{Monthly} Midweek Ramblings: July 2025

 July 2025:

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Highs of the Month:

• Obviously finding and buying our first home is at the top of the list! 🎉 Technically we closed on the house in early August, but we found the home and had our offer accepted in July. I will never forget the moment that we got the call from our realtor that our offer was accepted! One of the biggest blessings of our lives! Ryan and I are both so thankful for the rare blessing of having the first home that we toured and made an offer on be our home. 

• I had such a great 4th of July this year! Honestly it was my favorite one in recent years, especially after I spent last year's working at the hotel. I was able to get together a mix-matched group of about 12 friends who all spent the day with us at Ocean View Beach in Norfolk. The weather was absolutely perfect, and it was such a great day hanging out and enjoying the sun and water! That evening, my friend Amanda and I met up and played 9 holes of golf together. The course was practically empty, and it felt like a private golf experience on the most beautiful day. The next day was the first time that I got to tour our house! July 4th felt like the wonderful calm before the home buying storm.
• Besides for July 4th, this month brough us some really fun and memorable summer weekends. Both of us knew that our weekends would look a lot different in August and September once we had house projects to complete before moving (plus work would be busier for both of us!), so we really tried to maximize weekend fun in July. Highlights included lots of golf (both together as a couple and with our own friends), a fun Saturday daytime date in Virginia Beach, and a wonderful day trip at the end of July to visit my aunt and uncle in Edenton! 

Lows of the Month:

• While buying a house for the first time is such an exciting and joy-filled milestone, it is also incredibly stressful! Kind of like wedding planning, but on a much more accelerated timeline than we had with the wedding. I quickly learned that the work quickly begins after your offer is accepted... that's only the starting point! We were blessed to have a great realtor and a quick closing timeline, but even with that there were still so many stressful things that popped up regarding the house as the month went on. I am so glad that closing is behind us now. (Although now we start the stressful project of getting the house painted and ready, and then actually moving! 😅)

• I had some weird technical difficulties in July with getting paid for a sponsored Instagram project that I did earlier in the year. Fun fact about the business side of being a blogger/influencer: payment terms for projects with brands are often Net-30, 60 or 90 (which means payment isn't sent until 30, 60 or 90 days after work is completed). This specific project had longer payment terms, and when it was finally time for me to get paid in July, the money transfer into my bank account failed three times for unexplained reason! I've never had that happen before with any blogging work, and it was so stressful. It finally worked on the fourth try (no idea why this time worked!), but going through this honestly made me all the more glad that being a content creator isn't my full-time job, and I do get regular paychecks with no unexpected delays from having a day job.

• While I was glad to have the opportunity to play golf at least once a week in July, I was disappointed by my scores for most of the month. You'd think that more consistent play and practice would lead to a better month, but golf is such a fickle sport! There's so many ups and downs as a player. I felt like I made a lot of dumb mistakes on the course this month, and I am competitive with myself and hate to see it. 

 

July Weekend Recaps:

• 4th-6th - We had a wonderful July 4th at the beach with several friends, and then I golfed in the early evening with my friend Amanda! I had to work on Saturday, but after work I met Ryan and our realtor Perrin to see our house for the first time. 😊 We submitted our offer that night! On Sunday we went to church, and then had a quiet afternoon at home. In the later afternoon, we went to tour a second house in case the one we made an offer on didn't work out (but thankfully the first house did, because the second hosue was a bust!)

• 11th-13th - We had a quiet Friday night after I got off work. On Saturday morning I went to a group golf lesson clinic, and then worked on some blog and Instagram content at home. That evening I went to dinner with my friend Bri and a friend of hers who was visiting Virginia Beach from out-of-state! I then caught up on the phone later Saturday night with my friend Maddy, who moved out of our area a couple months ago. On Sunday I went to church, and them my friend Emily came by to go to our apartment pool. Ryan and I ended the weekend with Sunday evening golf at a local course.

• 18th-20th - We went for a walk on Friday evening after I got home from work, and then made our first (of many!) Home Depot trips to get paint samples for our house. I went to a workout class Saturday morning, and then we had a spontaneous date day! We had lunch outdoors at The Porch, which is a waterside restaurant in Virginia Beach that's perfect to visit in the summer. We then went to IKEA and Rooms 2 Go to start getting more furniture and design inspiration for our house! I spent Saturday night doing some meal prep for us, as well as making a meal for a meal train for friends of ours that just had a baby. On Sunday I went to the beach in the earlier part of the day, and then Ryan and I played golf together again.

• 25th-27th - We had a quiet Friday night at home, but a fun Saturday ahead! Ryan and I made a day trip to my favorite little town, Edenton NC. We strolled Downtown Edenton and visited all my favorite shops, and then had lunch with my aunt and uncle and went out on their boat in the afternoon! On Sunday I met a new friend for golf in the earlier part of the day, and then we celebrated my father-in-law's birthday with Ryan's family at their house in the afternoon.

July Purchases:

• A bigger shopping month for me, but all but one of these purchases are to help continuing building my new job work wardrobe! And almost all of them were bought on sale. First up: a purchase that I make at least once or twice a year because I love this item so much, but had to get another of my favorite lightweight cardigans in a color that I hadn't bought before.

• I found these fun colorful dress pants for an extra 70% off in July, and I couldn't pass that up. Perfect for summer workwear- I've already worn them multiple times to work! 

• Speaking of dress pants, also purchased these affordable wide leg dress pants in a darker color for fall when they were on sale for Prime Day! I already own them in white and love them. 

• This darling ruffled blouse was on sale for $15 (!!!) this month, and I'm so glad I scooped it up. I'm obsessed! It comes in so many colors, I'm tempted to order more for that price. 

• I've seen several girls I follow on Instagram wearing these raffia and pearl sandals this summer, and I scooped them up when they went on sale in late July. Excited to wear them for the rest of summer!

• I finally had to get my favorite work heels in another color, since I wear my nude pair at least 3-4 days a week to work! I went with the basic black pair this time, they'll be great for fall and winter work outfits ahead.

• I found this next affordable workwear find from my friend Gentry after she posted it a few weeks ago and it was an instant purchase. This chic lady jacket cardigan was marked down to $9 (!!!!). NINE DOLLARS! This might be my discount find of the year. It does have a cropped fit (both in length and the sleeves), but look so cute over a dress or with pants. 

• And finally- the purchase that I was perhaps most excited about in July wasn't even a fashion item for myself. 😊 I bought wallpaper samples for our new house from this company! More to come on that soon. 

July Wishlist:

• For my fellow golf girls- how cute are these themed embroidered sweatshirts? 

• These upholstered chairs are an investment for sure, but I'm dreaming of seeing them in the formal living room at our house! 

• Loving this cute and affordable little lilac colored button-up vest. I think I shared in last month's Ramblings post that I have tried and returned vests from a few different stores over the past couple of months- I'm reallly struggling finding one that fits me well! Maybe this one would be it. 

• This darling bow romper is literally the romper version of the dress I wore for our engagement photos and rehearsal dinner. This would be so cute on any brides-to-be!

• This elegant midi dress is giving all of the grandmillennial vibes, and also seems like a great Tuckernuck dupe to me. 

July Blog Posts: 

• Amazon Prime Day 2025: Things I Own + Love On Sale

• Wedding Wednesday: Our Wedding Day - The Reception

• HOTEL GUIDE: The Phoenix Park Hotel in Washington DC

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! 

• Echo of Pink (Block Print Dresses made sustainably in India) - Use code ANNALIESE20 for 20% off your purchase!

• Loopy Case (My absolute favorite phone cases) - Use code missalk at check-out for 10% off your purchase! 
• Maggy London (Classic and chic work + occasion dresses) - Use code ANNALIESE15 for 15% off your purchase! 

     God Bless,

     xoxo Annaliese