Fall Feels + Five Goals for September

Styling a t-shirt dress for fall | My Style Diaries blogger Nikki PrendergastStyling a t-shirt dress and sock booties for fall | My Style Diaries blogger Nikki PrendergastStyling a t-shirt dress and sock booties for fall | My Style Diaries blogger Nikki PrendergastStyling a t-shirt dress and sock booties for fall | My Style Diaries blogger Nikki PrendergastStyling a t-shirt dress and sock booties for fall | My Style Diaries blogger Nikki PrendergastStyling a t-shirt dress and sock booties for fall | My Style Diaries blogger Nikki PrendergastStyling a t-shirt dress and sock booties for fall | My Style Diaries blogger Nikki Prendergast Striped t-shirt dress (under $40);  Sock bootiessimilar leather jacketGiGi New York handbagQuay sunglassesKendra Scott bracelets

September, y’all.  Can you even believe it?  Labor Day weekend has come and gone, and I’m over here like, didn’t summer just start?  I’m hopping on a flight back to California today from Louisiana (hoping to beat Tropical Storm Gordon, fingers crossed), and despite the warm temps in both places, I’ve currently got all the fall feels.  I’m excited to pull out all of the fall fashion, whip up a chili, shop for a pumpkin, and kick off week two of football season.  (Any other gals excited for football season?  Because I’m stoked.)  And in addition to the usual, I’ve decided to put together a little list of September goals.  Because what good is a new season if you can’t do a few new things?  So here goes.

Decorating our house for fall – This is the goal I’m probably most excited about, and it’s all my mom’s fault.  I’m fresh off a trip home to Louisiana for a few days, and my mom already had their house totally ready for fall.  Door wreaths, little touches here and there, and even fall dishes on the table – she’s kicked summer to the curb and is ready for the leaves to change.  In our home, there’s nothing I love more than decorating for Christmas, so I figured, why not add in a little seasonal spruce in the meantime?  Once I get some pumpkins, colorful leaves, and turkeys in the mix, you know I’ll be sharing with you guys here and over on the ‘gram.  (You can follow all of my HB home posts here.)

Find a new book…And read it – As much as I hate to admit it, it’s been *cough* years since I’ve read a book cover to cover.  I’ve started a couple that I never finished, but reading from page one and finishing the whole shebang?  Years.  My main problem is a) finding the right book and b) falling asleep after reading a couple of pages.  I’ve decided that maybe bedtime isn’t my prime reading time, so I plan to carve out a little time during the day, maybe a couple days a week.  Also, I’m currently taking book suggestions, so please, please let me know your favorites!  (As far as categories, I’d love a little suspense, something funny or a good love story, just no self-help, por favor.)

Kick up my workout routine – Before Eric and I got married about two and a half years ago, I was in a serious pilates routine.  I went to a reformer class about five times a week for over a year.  (I had an unlimited monthly package, so it helps that my frugal side wanted to get the most out of the package.)  After our wedding, I got a little burned out on pilates and felt like my body just kind of started to plateau.  I tried out Orangetheory classes and really liked them, but juggling the classes with my schedule at the time and Weeze’s tough puppy phase proved to be a lot, so I just didn’t keep going.  These days, I get my workouts in by taking Weeze on a long walk (usually 2 to 5 miles, depending on the day), but I’d like to start adding in occasional classes and workouts to switch things up.  I’ve heard amazing things about SeaFit Pilates in Huntington Beach and think I’ve got to give it a shot this month.

A return to at-home facials – There was a time not too long ago when this was an every-Sunday type of thing.  I’d remove my makeup, wash my face with two different cleansers (also love this one), and take a long bath with a masque on my face.  Post-rinse and post-bath, I’d follow up with my PMD (Personal Microderm – such a face-changer), these toning pads, a serum, and my favorite undereye cream.  (See a full review of my favorite eye creams here.) Right before bed, I’d usually add on one more moisturizer or facial oil.  I know, it’s a LOT of steps, but it was my relaxing, end-of-weekend thing that happened to really change my skin, and it’s something I’ve been missing for a while.  Blame the hiatus on laziness or the fact that it’s been WAY too hot for baths, but this month, I’m planning to get this skin back in its best shape, one at-home facial at a time.

Getting back to basics with Instagram – Once upon a time, many algorithms ago, Instagram was just plain fun.  Take some grainy photo with your iPhone 3, slap a filter on it, create some emo caption with a hashtag that meant nothing, and call it a day.  Then came 400 different photo editing apps, a non-chronological feed, blogger pods (groups of girls who DM each other when they post a photo so that everyone can go “like” and “comment” on each other’s photos – I’m not kidding), bots and fake followers, paying for comments, and brands and snooty PR reps who like to dump on the 7 years you’ve been actually running a website because your Instagram engagement isn’t up to their made-up standards.  Instagram can be an amazing tool for growing a business so I’ve tried to play the stupid games, and really, I just don’t care anymore.  I want to get back to posting photos and images that make me happy, so I kicked off the month the best way I know how – a photo from a friend’s wedding with some of my high school besties.  Suck it, algorithm.

What are some things you guys are looking forward to this month?

xoxo

Photos thanks to Katie Stuart

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