Five Friday Faves for August 2019

I was doing six on these posts, but my love for alliteration kicked in and I changed it to five. That's the type of person I am. So here we are! If you haven't read any of my other Friday Fave posts, I like to do one of these monthly (when I remember). I cover random favorites that don't fit into my usual monthly beauty faves. So if you're ever interested in what I'm reading, listening to, etc. etc., I share some of that here. It also gives me the opportunity to ask you about any recommendations you might have, because I love recommendations!

Well, today (and probably for a long time coming) it is all Taylor Swift's Lover. It was going to take a lot to top Reputation for me, but I'm liking this so far. The love songs are FIRE. I Forgot That You Existed is the perfect first track after Reputation's theme. Aside from Taylor, I've also been jamming a lot to Sam Smith's How Do You Sleep?, I Wish by Hayley Kiyoko, Grace VanderWaal's Waste My Time, Katy Perry's Small Talk, and Six: The Musical. If you love Hamilton, you'll love Six!

Summer is my least favorite season, but I appreciate the days when it starts to cool but you still have those summer vibes. Flowers are still out, ice cream dates are still craved, sandals are still on feet. The calm before the holiday rush that is present in most of the autumn months. Looking forward to at least one more summer BBQ next weekend!

Whatever that means on any given day. On most days, it means working on my "new normal". My knee may never be the same again, but that doesn't mean I have to accept that it can't have any improvement and stop working on it which was my mindset for a long time. It took me a long time to get here in this moment, but I've taken up full residence. Maybe it won't straighten all the way. Maybe it won't bend like I would love for it to. BUT it moves. It keeps me upright and it still helps get me from point A to point B. I've really been working on strength and stamina and powering through. I don't get as tired as quickly. I don't worry as much that people are staring at me.

Injuries are an emotional rollercoaster. You don't know when you're going to go uphill, come rushing down into the unknown, or hold on for dear life as your life gets turned upside down. Right now, I feel like I'm going uphill. I feel stronger than I even did before my injury happened, both physically and mentally. My physiotherapist has noticed and says "something clicked" from the last time he saw me, "my attitude is different", and "most improvement" he's noticed with me. That felt so good to hear and to know that he meant it, because he does not say what he doesn't mean. I just have to stay out of my head and keep going.

Gosh, the feelings of nostalgia have been running strong lately. Rather it is looking up old music or books that I loved growing up or smelling a scent that takes me back to childhood. And now the VSCO girl thing. Like holy 90s, Batman. Everything about the styling makes me think of my entire wardrobe and style way back when. Except instead of a Hydro Flask, it was a Nalgene bottle...but never fear because stickers were very much intact all around it. Do I still have it? You betcha. Although it's a funny feeling to officially be old enough to have fully participated in trends the first time around and see them come back.

I'm always on an organization kick, so that's not surprising. I moved my vanity location and wanted to organize the drawers a bit. Everything has a place, but I wanted to see if a different variation would fare better. Sometimes moving things around is good for me, because it puts an item in my eyesight or hand that wasn't getting love and allows me to decide to toss it, keep it, or put it in the rotation. I also bought a new vanity mirror and rug on Amazon, but I'll talk about those in a later post where I share recent Amazon buys! It doesn't take much to spruce up a small area in your home and make it feel refreshed. I love making the small changes that have big impact!

What's been some of your favorite things recently? Let me know in the comments! I hope you have a wonderful weekend.