New life, New state, Blog update + OOTD

Hi friends! Wow, it’s been so long! The last few months have been a whirlwind. This little blog of mine has been a protected, safe space, and one I’ve loved on for many of years. While this blog has always just been a hobby of mine, and not a full time job, (however I do admire those that have hustled and made it in this space – bravo to them and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t jealous 🙂 ), I have never been quite ready to say goodbye. I still love everything about fashion, trends, and simply getting ready for the day. Nothing can replace the feeling of being confident in your own skin! However, I’m sure many of you wonder what the heck has been going on as of late.

Earlier this year, life got a little sticky – Florida was wearing on my husband and I. When we first moved to Florida 8 years ago in 2015, it was busy, but not crazy. Post-Covid things got a little wild. If you’ve followed my blog for awhile, you’ll remember when we first moved to Florida, we lived in Sarasota County – fairly close to the beach. My husband accepted a new job in 2020 (right before Covid), late night shifts, but it was a better work environment and we thought it was the right thing to do at the time. In 2021, my husband’s job suddenly closed locations and told us if he wanted to keep his job, we would have to relocate to Tampa (about 1.5 hours north of where we were currently living). We said sure, why not, lets take a leap and do it! So we did – we moved about 30 minutes north of Tampa (near Wesley Chapel/Land O Lakes area if you’re familiar), and lived there for 2 years. However, that job was a bust. My husband’s employer was forcing him to work overnights (the original agreement was until 10 pm) and we hardly saw each other. He ended up taking another job in St. Pete with the hopes that we could move back down closer to Sarasota since the big (terrifying lol) Skyway bridge takes you both ways. However, when we hit the 2 year mark this year, we were exhausted. Our marriage was exhausted. His newest job was also a bust – your typical toxic work environment, forcing late nights, tons of OT, on the ‘newbies’ and allowing the people who have been with the company forever to open and “work” during the day (but hardly working at all), so it all piles up for the night people to take care of. Not to mention he was driving almost 2 hours roundtrip 5 days per week.

Since early 2020, I had hardly spent time with my husband. I felt very alone. I took a WFH job in 2021 and it was very hard for me to meet friends. Not only that, Tampa was just not my cup of tea. I love the slower, beach life of Sarasota, but not the crazy city life of Tampa. I became a huge hermit, never wanting to leave the house, wasting money on ‘fast’ hits of clothing and other ways to bring me joy. I did read a ton of new books during this time though – one of the only positives! 🙂 But regardless, we hit rock bottom.

Thankfully, we pulled out of our stupor before it was too late, saw a therapist, and started working through everything. But, I knew I couldn’t do Florida anymore. Well, I could move back to Sarasota, but that area had become extraordinarily expensive. The house we sold in 2021 was now worth $400k more than what we purchased it for in 2017. We both craved a more simple life at this point. All I could think about was “I just want to go home.” Well …and so we did. I’m sitting here writing this blog post in our new house, 1 mile down the street from my high school in my hometown of Fort Wayne, Indiana. It’s 70 degrees out and I’m not sure if that’s freezing or refreshing lol!

Some days I think we are nuts and other days I feel like I can breathe for the first time in 8 years. While Florida was a fun and wild ride, it feels so good to be home. However, ask me again in January when it’s 12 degrees outside. 🙂 We’ve been in our new house for almost a month now and every day it feels like more and more like we made the right choice. I was able to keep my same WFH job and my husband was very lucky to secure a Director of Pharmacy position with a new company (a job he has always wanted) – and his commute is 10 minutes from our house!

Will we stay in Indiana forever? Who knows. But for now, it felt like the right thing to do, and I don’t regret it one bit.

What does that mean for my blog? I’m honestly not sure! I’m not shopping at all like I used to- I’m very much trying to wear my closet and be more mindful of my purchases. I encourage you to do the same. So I think I’ll pop in here on days I actually get dressed (because working from home means you wear one step above pajamas most days haha) and share some outfit ideas! However I think I might be getting a blogging bug a tiny bit since we are heading into fall – my favorite time of the year! So we will see. 🙂

Sharing my #OOTD from today below: a quick and easy outfit formula for 70ish degree weather. My exact sweater is sold out, but linked here is an almost identical version with a similar fit. Short sleeve sweaters are a great way to take off the chill, but still feel a tiny bit dressed up, and easy to throw a jacket on if needed. I did not tuck my sweater in, but you certainly could if you like the front tuck look! Since my sweater is kind of plain, I let my sandals do the talking! Below I shared a similar outfit idea using a trendy polo sweater.

similar sweater | jeans | similar sandals | similar necklace

Outfit idea:

polo sweater | jeans | earrings | necklace | crossbody bag | bracelets | sandals

Much love to you all!