weeks!
- This is definitely a frivolous high, but I had some really fun shopping purchases this month that brought me so much joy. I'll share them all below in the Purchases section of this post! I've cut back on personal shopping a good bit in the past year following my job loss, but it was fun in April to treat myself to a few more new things than most months! (Getting to do a little more personal shopping in April was all thanks to it being a more lucrative start to 2025 for my blogging income- thank you to everyone who supports my sponsored content and shops through my affiliate links! 😊)
Lows of the Month:
- I had Norovirus for the first time (in adulthood) over Easter weekend, and it was 100% the worst thing I have ever been sick with as an adult. It came on so quickly. Honestly it was kind of scary how it got very intense so quickly! It started coming on at work on Good Friday. I left work early, and within a few hours I was sicker than I ever have been in my life. Ryan ended up taking me to the ER for fluids on Friday evening. I was really bummed not only from how sick I was, but also because this happened over the one year anniversary of my radio career loss. I was also too sick to go to church or do anything for Easter that weekend, and it was a bummer to miss properly celebrating another "first married holiday" with Ryan (I had to work on our very first married holiday, Thanksgiving 2024).
- Job hunting continued to be time consuming and stressful in the month of April. This month also marked six-months since I started looking for a new for a new longterm career path, and was tough to realize finding what's next career-wise hasn't happened as quickly as I'd like, despite my best efforts. I feel like a broken record with this type of update month after month for 2025. Hoping and praying May will be the month I have good news to share about a new career opportunity!
- Earlier in April, Ryan and I were going over our monthly spending for the month of March, and I was shocked to see we spent $643 on groceries in March. $643!! I thought surely our grocery spending must be absolutely out of control. I did a poll on Instagram Stories... and was depressed to learn our monthly grocery spending is right on par with most couples. Even more depressing was the monthly grocery bill amounts submitted from families with kids. Woof. I guess groceries sadly are just that expensive everywhere right now. Definitely a sobering revelation!
April Weekend Recaps:
- 4th-6th - I worked on Friday and Sunday, but was randomly off work on Saturday, which was a nice treat! I went to a Jazzercise class in the morning, and golfed with my friend Amanda in the afternoon. (I actually filmed a Day in the Life Reel for this day off!)
- 11th-13th - Masters Weekend! I took Saturday and Sunday off work to watch golf. 😊 I hosted my first-ever ladies Masters viewing party on Saturday, which was so fun. Ryan and I went to church on Sunday morning, and then went for a quick walk at Norfolk Botanical Garden after the service. We then watched golf for the whole afternoon and evening! There's just no weekend like the Masters.
- 18th-20th - I was sick with Norovirus for the entire weekend, and spent Friday evening at the ER. I must give a shout-out to Ryan, he is a saint for how well he took care of me when I was feeling so poorly. Unfortunately I was still not feeling well on Easter Sunday, so we didn't get to attend church in person or do anything for Easter this year.
- 25th-27th - Ryan and I traveled west to Virginia's New River Valley, for a travel blogging collaboration opportunity that I had. I partnered with the Lilly Valley Inn in Pearisburg, VA! We had a very restful weekend enjoying beautiful mountain views from the inn property, and we also enjoyed hiking nearby Cascade Falls. I'm looking forward to sharing a full review of our weekend on the blog in May.
April Purchases:
- For a variety of reasons, I have really tried to cut back in the past few years on purchasing fast fashion, but last year I did shop at Shein for the first time in many years to get a few things for the wedding / honeymoon. I was pleasantly surprised with the quality? It wasn't as bad as I had remembered. I've heard all the buzz about tariffs affecting the cost of fast fashion, so a couple weeks before that went into affect, I bought a few things I had saved in my wishlist. First up was this gorgeous top! It's a dupe for a much more expensive brand, and the colors and pattern are stunning. It can easily be dressed up or down!
- I also purchased three new affordable swimsuits for summer: this chic navy and white two-piece, this floral two-piece, and this vacation inspired one-piece.
- My favorite small business for clay earrings, Mell's Trinkets, sadly closed up shop in April! I've been buying earrings from here since 2020, and have loved everything I've gotten. I had to shop the store closing sale, which included some cute golf inspired earrings! I can't link the ones I got since the store is now closed, but I did get a pair of Masters inspired earrings that look similar to these! And some golf bow earrings that look similar to these.
- Ryan and I are so excited to be going to our first Major championship for golf in May: the 2025 PGA Championship! I had been on the hunt for a perfect outfit for awhile. A golf tournament outfit should be very comfortable to wear for a long day, and I wanted something nice but not "too nice," if that makes sense. My friend Gentry introduced me to SSYS Boutique, and I purchased the Lainey Dress to see if it's something I'd like to wear for the PGA Championship. Oh my gosh- this dress might end up being one of my favorite purchases of the year! It's incredibly well-made, flattering to wear, and so comfortable and sporty-chic! I definitely will be shopping more at SSYS soon.
- My final purchase of the month was definitely a want and not a need, but I'm so excited about it! Thanks to a targeted Instagram ad, I found this adorable Masters inspired golf pajama set. I hadn't purchased from this brand before, but the pajamas are so comfy and cute.
April Wishlist:
- These are such beautiful and dramatic statement earrings for under $20! I don't have any formal events on the calendar right now, but if I did I think I'd be very tempted to order these.
- A splurge item that is way out of my current shopping budget, but how stunning is this colorful dress for a springtime occasion!
- One thing I have trouble spending money on is running or athletic shoes. They're just never as fun to buy as other types of shoes! But I do need a new pair soon, as my current pair that I wear for workout classes is many years old. I think these are such chic running shoes, I might have to finally get them here soon.
- I don't ever shop at this retailer, but I can't get over how beautiful this under $50 sundress is! The colors and print feel very "me."
- And finally, a home decor wishlist item. I love these scalloped nightstands. Would love something like this in a future guest room wherever we live next!
April Blog Posts:
Current Discount Codes:
- Armoire (Clothing Rental Service) - Use code miss_alk for 50% off your first month of clothing rentals, plus two extra rental bonus items!
- Cloth + Bristle (Non-toxic cleaning products) - Use code ANNALIESE at check-out for 20% off your first order!
- Loopy Case (My absolute favorite phone cases) - Use code missalk at check-out for 10% off your purchase!
God Bless,
xoxo Annaliese
I feel you on the job hunting front. It's so discouraging to get so little feedback after sending out so many applications. Wishing you luck in May!
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