Life Lately – Ohh, Stress!

Good morning! It’s finally the weekend and I could not be happier! These past few weeks have been pretty darn hectic and stressful, and it’s actually gotten to that point where the song “…Everybody’s workin’ for the weekend” is starting to feel more real than ever in my life..which is something I hoped I’d never have to say! (Ps. Isn’t it funny how songs often just click once you’re in the same situation as the lyrics?…always so interesting when you’ve listened to a song for ages and then all of a sudden it resonates more than ever..!).

Earlier this week I was running errands after work (I work for a tech company by day, blogger by night) and I ran up to the Toms Coffeehouse off of South Congress, where I ran into a girlfriend from my journalism program at UT back in the day. We started chatting and catching up on life and she follows me on social media and she kept making references to all of the exciting things happening in my life and with LivvyLand – and I stopped her and said “Ohhh, girl, I cry ALL the time, you have no idea!” and she said “Ohh, right, because you’re just so happy” and I said “NO! Because I am SO stressed I don’t know what to do with myself!” Which brings me to a little down-to-earth post about my life behind the scenes, along with some news that I am pleased to share…but first the pre-news part.

If you read my “25 things you might not know about me” post on my birthday back in March, I shared a snippet of the time I invest in my blog and my day job. In a nutshell, I wake up at 6am to work on the blog until 8am, then rush to work to get there by 9…err, 9:15..(special apology shoutout to my boss and coworkers because I am late constantly!), then hit up the nearest Starbucks to work on answering blog emails for an hour during my lunch break (shoutout to my girl and head barista Geraldine!), head back to work and finish the day strong, then head home and shoot an outfit or prep a blog post for the next day. I am fortunate that Blake is so busy with work and side projects too, so luckily neither of us are left waiting for the other – which is really nice at the moment but I hope doesn’t last forever! Then when it comes to weekends, work may be off my plate, but the blog agenda ramps up given that I have more time to shoot looks or meet up with fellow fashion industry folks, etc. Thus, it’s a 24/7 non-stop juggling act over here.

So, imagine that schedule for the past year and the end result? A Lindsay Lohan meltdown…well, sans the drugs and hospital visit…but definitely the tears and exhaustion part. Basically, a few weeks back after work I got into my car and immediately started sobbing…the stress of managing two full time jobs and putting my all into both had finally won and I simply couldn’t do it anymore…So, my fragile and sleep deprived state called for a visit with my mom (I believe moms heal all, just sayin’) and we went to dinner and drank wine and talked about life and she basically just let me vent and cry on her shoulder for an hour, it was so so helpful and therapeutic, I appreciate her wisdom and kindness so much.

Post dinner, Blake and I sat down and talked about finances and happiness and where I really see myself in years to come in terms of a career – and the clear answer in my heart and head was with my blog. Creating and managing LivvyLand truly is my happy place and my absolute dream come to life, and working harder to roll out more content and grow and feed this little corner of the internet is 100 percent where I see my future if things continue as they have been over the past year or so. Simply talking about the possibility of moving into blogging full time one day had me feeling relieved…I may be a workaholic now, but that’s definitely not who I want to be in the future…stopping to smell the roses is important to me (…and ya know, not crying everyday is also probably something I should consider ha) and I look forward to a time when I am not overwhelmed all the time!

Which brings me to this decision…I am officially moving to part time at work starting next week! I wasn’t quite ready to leave my workplace and say goodbye to some incredible people and overall just the best company culture I’ve ever experienced, so moving to part time just made the most sense at the moment. Simply having a few more hours in the day to devote to the blog…or, ya know, a jog or to make myself a well rounded meal or do the dishes (y’all, we are a mess at the moment!), will be the healthiest and best thing for me. Not to mention we’ve got a wedding to plan…so I should probably get a move on that now that we’re less than a year away… Ohh that never ending to do list…! Another cup of coffee? Yes, please! 😉

So that’s the latest snippet of my life behind the pretty Instagram feed and smily outfit posts. There’s always so much more going on, social media doesn’t exactly promote the imperfections quite as frequently. With more time, I look forward to sharing more posts like this…life updates and real things going on – after all, this is the kind of stuff that unites us and provides that level of approachability, relate-ability and comfort that I strive to maintain with LL.

Okay friends, I am off to refill my coffee mug and soak in a bubble bath. It’s my new thing…any time I am feeling overwhelmed I shut my computer and put my phone on silent, then go take a bubble bath for half an hour. I highly recommend it…just suds and my thoughts!

Happy weekend, ladies & gents – and a special thank you to all of my readers who make this blog what it is and for giving me the opportunity to do what I love most, I endlessly appreciate each and every one of you.

Have a lovely Saturday! 🙂

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