Birthday Q&A!

black lace romper, more affordable options HERE and HERE // Steve Madden heels

similar pink wallet // Michele watch // David Yurman bracelet
YSL lipstick in "tropical pink"

Happy Friday you guys!! In Wednesday's post, I asked for questions that you would want to see answered in a Q&A post. Thank you so much to everyone who contributed questions!! I couldn't answer every single question, so I picked some of the most popular ones. They're split into three categories: personal, fashion/beauty, and blogging. Let's jump right in!

I was a Public Relations Strategist at a small marketing/PR firm in Greenville, S.C. To be honest, I didn't like it very much! The work was fine - I loved the writing and the social media side of it - however the actual company had a lot of internal problems and turnover. It wasn't the best company for my first job, but I did learn a lot about the real world. 

My dream is to go to Italy to visit Cinque Terre... It looks like such a magical place. My second runner up is Santorini, Greece.

I don't talk about my faith a lot on my blog/social media, because I never want anyone to feel like I'm "preaching," but faith plays a huge role in my life! I was blessed to grow up in a Christian home and came to know the Lord at a young age. With blogging and social media, it's easy to fall into the trap of comparing yourself to others or wanting approval from others. I'm constantly being reminded that other people's opinions don't really matter... when you live for Jesus, His approval is the only one worth seeking.

I can lick my elbow! Is that a talent?

I met my boyfriend in Greenville, S.C., through a mutual friend. We actually met 18 days after I moved to Greenville, and have been dating for the past three and a half years (on and off!).

Every relationship is different... there really aren't any "rules." Getting back together really depends on that specific relationship, the people involved and the reason for the breakup in the first place. If true love is really present, then both people will find a way to work things out. The key is that both people have to be willing to compromise and both have to be equally committed to making the relationship work. 

This is tough!! I would have to say his fierce loyalty. He is the most loyal person I've ever met - if you're his friend he will defend you until his death. He's my biggest supporter and has my back in every single situation. I also love that we balance each other out in a lot of ways - he's very logical, whereas I'm very emotional... sometimes he has to talk me back down to earth!

Nope! I moved to Winston Salem back in April, but I still visit Charlotte a couple times per week. My parents live there and some of my best friends live there!

This is a tough question because I love so many restaurants in Charlotte! My favorite restaurant of all time is RuRu's... simply put, the BEST Mexican food I've ever had. The entire menu is named after movie quotes (so there's a salad called the "Bend and Snap", for example). For coffee, I love Not Just Coffee in the Seventh Street Marketplace. Other restaurants I love include Thai Taste, Cafe Monte, Rusan's Sushi, and Luna's Living Kitchen. My favorite brewery is Sycamore Brewing!

Read! I am a total bookworm. I have had my nose in a book ever since I was a little kid (ask my parents, one time I read eleven books in a day!). I also went through some tough years during college and my "escape" was fiction novels where I could get lost in the story and characters. 

I would love to manage social media for a brand/company... or be a journalist! My true passion has always been writing (and reading). I would also love to be a novelist but I don't know if I'm creative enough for that!

Like I said, I love to read, so if I am reading a good book that's the best way for me to relax. I also like to have "spa nights" and take a bath, put on a face mask and watch YouTube tutorials.

I did an entire blog post on what I eat in a day here! The short answer to the workout question is yes, I do work out several times per week. Due to the amount of questions on this topic, I'm putting together a whole post on it (so stay tuned!).

No, I don't have hair extensions and have never worn them. Since I was a teen, I've always had really thick hair... I used to HATE it! My hair is naturally curly and in college I used to scrunch it... it was also blonde (so glad those days are over). I try to take really good care of my hair by only washing it once or twice a week and deep conditioning it often. Lately I have been using this product and it makes my hair feel MUCH healthier. 

I switch up my shampoo and conditioner a lot so that my hair doesn't get used to one product (which can weigh it down). Last week I ordered this shampoo and the matching conditioner and started using it this week - so far I really like it (I'll update you when I'm done with the bottle).

I have in the past, but not consistently. I actually just picked up this bottle from Target. The vitamins are yummy and I actually look forward to taking them each morning, but it's too early to see any effects from it.

This one from 2014 :) I love the fall so much and this outfit was one of my favorites that I've ever worn!

I obviously love Nordstrom because they carry such a wide variety of brands and price points, and you can't beat the free shipping and returns. Other favorite online retailers include Revolve, ASOS and LuLu*s. I also really love finding cute local boutiques that carry unique brands that no one has ever heard of!

My Chanel classic flap bag in beige. It was a bag that I coveted and saved up for, so it was really meaningful when I bought it! And it goes with everything in my closet.

*What are the most comfortable shoes you own that are also trendy? We see you a lot in heels and lace-up flats but there must be a go-to just for going around town everyday. 

For sure! I wear these sandals just about every single day in the summer. They are the most comfortable shoes I own, and the color ("sand patent") matches every single outfit. I wear them to run errands, on the way to Pure Barre, to grocery shop, etc. They're my hands down favorite!

Yes she does! It's a little trickier now that I'm in Winston and she's in Charlotte. We've worked out a schedule where she drives to Winston one day a week, and I drive to Charlotte one day. 

The 50mm f/1.8 lens is a phenomenal lens and the one I would recommend for portrait photography or fashion blogging. My friend Emily and I call it the "nifty fifty!" The important thing with any lens is learning how to shoot it in manual mode. I love when pictures have a blurry background (called "bokeh") and in order to achieve this, you have to shoot on manual with the F-stop as low as it will go (with the 50mm, you would shoot on 1.8). 

I have several different lenses, my favorite is the 50mm that I talked about above. I also have a Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8 lens which I take on all of my trips and use for indoor photography. The nice thing about this lens is it's not fixed, so you can zoom in and out. This makes it really convenient when you want to capture the outfit, but some of the background and scenery too (especially if you're in a tropical location!). If you're interested in a new lens, the best thing to do is go to your local photography store and talk to the people that work there about your budget and what you'd like to accomplish with the lens. 

Trial and error! We have taken MILLIONS of photos (no joke!) together at this point and we had to learn the hard way. We both watched YouTube videos in the beginning, but the best way for us to learn was taking photos on different settings with different lenses and seeing what worked and what didn't.

*What settings do you use on your camera?

It changes in different lighting. When I'm shooting outdoors in the sunlight, I set my ISO at 100, F-stop as low as it can go, and adjust the shutter speed from there.

When I was first starting out, fashion blogging wasn't as "trendy" and no one really knew what they were doing, haha. I wore a lot of old clothes, borrowed clothes from my mom's closet, and I also worked with boutiques that would send me clothes for free in exchange for a blog post. For several years I didn't make a dime off of blogging, so I just worked with what I had!

I make money through affiliate links, sponsored posts and through advertising. Sponsored posts are pretty straightforward; affiliate links are a little bit trickier. Some affiliate linking programs pay a blogger per click (as a reward for getting the consumer to the retailer's website) and other services pay the blogger a small commission only if the item is purchased.

My favorite place I've ever been is St. Lucia. There was just something about that trip that seemed really magical to me... I don't think I've every been to a prettier place! Our hotel room had the fourth wall missing, and it was such a cool experience to fall asleep at night listening to the sounds of wildlife and the waves crashing all at once. I also loved St. Lucia because I was in a really creative state of mind on that trip and was feeling inspired by everything around me... which made taking photos and creating content so easy!  

It takes a long time!! The amount of work it takes on the back-end to make a blog post "come to life" is pretty surprising. The initial phase is brainstorming - what do I want the post to be about, what do I want the outfit to look like - and from there I spend hours researching, ordering online and scouting shooting locations. When the clothing comes in, I pick out accessories, shoes and other props that are needed to complement the outfit. Photographing the outfit takes less than half an hour, but picking out the best photos and editing them is very time consuming. Actually sitting down to write the post is the easy part! 

I do everything myself. One of the toughest parts about blogging is that you wear a ton of different hats! I negotiate with brands, read contracts, answer emails, take photos, brainstorm content, strategize, edit photos, run social media accounts, pick out merchandise, and more, all by myself.

Anyone with their own business knows that you pour your whole heart into it - and can never really take a break from it. Like any small business owner, I work at all hours of the day and night and sometimes more than 80 hours a week. Bloggers make their lives and trips look effortless and fun - portraying that image is all part of the job. However there's SO much that goes on behind the scenes and some of it is very negative. I've actually developed really bad anxiety from blogging, since I feel like I'm under a constant microscope. There is always something to be stressed about; there are constantly deadlines looming, instagrams that need to be taken, posts that need to be written, emails that need to be answered, conference calls that need to be scheduled, and beneath that is the desire to keep improving content and keep growing your pageviews, all while staying inspired. I put a lot of (sometimes unnecessary) pressure on myself to get it all done perfectly. You also have to have really thick skin... I put my heart into styling outfits and photographing them in creative ways, only to have someone copy it the next day. (Edit: I'm not talking about readers! I'm talking about other bloggers with sizable audiences who copy exact outfits & try to monetize them. I've even had people post my photos & pretend that they took them.) When you start a blog you're also opening yourself up to a lot of criticism... I used to have very thin skin, but I wouldn't have survived long in the blogging world if I had stayed that way.

(I don't want you all to think I'm complaining or that I'm not thankful for my job, because I am! The reason I put so much work into is because it's my passion, and I feel so blessed to be able to make a career out of something that I love so much. I just wanted to share with you guys some of the downsides that people often don't think about.)

I always disclose if an item is gifted or a post is sponsored. One of the reasons you don't see the "C/o" next to a lot of items is because I purchase almost every single outfit myself. Most of my blog posts are not sponsored (FYI, if it is sponsored, I include the words "Sponsored by ___" at the end). I like picking out and buying outfits myself because that gives me complete creative control over both the outfit, photographs and the content. I want each and every item I put on this blog to be an honest representation of my style. When I do decide to work with brands, I'm picky about the companies I work with and even then, I always, always, always pick out the clothing items myself. 

There's so much I could say to answer this question, but my biggest advice would be to do it for the right reasons. When I lived in Charlotte, I agreed to meet a reader for coffee and she immediately expressed her interest in starting a blog in order to "get famous" and to "make a lot of money." I unfortunately think that a lot of people start blogs for this reason - and they're in it for the wrong reason. When I started a blog, I didn't know it was even possible to make money from it - never once in my lifetime did I ever think it would turn into a career. The most important factor in starting a blog is having a passion for it. Before you start a blog, ask yourself, "If I never make a cent off this blog, will I be okay with that?" If you're answer is yes, then you are doing it for the right reasons.

Blogging is a different beast now than it was in 2011, when I started. It has become very "trendy" to start a blog, and many people vastly underestimate how hard it is and how much thought, planning and work go into it every single day. There are so many bloggers right now... to really stand out in the blogging world, you have to find your own motivation, be self driven and create unique, original content.