Happy Halloween! Can you believe the end of October is already here?!

At the end of each month, I’ll share three things I accomplished in the previous month and preview three things I’m excited about or hoping to accomplish in the month ahead. I hope you’ll join in and share your three things in the comments section!

In October, I…

1. Re-Launched the blog! On October 1, I hit publish on my first post for this blog. As you know, I’m no stranger to blogging, but I took a six-month hiatus last year while I figured out what I wanted the direction of my blog to be and worked on its rebranding with web designer Ashley from Little Leaf Photography & Design. I’m thrilled to be blogging again and so excited about the possibilities ahead when it comes to the blog.

2. Indulged in lots of fall fun. October is one of my very favorite months because it’s the perfect time of year to do all kinds of fun fall-like activities. During the month of October, I had a girls day with my mom, her best friend and my little sister. We did a wine tasting, lunch, browsed a local farm market and went shopping. Of course, I also went behind the scenes at Eastern State Penitentiary’s Terror Behind the Walls, which was the perfect way to celebrate Halloween a bit early. Later in the month, I went to a few different farms and fall festivals and enjoyed lots of delicious fall snacks; apple cider, apple donuts, pumpkin ice cream and more!

3. Participated in my goddaughter’s baptism. What a special day! On Sunday, my goddaughter Charlotte was baptized (adorable pictures here). It was such an honor to be part of a momentous occasion like this in her life, and I look forward to being a part of many more. The baptism itself was pretty interesting and it was fun to play an important role in the ceremony, along with her godfather and parents, of course.

In November, I will…

1. Run my first half marathon. The Philadelphia Half Marathon is 19 days away, and I’m more excited and nervous than ever. Right now, I’m a little terrified because last week I started experiencing some knee pain. I’m doing my best to rest my knee (while still getting in training runs) and plan on foam rolling and stretching my little heart out until the race. I’ve come way too far in this training cycle to let an injury hold me back from my goal.

2. Speak at a social media conference in El Paso, Texas. Next week, I’m heading to Texas for work to the Social Media Tourism Symposium (#SoMeT12). I’ll be presenting a 30 minute session on Foodspotting and how to leverage the social network for tourism. I’m VERY excited to check out El Paso and I’m really looking forward to enhancing my public speaking skills at a conference of this level.

3. Hopefully get all of my Christmas shopping completed. Let’s face it. When it comes to Christmas shopping, I’m a complete procrastinator. I ruin the last two weeks of December completely by stressing myself out running around trying to find the perfect gifts for my family. This year, I hope to get shopping out of the way in early November, so I can fully enjoy the holiday season. We’ll see how that goes.

What did you accomplish in October and what are you looking forward to accomplishing in November? Share your three things in the comments below!

*Thank you to everyone for your tweets and messages during Hurricane Sandy. I’m happy and grateful to share that my neighborhood made it through okay. We luckily never lost power and there’s minimal damage on my block. I feel very lucky and blessed this week!