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November Small Goals

I'm sad to see my favorite month go. October always goes by SO quickly, especially with only 4 weekends. My family traveled to Dallas to twice and hosted three parties. I'm over parties! I hope to slow down a bit in November as I prepare for December. Check out what I accomplished in October and what I have planned for this month!


1. PLAN A HALLOWEEN PARTY
Done! I kept it SUPER simple this year and only cooked my savory & sweet crock pot meatballs. If you are looking for a delicious and easy party food you HAVE to make these! Find the recipe here. I made an alcoholic punch which was wonderful and the clean up was easy. Although my floors were disgusting the next day, so I had to steam mop them. Turner ended up napping from 5-8pm, and the party started at 8pm so he was up the ENTIRE time with us. He mostly stayed in my room and watched movies, but every once in a while he would pop in and stare at everyone...haha! The theme was decades, and there were some great costumes. My favorite costume was American Gladiators by my neighbors Vanessa and Anthony. It was abnormally cold for October that night so we spent most of the time in our garage. We ended the night with a hilarious high kick contest and truth or dare with Fireball. I felt hungover the next day even though I didn't have one drink (I was feeling sick), because I stayed up till 1pm.

2. PRACTICE SHOOTING MANUALLY
Didn't happen once. Every time I have something to shoot for a blog post I feel like I'm under INTENSE pressure to get it done quickly. Well, I usually am because my kids are either in the background crying, or they are napping and I have a very small window for shooting. I have no room for error, so I can't worry about messing up while in manual mode.

3. RESEARCH CHARLESTON, SC
Done! I booked a facial and massage for my sis, mom and I at the Belmond Charleston Place Spa, and I wrote out a laid back itinerary for our 3 day trip. Going to take a food tour and a trip to the Boone Hall Plantation.

4. CELEBRATE 31
Done! My birthday fell on a Tuesday and it was pretty boring most of the day (hello work), until I got to go out with my closest friends for dinner. Turner and Alex surprised me with flowers and a handwritten card before work, and I was spoiled with gifts from my mom and friends. My mom sent me some birthday money which I used to buy a few things at Nordstrom (Jeans, Sweater, Tee & Tee). The icing on the cake was my friend Erica was in town from California, and we got to hang out two nights in a row!

5. PLAN OUT CHRISTMAS PRESENT PURCHASES
Didn't plan a thing. I'm going to keep purchases very minimal this year, especially for my kids. I'm not sure if Alex and I will decide to buy each other presents this year so we'll see. I would rather save the money for a vacation! How do you do gift giving with your spouse?


Honestly I'm not a fan of Thanksgiving, but I'm excited for two vacation days! Here's what I have planned for November.

1. HOST A GIRLS NIGHT OUT EVENT
Most of October I spent pulling together an event at PureBarre Round Rock, and I'm excited to host it this Friday! There were only 23 (free) tickets and they sold out quickly. We'll be taking a barre class and afterwards enjoy pizza, cocktails, and Sprinkles cupcakes! Each guest is also going to receive a gift card for a free blow out from Drybar.

2. MAKE INTENTIONAL PURCHASES
Something hit me in October...maybe cooler weather, but I was over not shopping. I challenged myself to only purchase one clothing item per month from July 1 to December 31, but I straight up quit in October. I honestly don't feel guilty about it, because I had minimally shopped since January.  With all that to say the first few days and weeks after ending my challenge, I went kind of nuts. As in I wanted EVERYTHING. The timing worked out because I received some money for my birthday, but now I need to reel it in. I bought some high priced items I would have NEVER spent my money on in the past. I think after not shopping for so long, spending more on quality items was worth it to me. I tried these over-the-knee boots on in Madewell last week and can't stop thinking about them. Wondering if I should save up for them?

3. ENJOY A KID-FREE VACATION WITH FAMILY
I'm beyond excited to spend 3 days in Charleston, SC with my mother and sis kid-free! We're celebrating my mom's birthday which is November 11, and my sister's birthday is not far behind on December 2. My sister and mom deserve this trip. My sis is about to graduate with her masters degree from Texas Tech, she has 5 girls, AND she works full time in education. My mother deserves is the most selfless person I know, and this year has been very hard. Alex and my in-laws will be holding down the fort while I'm gone.

4. DECORATE FOR CHRISTMAS
Yes, I'm that person who decorates for Christmas before Thanksgiving. I love the ambience of twinkling lights and want to have them up as long as I can. Due to my young kiddos, I don't have my hands free for hours at a time, so decorating is a process that will likely take a weekend or two. I'll probably start November 18, and finish up the weekend after Thanksgiving. Like last year I will probably have to put our large Christmas tree in my bedroom, because Walt and Whitney can't keep their hands off. I'm excited to bust out my silver candy cane tree again!

5. ROCK MY DAY JOB
I work hard on this blog, but it's not my career. My career is in marketing, and I've got a big meeting I'm presenting at in a few weeks that is important for the sales of our company. I'm not scared of public speaking, but I'm still nervous. I'm usually surrounded by a room full of men, and I have to hold my own. My goal is to do a kick-ass job, and work hard during one of the busiest months of the year.

Do you have any monthly goals? Link up here with my friend Nicole!

2 comments:

Rach said...

You inspired me to set November small goals as well! Here are mine: Go to Pilates four times, budget $20/week cash for coffee & eating out during the work week, finish the book I started during vacation, and get our back door fixed. Here's to a new month!

kelsey williams said...

I would like to get most (if not ALL) of my Christmas shopping done in November, so I can enjoy December!

I'm so excited to follow your Charleston trip. Boone Hall will not disappoint!