Music, Books, Miles and Looks of September

I am going to go ahead and say September was my best month of the year so far.  It certainly wasn't without its challenges as I started my RA drug and still have RA pain, but it included trips to Pittsburgh and back home, and a fun day of hiking!

Music:


What If by Five for Fighting - I love this band so am so happy they have a new album out.  This song was a pre-release that wasn't on the album.  I love the message of the song which is - what would happen if we put ourselves in our people's shoes?  I love this band because their songs tend to be piano-heavy.


Wake Me Up by Avicii - I love the beat of this song.  I think it's virtually impossible not to tap your foot along to it.  It's another song I relate to, which shouldn't be surprising given the chorus:  "So wake me up when it's all over, when I'm wiser and I'm older.  All this time I was finding myself and I didn't know I was lost."

Books:
This was the month where I read ALL the books - 10 in fact.  That is a crazy amount of books for me to read, but I had 2 mostly unplanned weekends in Charlotte and lots of flights, 2 of which had layovers.  I am going to skip the book recap and will instead tell you how many stars I gave each book on Goodreads.  If you want to read my thoughts on these books, check out my Goodreads page!

Looking for me by Beth Hoffman  - 4 stars
Together Tea by Marjan Kamali - 5 stars
The Best of Us by Sarah Pekkanen  - 2 stars
The Wednesday Daughters by Meg Waite Clayton - 2 stars
And The Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini - 5 stars
Carly's Gift by Georgia Bockoven - 3 stars
The Last Camelia by Sarah Jio - 3 stars
The History of Us by Leah Stewart - 4 stars
Daring Greatly by Brene Brown  - 5 stars
Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen - 3 stars

Miles:
Well I am not running, but I am able to bike, use the elliptical for short work outs, and I did some hiking.  I don't track my mileage because unless I am running, the miles just don't mean anything to me, honestly.  I doubt running will be part of my month in October but maybe by November I'll be back at it!  I just need my RA pain to really go away before this happens.

Looks:
I had actually had quite a few looks I liked this month - which is probably because it was the first month that I spent out of the boot and the tennis shoes only restriction was lifted mid-month!  It's a lot easier to feel good about how I look now that I'm not schlepping around a boot or limited to tennis shoes only!

First look - an oldie, but a goodie.  I love that mustard color!

2nd look - my new favorite dress, which I got at White House Black Market.  I am going to commit a fashion faux pas and wear this dress again this coming weekend at my cousin's wedding because I love it and it's one of the few dresses I own that isn't "businessy."

3rd look - I usually stayed away from skirts, but I am starting to like them again.  I like the cleaness of this look, both of which are Banana Republic pieces I've owned for 3+ years.  That is case and point for why I shop there.  Their clothes last for SO LONG.

4th look - Another dress from White House Black Market which is super comfy!  I love that is has sleeves as I get so cold in my office which feels like an ice box.  Also, Lori and I managed to get a photo together when we had dinner last week!  Yea!  It was SO good to catch up with her!!

I've gotten a couple of questions about whether or how or why I've lost weight lately.  I have lost weight, partially due to joining weight watchers this summer and honestly, due to stress.  I'm not a big fan of the scale so I only weigh myself when I attend WW meetings, but I am happy to say I'm back at a weight where I feel comfortable in my body and good about myself.  Being active again is really helping, too.