What I’m Loving This Week
Welcome to Monday Moodboard — my weekly roundup of what I’m doing, eating, wearing, loving and sharing lately.
We’re officially home from Montana, and while I have plenty to say about the trip, I don’t want this week’s Moodboard to become another Montana itinerary.
Instead, this one is about the things I came home thinking about — surprisingly good wine, why I need to stop packing imaginary vacation outfits, getting humbled by a mountain, feeling excited about work again, and realizing just how much I love coming home.
WHAT I’M DRINKING
Montana Wine Surprised Me
One thing I was genuinely not expecting from Montana: the wine selection.
We stopped at Missoula Wine Merchants and I felt like I had somehow walked back into Grazing Haus. I recognized probably half the bottles in the shop and had carried so many of them at GH at one point or another.
There’s something really fun about traveling across the country and finding the same smaller producers and bottles you’ve loved at home.
Montana wasn't really a foodie trip for us — and I actually loved that. We cooked quite a bit at our Airbnbs, drank good wine, and spent more of our days hiking, riding and exploring than planning where our next reservation would be.
WHAT I’M WEARING
An Official Overpacking Report
I overpacked.
No one is surprised.
I came home with at least four outfits I never touched because, despite whatever fantasy version of vacation I apparently packed for, most nights we were perfectly happy coming back to the Airbnb, opening some wine and putting on comfortable clothes.
My slippers may have been the MVP of the entire suitcase.
Layers were everything, and I basically lived in this old columbia pull over.
Perhaps one day I will use this information to become a more reasonable packer.
Probably not.
A LITTLE REALITY CHECK
Montana: 1, Ali: 0
At one point, I found myself hiking up a mountain with roughly 2,000 feet of elevation gain and having what can only be described as a small mental breakdown.
So this week I'm also grateful for a husband who can handle me when my sense of adventure temporarily turns into whose idea was this and why are we still going uphill?
We made it... thanks to Jeremy.
And despite the occasional suffering, I loved how active this trip was. We hiked, rode, explored and spent so much time outside.
THINGS I DIDN'T EXPECT TO MISS
Humidity. Seriously.
By the end of the trip, this Florida girl was DRY.
I couldn't seem to drink enough water, my skin was starting to feel it, and apparently my body has officially decided that subtropical humidity is a basic human need.
Never thought I'd be excited to step off a plane and feel Florida air hit me in the face, yet here we are.
WORK THIS WEEK
Coming Home Re-Inspired
I did a little work while we were away, including sending out two custom event quotes that I'm really excited about.
And somewhere between stepping away from the day-to-day and thinking through those projects, I started feeling genuinely excited about styling tables again.
We're heading into season with orders already on the calendar, new custom projects in the works and, for the first time in a little while, I feel completely charged up and ready to work my butt off.
Sometimes getting away is exactly what I need to remember how much I like coming back.
THIS WEEK'S FEELING
Maybe the Goal Is Loving Where You Come Home To
This happened after wine country, too.
I absolutely love traveling. I love researching somewhere new, seeing how other people live, finding great wine, getting outside my normal routine and imagining for a minute what it would be like to live somewhere completely different.
Jeremy and I actually talked a lot on this trip about what we want eventually — where we could picture ourselves moving, whether we'd ever want a second home, and what we want life to look like down the road.
And somewhere in all those conversations, we both came to the same conclusion:
For right now, Florida is home.
As beautiful as the mountains were, I'm happiest near the ocean, surrounded by palms, humidity and the tropical world I've spent most of my life in.
Maybe that's one of my favorite things travel keeps teaching me.
You can be completely in awe of somewhere else without wanting it to replace home.
And I think there's something pretty special about being excited to leave — and just as excited to come back.
PLANNING A MONTANA TRIP?
I put our complete Montana trip into a separate guide with where we stayed, what we did, the places I'd recommend and everything I'd want to know before planning it again.
→ Read Our Montana Itinerary