This past month feels like it was split between doing not much at all, other than work, and then doing a lot, because I traveled to DC. I try to lay low before trips and not pack my schedule, because travel can be physically tiring for me, so it actually worked out well. But as I was scrolling through my camera roll for the last month, it was filled with mostly pictures of me reading a book or drinking coffee on my patio! It’s the little things that really do bring joy.

Here’s what my life has looked like for the last month!

My “patio office” is officially open again! I can’t tell you what a difference having this outdoor space in our backyard has made for me. I take my laptop out and work outside, I bring my book outside to read for an hour at the end of the work day… I’m sitting outside on my patio right now while writing this! I put on my noise cancelling headphones and can block out the world and create my own little personal oasis. Perfection.

Lily is a fan of the backyard, too! She would happily spend hours back there, sniffing around, barking at the birds at the squirrels. She’s especially a fan of rolling around in the grass, or just basking in the sunshine. It’s so cute to watch!

I was going through some old photo albums a few weeks ago, and this one will never not make me laugh! This was from my 8th grade formal – I was *obsessed* with this tiara from Claire’s. Was the dance really a tiara affair? Absolutely not – it was held in the cafeteria of our middle school! Did I care at all? Also absolutely not. I insisted on wearing it. No regrets!

I’m going to share a whole DC trip recap later this week, but since it was a big part of my life this last month, I thought I’d share this cute little picture of Lily in the hotel! I love a dog friendly hotel, and Lily has gotten much, much better about being left alone in a hotel room without majorly freaking out and barking. We try to give her even a short walk a little bit before we’re heading out so she’s not too keyed up, and that seems to have helped.

My Marie Claire article came out while we were in DC! I know that I already shared the article on my Instagram and on my last Friday Favorites post, but this was such a huge moment for me. I have loved magazines since I was little, and never, ever imaged hat I’d have an article in one of them. It was just a really, really special moment for me, and being in DC when it was published made it even more poignant. And having it be an article about a disability issue, which is something that I’m so passionate about – it just makes it mean even so much more. It’s something that I’ll never be over.

I do love to travel, but sometimes when I get home I’m pretty exhausted – and since we had car trouble on our drive back from DC and got home much later than expected, I was extra tired. So I took this weekend to relax – I slept in, ate a delicious quite that I had picked up from my favorite French patisserie Gaby et Jules, and read outside. It was the perfect way to let my body recover. I’m a big fan of a low-key weekend!