Miles & Daydreams

a socially distant halloween

what are you going for halloween this year? usually i wear a fun costume to work, then go home and hand-out halloween candy to the scores of trick-or-treaters we get in our neighborhood. i love checking out their adorable costumes, and seeing if they can guess what i’m dress-up as (past few years: wednesday addams, frida kahlo, and a basic witch). since my birthday is super close to halloween, in years past, my friends and i would get dressed-up and go out downtown, dancing nights away in fun costumes (because who doesn’t love to wear a great costume, right?!). with covid-19 ever present, this year will be different, for sure, but it can still be festive and fun even if you’re staying home, as i am.

Mount Rainier National Park, Yakima WA + hiking tips

In my opinion, one of the best things in life is hiking in the cooler/cold weather. The environment is usually beautiful (hello fall <3) and it helps you not feel as gross (definitely less sweaty) while you’re working so hard on the hike!

I’ve been lucky enough to travel on several trips that involved hiking in the fall/winter months and let’s face it, that’s the best time of the year! Fun tip about me: I don’t like to sweat unless I’m trying to ( I can often be heard saying, “I don’t want to sweat unless I’m working out”) which is why I couldn’t remain living in FL with that heat- haha! I’ve always preferred the cold and as my grandma used to say, you can always put clothes on.. you can only take so many off! 🙂

So today I am sharing some of my photos and information from my Washington trip- we visited Yakima, WA and Mount Rainier National Park– and some tips for cooler/cold weather hiking.

Travel Journaling

While leisure travel across borders remains off the table for most places in the world, and with Covid numbers across our country and the globe starting to creep back up, lets pause: How are YOU?! Are you hanging-in okay in the oddness that is 2020? Honestly, I’m up and down. I’m working really hard to accept that 2020 could not be the year it was supposed to be, but it’s tougher pill to swallow than I anticipated. UGH. For those of us with wanderlust hearts, and those of us who are extroverts, staying home has been super hard. Something that has been a big mood booster for me is going through my old travel journals! I see scraps of old ticket stubs to adventures abroad and my heart begins to smile. Here’s why I think keeping a journal when you travel is such a good idea.

Coraline Coraline

As you know (if you follow us on Instagram) we love Halloween over here at Miles & Daydreams. What you may not know is that I also love to make my Halloween costumes. For the past 6 years, I have recreated DIY costume ideas I found online. I’ve done: the Grinch, Sally from the Nightmare before Christmas, Rafiki, Ursula, the Mad Hatter and Coraline. I also, try to keep my purchasing to under $40.00. Today, I am going to take you through the making of Coraline. Let’s get started 🙂

Ireland Highlights

Ireland is an underrated travel destination, in my opinion. The food in particular often gets a bad rap, which I don’t understand, because fresh fish, beef stew, and potatoes of all kinds always sound good to me! (And those full-Irish breakfasts! And that lovely Irish tea!) I have been to Ireland twice and have adored it both times. It’s a medieval European country that boasts gorgeous landscapes, castles, sheep, and rainbows. A trip in the winter months lend imagination to what life might’ve been like during Ireland’s rough years of famine and war, with the grey skies, crosswinds, and cold temps. However, after visiting in both summer and winter, give me winter travel every time! In this post, I’ll share some of my highlights and my favorite stops, as well as the couple of things I personally would skip, even if I were a first timer.

DIY Halloween Garland

I love a good Halloween decoration, but I also love simplicity. So if you roll up to my home, you’ll see exactly: 3 pumpkins, 2 mums, a fall themed wreath, and this Halloween garland inside. I love a bright wildly decorated home… in pictures. For mine, I prefer simple designs. I wanted to add a little color and decor to my TV stand for Halloween this year and while I was perusing Joann Fabrics a while back I saw a pretty fall colored garland. I had a coupon but it was originally priced at $29.99!! I have a running joke with my sister-in-law: when I find something (usually simple clothing or decor) I will say, “I could make that” if I feel I could create something similar for the same or less money. This allows me to be creative, crafty and cheap— I mean frugal 🙂

Our October To-Do List

October is upon us, party people! (And it even feels like actual Fall here in NorFla right now with temps in the 60’s.) October is the start of the season of fun Holidays with Halloween first-up. While the fate of trick-or-treating is up in the air (sorry kids…it’ll be lights-off at our high risk home this year), click on through to see what we have planned for the spooky month of October!

Date night in a jar

some date night ideas for you are yours ❤

Date night can be a struggle (if you’re anything like us) and Covid just makes it worse! When my husband and I decide were going to spend some dedicated time together, it’s always, “What do you want to do?” “I don’t care, we can do whatever you want to do” and we end up spending a lot of time going back and forth trying to choose and less time actually having date night!

I’ve seen several of these ideas on Pinterest, but thought I would make one of my own. Here is the tutorial (and it’s a pretty easy one- aside from coming up with the date ideas 🙂 )

A Hygge Emergency Kit

FINALLY: The coziest time of the year has arrived! Yes, it may still be pretty warm outside for those of us in Florida, but that won’t stop me from acting like I live in the town in Hocus Pocus. Life this year has been… stressful? Hmm, not even sure what adjective to use here, but you know #2020. It has me looking forward to this time of year more than I ever have before. It also has me craving cozy nights, which The Little Book of Hygge describes in detail perfectly. I wish I had read this book years ago, as it’s practical advice would have served me well on many occasion when long days at work were too much. Written by Meik Wiking, the CEO of the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen, the Danes really know how to make the every day enjoyable.

Fall exercise + a miles tracker for your fall running

It’s FALL (well, actually in one more day officially, but who’s counting) Fall means cooler weather, beautiful changing leaves, crisp air, and wildlife (if you live where that sort of thing is present in your yard most mornings 🙂 )

Each season, I tend to switch up my workout routine. Summer tends to be outdoors but more kayaking, hiking, swimming, and biking. Spring will be more weightlifting, cardio, biking, and hiking. BUT FALL- fall is when we run! I don’t know about you but I’m a cold weather runner. I prefer to feel the fire in my lungs from the cool air than the sweat pouring into my eyes from the 90* heat.

I want to give you some easy ideas for how to take your workouts outside this fall and also take a moment to share an awesome resource for runners. But first, my tips!