Black Wax Jeans (similar and cheaper option here under $40!)  // Alpi Shearling Boots // Vest (similar) // Sweater (similar) // Purse

We’ve made it halfway through December! Another month that has felt 3 months long since basically re-locking down, where all we’ve really done is workout (less than we probably should), ordering take out, making soups for soup szn, watching cheesy holiday movies, making cocktails and drinking too much wine, and generally staying cozy. So…really I guess not much has changed since last December – but there’s exponentially more walks now that Milo is in the picture. I get why everyone gets dogs in the spring and summer usually….it is COLD walking your dog outside in Chicago!

Now that Milo’s 14 weeks old, we’ve spent the last few weeks working on his potty training – and it’s been a journey to say the least. I’ve never had a dog (but had wanted one all my life – much to my parents dismay when I was a kid), and so I was kinda starting from scratch with Milo. I got him when he was just 6 weeks old and a measly  2.8 pounds, so I had to wait until he was able to actually kinda comprehend potty training and have a bladder larger than the size of a pea. Turns out he’s pretty smart and taking it in stride, but it’s definitely a marathon. My goal is to have him potty trained completely in the next few weeks so my mom doesn’t totally want to kill him over the holidays 🙂  Speaking of – what’s everyone’s weird holiday plans this year? I’ve been staying inside as much as possible, so hoping to keep getting good tests back to be able to go down south to South Carolina with my parents this year. They bought a house in Greenville last year, and I spent March, April and early May there at the beginning of the pandemic, working from their home and biking/hiking on the weekends. Milo and I are planning to road trip (it’s about 10 hours from Chicago, so will definitely be his longest trip yet – even longer than when he was brought up from the south as an abandoned puppy!) and I’m hoping he makes it without any accidents in my car – fingers crossed!

While we won’t be able to enjoy a ton of the things downtown Greenville has to offer, there are some really delicious local restaurants we’ll make sure to get take out from (The Anchorage is one of our favorite spots and down the street from where my parents live, and last spring they turned the restaurant into a market with to-go food and other local goods from around town), go for hikes around the Blue Ridge mountains, and generally lay low for a few days for some much needed time off. We’re doing a low-key holiday this year and not giving too many crazy gifts, so it will be nice to just enjoy time together – and be even more thankful that everyone’s happy and healthy.  Anyways, t-minus just a few days until I’m able to close my work laptop and call quits on 2020 for good! Here’s to hoping that 2021 has more ups than the downs we all had in 2020. I’m hopeful…ish that it will be a much better year for us all.

PS. It’s my last installment of “photos I took last year that I never posted and am using again this year” (whoops!) So who knows! Maybe if I get my life together there will be some genuinely new photos and content coming your way soon.

And speaking of new…there’s some exciting news coming next week (once I sort a few final things together this week!) that I’m happy to finally share!