Happy September, friends! August was so much fun because we went on my birthday vacation to Disneyland! We've been visiting Disneyland for my birthday since 2019, and it's become one of my favorite birthday traditions.

Before we went to Disneyland, we visited with Angel’s family to celebrate the newest addition to our family. Our soon-to-be-born niece / Goddaughter at my sister-in-law and her boyfriend’s baby shower. Baby C is due in October, and I can't wait to meet her! We also got to spend some much-needed time with our first niece and Goddaughter, and I think she's finally warming up to us. Sure, she cried a little when we tried to play with her, but by the end of our stay, we had her wrapped around our fingers (or maybe vice versa). 

After the baby shower, we drove to Disneyland and stayed at the Tropicana Inn & Suites, a cute Mediterranean-style hotel steps away from the Disneyland entrance on Harbor Boulevard. This hotel was the closest we stayed to Disneyland, ever. (It's closer to Disneyland than the Disneyland Hotel, a hotel on Disneyland property!) We visited the parks for two days, and it was absolute bliss. (Check out my new Disneyland travel guide to learn how much we paid for our trip.) We got to hug our favorite characters again and watch World of Color and my favorite nighttime show, Fantasmic! My heart always feels full after visiting Disneyland. Next, we're focusing on December's Disney Cruise and Disneyland Holiday trip.

Acclimating back into everyday life post-vacation has been tough. I've had the post-vacation blues much longer than I normally do. In addition to the post-vacation blues, I haven’t been feeling like myself. I feel much more gray / down than normal for this time of year. At first I thought it was from getting my flu shot, but it’s been over one week since I got it, and I still feel the same. I typically struggle with Seasonal Affective Disorder (a.k.a. “seasonal depression”) but don’t start feeling the effects of it until closer to Thanksgiving. So, I'm taking it easy and trying not to put too much pressure on myself, and I’m looking forward to feeling better soon.

NEW ON THE BLOG

I haven't officially announced it yet, but I wrapped up a blog rebrand with Samantha from Helloo SamSam Designs late last month. I found Samantha through some friends on my Disney Instagram, and I loved her work so much that I reached out to have her help me rebrand my blog.

This rebrand was my first time working with a designer, and it was the best investment I made for my blog since moving my domain from Blogger to Squarespace five years ago. Samantha is from Canada, so we did everything over email. She was extremely professional, kind, and transparent about her process and prices, and I had a blast working with her. She understood my vision for Livin La Vida Orozco from the get-go, and it felt good to work with someone who didn't complicate things or get too in the weeds with their business.

Also new on the blog are my updated Disneyland Halloween Travel Guide and this Old Navy Fall Wardrobe Essentials blog post. I've been writing about Disney for the past couple of months, so it felt good to write about Beauty & Style again. I have a couple more beauty posts in the works and hope to post them sometime this month.

Over on my Disney Instagram, I announced I was selling a small batch of Halloween ("Spooky Cute") crochet cup cozies, and the craziest thing happened. I was invited to sell my cozies at Hawaii's first-ever Magical Boo Bash craft fair. I'm still reeling that I'm doing a craft fair because crocheting cup cozies was supposed to be a fun, easy hobby I do in my free time. The more I shared my newfound hobby on Instagram, the more people asked if I was selling them. After going through a few rounds of imposter syndrome, I finally found the courage to sell what I made, and this happened! I can hardly believe it.

If I'm being honest, I'm a bit nervous. I've never sold something at a craft fair before; what if I go and no one buys cozies from me? I'm afraid of feeling rejected, which is a feeling I one hundred percent own. All nerves aside, I'm excited and hope it goes well.

WHAT I READ

Last month wasn't a good month of reading for me. Almost every book I tried to read (Unconditional by Q.B. Tyler, Rules of Contact by Jaci Burton, and The Trouble with Hating You by Sajni Patel), I immediately marked as DNF (did not finish). The only book I read in its entirety was Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score.

Things We Never Got Over was a contemporary romance slash action story. It takes place in the small town of Knockemout, a small (fictional) town in Virginia. It had all the good makings of a contemporary romance slash action novel:

• A stubborn rugged-hot small-town hottie.

• Twins (one evil and one good, of course).

• Loyal friendships.

• Complicated relationships.

• People who face their fears.

WHAT I WATCHED

The only show worth noting here is Brooklyn Nine-Nine. I started watching it the last week of August, and I'm already on season 6. I'm not sure why I waited so long to watch it, but it's the funniest show I watched in a long time. I also started watching She-Hulk, but I'm unsure how to feel about it. If it's on track with the last two Marvel Disney+ shows, it should pick up for me around episode five.

That's it for my August recap! I'll catch up with you again next month.