I'm Designing a Website! (Kind of)

I'm designing a website! Well...kind of...not really. It's my boyfriend's website and he's put me in charge of the whole design and set up process. I had forgotten how much of a process it is starting from the ground up since all I do is make tweaks to mine when I need to.

He also wants me to design him a logo. I know nothing about logo making and I have not studied a damn thing about graphic design other than some reading on the internet and some things that I've pinned on Pinterest. I don't think I'm qualified for the job but I'm flattered that he thinks I am. (I don't know if he actually thinks I am or if I'm his only option, hehe).

If I've learned anything throughout this experience, it's that designing websites/graphic design isn't something that I want to do with my life. Funny though, because when I was graduating high school it was a path I was considering. Glad I didn't follow through with that!

Anyway, the process has somehow inspired me to do some revamping of my own. I found this article, titled "How to Make Your Blogger Blog Not Look Like A, Um, Blogger Blog" and even though some of the tips are subtle, they do make a difference! I didn't realize getting rid of the Blogger navbar at the top of my page would make such a difference, but it did!

So, hats of to all of you website and graphic designers. I don't see how you put up with the demanding clients constantly changing their minds and acting like you have nothing else to do in your life *glares at boyfriend*. It's fine though, I'm happy to be part of his website!

Update: Here is the finished product! Infrareality.com

What subtle (or not so subtle) tips do you have for revamping or freshening up your blog?

The Struggles of Being a Young Writer

The title is way more dramatic than this post, haha.

After taking my internship with College Fashion, I realized how much I enjoyed it so I started taking on a few more writing jobs. I'll be posting a collection of my posts soon in case you want to read any of them. Anyway, I got a little in over my head and between school and all of the deadlines so my personal blog got a little neglected. My internship with College Fashion ends at the end of this month (so sad!) so hopefully I'll have a little more time to devote to my baby.

Writing wasn't really something I ever imagined doing as a career, and I still don't see myself turning it into a career. I love doing it though. I get asked a lot why I don't want to be a writer when I "grow up", whatever the hell that means. If I had to depend on writing for my main source of income, I imagine I would end up hating it. As you can imagine, and know if you are a writer yourself, coming up with content (especially with deadlines) is stressful.

Sometimes you just have to force yourself to come up with something, kind of like writing a paper for one of your professors. Even if you know it's not your best work, it's ok, everyone has those kinds of days and moments no matter what industry you're in. But when you write, it's published online for everyone to read, forever. I will do this for my good pieces as well, but sometimes I go back and read my "fluff" articles and become displeased with myself. I feel a bit like a failure, even though I know everybody has those days.

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Another slight annoyance is censorship. Writing for likes and shares over what I really want to talk about or what should be talked about, but that's partially why I have this blog! This is a huge problem for a lot of writers that actually do depend on getting published for money. In order to get hired, they need to write about what the newspaper/magazine/blog wants them to write about, not what they want to write about. Which is all part of the job of course. After a while your creativity just becomes stunted and you begin to hate something you once loved.

So the point of all that was just summing up why I don't want to write for a living, just to keep it as a hobby. I want to be able to stop whenever I'd like. And I've never tried writing fiction and I'm not sure if that would be my cup of tea, so I'm not even sure what that's like. Let me know if that's your thing though, I'm curious!

Talking to people at parties about it is fun though. They ask what I do and I'm in school but I'm not working so I say "I'm a writer I guess" in hopes that someone will reply "You guess, don't you know?" so that I'll have a new best friend, but nobody is worthy yet...le sigh.

To sum up the post:
1. I'm bad at balancing deadlines
2. Forcing content sometimes must be done but ends in disappointment
3. I don't want to write for a living because I will start to hate it
4. Censorship sucks
5. Nobody is worthy to be my new best friend yet

What have you all been up to lately? I have a lot of catching up to do, yeesh.

I Want to Go to London

Good morning everyone! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. London fashion week is coming up and it's made my desire to go even stronger. London street style is so chic I can't even handle it.

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Lily Melrose=one of my favorite fashion bloggers.

I'd make Duck & Waffle one of my first food stops. I'd go during brunch and get either the "Full Elvis" Waffle (pb&j, bananas, brûlée, chantilly cream, all the trimmings) or the English Cherries Waffle (cherry & yoghurt ice cream, white chocolate crumble). 

Duck & Waffle

And I'd probably come back with some stupid expensive yet oh so classy umbrella from London Undercover (I love this picture). 

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So if you live in London, or anywhere in the UK really, I'm coming to visit asap. 

Where have you been dying to travel to lately? 

Happy Monday!

By the time this post is up, Monday will be almost over! Or at least halfway over. You've gotten this far, good job! 

This post is just a little motivation and a little update from yours truly. 

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I'm in the library right now with the boyfriend in between classes. He's studying for Spanish and I'm blogging/deciding what to write about tomorrow. I need an opinion. Since I've started blogging, I've written with my text starting on the left. Recently (like this post and my other most recent Lilly and Target post), I've written with center text. Any opinions on which looks better? I can't decide! 

I'm in the process of cleaning out my sidebars of places to shop and blogs to read. Some blogs don't exist anymore, same with the shops. Send me any cool blog or shop links and I'll check them out. 

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Be on the lookout for a giveaway soon too. I tweeted about this before but I swear I get more excited about giveaways than ya'll do. I've also realized my southern charm has been coming out and I've been saying "ya'll" way too much. Sorry! 

Have ya'll (see?) seen The Usual Suspects? My boyfriend and I watched it for the first time yesterday because I had never seen it and it was SO GOOD! If you haven't seen it you should really watch it. He, of course, hasn't seen my favorite movie. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas in case I haven't mentioned it before. It's one of those movies I can watch over and over again and not get tired of. I love the book too. I'm in the middle of reading some of Hunter S. Thompson's essays. I'd highly recommend reading some if you haven't already. I really like the way he writes (Gonzo journalism), and nobody else has really been able to capture it as well as he does. Seriously, read the book, then watch the movie. 

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Hmmm...I can't really think of much else to say. I'm going to try to be an actual fashion blogger and post pictures of outfits I'm wearing. The trouble is getting good photos and finding someone to take them. If you have any tips for taking good fashion/outfit photos, please let me know! 

Well, I guess that's all for now. How has your Monday been so far? Have you read or seen Fear and Loathing? Also, pretty pretty please give me any tips on taking good fashion photos. Have a good day! 

Summer Resolutions Part 2

I know this wasn't for this summer, but I did a post a while back talking about my summer resolutions at the that time. I figured I'd take the time to boast about the ones I completed, and list the ones I still need to do and add new ones. Unfinished resolutions in red, completed resolutions in green, and new resolutions in blue. There is only one, but there is one "iffy" resolution.

1. Drink coconut water-- I tried, I really did. I tried everything from Zico to Vita Coco to some other brands that I can't think of. I just don't like the taste, for some reason they taste kind of like tomato V8 but only slightly sweeter. I'll stick to water.

2. Do more blog posts-- I say this ALL the time, but I never stick to it. I have some reviews stacked up, but my lighting sucks everywhere in my house and I can't get good pictures. I'm vowing to actually post regularly now. Promise!

3. Read more books-- Not as many books as I'd like, but I have been reading more. Everything from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Giver, to the Phenomenology of Perception and The Conscious of the Atom. My problem is that I read whatever I'm in the mood for at the moment. I think I'm reading 3 books at once now, and it's taking me forever.

4. Yoga-- Just like the reading, I have started doing yoga. Only not as often as I'd like to. But I have seen improvement, in body strength and flexibility and even in everyday life things. I used to have extremely poor digestion very frequently to only feeling nauseous/uncomfortable a very rare occasion. It might be a coincidence, but who knows. It might be a mental thing, but I feel better overall.

5. Learn calligraphy-- For some reason, I became fascinated and in love with fountain pens. They are so smooth to write with, and they make my cursive look amazing. They can be waaaay more expensive than a whole pack of BIC Pens, but I'd say they're worth it once you get used to writing with them. You can also pick from so many ink colors it's not even funny. As a step up from just writing in cursive, calligraphy is beautiful and so damn hard! I'm impressed by all of you who can write lovely calligraphy words and phrases.

6. Don't wait until the last minute to do my summer reading-- I don't have any summer reading anymore since I'm not in school. I'm just going to leave this with the above post about reading more books.

7. Save my money and not blow my paychecks on beauty products-- I FINALLY (and by finally I mean a few days ago) was able to re-open my savings account. I wouldn't really say I saved money, but I didn't really gain much either. I also blew my paychecks, just on a few different things than beauty products. Like Dominos Pizza, mainly so I can get their lava cakes. Mmmmm…

8. World of Warcraft-- I know, I know. My boyfriend payed for it the first time and unfortunately I got hooked. I'm stuck on level 88 and I'm trying to get to 90. It just seems like no matter hard I try I can't get past 88. It's frustrating, dammit! Don't get talked in to playing, it's money you don't want to be wasting. But it is fun and addicting. Don't buy it!

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Did you make any summer resolutions last year, and did you follow through with them? Are you going to make any resolutions for this summer? What will they be?

Be green while you blog!

On average, a website causes .02g (or 0,0008oz) or carbon dioxide for each visit. If your blog gets 15,ooo visits a month, that's about 8lbs a year. The numbers change depending on how many visitors you get.

But, you can make your blog carbon neutral by joining Germany's program "My Blog is Carbon Neutral", Make it Green will plant a tree for your blog in Plumas in order to neutralize your blog's carbon emissions! (information from the Make it Green website).

So, neutralize your blog and encourage your friends to be green while you blog too!

New blog :)

Hey guys! So, I'm pretty new blogging, and I'm not 100% sure what I'm doing yet, but I'll get the hang of it eventually! Basically this blog will have a fairly wide range of topics: fashion, beauty, books, food, restaurants, my life, shopping, and pretty much anything else you can think of. If you have a suggestion for a topic you want me to cover, please feel free to email me about it and I'll try and cover it for you. Don't be shy, I'll cover any sort of topic under the sun, so message me about it! I'll be posting an FAQ soon, but until then, stay chill guys :)