A day without a phone

(It was actually about 36 hours without a phone, but that's not important.)

A little over a week ago, my phone completely crashed and went into recovery mode. It probably shouldn't be as big of a deal as it was, and that's because I should have been better about backing up my phone (or at least thought to upgrade my iCloud storage prior to the crash). But, I hadn't backed up my phone since before leaving for Vienna (and luckily I had thought to do that since my previous backup was in 2015!). After many hours spent trying to get my phone to update and then trying to figure out how to save my app data before restoring it (with the help of a very patient, persistent, and technology-savvy new man in my life), it had to be restored to the previous backup. I'm most bummed about losing a couple month's worth of Stylebook data since there is no way I can remember everything I wore. Luckily, I know of at least the outfits I blogged. (And now Stylebook is being backed up to iCloud so I shouldn't lose data again!)

Anyway, I share all of that because for over a day, I didn't have a working phone. It was absolutely amazing to me how much I actually tried to use my phone while it was dead. After trying to get help at the Apple store, I stopped into Madewell. I like to take photos of what I try on to refer back to later, and I couldn't. I then had to compute prices in my head because, well, I use my phone as a calculator. I did not have a clock. I couldn't make a note on my phone when I thought of a future post title or outfit. I had to actually write out a grocery list (and then promptly forgot it at home). I couldn't check or post on social media. Truth be told, it was nice to give my phone a break. I could still message my iPhone friends from my computer, so at least I still had that form of communication, but when I was out and about, I tried to take in everything around me—and it made me realize that we are always on our phones. Everyone! This whole ordeal has made me realize that I want to take phone breaks more often.

OKAY, this post went in a slightly different and longer direction than I thought it would, especially for a Sunday post. Haha. Today is an exciting day, because I'm sharing the first look from my fall style sudoku! I won't be sharing my full sudoku until the end of the season, so you'll have to piece it all together yourself until then, but I'm pretty excited to start a new remix challenge. Also, fun fact: This was what I wore on the day my phone died.

Everlane top / LOFT skirt (similar by Madewell) / Halogen flats via Nordstrom (last seen here) / Leith hat via Nordstrom (similar by Forever 21)