How to define YOU

Today is the day.. the day I officially end the series: "Defining Lifestyle". As promised I want to share with you how all of the participants answered the question: How do you define YOU?

 
Christine @ The So-Called Homemaker: Christine (n): A fun-loving young momma who loves to read, write, and dance to Asian pop.  See also: crazy, silly, eccentric.

Helene @ Helene In Between: It's really hard to define yourself. You look in the mirror and think about your physical features but you don't often look at your inner self: your mind and your heart. I think I define myself by not necessarily what's inside but those things I hold dear around me. So my husband, my two dogs, my family and my friends. Someone asked me the other day about how I would describe my blog, which, can be difficult when you don't have a niche. But I've decided on "I Create Buzz" and I think that this also could describe my personality. I am outgoing, determined, stubborn, and somewhat creative. And clearly, I'm also all over the place, since this kind of took more direction than one!


Jenn @ Jenn Wells Design:
We have to define ourselves all the time.  Every time you join a social media site, they want you to sum up your entire personality into a short, catchy "About" paragraph.  With online dating you get to write more, but you still have to think about how to get across the most important things concisely enough to not scare people away.

And I'm not brief.  If you've ever read my blog, you'll know.  I cling to my paragraphs.  I keep them short, but short for me is 4 sentences, and the occasional single sentence for important points.  So when Trish asked me to define myself for her lifestyle series, I thought, "Oh crap."
Because I can't do it in a tidy, little sentence.  Or even a paragraph!

If you want to know about my personal philosophies, you can read my post about mistress shaming or my thoughts on marriage.  If you want to know about my day-to-day life, you can read the broken ankle diaries, or the post about my recent engagement.  If you want to know my style, you can see my (as-of-now) only fashion post ever, or my Design-Day Friday posts.
But I can't take all those things and summarize.  I even made an infographic for my About page but it's just not the same.  So I guess if you really want to know you'll have to read more.

Becca @ Becoming Adorrable: I'm a wife, a furmom, and a fighter.

Trish @ Beyond the Khaki Pants:  Lifestyle is blogging about life. Which is anything and everything. Mothering, relationships, career, embarrassing moments, the highs and the lows. These blogs are marked by perspective of the unique view of the blogger, not necessary by topic. Which is why I could read 10 posts about the same topic and they could be completely different.

ME: I define my lifestyle as a project in process. I am always learning and creating new ideas both personally and professionally. This blog will always be a view of me and how I am changing.

Now it's your turn! Link up with either your 5 questions and answers or your definition of lifestyle. Or combine them together! Do it however you please! I can't wait to read your responses!



All good things must come to an end..

Well its been 7 fast weeks and I am finally wrapping up the "Defining Lifestyle" series. I had great bloggers share fun questions here on the blog. They all give different perspectives of what a lifestyle blogger does. We have no boundaries. We post all kinds of random stuff and people still read it. That is the best part. If I come home at 1am and have nothing prepared for tomorrows blog, I can seriously wing it and no one would ever know.


So now that I am wrapping this baby up, I wanted to share with you my 5 question. I hope you enjoy the questions and this series!



1. Is it true that you haven't bought shampoo in almost 2 years?
Trish: Totally true. Guilty. I have not physically paid for shampoo and many other products in nearly 2 years thanks to my little freebie addiction. Although I have slowed down, it it weren't for them this blog wouldn't exist. I don't feel like anyone should pay full price for anything. Don't believe me? Check out some of my favorite sites to score all kinds of goodies ---->  Freebie stuff!

2. How did freebies start your blog?
Trish: I had SO many free items sitting around, I decided to do what every company wants, and that's talk about the products. This blog started as a 1 post a week review page. Now I've moved into Lifestyle with a few reviews thrown in.

3. It's not real clear what you do for a living- What are your professional skills?
Trish: What? Freebie Addict isn't a profession? Ok, Ok.. Where do I begin? I went to college undeclared  and got bored while taking classes for my undergrad so I decided to also take classes in Interior Design. I earned a certificate in that (It's no wonder I like to decorate!). Still in school for my undergrad I took a job in the eyecare business to make some extra cash and ended up getting my ABO certification. For those of you who aren't familiar with that term, I can make eyeglasses and make people look fashionable in their eye wear :).

I finally graduated college with my Bachelor Degree in Marketing with a minor in Business. I decided to fly across the country (I'm originally from PA) to Los Angeles to follow my dream (Or so I thought) and interned at an entertainment marketing company called Fanscape. I got to do all kinds of fun rock star types of things; like work a tour or handle a famous person's MYSPACE page. Yes I said MYSPACE. That's how long ago this was folks. Myspace was still the shit! So I had all kinds of great Los Angeles experiences and then stuff got expensive and I had to go home. Booo. So fast forward to now. I am working in a technical job where I am handling operations for a materials testing lab. So to sum it all up, my professional skills makes me a Mutt? BA, CE, ABO, Crazy?! I have a lot of skill and still want to learn more!

4. Whew that was a long answer! Next question: If your blog had a theme song, what would it be?
Trish: After that long answer I'd have to say Extraordinary by Liz Phair because who wouldn't want to described as an "average everyday sane psycho, super goddess?!". I think this blog jumps around so much it can seriously be average or over the top depending on the day. Plus its so much fun to sing!

5. Do you find your life interesting, and why?
Trish: I have been really fortunate in my life so far. I have done some pretty crazy things that people can only dream of doing. I set my mind to something and I get it. (Hello I went to the Grammy's!) So yeah I would say my life is pretty interesting most of the time. But I keep it that way. Why live any other way?

Alright peeps there you have it. My 5 questions and answers. It was a lot of fun! Now I really would love to see what kind of questions you guys would ask yourselves! Tomorrow I am going to share how everyone who participated in this series answered the question "How do you define YOU?" So with that,  I am also going to have a link up so everyone can share your questions and answers! I hope to see you then!

Need some examples? Here's a recap of all the lovely ladies who came up with questions for the series!


Make it a great MONDAY!






 



Defining Lifestyle with Julie!

We all have that question we are just DYING to answer, but it doesn't ever seem to come. Defining Lifestyle is a series that allows bloggers to submit their own set of questions AND answers in effort to get some stuff out there that they normally aren't asked. If this doesn't define the lifestyle blogger, I don't know what does. So sit back, relax, and expect some fun over the next few weeks!

Today I am welcoming Julie from Girl on the Move. Julie has such an inspiring blog. She has some great fitness posts as well as cupcakes! Those 2 subjects alone are enough to make me love Julie for life. Julie is also a fellow co-founder of Blogstaycation 2014. For those of you who aren't familiar, stay tuned cause rumor has it we may be putting together a Winter Blogstaycation...

Q: What do you love most about blogging? 
Julie: Hands down, the thing I love most about blogging is the connections I've made with other people.  I've met people at blog conferences, during Twitter chats, and through my blogging tribe and some of them have become really good friends.  I love that I can travel to different parts of the country and have lunch with someone I met because of my blog!

Q: What is your big dream for your blog?
Julie: Oh my goodness, I have several big dreams for my blog!  One is that I would absolutely love to host a cupcake show on Food Network...but that's like a very big pipe dream!  Probably a little bit more realistically, I hope that my blog opens up the opportunity for speaking engagements.  I am a former teacher and even though I'm no longer in a middle school classroom I still love teaching and would love the opportunity to speak about blogging, social media or organization.

Q: What do you hope your blog means to your readers?
Julie: Ultimately, I want my blog to be a source of inspiration.  An encouragement to live life to the fullest.  Right now I blog mostly about fitness, travel, cupcakes, and blogging so I hope that my readers are inspired in those areas.  However, in the future I might introduce new topics...but always with the intent of inspiring readers to try new things and really live a full life!

Q: What is one thing you wish your readers knew about you?
Julie: I am an outgoing introvert.  Seems strange I know, but it's true!  Basically, I love meeting new people, connecting with others, and being socially...but I ultimately recharge my energy by being at home...cooking, reading, watching a movie and basically just relaxing without lots of people around.

Q: What is your best piece of advice for a new college graduate?
Julie: Task risks and dream big.  You don't have to find a job in your chosen career right this minute and then stick to it for the next 40 years.  It's okay to try something out and explore other opportunities.  And then take risks and try new opportunities.
Thank you Julie! Great questions. I love getting to know fellow bloggers and this just gave me a bigger picture of what you are working on! 
Stay tuned for the finale of this series happening Monday and Tuesday! Be prepared so you can share 5 questions and answers of your own!
Have a great rest of your day!

Fun Friday

I am so happy to see Friday. It's been a long week and I just need to let loose and have some fun today. I decided a fun way was to answer a fun questionnaire like I used to when I was in high school and you would send them to your friends via e-mail. Remember that?! Now all I use email for is to receive junk  mail or something for work. So here we go...

If you had a pig, what would you name it? Piggles

Lamps or Ceiling Lights? Lamps I think..
 .
What do you do when it snows? HIDE! Ugh I really need to move away from the north. It's coming!

Name a Random Vegetable: Acorn Squash

Elf ears or a witch nose? Elf Ears, who wants a crooked nose?

Love at first sight: Possible? I think to a point its possible.

Are you a graduate? Bachelors baby!

What type of device are you using right now? (Laptop, Macbook, PC, etc): Laptop

Is Google your homepage? Nope

Would you perform on Broadway? If I was good enough to be there then absolutely!

What's your meaning in life? Being the best person I can be while living out all the adventures I can experience!

What is the difference in a fruit and a vegetable? Who cares?! They are both yummy :)\

Favorite Movie? The Craft or Where the Heart Is

How do you exert the most energy? Being active and eating healthy

On a scale of one to penguin, how random are YOU? Haha Well then I'd say VERY :)

Ok that was pretty silly but it was fun to just have a bit of fun! What do you do for fun?

:Reminder: I'm hosting a link up next week for everyone to answer 5 questions of their own making!I hope you join in the fun!

Happy Friday!

Wellness Wednesday: Gadgets!

I don't know about you, but I love to research products before I buy. I want to know everything there is to know about that one item I've been pining over. But then a get a wrench thrown into my decision when a new comparable item comes out on the market right when I have FINALLY decided to buy said item. Now what?

Now I have to re-research my original item AND do new research on the new item. I often take to social media and ask for a little help from my friends. Has anyone used said item? How do they like it? Is it worth my hard earned cash? Most of the time I get divided answers and it really doesn't ever help me out completely. This is why I wish we as consumers had more opportunity to try things out before we buy. If we are willing to make an investment into a high priced item, shouldn't we be able to test drive it for a few days?

Now I know this is only a dream in my head, because no company could ever trust every single person who walks into their door to take care of the item while trying it out. This is why we have product testers. Honest (Or so we hope) men and women try products out and give their opinions so folks like you and I can "live" through them if you may. These reviews are supposed to help us decide if said item is for us.

Fitness


So here I am. I just got off a research binge. I've read review after review, and I still can't make up my mind. Fitbit or Polar Loop? I am so torn. They both have features I really like and some that I'm not sure of.. I really want to use one in my daily life to see how well (or bad) I'm doing with my steps. Does anyone have any experience with either of them? Was the one you tried accurate? Any feedback is mucho appreciated! Anyone wanna send me one to try, I will love you forever! (Yeah I'm shameless, If you don't ask you never know right?)

Thanks in advance if you help me decide on a gadget that could ultimately get me where I need to be to finally lose the 20 pounds I gained in 3 months.