Trick or Treat

Wishing you all a fun day of lots of tricks and treats. 

-gabrielle

Bonus Favorites: Halloween Costumes

**Real Life: I wrote this post back on Sunday because yesterday (Thursday) I had two wisdom teeth removed. Since I am a planner, I didn't want to wait to last minute to gather all these fun photos.  I would totally appreciate all your good vibes and prayers for a quick and easy recovery. I will be back Monday with my Recent reads!**

Its the fifth Friday in October; which is the best Friday because its BONUS Favorites: Halloween Costumes of the past. I dug deep and found some of my favorite costumes I've worn.  Enjoy seeing these adorable costumes. 

and how cute were my office friends- they wanted to be a pineapple and a hula girl! 

Are you dressing up this year? 

We live on a sorta busy street and we normally don't get many trick or treaters. I am hoping this year, with it being a Saturday, we get some trick or treaters. 

[[its just a bunch of Hocus Pocus]]

-gabrielle

PS. Linking up with Andrea and Erika today!

PPS. Did you miss my posts this week? See them here: October Mixtape and Dear October.

Dear October....

 You were a pretty awesome month, but I think you followed the other months by flying by. If I didn't remind myself to stop and smell the flowers often, I would have totally missed the best parts of you. You must have felt sick most of the month, because the temperatures in Jersey were HOT for most of the month. We had a few crisp days, a lot of rainy days and one night where there was a frost warning. You might want to get tested for the Flu or COVID, you might have been sick. 

Early in the month,  I finished my first 8 week session of classes. I ended up taking a day off during finals week to make sure I gave myself extra time to complete everything. I am glad I did that because I felt better going into the weekend; I had my two exams left and I learned an important lesson that weekend. Do NOT take two finals in one day. I spent 3 hours on my Statistics final and 2 on my Accounting final- it was a LOT to do in one day. But I completed both of them (with minimal anxiety) and I was happy with my grades for both the finals (A in Accounting and B in Statistics) and my final grades (A's in both Statistics and Accounting) 

The first 8 week session really made me happy and I felt as if one of missing puzzle pieces of my life,  were finally found. It was definitely hard taking two classes that were super involved but after all was done, I felt super accomplished. I was equally excited for the two week break between sessions too. 

I had big plans to accomplish things during the two week break but what won, most days, was taking time for myself and actually relaxing and not having a schedule to do things. If I didn't feel like doing something after work I previously planned, I didn't do it. I gave myself a lot of grace during those two weeks. 

One thing I did during the two week break was actually sit down and watch TV. I rarely do this and I even more rarely give my full attention to a TV show. For the first time, I watched the premiere of the Bachelorette. I AM HERE FOR THE MESS! Now I really don't have much to compare it to but I loved it. The drama, the men, the thrill. HA! I cannot wait to see how the rest of this season plays out. 

Another great show, I really like is the Masked Singer. Last week, it was not on due to the silly World Series but my mom and I really love it. We love the clue package and we try to guess all the singers. I love the prize for the show is just a trophy and its done just for fun. Also I would be a terrible contestant- not only can I keep a secret, especially one that big but I am pretty sure my singing voice is terrible. HA!

I went for a consultation with an Oral Surgeon two weeks ago for my wisdom teeth. When I saw my dentist last month, he gently suggested that I should think about getting my wisdom teeth out (for the 12 year in a row) and after much thought, I decided to just go for a consultation to see what they had to say. I felt comfortable with the surgeon and after realizing that I cannot have the dentist keep filling cavities in my wisdom teeth. So I made an appointment and its TOMORROW. I am pretty calm right now. I have organized everything that I could at work for the two days I will be out and I am hoping for a quick and easy recovery. **I am accepting all prayers and good vibes for tomorrow! **😊 Yes, Penelope the flamingo will be accompanying me to the surgery. She is excited to be my nurse again. 

Here in New Jersey, the fall foliage is finally starting to show off its beauty. I love seeing the leaves change color and paint such pretty roadside pictures. I am hoping the fall like weather follows suit soon. Another fun thing I have been loving is all the fun Halloween decorations. Some houses really get into the spirit and I, as a fully grown adult with no children, really appreciate it. I am hoping for some trick or treaters on Saturday, but my hopes are not high- we live on a busy street and we maybe get 1 each year. I am hoping a treat bag filled with goodies will entice the trick or treaters. HA!

One final thing before I close, which is probably the most controversial thing ever but ....
I watched my first three (3!) Hallmark and Lifetime CHRISTMAS movies of the season. I know! I know! I know what you are all thinking- Half of you are saying "SAME GIRL! WE LOVE THEM!" and the other half are saying "GIRL, you have completely lost your mind- its not even Halloween yet!" You know, its 2020, its a global pandemic and I am doing what makes me happy. Gosh darn it, watching predicable loves stories that have gorgeous leading men and perfect locations makes me pretty stinkin' happy. HA! I am keeping track of all the Holiday movies I watch this season and I will do a whole post of Christmas movie reviews in December. 

Whew! What an awesome month October was. I started my 2nd eight week session this past Monday and from what I can see, I think it will be slightly easier (I HOPE) this time around. I am looking forward to a quiet weekend of relaxing and lots of Hallmark and Lifetime Christmas movies.

How was your month? Did anything exciting happen? Let me know in the comments!

 [[I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.- Anne of Green Gables]]

-gabrielle

October Playlist

Found here

How in the world are we here again? It's time for my October Playlist. As usual, this music was found by listening to the radio and from my discover weekly and release radar playlists on Spotify. Finding new music every month is pretty awesome; I love my old favorites that I can always go back to. How you do you find new music?

WGJ Vol. 10

Somebody's Summer- Jordan Rager

Drink You Up- The Swon Brothers

Ain't Always the Cowboy- Jon Pardi

Range Rover- Devin Dawson

Y'all Come Back Now- Jordan James

Damn- Trey Rose

We Didn't Have Much- Justin Moore

Broken Up- Mitchell Tenpenny

The Wrong Ones- Jordan Rager

Happy Does- Kenny Chesney

Right Where I Left It- Cole Swindell

Lose You- Jordan Davis

Hell of A View- Eric Church

Take It From An Ex- Chance McKinney

If You're In It- Emma White

Saving For A Rainy Night- Walker Montgomery

Something About You- Seth Alley

Tailgate Down Town- Ryan Robinette

Beers and Sunshine- Darius Rucker

Gone- Dierks Bentley

Lil Bit- Nelly and Florida Georgia Line

You can listen to it here.

[[The best things in life are things that cannot be seen but they are felt with the heart]]

-gabrielle

The Friday Feels: Favorites

Happy Friday! This has been a week. Anyone else want the weekend by Tuesday morning. I am happy that its Friday not only because of the obvious BUT because is syllabus day (!!) for my next two classes. I loved these past two weeks off from classes; I feel like I have been rejuvenated. I slowed down and took time for myself. I realized that I need 8 hours of sleep-its a non negotiable for me and I am OKAY with it. #selfcare. I also realized that I love quiet time- there is something very calming about being quiet. Okay, you ready???

For The Feels this week, I have gathered up all my favorites:

1. Wearing Glasses on Your Wedding Day/// Kristen is a hometown friend of mine and fellow blogger and I LOVED this post so much. As a lifelong glasses wearer, I always worried about wearing glasses on big life moments- they are a part of me, why shouldn't they be part of my big life moments. Kristen at The Great Refresh, showed that you can wear glasses on your wedding day and look STUNNING. Kristen, you have inspired me to wear my glasses even more. 

2. The Bachelorette/// This has to my guiltiest pleasure. This season is turning out to be such a trainwreck. To be completely honest, I never watched any other season of the Bachelorette or the Bachelor. I have read about the deets from past seasons and now this crazy season is the best thing ever. I have no idea how she is keeping all the men straight because I can't even remember half of their names! HA! Are you watching?

3. Holland Ridge Farms/// My family and I went here in  the Spring of 2019 for their tulip festival and it was amazing. This year they couldn't have their tulip festival due to COVID but they came back strong this Fall with the sunflowers; this weekend is the last weekend and from their Instagram account, it looks absolutely beautiful and magical. 

4. Fall Foilage/// One of my favorite parts of the fall is seeing all the different colors. One part of my drive to work each day is a portion of road that has trees on both sides of the road. This week they slowly started to change and it has been such a treat each day to see all the new colors appear. I always think about how perfectly placed each color is and I get even more excited when I find a leave on the ground that has more than one color on it. 

Whew! I think that is it for this week. I am looking forward to a calm and quiet weekend. I am going to jump into my schoolwork and hopefully get some blogging done too. What are you up to this weekend?

[[We can do hard things- Glennon Doyle]]

-gabrielle

Linking up with Andrea and Erika today!

PS. Did you miss this weeks posts? 
Catch them here: Take and Make Crafts from the Library and  What's Up Wednesday

What's Up Wednesday

Hi friends! Here we are again with another What's Up Wednesday. I know you are so excited to see what I have been up to. I enjoy sharing this with you and for you to get a glimpse into my life, well more into the day to day life.                                                             

                                                                                What I'm Eating

Everything! HA. This is probably the first time in a very long time where I am actually enjoying food. Currently my favorites have been a big chef salad with corn, pepperoni, dried cranberries, chicken, shredded cheese (2 kinds) and butter lettuce

What I'm Reminiscing About

Halloween's past. I am working on next week's bonus Friday Favorites and I am digging through old photos to find my favorite costumes. I loved dressing up as a kid.

 

What I've Been Loving
This beautiful fall crisp weather. I love dressing in the fall and all the layers I can find. I also love finding my fall clothes that I forgot about over the year and being able to wear them again.

 

What I'm Dreading

Getting my (2) wisdom teeth out next week? Its not a dread but its also not excited about it, I'm more ambivalent about it. 

 

What I'm Working On

Posting some items in my Poshmark closet. Check it out here.

 

What I'm Excited About

November! So many exciting things happening in November, its going to be a fun month.

 

What I'm Reading

Currently I am making my way through:

Untamed by Glennon Doyle & Summer Darlings by Brooke Lea Fostser

 

What I'm Listening To

All the lofi, chillhop, jazzhop, sleep beats I can find. 

Specifically this playlist and this playlist.

 

What I'm Wearing
Jackets!! I love a fun jacket and now that it is finally cooler out, I am making sure I take advantage and wear them all. 

 

What I'm Doing This Weekend
Reading and Working on some upcoming posts

 

What I'm Looking Forward to Next Month

My 2 classes start next week and I am so excited for me. #nerd. There is a lot of exciting things happening in November for me and I feel like its going to feel like a roller coaster ride but I'm pretty sure my heart will be full. 

 

What Else is New

Not that much; I have been savoring these two weeks without school work and I am slowly getting my mindset back into school mode for next week. I have been trying to clean out things and become more mindful with things I have and how I can reuse things in a more purposeful way. 

What have you been up to?

[[Girl, you totally got this]]

-gabrielle

Take and Make Crafts from the Library

My local library has been offering  "Take and Make" Programs for adults and children. These programs are in lieu of in person programs at the library due to COVID.  The library provides you with all the supplies you need along with the instructions to put the craft together. I thought this was such a smart idea. 

One branch was putting together a few like books and then a simple craft to go along with the books. With your library card you are also able to access Creativebug digital art/craft classes. These classes cover a wide variety of crafts and interests. The best part: its FREE with your (Ocean County) Library Card. 

The two "Take and Make" programs I participated in was Anti Stress Lavender Putty and Meditation Jar. 

Anti Stress Lavender Putty

This was a drop in program that ran all day until they ran out of the kits. I figured when I was on my lunch I would swing by and pick up the kit. My thought was - how many people were actually interested in this project?! Well, I was apparently wrong because by 1 PM they were out of all the kits. Mr. Leonard, the security guard suggested I go upstairs to ask at the reference desk to see if they had any more left over. 

As I walked through the library for the first time since the beginning of March, it was EMPTY! Which for me was a good thing, everyone there was wearing a mask and they had strict protocols for picking out books. It was definitely weird but it was nice to do something normal.

I ventured up to the Reference Desk and I met the nicest person ever. [[Shout out to Karen for being so kind!}} Karen informed me that they were all out kits but she would be happy to bring the supplies for me that I didn't have at home and provide me with the instructions. She said to stop by tomorrow and it will be at the desk. I walked back to the office, thinking there are some really nice people still in the world.

The next day, on my lunch, I went back over to the library, said hello to Mr. Leonard and walked back upstairs and went to the Reference desk and like Karen said, there was a large brown envelope filled with all supplies needed, instructions and a sweet note from Karen saying if I have any questions, don't hesitate to call her. I was shocked how sweet she was and how she kept her word.

To make the putty, it was pretty simple and most things, you probably have around the house. This recipe made ALOT of putty; I would half it if you are just making it for yourself. It took me about 20 minutes to make it. I put all the ingredients in a large ziplock bag to mix for two reasons: To make clean up easy and to mix/knead everything today.

Materials:

1 Cup Flour
1/2 Cup Salt
3 Tbsp. Cream of Tartar
1 Tbsp. Canola Oil
1/2 Cup Boiling Water
10-20 drops of Lavender Essential Oil
Few drops of Purple Food Coloring
Glitter (optional)

Instructions:

1. Combine flour, salt, cream of tartar and oil in large bowl
2. Add Boiling water and stir to combine
3. If adding glitter, start with a little and add as much you like. 
*You might need to add more water, to make it dough like*
4. Once you have reached the desired consistency, add in the 10 drops of lavender essential oil; Add slowly and stir to combine. If you want a stronger scent, add more essential oil. 
5. Add several drops of purple food coloring and knead. Add more until you reach desired color. 

That's it- super easy to make! I would store the putty in a ziplock bag; don't leave it out, it gets dried out over the course of a day (Lesson learned!) I split up my rather large batch and kept on little ball at work- perfect for stressful days, one at home- I love the scent of Lavender before bed and one I gave to a friend for her birthday. She loved it. 

The next craft that the library offered was a Meditation Jar. This one you had to register for so I was guaranteed a kit. This one was also super simple to complete and I have used it already multiple times.  

Meditation Glitter Jar

Materials:

8 oz mason jar
Warm water
2-3 Tbsp of Corn Syrup, glycerin or  Elmer's School glue
Glitter
Dish soap (a few drops)
Hot glue or Gorilla Glue (optional)

Instructions:

1. Add warm water (not boiling) to your jar until it reaches around a third of the way up. 
2. Pour 2-3 Tablespoons of corn syrup, glycerin or Elmer's School glue into the jar. 
3. Add a Tablespoon of glitter .
4. Add a few drops of standard dish soap. This will keep the glitter from sticking together. 
5. Top off your jar with warm water, until it is almost full. Leave a little gap at the top of the jar for the solution to mix. 
6. When everything is added, put the lid on tight and give it a good shake so the glitter is dispersed throughout. 
    -If the glitter settles too fast- add a little more corn syrup, glycerin or Elmer's School Glue and then shake again. You may need to repeat this a few times to get it right. 
    -If there is too much syrup or glue and the glitter clumps or does not move around- pour mixture into a bowl and add more warm water. Give it a good whisking until it flows normally. 
7. To ensure the lid stays on, you can add a few dabs of hot glue or gorilla glue around the ring of the jar and then seal it tight.

This project is a little more sciencey to make sure you get the right proportions but it is totally worth it in the end. I keep my meditation jar on my desk and every so often I shake it up and watch the glitter settle. 

How to Use the Meditation Jar:
-The glitter in the jar represents your thoughts, feelings and behaviors. 
-The glitter settling to the bottom of the jar represents your mind settling
-You can practice mindful breathing as the glitter settles or thinking about the glitter settling

The goal is not to ride yourself of thoughts, feelings and urges but it is to learn not to react to them as this can hinder us from seeing things and understanding them with clairty. 

Try not to focus on how much time you spend meditating or being mindful. Be in the moment. 

Thank you to the Ocean County Library for providing these programs amid the craziness we are all experiencing. I think both crafts were perfect for now. Be sure to check out the Ocean County Library (if you are local ) or YOUR local library branch to see what is happening. 

[[You are an isle of calm in a sea of dispair- J.M. Hickman]]

-gabrielle

PS. I will be quoting Arthur here by saying "having fun isn't hard when you have a library card. "

Here is a throwback for you: 

Enjoy! 

Funny Friday

Happy Friday! 

The Friday Feels is all about the Friday FUNNIES today. I have been cracking up all week with these memes. Let me know what is your favorite in the comments.

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For extra giggles- 

What can't the skeleton play church music? 

Because he has no ORGANS! HAHAHA

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[[This year may have broken your heart but it has opened you eyes.]]

-gabrielle

 Linking up with Andrea and Erica

Did you see this week's posts? 1st Semester Recap and Photo Story

October Photos

Woah. October is flying by! This past month, I feel like a lot of fun things have popped up into my view and I have really enjoyed seeing different places. I made it a point to take more photos this month and to enjoy the views. Here are my favorite photos from October:

Cute Halloween Costume

Lunch!

Election Season

Shine brightly

Speed of Light

blurred and confused

Beautiful skies

Birthday Mail

Overtime

Unexpected Views

Spooky Szn

Um, I think I broke it....

I spy...

Study time

More Overtime

Statistics

Sad plant. 
Also does anyone know what kind of plant this is?

Lunch adventures

Final Countdown

What are you doing Stanley?!

What did you see this month?

[[effort is attractive]]

-gabrielle