After Alt Summit, I really wanted to at the very least attempt to get back to the heart of why I started blogging.
Simply put, I like to learn + to want to push myself to try new things.
At Alt Melissa Esplin hosted a DIY booth and shared some pointers about calligraphy. I chatted with Christa of Beatrice Clay and decided that I would redeem my Bing Rewards points for Amazon gift cards, which I used to purchase Modern Calligraphy.
Since then, I have been practicing calligraphy and painting with watercolors daily. (The two arts kind of go hand in hand, so I figured why not.)
My work is pretty rough, but since I’m only just starting out, I don’t mind it so much. I find the process rather meditative + thoroughly enjoy it, so it’s totes worth it!
Do you have a summer hobby or have you started learning something new recently? Would love some ideas of what to look into for my next something new!
Attending Alt Summit SLC Summer was one of the best experiences of my life. I wouldn’t have traded it for anything. I’ve done several free online classes through Alt Summit + Alt for Everyone. These were pretty great too, but if you ever get the chance to attend Alt Summit SLC, you NEED to take advantage of that opportunity!
The things I learned at Alt are things that I plan to use. I have gone to countless conferences where I had some good takeaways, but Alt actually taught me things to better myself + my blog. I won’t go into everything thing I learned, but I do want to sum up my Alt experience with 10 things that I learned.
1. Go out + make opportunities.
Joy Cho gave a extremely motivational keynote. She shared her experience and made it clear that you have to be a go-getter to get what you want. Figure out what you want to do and then do it!
2. Know your numbers.
Ryan Stern (@collectivelyinc) + Ashlee Prisbrey (@imtopsyturvy) showed the averages of blogs in the various stages of blogging. They encouraged us to use Google Analytics because of the information it can provide about your blog + your audience.
3. Dream BIG!
Alice Yoo + Eugene Kim of My Modern Met taught about growing your community. You should set goals, long term, and then break them down into steps. Believe in yourself and work hard! They showed this video during their session and I’m sharing it with you!
4. Share your story.
Sarah Deragon of Portraits to the People + Lisa Anderson Shaffer of Zelma Rose really broke Instagram down! I came away with SO many tips and tricks to really step up my Instagram game. They also gave us a coupon to Photojojo and I plan to use mine to get the Foldio that they showed us.
Practice, practice, practice. I’m thinking a photo challenge may need to happen…Maybe I’ll come up with my own!
5. Stop + smell the roses.
Audrey King of French Knot Studios made us get hands on with photo styling. She gave us supplies a few basic tips and said that the best way to learn is to do. So we did! The pointers she shared allowed me to take a step back, see what I was working with, and gave me the confidence to try all kinds of things…I was even asked if I was a photographer a couple of times!
6. Get growing!
These ladies (PJ Feinstein of A Girl Named PJ, Tan Rutley of Squirrelly Minds, Ciera Holzenthal of Ciera Design, Mariah Danielsen of Oh What Love, and Melissa Bahen of Lulu the Baker) kill it when it comest to collaborating, period. They inspired me to think outside the box and consider new ways to engage.
7. Media worth considering.
I use social media. Mostly Instagram + Twitter. I’ve tried Google+, but Jamie Dorobek of C.R.A.F.T. really made me want to give it another go! And Meg Conley of Meg in Progress + Kris Schoels of Young Married Chic talked about break into radio and TV. I plan to try more videos and now maybe even podcasting…
8. Sponsors are your friends.
All the Alt sponsors were amazing! I learned to see them as people, because they are, and that changed everything for me. During her keynote, Martha Stewart even spilled that Home Depot loves to work with bloggers.
I’m sad Alt is over, but it was just the spark I needed!
While I feel like I am still processing my Alt Summit experience as a whole, I have some Alt tips that I want to share in case you plan to attend Alt (or any other conference for that matter).
1. It doesn’t matter what you wear. Dress for you + have fun! I cannot stress this enough. I packed an outfit for each day and due to the weather ending up wearing clothes that were for my flights instead. No one noticed. The world didn’t end. (Unless less there’s a dress, then please follow it, just don’t stress out about it!)
2. You will regret overpacking. Especially if you are trying not to check any bags. You get A LOT of stuff at Alt. from business cards and coupons, to samples and door prizes. Having space in your luggage is a MUST. Unless you’re local. Then I envy you.
3. Sit in the front. This was a personal preference, but here me out. By sitting in the front row during sessions when ever I raised my hand the presenters noticed and I always got my questions answered. I could hear + see everything. After the sessions I was able to quickly run up and chat one-on-one with the presenters if I needed.
4. Have a thought or idea while at Alt? Write. It. Down. You do not want to forget it, and who knows you may get inspired to do the next big thing!
5. Step out of you comfort zone. If you have ever said you’re really fun or loud once you get to know me, then I’m talking to you! That’s me + typically I avoid social interactions at all costs. Unless I’m drunk. But by forcing myself to speak to others at Alt I made a ton of great connections. Like, I saw someone with the same camera bag as me. I went over to say hi + turns out it was Candice Stringham who is teaching a DSLR class via A Beautiful Mess! She even gave me a discount code to use in the A Beautiful Mess shop, which I will obviously be using to take her class. Like, what?! Imagine if I had missed that opportunity? I’d seriously have to kick myself.
Have you ever attended Alt Summit or another conference of some sort? What tips or takeaways do you have?
Almost too often we are criticized for using the internet for, well, everything. And as much as I’d like to argue that that’s not true, quite frankly, I can’t, because it is.
If I want to try a new restaurant, I look it up online and find reviews to see what others are saying about it. Same goes for movies, I need to know the ratings.
Living in a small town, I want to know how to get where I’m going before I drive an hour plus away, so I don’t waste gas. Gas is expensive y’all.
And also products. I must have looked into every single DSLR camera before investing in my Canon EOS Rebel SL1.
No one likes to waste their time or their money, and the internet, more specifically search engines, have helped us in our efforts to not do so. Except for when we want to, even if we shouldn’t…
When I need to know something, I often turn to my friends and family for their opinions or advice. How nice would it be to know what they like while I’m surfing the web?
Well by connecting my Facebook to Bing, I can! AND with Bing Rewards , I can even earn rewards simply for searching the web!
(I personally love that fact that a Sephora gift card is one of the reward options + I can even set it as a goal on my dashboard.)
How I use Bing…
I recently got a ficus. I was stoked. So stoked that I shared it on Instagram when I was doing the #100happydays Challenge.
I must have had it for about a week, maybe two when I noticed the tips of the leaves were turning brown. Not cool! I had no clue what I’d done so I looked it up using Bing.
The leaves are still brown, but at least I know how to prevent more leaves from turning brown and how to properly care for my beloved plant.
I have been thinking about getting tatted up for a while now. My little sister has over 10 tattoos (that I know of)! I just want one, OK, maybe two…and tiny ones.
I am pretty sure I want a tiny cross on the inside of my right wrist, but I wasn’t sure exactly what I would want it too look like.
I knew I’d want something small and simplistic, but much like requesting a particular hair style at a salon, I want to have a picture to bring with me, should I decide to actually get inked. I’d seen one that I liked on Pinterest, but I pin so much that I couldn’t find it, so I searched Bing Images and found it and several others that I liked just as much if not even better.
Bing has seriously made my sometimes confusingly chaotic life much easier, while at the same time rewarding me for it + in the form of makeup none the less!
Are you ready to start getting rewarded with what you want for doing what you already do? Then join Bing Rewards, it’s free!
I’m required to disclose a sponsored partnership between our site and Bing. I have been compensated in exchange for this post in the form of payment, product or experiences.
I joined Influenster not too long ago, and recently got my first VoxBox. I am always saying that I like to try new things, and VoxBox allows me to do just that + share my opinion on the products I try.
The theme of this particular VoxBox was Spring Fling, and had products to help you get ready for spring.
More often than I care to share, I find myself feeling sorry for myself. I see the lives of others and instead of being happy for them, I get jealous. It isn’t that I don’t have good things going for me…but sometimes it’s easy to forget how fortunate and blessed I am when I compare myself to others. I only see what I don’t have instead of what I do have. Over time that can really take it’s toll and you just get down (and not with your bad self). Well at least I do. And not too long ago (actually, a little over one hundred days…), that’s where I was.
Now, I am always up for a photo challenge! Any excuse to take pictures and you can basically count me in! Not that I wouldn’t be documenting just about every second of my life anyways! I have about 12,000 photos just from this year on my phone and would rather delete and app than a precious pic…Feel free to judge.
I successfully completed the challenge, and while I don’t feel earth shatteringly changed, I do find that it is easier to find the good, happy moments in each and every day.
If you think this is something that you could use, I encourage you to participate.
I am currently working on revamping some things on my blog, and one of the things I want to update is my about page. The plan is to add mini bios for each of my personal assistants furbabes. In the meantime, these photos should provide you with enough cuteness to hold you over until then!
+ The featherbabe
So, while I may not be a mother, I do have my hands (+ my heart) full. Hope those of you that are moms had a spectacularly wonderful Mother’s Day!
Believe it or not, the “manfriend” has a name. It’s Andrew. Andrew Michael when I’m upset with him.
We’ve been together for six years this month. Like any other couple, we are far from perfect, but he truly is my best friend and has been since college.
Currently, we are working on strengthening our bond by addressing some flaws that we previously neglected to.
The really abridged version of our love story:
He saw me, liked me, chased me. I turned him down. He got a girlfriend, I got jealous. They broke up. I graduated (I’m older), we started dating. We moved in together, and a year after that we were engaged. In 2012, we were supposed to get married. That didn’t work out. We stayed together and moved to Vermont. I got really depressed and started seeing a therapist for seasonal depression and anxiety. I discovered why they say that you can’t love someone else until you first love yourself. My emotional health was hindering my ability to be the best me and a good partner. Then more stuff happened, and here we are, working on us.
Photos courtesty of Once Like a Spark Photography
The three biggest things that have been helping us (I asked Andrew what his thoughts on this were and he said the exact same three things!):
Talking (communication is key)
Showing appreciation and affection
Spending time together
Of those, I really enjoy spending time with Andrew. Our job can be very time-consuming. Yes, we also work together. We used to pass work off as spending time together, but it is not the same. When we do things one (or both) of us enjoys, we get to know more about each other, we learn what we have in common, and we talk more than we normally would.
What do we do together?
Andrew is a gamer, so this past weekend we played Diablo III.
We both enjoy watching movies, so we went for a walk to our local Redbox and rented four movies to watch while we snuggled on the couch.
Spending time together is great, but it is also important to remember that some alone time is much needed and can be just as great.
Do you have a partner/spouse? How do you keep your relationship going? Post a picture of the two of you doing something together on Instagram and tag #spendingtime. This can be a super fun way for us to share some “date” ideas!
I just wanted to wish everyone a happy Easter Sunday!
I’m not always that big on tradition, but something about Easter reminds me of just how blessed I am, so I try to go to church if I can and dye Easter eggs with the manfriend’s mom the night before to use as place markers for Easter dinner.
Me being in line to check out in a drugstore (or any store really) is just bad. While waiting to checkout at CVS, I spotted these cute tiny plants for $2 each.
I picked out three and figured I could finally do something with the small leftover candle jars I had.
This was super easy and didn’t really take much time at all. I had also scored a new bench that I’m using as a coffee table, I can’t want to style it using these mini planters. More photos to come!
I’ve done other succulent and cacti projects in the past but my green thumb isn’t so green. What plants do you like to decorate with, any recommendations?
