October Recap & Chit Chat

Hello hello, and happy Tuesday!

To be quite honest, I originally planned for this post to go live last Friday. It feels kinda weird to be posting a chit chat post on a Tuesday because I usually keep my personal/informal posts for Fridays. But, life got in the way and I had to head home for the weekend so this post didn’t get published.

Usually when the month is over, I’m in shock that time flew by that fast, and I get kinda sad because I’ll never get that month back. I don’t know what it is about this year, but November 1st hit, and I was immediately like MERRY CHRISTMAS HAPPY HOLIDAYS LET IT SNOW. To be honest, I don’t think I’ve been this excited for the holidays since I was a kid.  I’m ready for the world to turn into a wonderland of red, green, and gold and have festive music blasting through the speakers and drinking tea by the fire in my cat pajama pants all while watching Christmas Vacation.

Okay, okay bringing it back to October’s recap & chit chat, here’s what I’ve been up to this past month:

• I guess the biggest thing that’s been going on is that I’ve been diagnosed with mono for the second time. And trust me, it’s just as bad (if not worse) than it was when I got it in the 2nd grade. I’m out of the gym until after Thanksgiving, and I think that’s what I’m having the hardest time with. My energy is really low, and I get really tired super easily. I feel like I’ve run a marathon just walking to class. Is this what being old feels like?
• I got a fish!! Okay so I’ve wanted a fish since freshman year, but I never actually went out and got one. I mean you could probably assume that since I’ve never once mentioned having a fish and the fact that I just said “I got a fish!!” implies I hadn’t had one before. LOL anyways, his name is Chips (like fish and chips), and he is quite possibly the best thing that’s happened to me all semester. He’s grey (surprise surprise on that one), and he’s just so adorable swimming around his tank all day. I can go on and on about this fish, so I’ll spare you the rest.
• Alright, so this is a huge shoutout to probably my best friend who I’ve never actually met. Seriously y’all, we talk more than I talk to some of my real-life friends. Last week, Caitlyn asked for my address, and casually goes “oh I sent you something.” Little did I know she was going to surprise me with the keychain she and I had been eyeing all summer. Caitlyn, you are amazing, and I love that keychain so much. It made my week so much brighter.
• My parents came down to visit at the beginning of the month, and it was a much-needed break from reality. Not to mention they oh-so-graciously funded my fish purchase and my grocery store trip for the week. USC also beat UT in football, and it was a glorious moment because now I can give all my friends back in Knoxville a hard time for the next year.
• I had a moment of realization earlier this week that I need to stop watching movies and YouTube before bed, and I need to actually read more books. Hopefully it’ll help me sleep a little better. But here’s a funny story for you: So I decided on three books to pick up from our library. USC’s library is organized based on the Dewey decimal system, and let me just say it’s confusing AF. I wrote down the call numbers and spent FORTY-FIVE MINUTES on the third floor of our library trying to find these books. Needless to say, I gave up and just reserved them online so other people can go find them for me.

Here’s what you can look forward to in November:

• I’ll be finally posting my dorm room tour! I took all the photos for it like two weeks ago, but I didn’t like how they turned out so I’m going to re-do them.
• Some gift guides might be coming your way. If there’re any you want to see, lemme know.
• More lifestyle content is coming your way because your girl is out of the gym until the end of the month.

Monthly Stats

My numbers this month are about 3,000 views lower than last month. That’s kinda sad, but it’s kinda expected. Like I said in last month’s post, my views tend to drop after August, and that’s just something I’ve come to accept.

This month I thought it would be interesting to compare this October to last October. My pageviews were basically double those from October of last year, and that’s really exciting! It’s cool to have been blogging long enough to be able to compare the years to each other.

Pageviews: 15,408

Unique Visitors: 10,126

What Went Right:

• Stayed on top of social media!
• Continuously commenting on other people’s blogs
• Posting consistently
• Adopting the “I don’t really care” mentality about Instagram LOL and just posting what I want to post

What Went Wrong:

• My Pinterest game could always be a bit stronger.
• I missed 2 posts this month. Could’ve been worse but could’ve been better

Y’all I’m just so stoked that it’s November and it’s the holiday season. Blogger Secret Santa is making a comeback this year, I’m ready to stuff my face with Thanksgiving food, and I want all the Christmas candles. Wow I can’t wait.

How was your October? Are you just as excited for the holiday season as I am?

~abigail gray