Hello hello! I'm back from Barbados (as of late last Thursday) and spent my remaining three days off catching up on stuff around the house, laundry, unpacking, and of course some fun and shopping in there too.
I'm still going through the over-500 photos I took, but I promise to narrow it down and will share a travel-diary tomorrow. I also took tons of video and am currently working on a recap of the trip that I will try to keep under three minutes (to some fun island music).
Thank you so much for being patient with my lack of posts for a week--I know that can be annoying or frustrating, but at the same time, it's the first time in over four years where I went on vacation and truly kicked back and didn't schedule posts--which was kind of nice. I definitely felt a little guilty and you guys were always on my mind, but hopefully we kept in touch through Instagram at least (see our IG vacation album here).
Anyway, without further adieu, here is a peek at my weekend...
Long nails--sort of! I think going on vacation with a manicure helped me stop picking at my nails knowing I didn't have nail polish remover to take it off once it chipped. I did bring a bottle of the polish I wore--Essie's, e-nuf is e-nuf--for quick touch-ups, but when I got home it was exciting to see some length. In this photo I'm wearing OPI's, Lincoln Park at Midnight which is one of my faves.
More photos after the jump...
I'm someone who is always quite sad when vacation ends, there are usually a few tears (like on the plane on the way home, Marco can attest!) but as much of a bummer it is for vacation to end, it's always good to be home. The extreme heat in Barbados was enough to make me thankful for this cool, fall weather we are experiencing; and, you can't beat these colours either!
Friday morning I scrounged up the last few eggs remaining in the fridge and cooked up an omelette for breakfast before spending the day doing tons of laundry.
Later, I went out to my parent's place for a visit and to tell them about our trip. Then it was off to Costco to grab some groceries and steaks to surprise Marco for dinner (especially after eating out for a week solid, it was nice to have a home-cooked meal).
I made twice-baked potatoes and grilled up some asparagus as sides.
I shared these amazing, healthy, two-ingredient pancakes a few weeks ago and have been making them frequently ever since. I was craving them in Barbados so finally made them on Saturday.
Outfit deets: Beats Solo 2 headphones, 90 Degree by Reflex tank, Mondetta pants (similar) & Nike Free 3.0 shoes (similar).
Then Marco dragged my butt to the gym--I was so not feeling like going there (vacation please don't end!) but we went and it was hard. I haven't been to the gym in over a month due to starting HIIT training at my condo's gym with a friend for two weeks, being sick for over two weeks, and then of course going on vacation. I feel like I'm in a slump and need a serious switch in my workouts to get motivated again--fortunately, Marco is a good push at least on weekends.
Then we went to Chuck's for paninis--haven't been there in months--so good! It felt nostalgic of last winter since the weather was so cool.
Then we randomly decided to do some interior decor shopping. We ended up leaving with a new dining room light and...
...this cool chair that matches our couch! We went into Mobilia to browse and this little guy was at the back of the store in the exact fabric of our couch (which we had to special order and wait four months for). We found our sales woman and since this was a one-off, she gave us a great price and we took it home that day; talk about impulse!
Marco has been traveling quite a bit for work and has been taking advantage of the duty free to stock our bar collection. We don't have a hutch or bar-cart, so I rearranged the bottles on top of this small wine fridge we have beside our entertainment unit in the living room.
Outfit deets: F21 jacket, Aldo boots (old; similar), Dynamite scarf (seen wearing here) & Michael Kors watch.
On Saturday night we went to our friend's place for a birthday party. It was kind of exciting to wear dark, muted colours, boots and a leather jacket.
Outfit deets: Joshua Perets hoodie & tank (both old), 90 Degree by Reflex leggings & Supra hi-tops.
Sunday was basically a recovery day but I did get a lot of laundry put away, some cleaning done, Marco installed our new light fixture and we got take-out for dinner.
Hope you had a great weekend, and see you all tomorrow!
Hi Amanda,
ReplyDeleteI hope you will take this with a grain of salt, and not be hurt or offended by it, as I certainly don’t want to hurt your feelings or make you feel badly, but I hope that what I’m about to say will help you. I have seen comments that people have left you where they have indicated that you can often come across as conceited or self-involved, or overly concerned with your importance and your blog’s importance, and you always respond (relatively politely) with “well, this is my blog where I write about my life so maybe that’s why” – but that really isn’t why. I think you get comments like this because you write things like “Thank you so much for being patient with my lack of posts for a week--I know that can be annoying or frustrating, but at the same time, it's the first time in over four years where I went on vacation and truly kicked back and didn't schedule posts--which was kind of nice. I definitely felt a little guilty and you guys were always on my mind.”
Do you really feel the need to apologize to the internet, or to your readers, for not blog posting every day? I think you overestimate the impact that your lack of posts has on the world and on people’s days. It really has no effect at all. You have found, in your readers, mostly people (including myself) who have found something to do between 8 and 8:15 while they sip their coffee and delay the inevitable workday. If for some reason you don’t post one day, we move on to other blogs, or news articles, or actual work. When you write stuff like I mention above, it’s like you think you have fans or something that are crushed if they come to your blog and don’t have a new post to read about whatever you happened to buy at Winners last weekend. Seriously, it’s not a big deal. We don’t need an apology or to hear that while you were frolicking on a beach in Barbados, you were thinking of a few friends and mostly strangers who briefly check in to see if you bought a new pair of shoes. I was fine with your absence. You need to be as well. The world is ok without posts for a week from someone who sits at home and sets up pretty little home decor landscapes, or tendered, sweet outfits to put on their blog to share for no apparent reason at all.
I am a regular reader of your blog, and I do enjoy it. You are a lovely girl who seems kind and fun-loving, but you also do come across as really self-involved sometimes…and it’s not because you post about your life or shopping. It really isn’t.
You also overuse the word “up”. Everything is “cooking up”, “washing up sheets”, “grilling up asparagus”… just something else to be aware of.
What is the point of this ^ comment?? Did you really feel the need to write a novel because she politely says sorry for not posting as much? It's not like anyone takes this apology for not posting super seriously... She's just causally saying sorry for not posting. If you notice the comments she does actually have regular readers.
ReplyDeleteAnd what is she supposed to say grilling down asparagus?? Blogs are a personal expression.. Therefore her own vocabulary will be used. It flows, makes sense and grammatically correct.. To me that's more important.
Jess, I know she has regular readers. I said I was one of them. Perhaps you missed that.
ReplyDeleteThe point of my comment is to help her understand how she can occasionally come across as self-involved, since people have said that to her previously, and she never seems to understand why. She always just brushes it off and says "well, maybe that's because this blog if about my life." That's not why she comes across as self-involved, and she is just going to continue to get comments like that if she doesn't realize how her words sound. To me, when she writes stuff like the apology, where she thinks people were impacted by a week where she didn't post, it clearly isn't a casual apology if she's feeling guilty about it, and thinking that people are annoyed or frustrated by her lack of posts just because she chose to swim and sunbathe for a week and not write a blog post every day while she was doing it.
She could say she is just grilling the asparagus...or cooking breakfast, or washing sheets...rather than "washing up" or "cooking up"...just suggestions. I'm entitled to make them and she's entitled to ignore them or take them into consideration. You need to realize that every comment she gets isn't going to be someone telling her how fabulous her nails are or something similar.
Lol
DeleteI hope you dont let that rude comment affect you. I will never understand people who think its okay to bully bloggers. Those of us who do enjoy reading your blog also appreciate when you explain a lack of posts. I hope you had a great trip!
ReplyDelete@Jess & Nikki: both super sweet comments, thanks for coming to my defence and being so kind--I appreciate your readership :)
ReplyDelete@Ashley: thanks for the constructive criticism--personally, I find it frustrating if there is a blog I read and enjoy--which people have mentioned they do about mine, which is really nice :)--whom normally post daily and are absent for a while. I'm certainly not trying to come across as self-involved, simply explaining the reason for the extended absence in what I had hoped was in an empathetic way. I'm glad it didn't affect your day and also appreciate your readership. As far as the 'up' wording, I don't think I had realized I used that so frequently. I try to write as I would normally speak, being true to myself, as if I'm talking to friends. Hope that helps you understand my wording. Cheers.