Happy Friday, friends! It’s been a minute since I’ve done a proper catch up with you all in this space so I figure we can start there. 

I spent last Wednesday through Sunday in Kansas City catching up with friends and it was go, go, go the entire time. Shanley picked me up from the airport and we headed straight to Tavernonna inside Hotel Phillips (they graciously had us in to try their lunch menu!) and two glasses of rosé and a bowl of cacio e pepe later I can confidently say I highly recommend! After that it was onto an event at Tom’s Town for a gin tasting, which led to a rather rough workout at Health House the following morning. I spent that afternoon with my sister before meeting up with my best friend from high school (hi, Meg!) for a sleepover with her kids. Friday morning I got up and out for a quick two mile run and then met up with best friend Whit to celebrate her birthday. I also got to love on her new little man, LK. He’s the sweetest thing. All in all, a trip well spent.

After all of that, I shouldn’t be surprised that I’ve felt sluggish all week. Other than a 4 mile run, I haven’t done anything active which is really unlike me. I’m chalking it up to a mix of being sick before I left and then eating and drinking allll the things (most of which I’ve been consuming much less of as of late – dairy, gluten, added sugar, you know, all the things I love 😭) while I was back home. You know that saying, “Everything in moderation, including moderation?” Ya, I took that quite literally for five days straight.

Links are a little light this week, but I like to think the ones I do have for you are ones that can’t be missed!

Song of the week: Arizona – Ain’t Gonna Leave. Turn it up and listen as you browse!

AROUND THE WEB/WORLD:

• This is the greatest thing I’ve seen in I don’t know how long #nailedit. You can find more of Matt’s work on Instagram here. Shout out to Hallie for leading me to this one!
• New favorite RXBAR flavor. The peanut butter chocolate seriously tastes like a treat.
• I always get tons of questions about this pom hat when I’m out and about and J. Crew just came out with this one that is super similar.
• I popped in Athleta yesterday and fell in love with the fit of this jacket and these tights (I went with a small in the jacket and sized down in the tights and got an extra small). I’ll be sharing a full blog post featuring them soon!
• Have you heard of Ritual? As someone who’s been taking a handful of vitamins and supplements (fish oil, borage seed oil, biotin, etc.) in an effort to reduce inflammation and do my body some good, consider me intrigued!
• The price is right on this journal ($7.77) with the extra 40% off Anthropologie is offering on all of their sale items right now! It’s worth a browse, for sure.
• An easy last minute dip you can put together in just a few minutes. You know, for all of those impromptu parties that are sure to be popping up.
• I’ve said this time and time again, but Grace is always my go-to when I’m looking for a new book and I’m anxious to get my hands on The Hate U Give after reading her review.
• For the bloggers (and any of you who are curious about the business of blogging), this is a great take.
• In case you missed it: Three things I do each night to ensure a smooth start to my morning.

As for the weekend ahead, I’m heading to a cardio and core class this evening and plan to veg out on the couch. I scheduled a spin class bright and early tomorrow, and then I’m going to make my way over to the Lincoln Park Zoo to volunteer with the Off the Street Club for their annual Spooky Zoo Spectacular for the kids! My plans for tomorrow night are a little up in the air, but I just might need to figure out a costume. Are you dressing up? Or has that ship sailed for you? If you need a last minute Halloween costume idea, here’s a very, very old blog post – eek!

Whatever the weekend holds for you, I hope it’s great! I’ll be sharing in real-time over on Instagram, Snapchat (I’ve been having a lot of fun with this platform again. Perhaps because Instagram seems to be a complete and utter shitshow? haha), and Twitter.

Anywho, see you back here next week, guys!