September 2019 Favorites

Hey there-can’t believe it’s been over a week since I’ve published a new blog post. This was completely unintentional, as life as been extremely busy lately. You can read more about that in this Instagram post. Anyways, before we get too far into October, I want to share my September 2019 favorites. If you’re new around here, every month I like to round up a few of my favorite things and experiences from the previous month for y’all.

September 2019 was quite the month of transitions-sad endings and happy new beginnings. On one hand, this September marked one of the saddest events of my life. I said goodbye to one of my family’s beloved cats. You can read more about sweet Timex and what he taught me during his 15 years of life here. We put Timex to sleep on September 19, which also happened to be the four-year anniversary of the Disney World trip I took with my best friend. So I will forever associate this date with one of the happiest and one of the saddest events of my life. Guess that shows that we will always experience happy and sad simultaneously this side of eternity.

On the other hand, September 2019 brought a happy transition-switching to a different church. Although I really liked the mission and teaching at my previous church, I realized it was too big for me. I found it increasingly hard to connect with other young adults. So I started re-attending the church I originally went to when I first moved to the Durham area, which also has solid Biblical teaching. It’s been great getting to re-connect with some of my old friends who still go to church there. I’ve met some sweet new friends too.

Now that I’ve reflected a bit on the juxtaposition of life events last month brought,  here are my September 2019 Favorites:

(This post contains affiliate links and my Beautycounter consultant website links. If you make a purchase through these links, I will earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you. Thank you so much for your support of Palmettos & Pineapples and my Beautycounter business.)

First Pumpkin Spice Latte of the Season

Even though Starbucks brings the Pumpkin Spice Latte (aka PSL) back during the week before Labor Day, I have a personal rule that I can’t have one before Labor Day. But after Labor Day, it’s fair game, even if it’s 90 degrees outside. So the Saturday after Labor Day, I picked up my first PSL of the season, and enjoyed it while watching College GameDay. It still felt like summer for about 95 percent of September. This meant I got to experience pool time, college football, and fall drinks all in the same day. Talk about the best of both worlds!

Lilly Pulitzer After Party Sale Haul

I think the September 2019 Lilly Pulitzer After Party Sale was one of my favorites! I scored a few things on my wish list in great prints, and was pleased with my self control too! “Lion Around” is one of my favorite Lilly prints from this year, and I got the Patty Skort in this precious print.

Prior to the sale, I planned to be on the lookout for something else in “Hangin’ with My Boo,” one of my all-time favorite Lilly prints. I ended up getting the Luxletic Amira Skort. This is my first-ever piece of Lilly Luxletic, and I doubt it will be my last! I even had a chance to wear it already, since we had such a warm September. “Hangin’ with My Boo” isn’t an overly summery print, so this skort was perfect to wear during the transitional weather!

The pajama pants in the original royal purple “60 Animals” print were another fun find. I’ve tried to to get a pair of Lilly pajama pants during previous sales, but my size has always sold out before I got a chance! These pants are so comfy, and will be perfect for lounging around in all winter.

Finally, I couldn’t resist adding this mug in the purple “60 Animals” print. It’s absolutely gorgeous, and I love how it says “xx Lilly” in gold on the inner rim.

rewardStyle Sales

I was also humbled at how many people shopped the Lilly After Party Sale via my blog links. There are so many great bloggers who share about the Lilly After Party Sale, so I don’t take y’all’s support for granted! My affiliate sales during the September 2019 After Party Sale were significantly higher than my sales from the January 2019 After Party Sale. This was such a sweet reminder to me that hard work and persistence do pay off, even if you don’t see results as quickly as you would like. As the saying goes, “the day you plant the seed is not always the day you eat the fruit.”

Also, I would like to point out that my Instagram following has barely grown at all in 2019. However, my blog page views have grown throughout the year. It’s particularly noteworthy that I am getting significantly more blog traffic from search engines now than I was at the beginning of the year. My increase in blog traffic, especially from search engines, contributed to my increase in rewardStyle sales from the January vs. September Lilly Pultizer sales. I’m sharing this because it’s also a great reminder to all bloggers not to get too caught up in Instagram numbers. We are basically all struggling with Insta these days. Instead, focus on your blog, which is a platform you actually own!

Lilly for Target 2.0

My Lilly for Target 2.0 experience was extremely successful. I got everything I wanted, and didn’t have to get up at the crack of dawn or fight crazy people! I perused the online catalog of Lilly Pulitzer items that Target planned to offer as part of their 20th Anniversary Designer collaboration. My wish list consisted of the set of four cloth napkins, and possibly the stacking porcelain mug set.

However, once the morning of the September 14 launch rolled around, I was simply way too exhausted from a busy week to get up early to shop. My Target opens at 7:00am, which would have meant a really early morning. And I didn’t want to pay shipping for a $10 set of napkins. I decided I could live without them, and wasn’t too heartbroken. Plus I had already ordered several things during the After Party Sale that same week. But after seeing pictures that people posted of the napkins in some Lilly Facebook groups, I decided I still wanted to get my hands on some. But I was not about to pay crazy prices on eBay or Poshmark.

Then one evening about nine days after the launch, I stopped at Target one evening for groceries. I decided to just walk by the 20 Years of Design for All display while I was in there. And I spotted one set of napkins, which I immediately put in my cart. They also had about three sets of the mugs. After seeing how gorgeous they were in person, I got them too. It definitely paid off to check back for returns. There are actually still a few Lilly items available on Target’s website. You can check them out here. In addition to my Lilly finds, I snagged this beautiful coffee table book as well, that features photos and stories of Target’s various designer collaborations over the past 20 years.

Chick-fil-A Mac & Cheese

I got so excited when I found out Chick-fil-a was coming out with macaroni & cheese! It’s one of my go-to side orders, and here in the South we consider it a vegetable. The Chick-fil-a macaroni and cheese launch got even better when the Chick-fil-a restaurants in my area gave all Chick-fil-a app users a reward for free mac & cheese during September. If you don’t have the Chick-fil-a app yet, download it ASAP! In addition to accumulating points to use towards future purchases, they will randomly give you rewards for free things. Because that’s just how Chick-fil-a rolls! And you get a free cookie during your birthday month. Anyways, the Chick-fil-a mac & cheese did not disappoint! It’s definitely worth getting.

New Beautycounter Lipstick Colors

During September 2019, I tried two Beautycounter lipstick colors I had been wanting to try, Sheer Lipstick in “Lily,” and Color Intense Lipstick in “Garden Party.” These were actually the first Beautycounter lipsticks I had bought in over three months. Even though I get a 25% discount as a Beautycounter consultant, I still need to pace myself with purchases. So I made a pact with myself at the beginning of the summer that I needed to use up some of my lipsticks before buying more.

Once September rolled around, I noticed that I had used a good bit of two of my Beautycounter lipsticks. So I ordered two new shades to try that were similar but also different from the ones I was running somewhat low on, if that makes sense. “Garden Party” is a very bright bold pink, and I actually like it better than the “First Date” color that I had been using. “Lily” is a basic neutral pink, and I like it better than the “Petal” light pink color I bought back in the spring.

Beautycounter Daily Shampoo

One of the first Beautycounter items I ordered was their Volume & Shape shampoo. This was the first sulfate-free shampoo I tried that didn’t leave my hair looking like I hadn’t even washed it. So I was really bummed when Beautycounter discontinued the Volume & Shape shampoo. Although I still have a little bit of the Volume & Shape shampoo left, I decided to go ahead and try the Beautycounter Daily Shampoo. I was pleased to discover that it gets my hair clean as well, without using harsh sulfates. Using sulfate-free shampoo really does make a difference. I can tell that my hair is softer, easier to brush, and less brittle at the ends. When I got a haircut at the end of August, my hairdresser could notice all this as well!

Another fun fact about Beautycounter Daily Shampoo- Reese Witherspoon gave it a shoutout in the September issue of Oprah Magazine. Reese is one of my top girl-crushes, so I love that we use the same shampoo-haha! You can shop Beautycounter Daily Shampoo here. PS. It has the most amazing citrus smell, but without harmful artificial fragrance.

Rameses Photo Opp

A couple weekends ago my Clemson Tigers came up to Chapel Hill to play UNC. I grew up a UNC fan, but have converted to a Clemson fan as an adult, although I still pull for the Heels if they aren’t playing Clemson. Even though I was wearing orange for the game in Chapel Hill, I still asked Rameses for a photo opp. He wasn’t too impressed with my outfit choice, which made for the most hilarious mascot photo.

Clemson Coke Zero

September brought another fun Target find- Clemson Coke Zero. I was excited to discover that the latest line of “Share a Coke” bottles included team logos in addition to people’s names. Pretty sure I bought every single Tiger Paw Coke Zero from the Target I was at. I took one of them tailgating with me to the Clemson game at UNC.

Hope you enjoyed reading about some of my September 2019 Favorites. It was quite the loaded month! And thanks for baring with me while I adjust to my new schedule and try to find my groove with balancing blogging with the rest of my life. This fall is the first time since starting this blog that I’ve been doing both BSF and a church small group, so it’s definitely taking some getting used to with time management.

What are some things you have been loving lately? Let me know in the comments!

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-xoxo Liz