{Monthly} Midweek Ramblings: October 2025

October 2025: 

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Highs of the Month:

• Seeing Tate McRae's Miss Possessive Tour in Raleigh with three of my girlfriends!! I feel unbelievably lucky to have seen Tate live twice in the past year (the first time was at Jingle Ball in Washington DC in December 2024). She is one of my top artists right now, and her new album So Close to What is by far my favorite album of 2025. I'm so thankful I had the chance to see this tour live.
• Our first Halloween living in our new house was so sweet. We had over 100 trick-or-treaters come by! (And some of our neighbors told us this was actually a "quiet" year for trick-or-treaters.) Spending my entire adult life until this year living in apartments had me so excited for this first Halloween with a house in a neighborhood, and it didn't disappoint. Ryan and I had such a fun evening handing out candy. 
• My lowest round of golf happened in October! Which felt like a small miracle since I hadn't been playing as much the past couple of months with everything with our house. My friend Amanda and I played 18 holes on the most perfect fall Sunday, and it was my lowest score yet! 

Lows of the Month:

• The move into our house in early October was unbelievably stressful. Worst move I've ever done! (And I moved a lot in my 20s, including multiple large-scale out-of-state moves.) There were various factors that made this one so stressful, but it was just so much. Fortunately it's behind us now and we are a month into getting settled in our first home, but this was bad enough to make me not want to move again anytime soon! (Maybe ever 😂)
• Building on that previous point, we were hit with very expensive move-out charges from our former apartment after moving out. We tried to fight it (we literally had professional cleaners come in the day we moved out to get the place super clean), but to no avail. We overall really enjoyed living in that apartment, but this was a very frustrating end to our time there.
• I barely blogged in October. Half of that was a shortage of time with the move and establishing new weekly routines, and half of it was a lack of writing inspiration with all going on. The only post I wrote in October was a Wedding Wednesday post about our wedding registry. Granted that was a lengthy blog post and took me awhile to put together. 😊 But I am bummed I wasn't able to carve out any other writing time during the month. Although I feel like content creation is moving mainly just to social media and away from blogs these days, I still love the creative outlet that writing here brings me.

 

October Weekend Recaps:

• 3rd-5th - Our moving weekend into our new house. It was long, it was stressful, and there were unexpected hiccups. I don't want to get into everything.😂But we made it through! I was very pleased with how well Delilah adjusted to the house from the first day. Ryan and I also enjoyed a quick but delicious meal at Mod Pizza after everything was moved into the house. 
• 10th-12th - We had a fairly quiet but productive weekend unpacking and settling into our house. Both of us went back to work on the Monday right after we moved, so we had a lot to do during this weekend. Saturday morning started on a sweet note though, we took a long walk through our new neighborhood and then checked out a local bakery for some treats! I then headed off to meet a work friend for lunch. On Saturday evening our friends Bri and Christian dropped by to see the house and drop of a housewarming gift. On Sunday we went to church, and then I worked on a lot of Instagram / TikTok content during the rest of the day. 
• 17th-19th - A really busy weekend, but a good one. I had a half-day at work on Friday, and played golf for the first time in almost two months on Friday afternoon! It wasn't my best round, but it was a beautiful day and great to get out there. I had to work an event for my day job all day on Saturday. On Saturday evening, we went on a double date with our friends Amanda and Kole and checked out a new-to-us local pizza restaurant. On Sunday I played hooky from church for a week, and met my (other) friend Amanda for a great 18 holes of golf at one of my favorite local courses. I had my lowest score of the year so far, and it was just a beautiful day for golf! I caught up on house chores after I got home.
• 24th-26th - I had a half-day at work on Friday, and two of my girlfriends picked me up from work to drive to Raleigh for a girls' weekend! I went to Raleigh with my friends Amanda, Alex and LeighAnna. I met these three ladies when I was in Junior League a few years ago, and this was our third annual fall ladies' weekend. The trip got planned so that we could go to the Tate McRae concert on Saturday night, but we had a lot of fun doing things in Raleigh as well. We went to a workout class, checked out some local shops, and ate several delicious meals out during our weekend. And of course Tate's concert was absolutely incredible!! This was my second girls' weekend of the year in Raleigh (I was there in February with two friends who were bridesmaids in my wedding last year), and it really is a fun and easily accessible city for weekend trips.

October Purchases:

• I was in need of a new pair of black boots for the fall/winter season, and wanted a pair that would also work with my outfit plan for the Tate McRae concert. Enter these cute black pointed toe boots. They're a good price point and actually pretty comfy to wear!
• This little blue matching sweater/skirt set is so cute. It arrived a bit lighter in color than the photo, but I still really like it. It comes in other colors as well!
• I went a bit Walmart crazy in October, but they just have so many good new arrivals for women's clothing for the winter and holiday seasons! I purchased this pink sweater, this fair isle sweater cardigan, this matching sweater / skirt set and these cute pajamas. All of this totaled was under $130! 

October Wishlist:

• How darling is the print on this athletic skirt for the holidays?! This would be too cute to wear for golf on a mild December day in Virginia. (Fingers crossed we will have those this year!)
• This holiday dress is 100% Tuckernuck vibes, but for a fraction of the price! And of course I love the bow in the back.
• I have to confess that Lilly Pulitzer hasn't been on my radar as much this year for fashion purchases, but I was browsing their new arrivals recently and I am obsessed with the jungle themed print on this classic shift dress.
• This bow sweatshirt is giving all of the vibes of my wedding last year! If this had been around last fall, I would've bought it in a heartbeat (I might still though😊). 
• I've featured this chic matching jacket and skirt set in a few of my recent outfit collages, but I can't stop thinking about it! I might seriously have to get it since it's at such a great price. 

October Blog Posts: 

• Wedding Wednesday: Our Wedding Registry

Current Discount Codes: 

• 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 + special occasion dresses) - Use code ANNALIESE15 for 15% off your purchase!

• SelectBlinds (Affordable window blinds and shades) - Use code ANNALIESE5 for 5% off their already low prices on window treatments!

     God Bless,

     xoxo Annaliese