The Life of Katie!

Since getting back from Hawaii earlier this month, I have had nothing short of an emotional roller coaster that’s ended in feeling so much gratitude for where I’ve been and what’s in store for me moving forward. I have been sharing tons of Hawaii content over on my Instagram (follow me @_thepinkchickadee) and I STILL feel as if I’m in multiple mega “pinch me” moments realizing that I was in the Aloha State to kick off September 2024. My week on Hawaii was incredible and such a blessing to me. Getting to spend time with my friends Bryn and Maxwell (our amazing host and tour guide!) all across most of Oahu and Maui was AMAZING!!!! Truly, a dream come true to me!

I loved over these past few weeks either preparing for the trip to Hawaii, getting to explore and take photos in Hawaii, or organizing my apartment and looking through ALLLL the almost 1,000 photos that I took on my camera while in Hawaii once I got home. Pinch me now!!! Most of my life recently has revolved around the empowerment that it took to go on such a huge trip (with 15+ hours of travel time each way!) and coming home feeling so empowered to take on all that comes my way back at home. But, at the same time, I have enjoyed taking on a new leadership role in my 9-5, time catching up with family and friends and my dog Rosie, and moments to focus on my wellness as it felt GREAT taking 10,000+ steps a day in Hawaii. Needless to say, my trip to Hawaii was truly transformative for my physical and mental wellbeing overall.

Now, as always, I bring y’all … recent life updates:

Wellness journey – I have started to make some recent health changes. While in Hawaii, I discovered (or finally realized) that I have a resistance to certain liquors, including tequila, rum, and vodka. I also have a major resistance to large amounts of sugar. Since cutting these high-sugar items out of my diet, it has been … groundbreaking. At the same time, I am starting to get in more steps, including during the work day, as I’m *confessions* one to simply sit at the desk all day long without many breaks up and at it. September is the time to change all of that.
Happy hours – While I do LOVE an excellent cocktail even if not as frequent, I do Stan being a wine-loving queen! I have enjoyed some happy hour moments (with wine!) with some friends and family and cohort classmates at Screwtop Wine Bar, Ozzie’s Good Eats, Barca, Virtue Feed and Grain, and Metrobar. At the same time, I have ALSO enjoyed some at-home happy hours with homemade Aperol spritzes and *of course* some wine!
Lilly Pulitzer Sunshine Sale & Lenox Spice Village – My first week home was a BIG shopping week for me. The September Lilly Pulitzer Sunshine Sale came around, which is my FAVORITE annual Lilly Pulitzer sale to stock up during (!!!!!). At the same time, Lenox released its iconic spice village again at its original price for preorder, which I may or may not have snagged the entire 24-piece collection of ….
Hawaii flight – I am beyond proud of myself for surviving the 11 hour flight from JFK Airport in New York City ALLLL the way to Honolulu. Bryn and I met up at JFK Airport after connecting flights from our respective cities and sat next to one another via the loooonggg haul to Honolulu. The same on the way back to the United States mainland (as Hawaiians call it!) as we flew from Honolulu to Detroit airport. Unfortunately, I have recently had trouble sleeping on flights which made me super sleep deprived on both long treks to and from Hawaii. Nevertheless, the crazy long amounts of travel time was SO WORTH IT, especially to see beautiful Hawaii when landing/taking off from our window seat!
Hawaii 2024 – aka one of THE BEST TRIPS I have ever taken!!! More in-depth content to come soon from this incredible trip. But, for now, enjoy some content on my journey to Manoa Falls and my Lilly Pulitzer holy grail moment at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.
Car issues – UGHHHHH … sometimes I feel like I have THE WORST luck with car issues. Whenever they happen, it always seems that multiple issues pile up all at once. This time around was NO different when my car needed to go in for new front brakes and the back brakes started to malfunction. Needless to say, it feels super frustrating at times to have a huge lineup of car issues. ARGH!