As October comes to a close - honestly, how did it go so fast?! - there's no time like the present to post about this trip at the beginning of the month to the cutest pumpkin patch/family run farm in the surrounding Tampa area! My mom and sister took the day off so we could all go together and it was the most fun.

Not only did the pumpkin patch offer almost every pumpkin you could want (with mini pumpkins in the barn as well!) but there were hayrides, corn mazes, fresh lemonade and cider, games, and all things fall. I honestly loved it so much!

On that day, while I may have been running on only a few hours of sleep, I still felt present in the moment and fully there. Which, as I've written about before, isn't always a common occurrence. But that week it was like something turned a light on in my head and I was awake after walking through a fog for so long. I didn't know how; all I knew was that I didn't want that feeling to end. Because living present in the moment is so much greater than living weighed down and distracted.

As I have been learning and being made aware of recently, the key to being present I believe is a mind over matter type of thing. It's choosing to not allow other people or things or feelings to dictate your perspective, but living in the fullness of God and who He has made you to be. When we walk through life focused on what others might think of us or feeling hurt by various things, our attention becomes so centered on the problem, that we aren't really there in the present. But when we choose to lay aside the things that we have been allowing to take hold of us, then we begin to live in the now, aware of all the good around us and able to better enjoy where we're at in this very moment.

It's not about what happened yesterday, the day before, or even months or years ago. It's not about what this or that person thinks - people are gonna think what they're gonna think, despite your efforts to change that. It's not about the things that have implanted feelings of hurt and rejection. And it's not about the past. That's long gone, can't be taken back.

It's about the now. It's about living in God's love, knowing that despite what others may think of us, we are fully loved and fully accepted by Him...and that's more than enough. It's about living loved and going out no longer dependent on others or on our situations, but on Him, with the notion to live out that love without limitations dictating who we are or how we should live. It's about being fully present in this moment before it's all but gone.

We only get a handful of moments. And we decide what to do with them, how to live them out. I believe the best way is to live present, and live in His fullness...in His love. The only question I can think to wrap this up in the most honest, thought evoking way is: How will you choose to live your moments, right in the now?

It's been about a month but this post is finally going up! If you follow along on Instagram, Facebook, Snap...whatever other social media outlets I post on, then you have probably seen something about this girls weekend trip to St. Pete last month for my birthday and for the fashion show. I still can't get over how great of a trip it was, just a fun time to spend with some of the best friends and take pictures and enjoy fashion together! So looking forward to more trips and good times with these girls. ♡


I styled these outfits weeks ahead of time, mostly by thinking about the itinerary I had planned and gathering ideas of what would work for each event. For the brunch, I knew I wanted something lace but couldn't find the dress style that I had wanted. So instead, when I grabbed this lace top I thought it would be perfect with a chic skirt and bandeau set, paired with neutral and gold accessories.

For the fashion show look, I had previously already ordered a dress that was on sale and perfect for fall, and when I got it in I was trying it on and figured it would make a stylish statement top as well! All I did was gather the bottom flowy skirt of the dress and tie it into a sash at the waist. (If you're not up for that, no worries! I added some similar tops below in 'shop the looks') I knew that I had wanted to pair it with neutral flare pants and when Boohoo had one of their 60% off sales I grabbed one for such a score! I added the same pair and a similar one below for y'all to shop - it's honestly the perfect statement pant. And again, the gold accessories stayed on allll weekend, couldn't get enough of the layered coin necklace trend!

On our final day, we walked around St. Pete, browsing coffee shops, boutique stores, and taking photos by the murals. I just threw on this fit and flare dress for the outing, as it was way too hot out to wear anything else! And we all put on our heels that day even though our feet hurt from the day before lol. It was the best trip, and I'm sorry to just now be getting around to posting about it!


I know that the "life gets busy" excuse gets old, and honestly I'm tired of hearing it from myself too. Truth is, it's not always the staying busy that causes things to be put off. It's this cloud that I walk through almost daily, making it hard to think clearly or do anything besides work, which, even that's difficult to get to most of the time.

Things come up that are often out of my control, and as a result I'm stuck focusing so much on what's going on around me that I just completely dismiss what's in front of me. Seriously, you should see the amount of emails I've yet to get to and the ever-growing memory space on everything I own that desperately needs clearing out. Not to mention an online course I've been putting off for entirely too long with a deadline now close in sight.

When something knocks me off my feet, it takes a little while to stand back up again and even after that to start thinking clearly enough to do any good at what I've been needing to get to. I live for the days when I wake up and it feels as though the cloud I've been walking through has lifted, the days when I feel normal and more like myself again.


It's not something commonly talked about, but I think that others feel the weight of the cloud too on most days. Even when you have the motivation, it can prove difficult to do anything with it when your head just isn't thinking straight. I get that it's hard living in the fog. And I think that there are some things we can do in the meantime to try to push through it.

For one, getting enough sleep, eating right, and exercising to get the blood flowing is so important to this. I am not at all one who can brag about living a healthy lifestyle physically. And that probably most definitely plays a large part in why my head is always in a cloud. So I am right there with ya on treating myself better. If you're in the same place, we are working on this together!

Our mindsets and how we prioritize things also has the potential to affect the state that our heads are in. I've noticed that when I start out my days with God first, getting in the Word and just giving all my worries for the day to Him, that things seem to run so much smoother than they do otherwise. My mind feels refreshed and able to take on whatever is set before or around me. When the right things come first and our mindsets are clear, everything else seems to fall into place.

If you're in this spot too, you don't have to go it alone. My messages and comments are always open so we can get through it together. And when I or a friend or anyone else isn't around, just start talking and praying and you'll begin to feel that you're not alone in this after all. ♡