guest posting : the hippie memoirs

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oh, heeeeeey. i am back from cali-for-ni-A! we had a really great trip, but it's obvious to me that i am still out of sync with my sleep schedule. i've been waking up with less than 10 minutes to get ready and out the door for work since monday. dat's no good.

i am planning a vacation recap post for the near future, but until i can collect my thoughts and pictures, my beautiful friend emma is featuring me on her blog the hippie memoirs. emma and i have been collaborating together here and there for the past year, and she is my favorite gal to work with! she's talented and creative, and her blog just had a spectacular makeover. she is doing a new monthly feature called meet the muses where she will introduce a new blogger every month to her readers. i'm excited to be involved! head over to read a few fun facts about me and check out the rest of her amazing blog.

but wait. before you go. how are you guys? i've been out of the loop, and while i did have a lovely vacation without my computer for a week, i am excited to be back. more posts are coming soon including some exciting news i have to share! hint: i'm not engaged, pregnant, moving, or getting a new car. (but what else is there??)

guest post-10 things i love

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hey, ya'll! happy monday and all that. hope you guys had a great weekend! did you get into anything fun?

i am guest posting over on the hippie memoirs today. the ever cool miss emma and i have become bloggy friends and have coordinated a couple of fun guest posts for you guys. she has a series called "10 things i love", and today i am taking it over! head on over to read a little Q and A about yours truly and then see what i'm currently digging.

make sure you read through her posts and get to know her! she is super creative and sweet and has the best taste in music. basically, i want to be her. or at least be her friend so she can rub some of that coolness off on me. thank you, emma!

back in the game

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the magical internet guy came to my house today and with the wave of his wizarding wand, ALA-KAZAAM, my internet was fixed. i love him.

i have had a rather nice bloggy break. there were a few moments of frustration, but overall it was nice to have a quiet apartment without the buzzing of the internet. instead of browsing pinterest before bed, i read books. instead of checking my email with my morning coffee, i spent time writing in my prayer journal. instead of watching hulu after work, i crafted.

but before i lead you guys on any further into thinking i am super virtuous, i did miss the world wide web. that's why i have been simultaneously downloading music and watching parks and rec for the past hour. how sweet it is.

oh, and just FYI. we switched to frontier as our internet provider because time warner cable is the absolute worst in the whole world. and that is putting it very, very nicely.

makeover

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oh, hey. didn't see you there. i was too busy staring at myself in the mirror. because have you seen me today? i look fabulous. 

you know how you feel after you get a great new haircut and maybe a sassy new shirt? like a shirt with glitter letters that says something like "gonna be a star!" on it? that's how i feel. except that instead of a new haircut i got a new header and instead of glitter letters i got social media buttons. 

i really liked my blog before, but it needed a kick in the blog pants. something to give it a little oomph. nothing too drastic but i wanted a new design to create a little more cohesion and a little less patchwork quilt. 

i'm loving the result! still want to do a few tweaks here and there and maybe play around with the font a bit more, but overall i am very pleased with the new look. i keep opening up new tabs on my browser to watch it pop up on the screen. it's like playing peek-a-boo with myself. i get this silly grin on my face when i see my new header on the screen. gross. 

i can't take complete credit for this makeover even though i really want to. the wonderful people behind mlekoshiPlayground really know their stuff. thanks for your help and wonderful customer service!

like what you see? i know i do.

one year plus two days

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today marks one year and two days since i started this little bloggy. hurrah! it has been so much fun documenting the day-to-day, the DIY, the calorie laden recipes, the ups and downs of my life. in the past year i have had quite a few adventures...

being unemployed for an entire spring and summer

first ever tan

getting my wisdom teeth pulled at the ripe old age of 26

weekend trips to visit out of town friends

getting a job at duke hospital

quitting my job at duke hospital

getting another job that i love

monthly mixes

becoming an auntie!

lots of lovely lists

christmas and new years in raleigh

turning the big 2-7 and having my amazing friends throw me a surprise partay 

running in my second half marathon

my first blogger meetup

exploring my city and documenting the cool places i find 

lots of crafts, goodwill finds, random thoughts

moments of clarity, moments of confusion

thank you for following me, thank you for reading my posts, thank you for your sweet and encouraging comments! keep em coming.

happy birthday little bloggy! i heart you. 

blogger meetup!

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this post is a little late in coming, but i've been a busy bee lately. i haven't been able to gather my thoughts enough to put a decent blog post together. when i do get online in the evenings, i've been catching up on other blogs and not writing much on mine. tisk-tisk. i was scolded by my mother this weekend. i think she's the only one who checks every day to see if i have posted. so, mom, THIS ONE'S FOR YOU! 

two sundays ago i got to attend my very first blogger meetup! my friend carrie co-hosted the event with two other local blogging gals and sisters, kate and lauren. (you may recognize kate from pinterest. she is a full-time hairstylist and her hair tutorial pictures are all over! local celeb. no bigs).

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we met at benelux cafe in downtown raleigh for a night of coffee, waffles, and blog talk. 

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apparently the raleighwood area is very blog friendly. there were over 20 ladies who attended the event. some of the gals just blog for fun, some of them do it for business, some of them have few followers, some have thousands. there were ladies representing makeups blogs, fashion blogs, decorating blogs, life blogs, cooking blogs. the list goes on. 

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sometimes, when i mention that "i blog" to someone, i get the response of "huh?" or "that's nice" complete with a glazed over expression. it was great to be in a room full of fun ladies who all shared that same interest.

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i hope i can attend another bloggy get-together in the near future! until then, i will keep myself busy cyberstalking my new friends. speaking of, check out andrea's re-cap of the evening! style and wit, this girl's got it.