Hi! It’s been a while since I have done a life lately post — almost three months! — so I wanted to check in and talk about what’s been going on in my life. Earlier this month, I was in Jackson Hole, Wyoming on a girls’ ski trip. It was such a cute, historic town, and really captured the spirit of the Old West. (I am working on a complete recap of our trip that should be up in the next couple of weeks!) When I returned from visiting my 40th state, the weather here in DC was incredible — it was warm enough to walk after work without a huge jacket, and because of “spring forward,” it stayed light ..read more

Recently, I was scrolling TikTok before bed, as one does, and a toaster — yes, a toaster — stopped me in my tracks. It was a super cute blue + white floral patterned toaster that I would come to learn is by beloved 80s + 90s brand, Laura Ashley. Talk about a renaissance! I am not speaking in hyperbole here — I don’t think I’ve ever added something to my cart so quickly. Did I need a new toaster? Not in the slightest. Do I have regrets? Absolutely not. What I loved about this toaster the most is that it is cute enough to keep on a kitchen counter — form and function, you know? My old toaster wa ..read more

In late February, my sisters escaped the chilly Mid-Atlantic winter and headed down to Cancun, Mexico, for a five-day, four night beach vacation. Last year, we took a similar trip to Cap Cana, Dominican Republic, which is truly one of the best vacations I’ve ever had, so needless to say we were very excited. While we definitely enjoyed our trip — I mean, it’s hard to complain when you’re drinking a margarita overlooking the Caribbean — we were not thrilled with where we stayed, Hyatt Zilara Cancun, and would not recommend staying there. Because of that, I am going to keep this recap of ou ..read more

Last year, one of my goals was to “finish” my apartment. I put the word finish in quotes as I think my home will never truly be done as I am always re-organizing and re-styling, but what I essentially was getting at by that goal was ensuring that I had all major pieces of furniture and that there were no empty walls. As such, over the 2022 into 2023 holidays, I spent some time shopping for another dresser for my bedroom. I was already using the vintage faux bamboo dresser I had lacquered in green, but was craving more store space for off-season clothing and accessories. There was also&nbs ..read more

Though I recently shared about how I want to be more thoughtful about using what I have already, I always love reading about what other people have found to be their best buys from the past year. As such, I wanted to share my best buys from 2023 and overview why I love each item so much. If you’re curious, you can read past year’s posts on this topic, too: 2022 (for what it’s worth, I still constantly reach for everything I shared on this list!), 2021, 2020, 2018, 2017, 2016, and, if I had written a similar post in 2015, it’d be about this. I accidentally let this series lag in ..read more

Hello, 2024! I am coming to the close of two weeks off work, and it has been glorious — I feel like I was able to spend quality time with friends and family, while still working on a ton of things from my personal to-do list. I love using my vacation for travel, but there’s also something to be said for taking the time off to enjoy your own home and daily life. I definitely wouldn’t complain if someone handed me another two weeks off work ;), but I am excited to get back into a routine. SOME THOUGHTS ON BLOGGING — One of the main things on my personal to-do list over my “adult winter break” wa ..read more

Editor’s Note — this post was originally published in January 2023, but I am re-publishing it in January 2024 as I’ve gone through and added the 11 new restaurants my DC dinner club visited in 2023. Bon Appétit!  /// Over the years, I have shared where my DC Dinner Club has eaten throughout many of the posts in my ‘DC Dinner Club’ blog series. (FYI – within those posts, I shared DC area restaurants I dined at in addition to the ones we visited for dinner club.) But I have never had a centralized place where I keep a running list of restaurants we visit as a dinner club — which i ..read more

Happy New Year! I am lucky enough to still be off work for the holidays — I took two full weeks off, meaning I have 16 straight days off from Slack notifications, work emails, and Zoom meetings. Unlike the past few years, I decided to stay home for NYE, and it has been so nice to have this extended time at home to truly relax + recharge for what I am sure will be a busy year ahead. The first week of my vacation was very much dedicated to the holidays — I spent the days leading up to and Christmas with my family, then did a one-night staycation at the St. Regis with my friend Molly, then spent ..read more

I am excited to share the 10 best books I read in 2023 with you today! This is always a fun list for me to put together — and I always love hearing about what other people’s favorite books of the year were, so please drop them in the comments below. Reading has been a lifelong passion of mine — and after having put reading for pleasure on the back burner during undergraduate (2009-2013) and graduate school (2015-2016), I am glad that I rediscovered reading for fun in 2017. I’ve shared my tips for reading more before, but my number one tip is to find the type of books that you love reading, and ..read more

Happy Holidays! I can’t believe it is already December — and 2024 is less than a month away! I am taking the weeks of Christmas and New Year’s off work, and I am so excited for an extended break. Unlike the last few years when I’ve traveled over the holidays, I am staying put this year, and excited to decompress from 2023 and get ready for the New Year at home. My last trip of the year will be to New York City next week for work — it’s always fun being in the city during the holidays! I wanted to pop in with a quick life lately post and share some of the happenings around here ..read more