life lately: summer edition
The blog is back from summer hiatus! Here’s a snapshot of our summer – from NYC to LA to everything in between. ❤
N Y C
[spontaneous meet-up in my favorite city]
[I flew in from phoenix, he flew in from bentonville + after lots of delays and a comedy of errors, we finally found each other at la guardia at 1am]
[found the cutest lunch spot with lobster rolls + aperol spritz]
[the best live DJ ride with robin + DJ john michael
350 rides for me + 400 rides for husband!!]
[mind seriously BLOWN by Dan White, the Magician – highly recommend]
[explored williamsburg: smorgasburg (a foodie’s dream come true), brooklyn brewery + the william vale rooftop]
[sunset sails are my absolutely favorite]
[greenwich village: dinner at palma + snuck in to smalls jazz club]
L A
[labor day weekend]
[soaking up the sun in manhattan beach]
[exploring santa barbara + contemplating how to retire here]
[the national at the greek theatre – 9.2.19]
[room views + hotel pools]
[ended the trip at my favorite places with my favorite people]
E V E R Y T H I N G. I N. B E T W E E N.
[LE event of the SUMMER – Stephen and Jaimie get MARRIED!!!]
[celebrated my favorite guy’s birthday with concert, cake + daquiris]
[celebrated Becky’s 30th on the lake #thirtyAF]
[hosted family + showed them some of our fave spots around town]
[attended my very first national sales meeting with this awesome crew in phoenix]
[dinner + a show with the fam]
[it’s a hard knock life/summer without this squad]
[sunset sails, whether on the hudson river or beaver lake, never disappoint]
Summer was delightful, but now on to my favorite season of all – F A L L !
xo xo
life lately
[enjoying this || much needed girls night]
[feeling proud about this || hit my 100 peloton rides!
next goal: 150 for my live ride in NYC in Dec.]
[loving this || lots of cozy reading by the fire with poodle snuggles]
[laughing at this || gridiron show with the family
also, eating this amazing smokey and the (gouda) bandit pizza before starting my no-cheese 30 day challenge]
[watching this || adorable show at the Walton Arts Center with the best people]
[dressing up for this || H A L L O W E E N P A R T Y !
post malone + the Gump family]
xo xo
30 Before 30: Q2 Progress Update
As I’ve shared previously, I’m working towards completing a list of 30 things before I turn 30.
I can’t believe I’m already halfway through the challenge – which means I’m halfway through my 29th year! Eek! I’m definitely making progress, but need to start seriously checking things off the list in Q3 … if anyone wants to help with any let me know!
Start a new adventure.I’ve worked for Walmart for 6.5 years, as my first job out of college. I’ve officially accepted a position at Clorox, and couldn’t be more excited/anxious/thrilled to start this new adventure.- Make a complex meal 100% from scratch.
Hike Pinnacle Mountain + eat a Hubcap burger at Cotham’s.Unfortunately, I didn’t get to eat at Cotham’s since the original location burned down last year. However, I did hike Pinnacle – and it was a doozy! The challenge was worth it, as the views were stunning, and we’re already planning another hike up in the Fall.- Successfully do a one-armed push-up.
See a critically acclaimed show.This one makes me so happy because I’ve been dying to see this show and Mom got me tickets for my 29th birthday for our trip to Chicago. It was AMAZING. Absolutely go see it if you get the chance.
- Volunteer 30 hours. (13 hours complete!) This quarter included great, hot, sweaty, challenging Habitat work.
- Buy all my friends a round, randomly.
Play video games with Husband for a night, complete with pizza + beer.This was so fun! We played Mario Kart (he schooled me), tennis (both won) and a fighting game (which we also both won, to Husband’s chagrin). I definitely need to get in Husband’s world and do this more often!- Intentionally choose to stay by myself one night in a hotel. Obviously I’ve stayed by myself before, but for work or when husband was away – not intentionally.
- Learn a song on the guitar.
- Be in a play.
- Learn to play blackjack.
- Make a signature cocktail.
- Make a YouTube video that gets over 1k views.
- Start my book. This is one husband has been pushing me to do for years.
Win at least 1 trivia night.This one was totally out of the blue, but glad it happened the way it did. We won the poolside Hollywood Trivia on our family vacation in Mexico. Go Team Guacamole!- Write 30 handwritten letters. (22 complete!)
- Take a dance class.
- Go to a movie solo. Does it count that I tried to do this? I went to Mamma Mia 2, bought my ticket, got my popcorn and then partially into the movie it stopped working and they gave us our money back …
Ride 300 miles.Maybe this one didn’t take as along as anticipated, but it’s still checked off the list and I’m proud!- Dye my hair pink. Again, something I’ve always wanted to do. It could just be a few strands, and it could wash out after a day. Either way, I think 29 is the best time to do it.
- Do 5 things that scare me. (1. Leave my comfort zone job of 6.5 years. Trust me – it’s scary. 2. Ride a snowmobile)
- Give an amount of money that is significant to me and is significant to someone in need, but do it in such a way no one would ever know it was me who gave it and expect nothing in return.
- Travel to a state I’ve never been to.
- Take a personal day, for no reason at all.
Challenge myself with a new hobby.I didn’t realize it at first, but this is totally the Peloton! Since I didn’t grow up in sports or really sticking with an exercise routine, riding consistently has been a huge challenge for me and totally feels like a new hobby! We even chose to ride while on vacation – something I never thought I’d do, ha!
See someone in concert I’ve been dying to see.Taylor Swift – check. Taking Back Sunday (our favorite band from high school) – check AND Beyonce/Jay-Z coming up next month. I think I can officially check this one off the list.- Find an artist whose perspective of the world I appreciate and buy a piece of his or her work.
Take a spontaneous trip.Someone could probably fight me on this, but it’s my blog so I’ll do what I want – our NYC trip was totally spontaneous for me. No, it wasn’t a pick-up-and-go trip, but our friend Mark called, said he was having his 30th birthday party in NYC and did we want to go? I never turn down a trip to New York, so we said yes, but not planning something like that several months out is my kind of spontaneity!!
- Plan a huge 30th birthday bash.
- BONUS: Read 30 books. (16 complete!)
xo xo
Next quarterly update: Nov. 1 !
Do it for you.
I made a commitment to myself.
I made a commitment to myself to ride the Peloton 10 days in a row.
Here’s why I decided to do it, and how I stuck with it.
I’ve already blogged my praise of the book, Girl Wash Your Face. But there’s one chapter that has really stuck with me the last month – “I’ll Start Tomorrow.”
Can we take a moment and be real with ourselves … how many times have we said that?! I’ll start tomorrow!! I seriously can’t even count.
As Rachel Hollis says in her book, “We talk about the things we’d like to do, be, try and accomplish, but once we get to the moment of actually doing it, we fold faster than a card table after bunco night.”
I try so hard to keep my word and my commitments to other people, but I easily cancel on myself without even a second thought. I’ll skip my workout when I told myself I was going to do it after work. I’ll eat another piece of cake when I said I wouldn’t. I’ll listen to music on my way to work when I told myself I was going to use that time to pray.
I know I have the self-discipline, but I’m choosing not to use it. Why? I decided to try harder to stop breaking promises to myself.
So I started with something small. We have a constant supply of peanut butter M&Ms downstairs in our office, and it’s a huge issue. (Did I mention they are PEANUT BUTTER M&Ms?!) Grab a handful here and a handful there. No harm in that right? Uggggh. Well, I told myself I wouldn’t grab any handfuls all week, and guess what – I did it!
Okay, next commitment – ride 10 days in a row on the Peloton, culminating in a mother-daughter trip to Chicago to see Taylor Swift.
Y’all – I’m 9 days in, and I’m so proud of myself! I would be lying if I said it wasn’t hard, because there were several days I was so close to quitting. Like that day over Memorial Day weekend when we’d been out in the sun all day and I was drained and it was 5pm and I still hadn’t ridden. I almost broke down. I almost canceled on myself, but I didn’t.
The other thing I’ve been teaching myself through this is – this commitment is for me. No one else. You might be reading this thinking, “10 days? That’s nothing.” And maybe for you, it’s not, but for me it is a challenge. Husband rode 30 days in a row and has already done a 60 min ride. I’ve done 9 days in a row and just did my first 45 min. But guess what, that’s okay! And not only is it okay, but I should be happy for his accomplishments and he should be happy for mine even though they’re completely different.
“Comparison is the thief of joy.” – Theodore Roosevelt
My current favorite quote, and one we should all remind ourselves of daily.
So, I’ve got 1 more ride before my early flight to Chicago tomorrow, and I’m not canceling on myself now.
And then, it’s time for a mimosa.
xo xo
m.davis xoxo 