Oh heyyyy, we’re back with another edition of Ask Cait! As a quick reminder, Ask Cait is a monthly-ish series where I’ll answer your questions – so keep ’em comin! You can submit any question that’s on your mind via this Google Form (or shoot me an email or Instagram DM, whatever is easiest for you).

This series has become one of my very favorite to write because I love connecting with YOU so grab a coffee, and let’s do this. A few recent questions:

1. What’s your favorite red lipstick?: This question inspired its very own blog post! You can check out the post here but spoiler alert… my current favorite is Stila’s Liquid Lipstick in ‘Beso’ (it doesn’t budge). Red lipstick has become my signature blogging thing over the years – I never quite feel Pretty & Fun without it!
2. Any advice for city living with a dog? Sure having a dog in a city vs. suburbs/rural area can be a bit more work but it’s still 110% worth it! Training is especially important for city dogs to nix any bad behavior that could impact your neighbors (like barking) or apartment (like anxiety or destruction) and making sure your pup gets enough exercise may take a little more work on your part since you likely won’t have a backyard. I got lucky and Callie adapted really well after we moved from New Jersey to Chicago, and dog-loving friends as well as apps like Rover and Wag, have been lifesavers for extra walks and pet sitting.
3. What’s your workout routine? This is something that always seems to be changing for me but right now I’m in a really good groove since I started horseback riding again almost a year ago. I ride 3 days a week and then have been mixing in some cardio with a SoulCycle class 1-2 days a week (definitely could use some yoga in the mix though!)
4. How do you travel so often? Do you have unlimited time off? At the beginning of 2017 I knew I wanted to make travel a priority for the year ahead so I’ve been doing just that! I don’t have unlimited PTO but we do have pretty generous vacation time and I had several days roll over from 2016 so I sat down with the calendar and mapped out blocks of time for trips throughout 2017, many of which are either long weekend trips (so only using 2-3 PTO days) or planned around holidays/holiday weekends so I’m able to get a bonus day or two while the office is closed without tapping into my own days off. From there I immediately sent my boss and email to get my days off approved and on the calendar right at the beginning of the year and started tracking flight prices in Google Flights to play around with different trip options and base my travel off of affordable flights and accommodations. More to come soon about finding cheap flights!
5. What’s one thing you’ve never shared with your readers? Blogging is something that’s both so rewarding and so damn frustrating for me sometimes. It’s obviously something I really truly enjoy and love but it also takes a lot out of me, especially when thrown into the mix with my career, travel and life in general. I try not to complain because I realize A. it’s my choice and B. I’m incredibly lucky to have this outlet (and you guys!), but keeping up with it sometimes is really HARD, especially how high the bar has gotten for content. I’ve definitely thought about leaving the blogging world but the pro’s always outweigh the con’s and since I’m all about keeping it real… you should know that you’re really the reason I stick around.

Thank you again to everyone who sent in a question – if you didn’t see yours answered in today’s post, check back next month and please keep ’em coming!