My Blogger Identity

When I first started to blog I created a "fashion blog" where I primarily focused on trends and runway reviews. While this was fun I found out quickly that the research involved with running a fashion blog was way beyond me. I slowly introduced some super embarrassing personal style elements before I just transitioned over to "lifestyle blogging".

But what even is  "lifestyle blogging"? I love reading them, but how do I make my super boring life seem remotely interesting to people. As much as bloggers like to say they blog for them self...let's be honest it's because we all have this weird fascination with reading about strangers lives so we assume they want to read about ours too.

But as a college student living in the mid-west who is studying education my life is super typical. I don't have a cute dog, a gorgeous home, a precious baby, delectable food or a closet full of designer clothes to photograph. I don't go to cool events, festivals, or have a perfectly rustic but trendy farmers market down the road either. Right about now I have a cute boyfriend and that's about all I can check off from the list of "lifestyle blogger" list of things to talk about.

So I guess for now if you want to read this blog you'll get to read about how stressed I am being a college student and look at awkward mirror selfies of my outfits for class. For right now this is my blogger identity:

A fresh new look, and a fresh new outlook

 It's been a few months since I wrote a post on here...and with good reason. At the end of the summer I went through a bit of a quarter life crisis. To keep it short I did a lot of self reflection which ended in me breaking off a four year relationship and hoping for a fresh new start.

Since my breakup I have been so much happier. I moved into my sorority house and have had an amazing time living "on my own". It's been great having the responsibility and freedom that comes with living away from your parents for the first time. I also started a new job as a babysitter for two awesome young boys. And I ended up starting a new relationship with my friend Josh who I met over the summer at Leadershape, a leadership development camp. Josh was able to help me through my breakup while simultaneously winning me over at the same time.

With all of these changes I have felt an overwhelming sense of happiness. I am so much more content with my life and the track that I am taking. The only thing that I have been missing is a hobby....which is where this little blog comes in.In the midst of all of my "soul searching" over the summer I still was blogging. Granted what I blogging about was very heartless and didn't reflect all of the trouble I was having, it was still an outlet for me. Now that I am in a much better place I wanted to slowly add blogging back into my life again.

I contemplated starting up an entirely new blog, but this one just holds a special place in my heart. With the new design it feels entirely different, but I have decided to keep my old posts anyway. As much as I want an entirely new start I have come to terms with the fact that my past happened, and it's just that...my past.

So here's to a (sorta) fresh start on this good ole' blog of mine.

Blogger Stardom

Sometimes I feel like such a dork when I get "starstruck" over certain bloggers. I've gotten a fair amount of twitter love in my time, but I still always get so excited when I see someone like Sarah Vickers from Classy Girls Wear Pearls reply to my tweet. Then I think it's weird because even though these people are bloggers and thousands of people follow them, they really aren't "famous". 

Does anyone else get starstruck by social media interaction? Or am I the only one? 

Friday Letters

Dear Italy; I love reading travel books about you, so I can pretend I am rich and can afford to come visit.

Dear butter lover; no matter how many times I show you what a serving of butter looks like you will still give me sass and say "well daddy lets me have this much" (sigh). Please not the orphan/homeless hair, we also don't like to brush our hair anymore. #nannyproblems

Dear Disney World; see you in a little over a week. I can't wait to start my day with Mickey waffles and end it with waffle cones for a week....oh and ride rides and stuff ;)

Pinspiration Wednesday

Weekend Shenanigans

Maxi moment. Alex and I headed to downtown Farmington, MI for a showing of The Great Gatsby at an old theater. Tickets were 4$ for a 9:15 show, so it was a pretty good deal.

Simple shopping look. I went to a local art fair with my mom but had no luck, thankfully the Nordstrom Anniversary sale was a big success.

Sam Edelman Pippen

Clarks Artisan Rosepoint Dew. These also come in a dark charcoal gray.

Hunter Rigley. These also come in the most amazing shade of plum and the curved top edge with the quilted texture makes these look so luxe. They are $118.00 during the sale.

puppies like coffee too. This one even jumps up on kitchen tables to get his fix

beautiful white hydrangeas

 

Four day, 4th of July weekend

A very grainy picture but Alex and I spent our 4th of July hanging around my house with a bonfire and drinks.

 shirt Old Navy/ shorts Old Navy

On Saturday Alex and I went to dinner then to the drive-in to see The Lone Ranger followed by Monsters University. The Lone Ranger was honestly pretty horrible, but Monsters University was hilarious...I'm already planning on getting one of these when I go to Disney World in a few weeks. 

shirt Aeropostale/ shorts Gap

Go MU ;)

Sadly I had to end my nice four day vacation but on Monday I got to spend a rainy day testing my architecture skills...

Oh, How Pinteresting

I wanted to try out Pinterests new embedding feature, so I figured I would just post my images now since I've got 2000+ more pins for another week!

Feeding kids from the nanny's point of view

In my year of being a "mom" (nanny) I've found that the easiest way to help kids eat healthy is to give them a wide variety of snacks, and sometimes you just have to trick them into eating healthy. I also find that not having the treats around the house helps. The family I nanny for has only a few things you could consider junk food... Graham crackers, and skinny popcorn on a weekly basis. 

 I like to make boring lunches fun by providing finger foods, and a lot of small servings of different foods. I also avoid asking the kids what they want to eat, since the answer will always be macaroni and cheese. So instead of arguing I've found it's easier just to serve up some finger foods and hope for the best. 

I also sometimes "trick" the girls by giving them healthy foods like yogurt and fruit disguised as treats. Freeze gogurt or buy frozen Greek yogurt bars...and you've got healthy ice cream! And have the kids mix and match their favorite fruits with milk and yogurt for a colorful smoothie. If they made if they will usually eat it. 

I also firmly believe in the classics like ants on a log...I mean what kid could resist a snack with a name like that. P.S if you're out of raisins just be creative...the little one had Rice Krispy ants today and was totally content. 

Weekend Shenanigans

A rough week of work calls for a big bowl of fro-yo with all of the good stuff.

 I worked off that big cup of ice cream though with a 19 mile bike ride on Sunday. My dad is really into biking so I went along, let's just say my thighs were burning but I felt so good after! 

Waiting for the fireworks to begin

The best thing about Carnivals!

Chillin' under the Vera Bradley blanket waiting for the fireworks to begin.

The main attraction

Nanny Life

1. That isn't ground beef on the ground that was our attempt at Kool-Aid colored play-dough. We all got tired of mixing and kneading the dough...so we went with the "tie-dye" effect.

2. Easiest way to entertain kids, give them something messy and tell them it's okay to make a mess. For example, buy a $1.00 can of shaving cream, give them kitchen utensils, put on bathing suits, turn on the hose, and you have 45 minutes of entertainment!

Three days a week the oldest has swim team practice from 11:15-noon. This is a great way to spend the day except it's the hottest part of the day. I feel bad for her little sister who won't play in the baby pool alone so she insists on laying in the sun with me. However she doesn't have the Greek genes and tanning doesn't go well for her....for example this is what happens when her face was too hot, apparently a towel over the face was the best solution.

 "Talent Show"

Notice the lovely green velour crop top and high waisted pants? Those came straight out of the 90's...but literally I used to wear that outfit to dance class in 1996. Holla'

Also Instagram video rocks!

Follow me on Instagram

Weekend Wanderings: 5k PR and the best ice cream of my life

This past weekend I completed and got a new PR at the Detroit River Days 5K. I normally run a 5k in about 30 minutes, but this race I pushed myself and got a time of about 28 minutes! When I'm running in races I always pick someone at the start that I want to beat and I make it my mission to pass them, when I do I pick someone new and repeat. It's fun to beat people....even if they don't know you're racing :)

The night before the race, Alex and I went to my favorite Italian restaurant in Downtown Plymouth for pasta! I filled up on my favorite pasta dish, it is angel hair pasta with chopped tomato, toasted pine nuts, artichokes (which I don't eat but like the flavor of), and blackened chicken with olive oil as the sauce. It is to die for! Alex tried a special that was four cheese tortellini with rose sauce and a veal pasta dish that I'm not sure of the name. After dinner we went to Kilwins for ice cream, they make homemade waffle cones and the smell draws you into the shop from a block away. I tried toasted coconut ice cream and it was hands down the best flavor I have ever had! It tasted very fresh, not like artificial coconut at all. My meal was so good and I was so in the zone that I didn't even stop to take a picture (bad blogger!)

pre-race selfies with the Detroit River in the background.

Selfies part two

O' Canada

Oh hey 3rd place nice to meet ya! I was super excited to have "beat" so many people, but I was kinda annoyed that only top two got a medal...I'm sorta a sore loser.

Pretty river...not so pretty hair and face etc.

just being tourists

somebody was sleepy

Coast Guard Ships. Alex and I took a tour of the other ship that was on the river.

Third times the charm!

Tomorrow I'm running my third 5k race. I did The Color Run last summer and the Turkey Trot in November. I trained really hard for this race to make sure I could finish, and I'm feeling very confident. Hopefully the predicted thunderstorms hold up and I can finish without dying!

Six Favorite (skin care) Products

1.I have super oily skin, this moisturizer leaves my skin feeling soft but not too oily.

2.Toner is essential for maintaining the ph balance after washing your face, this one leaves your face feeling tight in a good way. Plus the cucumber smells amazing!

3.This face wash is really strong, I don't use it every night but the glycolic acid really does a great job at removing the dull dead skin and leaves your face feeling super fresh.

4. The enzyme gel is a great cleanser for every-day. I remove my makeup with cetaphil then use this gel on my clarisonic brush to get a good deep clean.

5. Buffering Lotion is a god-send for cystic acne. It shrinks the cysts down and relieves some of the pain as well.

6. Buffering Lotion is to cysts as Drying Lotion is to whiteheads. This works miracles, you just have to ignore the stinky smell.

Weekend Wrap Up

Threads for shopping on Thursday, hit up VS sale and spent way to much on bras

cheesin'

such a pro

super amused with my impromptu photoshoot

happy little puppy after a walk

heavenly fried pound cake with berries, whipped cream, AND ice cream