Let me (re) introduce myself. Because some of you are brand spanking new to my blog (Welcome!), and others have been here awhile (Thank you!), I figured it was time to give you a few facts you may not have known about me.

Me and my Grace

Also it's Friday, and who doesn't love a fun post.. And quick reminder. I will be out of town through Tuesday so maybe follow me on Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat which my user name is thetrishlist
to keep up with my adventures..

• Make lots of new pretty pictures for my posts (Isn't that photo I used up there by Helene In Between, beautiful?). I haven’t had a good photo shoot in a while. I will be away in Denver for 4 days starting this weekend so I am hoping for lots of photo ops.

• Write a post every day to have a back log for those days when I forget to write something.It's always good to be prepared right?

• Continue my yoga practice to keep my body light and happy. My body loves me for this. Now I just need to remind my brain.

• Show you all what I'm made of and give you the amazing content I have been planning for over a year now. I want to do this and I can do this. May is my time!

• It came to my attention yesterday that I am super close to hitting 100,000 page views. How awesome would it be if I hit that number this month? I am not setting this as a goal per say.. cause no pressure, but if you all wanted to ya know, help me out with this by sharing my blog and visiting as often as you can, I wouldn't hate it ;)

So what do you guys have on your plates this month? Any amazing goals to shatter? I think I'm gonna knock mine out of the park!

*The Trish List fun fact # 2: This blog started off as a once a week review blog in February 2014. I started blogging about all of the freebies I got int he mail. It then grew to a lifestyle blog by May when I decided I wanted to write about more than just products.


*Keep track of these facts.. there just might be a quiz.. which means.. giveaway in my world :)

It’s been 2 years.. yes as in 731 days (We had a leap year in there) since The Trish List was officially born as a lifestyle blog. This space has been all over the place ever since. I mean who doesn’t like a train wreck? All jokes aside, when I started this blog I had no idea what I wanted to do with it. I wanted to write. I wanted people to read it. I wanted to be just like everyone else.

Happy Sunday and happy May! Whew we made it! I woke up to a very windy, rainy day which I was not thrilled to see, but we are that much closer to summer and that makes me happy.

Today's Sunday Snap is a special one. I have so many great things to talk about. For starters, 2 years ago I transitioned The Trish List over from a once a week review blog to a lifestyle blog. I moved my blog from Weebly to Blogger. I recognize May as my Blogiversary month and today The Trish List is 2!

I am planning to celebrate all month with some fun surprises and new topics. If you have kept up with the blog over the 2 years, first of all bless your heart and secondly you will know this space has changed a lot. You have seen me take time off and times when I was on fire. It's all apart of the gig. Bloggers work their tails off to produce content so you will want to come back to day after day.

For this reason I am also celebrating myself. I need to give myself come credit for coming back week after week to work on making this a better space. May is also Mental Health Awareness month and I am advocating you all take time out of your days as well for self care. Do something for yourself daily to make yourself matter first in your life.

I hope you stick with me this month, as I reminisce my 2 years of blogging and bring some new content. I have been working my tail off for weeks writing and planning to make sure you all get a taste of where The Trish List is headed. This is a great time to re-aquaint yourself with me or get to know me if you are a new reader.

Each week this month I will post some throw backs from the blog. These will include favorite posts and facts about me and the blog. I will throw in some surprises and even some gifts..

Stick with me and I promise you a good time! I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your weekend. Even though it is raining here today, we are expecting my parents and are headed to the wedding venue to wine taste.. I am getting married at a winery in case you didn't know! Make it a good day folks!

The Trish List Fact # 1: Today is my 340th post!

*Keep track of these facts.. there just might be a quiz.. which means.. giveaway in my world :)

You guys.. It has been the BEST WEEK EVER! I feel like I haven’t had a really REALLY good week in a while. So what makes this the best week ever you ask? Let me fill you in..

A few months back I talked about starting to journal and what that meant to me. I have once again fallen off the wagon for this one, but am missing it. I miss writing down thoughts from my day. I miss writing down all of the things I am grateful for. I miss letting the thoughts flow onto the paper without a single hesitation. No one is going to read these thoughts but me.

Monday always comes to fast, especially when you partied a little to hard over the weekend. Yep. I danced for hours. In heels. Ouch. Yep. I'm old.


I went to my second Red Event which is put on by a philanthropic group called the Hangar Aces. It supports theater in my community. It is a great time where you get to wear your best red attire.

It was a lot of fun and reminds me why it's so important to support worthy causes and build networking skills.  Working in a philanthropic position myself now has shown me the importance of the work.

We survive on events for the community and building relationships with local businesses. And unlike what some people believe there really are some not for profits out there that solely survive on donations.

They even try to make it fun. Ya know with dance parties and wine. Yep. Those are the kinds of parties I love. Ones where I'm having fun AND supporting a good cause.

Not that summer is quickly approaching my schedule is pretty packed with events I am helping put on, so take a look around your community. See what's going on and get out there and support while having a blast!

Do you support non-profits? What kind of events do you attend?

Well today I had planned a different post, but I felt the need to write about the death of Prince.

The sudden passing of such a music icon leaves the world in shock. As 2016 continues to take the great people in the entertainment world, it also reminds me that nothing lasts forever. Death forgets no one, and when it's your time, you go.

I feel the same ache I felt when Robin Williams passed. It left a pain in my heart, not because I knew either of them, but because their presence was apart of my whole life.

Music has always been a big part of my life. My parents always made sure we had something to sing to or dance to as children. Prince was apart of that.

I can specifically look back at quite a few memories just by the mention of a few specific Prince songs.

As we do not have any real solid answers yet as to why this life was taken to soon, it reminds me that everyday is not promised. It also reminds me that the choses we make every day can effect our tomorrow's.

Last night I forgot that nothing is promised. I went to bed angry. The worst feeling in the world. Take today to remind youself, as I did when I got up that today is a present. Accept it and make the best of it.

I will leave you with that thought while I jam out to Kiss by Prince. It always brings me back to Julia Roberts in the bathtub in Pretty Woman.

What's your favorite Prince song?

It's that time again! What time am I speaking of? Blog Staycation time! It couldn't have come at a better time for me! With all the new ideas and updates I am working on this month, having the Staycation rounding up April is the perfect last push for me to get it done.


So now the question is: Are you ready to tackle your to do lists?

The Spring Staycation will take place April 28th through May 1st.

For those of you not familiar with the Blog Staycation,  it was started back in August 2014 and has since become a bi-yearly event where bloggers come together to mingle and help eachother tackle their blogging to-do lists.

All bloggers no matter what experience level is encouraged to join in. It really has blossomed into a fun and social 4 days where we can all give eachother advice and ideas while learning new skills.

Get yourself signed up HERE!

We look forward to meeting you all!

I've been feeling a little MIA lately. I have been working a lot on this blog behind the scenes this month, gearing up for my 2 year blogaversary in May. Of course that has taken me away from actually posting regularly here.

I know I set warning that this space would be a pretty hot mess this month, but I thought more would be posted. Because I failed to send more test content out than I had originally intended, I wanted to run a few ideas past you all.

First and foremost I want this blog to be a positive place. I also don't want to portray that I live in a perfect world either. I want to stay away from rants if I can, but there will be days where maybe this will be the good, the bad, and the ugly.

So my first idea that I am implementing next month is my Random Acts of Kindness tab. Each month I am going to pick 1 of my readers to send a little thank you to. There won't be a specific gift, just something to say thanks. I want to leave a space where anyone can write about what they are doing to put a smile on someone's face.

The second topic I will be addressing is being a stepmom. In September I will marry R and officially be a stepmom to his 2 boys. R and I have been together for about 3 years and living together for 1.

 I am going to write a monthly post where I will encourage others to link up and share their stories. These should be positive posts that encourage and support other stepmoms out there.

The last new addition to the blog will be weekly posts of pursuing what happiness means to each of us and how to get there. I strive every day to think of one positive thing, even when my day seems bad.

Just a couple of new things coming, but I feel like they can make a big impact. Don't forget I am also offering a poll this month with a prize for anyone who takes it! You can find it here.

Happy Tuesday.

Remember how I said April was going to be a little bit of a hot mess around here on the blog? Well I wasn't lying. My post schedule is really off and I have multiple topics I want to squeeze in. Yesterday was a fitness post on running. Yep, you heard that right. I decided to take up running. And hey, I'm still alive to talk about it.

Today I want to talk about travel aND moving a bit. If we don't know eachother well then you probably don't know that I grew up in the military.  I moved just about every 3 years and that really screwed up things like family get togetters and high school. Because every kid wants to be the new kid in high school right?

I HATED it. But then something happened. I grew up. I loved to visit new places and learn about the history of our country. I appreciated all of the moves I made as a child. I packed myself up at age 21 after graduating college and headed out to Las Angeles. That was an experience in its own.

I ended back in Pennsylvania where I'm from, but I had the experience. I got the itch again when I was 28. I needed a change. This time I only went to upstate NY but hey its something. It's again taught me valuable lessons and has grown me as a person.

Today I feel the itch to make another move. It's not in the card quite yet, but could be in the next year. So rather than picking up everything, I travel for vacation. Next up Denver. A city I've never been to and an opportunity to visit some hot springs. It's a city full of beauty and lots of things to do.

Denver was the answer to my prayers because a deal I couldn't pass up came up and I'm was able to make this flight for only $145 round trip with taxes included. Sometimes it all works out. The universe answers our prayers.

How do you feel about travel and moving? What was your biggest move?