Oh how I have missed you all! I am so sorry that I have not been very active on rachaelclairesf recently but things were pretty hectic after returning home from Europe and I think that I just needed to take some time for myself. But, I am very excited about the next chapter so I wanted to give you a quick update on what I have been up to for the last month!

Play:

Over the long Labor Day Weekend, we went to Mexico with two families that are some of our closest friends! We had the best time eating too many tacos, inventing our own cocktails at the beach bar and of course lounging on our obnoxiously large pool floats! One of my favorite memories was teaching the parents how to play Cards Against Humanity… I’m sure you can imagine how that went.

I also turned 23!! I was out of town for work on my actual birthday so my parents hosted a big end of summer/rachael’s birthday pizza party in our backyard (check out my guide to making homemade pizza here.) Its so funny but this was the first birthday that it kind of hit me that I’m growing up. So of course my friend Lauren and I took that to mean it was time to celebrate our birthdays at a Spa in Napa haha… more on that magical day later.

Work:

As some of you know, I have been working at a smart home start-up in Northern California called Roost. I absolutely love what I am doing, (digital marketing, helping with product launches, social media and getting to travel all over the US to different trade shows.) My favorite part of working at a start-up is getting to see a product come to life up close and personal, from the moment it was thought up, to seeing it on the shelves.

But at the end of the day, I think that I am looking to work at a company that is a little bit more established. Everyone at Roost has been so incredible by helping me get as much experience with them as I possibly can before moving on to a larger company.  Since I traveled so much this summer, I wasn’t ready to commit to a job, but now that I am home, I’m ready to go!  A lot of my free time recently has been spent looking for my next opportunity and I couldn’t be more excited.

So, what’s next?

Million Dollar Question!! No, just kidding. I have some pretty exciting trips coming up to the Wine Country, to the mountains for my grandmothers 90th birthday (!!) and also back to Wake for my first homecoming as a college grad. I am also getting ready for the rest of September and all of October here in Northern California. I haven’t spent this part of the year in California for the past four years and I have missed our beautiful falls. What a lot of people don’t realize who aren’t from this part of the country is that September and October are actually our prettiest months weather wise. All of the vineyards turn a gorgeous shade of yellow and the fog finally disappears from our coastline. So I am planning to take full advantage of my first fall back home with all of my girlfriends before some of us move our separate ways for work.

I hope that all of you are doing well!  I’ll be back again soon, I promise.

XOXO,

Rachael Claire