i wish i was kidding, LOL.   

junior and i recently renewed our lease for another year at our current apartment, which subsequently ended our search to buy a house.  i guess we were pretty insane for thinking we could even attempt to buy a house in this real estate market.  i've wanted to buy a house for so long but we just kept putting it off. we honestly had no money back then and we really just wanted to travel.  buying a house just wasn't a priority. but then the pandemic happened and that shifted my perspective.  having to "stay home" meant i wanted a home that i could call mine.  we got our finances in order and the timing felt right.

the first offer we put in was for a cute ranch in our favorite town.  it needed a lot of work but we misjudged the market and went in slightly below asking.  we were crushed by an all cash offer, way over asking, from a millionaire in brooklyn looking to downsize.  i was devastated and not just because i didn't get this particular house but because the reality sunk in... maybe this wasn't our time.
we still kept trying, looking at so many different houses, obsessing on the zillow app, arguing over what we're willing to give up or how far we wanted to stretch our budget.  we put in two more offers, and both were rejected.  in the meantime, we received our annual lease renewal from our leasing office and needed to make a decision asap.  after going back and forth and back and forth, we decided to renew for another year.  it just made sense financially.  i know it was the right decision but i was so disappointed.   instead, we decided to make a few changes to our current space so we had something new to look forward to.  we ordered a new king sized bed frame and a new mattress.  i am quite literally in love with both (and my back is so grateful)!!! 

i'm still bummed about it all but i'm also trying to be realistic. it will all makes sense in hindsight! in the meantime, i'm going to enjoy updating our bedroom.  junior actually surprised me and painted the wall this charcoal grey, which i surprisingly love!  (i wasn't fully convinced on the idea of painting the room at all but he wouldn't let up!  i finally caved and told him to do what he thinks will look best and this is what he surprised me with!! bravo, husband!).  

also, my sweat set is c/o shein.  you can use code spring1232 for 15% off their entire site.

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i think there's a place for fast fashion brands.  for one, they do allow fashion and style to be accessible to people who otherwise couldn't afford it.  they are also more size inclusive than a lot of other brands.  but at the same time, i do believe we need to be intentional with our shopping.  in my own personal wardrobe, i like to balance things out with a mix of trendy and statement pieces with basics, some designer, vintage and second hand pieces, too.  (the bag in this post is a vintage a hand me down).  if i'm looking for something that's inexpensive and i'm not expecting it to last me a long time, i'll check the most affordable options available to me.  and sometimes that means fast fashion.  
i've found some great dupes or decent quality items for way less than i would have spent otherwise. currently, i'm loving that faux leather pants are so in style right now.  i remember it being y2k and ringing in the new millennium in a pair of black pleather pants.  that's what we called them back then, pleather pants.  it was such a moment! and how fun to be able to play around with the 2000's pleather trend with my 32 year old style.  
but the thing is, i just don't see myself wearing them often enough in my day to day life to justify spending $148 to buy this pair from aritizia or even $80 for this pair from abercrombie.  both of those styles are all over my instagram!  we are balling on a budget over here, so unless it makes absolute sense for me to invest in a piece, i'm going to look for the next best, more affordable option.   this $21 dupe on shein is a great dupe i found to be able to enjoy this nostalgic style moment without spending so much.  and while i am grateful that i was gifted this pair, this is a pair that i would have bought for myself regardless, (using my own discount code spring1232 for 15% off, of course!). 

disclosure: some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, i will earn a commission if you click through and/or make a purchase.  thank you for supporting me!

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disclosure: some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, i will earn a commission if you click through and/or make a purchase. thank you for helping support my blog!

 i spent the last day of 2021 all dressed up at home, drunk while live on junior's tiktok. we took a few pictures and made a video i shared on tiktok and we danced with a bunch of strangers online hanging out with us.  once it was time to cook dinner, i changed into sweatpants and cooked while drinking an entire bottle of champagne.  it was so unexpectedly fun.  i had a specific menu in mind so i went to the grocery store earlier in the day and picked up all the ingredients that i needed (plus a bottle of champagne).  i also randomly went to the mall the day before to see if i could find a shimmery top to ring in the new year with.  it was a last minute thought and it was so perfect (and only $9)!  i also saw this tiktok video of hair tinsel and i swear i never ordered anything that fast from amazon before (thank you prime for next day shipping!).   everything fell together so perfectly.    i seriously couldn't have planed a better night even if i tried.

today, i took the day to rest.  i wanted to just slow down so i did.  i had originally wanted to be extra productive and create content so i could start the new year with content stocked up to share.  to come up with a new posting schedule.  junior and i even spoke about filming another multi-outfit couple video but i woke up with the biggest urge to slow down and rest, and that's exactly what we did.  it felt amazing and was just what i needed.  more of listening to my body in 2022, yes please!

it's 9:30 pm and i was thinking about sharing a late post on my instagram. a little photo dump from our time in harkness state park in waterford, conneticut.   earlier today i shared this reel and i figured i wanted to share these photos, too.  as i was typing my caption, i wrote out "back in my blogging days, this would have been a blog post".  and then i thought, wait this would be a good blog post.  so i stopped posting on instagram to come here and blog these photos from our little road trip this past weekend.

we decided last minute to do something, anything, for fourth of july weekend.  it was a long weekend after an extremely long work week (for both of us).  originally on monday, i suggested acadia national park but after i told junior that was an 8 hour drive, neither one of us brought it up again.  "want to do to acadia national park this weekend?"  "sounds like a plan.  how far is that?" "8 hours in maine"  "oh" followed by a bunch of surprised and laughing emojis.

saturday rolled around and we still hadn't decided what to do or where to go.  junior suggested DC and i almost agreed but i just felt like it might be a little too hectic for the fourth of july.  on the morning of, we changed our plans last minute and decided on a state park in conneticut that we had passed by last year, rocky neck state park.  

when we got to the park, we were welcomed with a few signs that read "no dogs allowed".  i was bummed.  we had just gone last year with indi, no problem!! we figured it had to have been because it was a holiday weekend.  junior made a u-turn and we were back on the road with nowhere to go.  we both got grumpy and were annoyed trying to figure out where we could go with indi in tow.  after some strong words were exchanged and i got a few snacks in me, i was able to find a nearby park so we headed in that direction.

as soon as we arrived in harkness memorial state park, junior parked and immediately laid his seat back to take a nap.  he needed it! (and so did i, ha!)  after we were both fully rested, we set out to finally enjoy our day.  the park wasn't anything out of this world but it was really nice (and better than nothing at this point!).  we sat by the water and chatted a bunch.  we played fetch with indi and people watched a little.  after awhile, we started heading back to the car to head home (and beat the traffic). 

we made it home just in time to heat up some leftover penne vodka with chicken cutlet pizza (but not before stopping at the outlets so junior could look for some pants from abercrombie, lol).