Goodbye Twenties, Hello Thirties

Sooooooo, I’ve been 30 for almost 2 years now, but I wanted to share my photoshoot theme with yall in case you have the big 3-0 coming up and wanted to do the same. I have seen so many “funeral” themes for 30th birthdays, and there is nothing wrong with that AT ALL, it’s just not my personality. I did an Alice in Wonderland “Unbirthday” theme. It kind of sticks with the “I don’t want to turn 30” theme, but makes it a little more girly. My birthday is in March and that’s when I did my pictures, but I think it would have been prettier in the summer when everything is green and bloomed. However……..with everything dead, it kind of went with the mad hatter tea party theme when the queen of hearts made everything die. So it just depends on what you want the background to look like if you take the pictures outside.

If you want to recreate this photoshoot, I went to several thrift store to get mismatched teacups and saucers. I also bought a few teapots and plates as well. My wedding was actually Alice in Wonderland themed as well, so I did have some things leftover from that. I also had a friend that had several mismatched plates and teacups. If you plan the pictures enough ahead of time, it will be easy to go by different thrift stores to buy the items or collect from friends and relatives.

I wanted to include some local businesses in my photos, so for my flowers I used Hendon Honey Farm and the cakes I used Miller’s Bread. I told them both what I was doing and they helped so much! Melissa from HHF even put an arrangement in a teapot for me and painted it pink! Sam from Miller’s Bread also did awesome with the little “tarts” too! You definitely don’t have to buy real flowers and cakes you can just make some yourself, but I honestly didn’t want to fool with it, so I just bought them. Plus like I said it was supporting local businesses as well.

Now for the set up. I did these pictures across the road from my house, so I would recommend doing something similar if you want the table and everything. I borrowed my friends kitchen table and borrowed mismatched chairs. I did end up buying a couple of cute ones from a thrift store, but the rest I borrowed because I knew I wouldn’t use them again. So this doesn’t have to cost a lot of money, that’s another reason I loved the mismatched theme because you can scrounge up whatever, lol. On the table I started out with a fake moss table runner. I found some on Amazon and they also have it at Michaels. I will link what I can down below for yall. Then I just set up placements for a tea party with the saucers, tea pots, and glasses. I set some teacups up on candle sticks and added flowers to the cups. I also placed the treats around the table as well. I got some books and used those to hold treats and tea cups too. I took the cover off some fun colored books to make it bright. Just be creative and use what you have. It does not have to be perfect, the mismatched and off center the better! I will post some close up pictures below so yall can get a better look. If you have any questions just leave them in the comments.

Do At Home Whitening Kits Really Work?

Hey y’all, long time no talk! Not sure if you follow along on my YouTube channel, but in October I did 13 Days of Halloween where I did 13 Halloween makeup looks in a row, then I was doing Vlogmas in December, then I got sick. Now that it is a new year, I am playing catch up with everything else. I really want to get back to posting more on my blog this year and my YouTube channel, so be sure to subscribe to my YouTube and my blog newsletter so you don’t miss out on all the fun things coming!

In today’s post I wanted to share my experience with an at home teeth whitening kit. I’ve been skeptical on if they really work, so I wanted to try one out to let y’all know if it works or not.

I have went in and out of phases with liking my smile. I used to have a gap between my two front teeth that I didn’t like, but in middle school I got braces so then that was fixed. I was so excited because I was finally happy and confident with my smile. Well, then I got older and realized how amazing coffee was and got a little addicted, haha. I started feeling a little self conscious again because they were starting to look a little stained. With my job I deal with the public and I help people with makeup, so I’m always in people’s faces and I feel like they look at my teeth.

There are so many different whitening strips and whitening tooth pastes out there and you really never know if they work. Smile Brilliant, which is a company that offers different teeth whitening kits, reached out to me and asked if I wanted to try one of their kits. I thought it would be perfect, because I could try it out and be happy with my smile again and let y’all know if it was good and worth it! You know I am always honest with y’all, so I want to tell you what I thought about the kit!

One thing I love about this kit is you make the molds of your mouth yourself. After you make them you send it back to Smile Brilliant in a prepaid envelope that comes in your kit, and they send you back custom trays. I feel like that makes them different from other kits because it fits your mouth perfectly. Once you get the trays back you start the process. The kit comes with a whitening gel and a desensitizing gel that helps with sensitivity and future staining. The whitening gel bothered my gums a little, but I just skipped a couple of days in between and they suggested rubbing coconut oil on my gums before hand and that helped! I also love how easy it is to whiten because you just apply the gel in the trays and put them in. I popped them in while I was doing laundry, dishes, or watching Netflix! I can tell that my teeth have gotten whiter and I can’t wait to keep using it to see even better results. I will insert my before and after pictures here.

Here is my before picture.

Here is my after.

Let me know if y’all have tried any at home whitening kits!

I actually have something exciting to share, I have partnered up with Smile Brilliant to give away a teeth whitening kit to one of y’all! It is so easy to enter. Just click here and it will take you to the entry form where you enter your first name and your email, and that’s it!

Good luck!

We will reach out to the winner once the contest is over. You can also check back here to see who won.

Tooth Whitening Gel

What does Self-Love mean to you?

When you hear the words self-love, what does that mean to you? I feel like there are so many different interpretations to that and they are all right! It doesn’t mean one thing in particular, it means whatever you think it means. For me it means loving me for me. I have always struggled with caring what people think and that is what has always made me feel like I wasn’t good enough at anything I did. I don’t know if y’all read my New Year’s resolutions post, but I talked about my word of the year, enough. That is the word I chose to live by and work on for 2019. It is a word that has been on my mind for a few years now, and I finally decided it was time to realize that I AM ENOUGH. You are too! Yes you, the one reading this post. I know so many of us feel like we aren’t a good enough wife, daughter, mother, student, worker, blogger, whatever the case may be. I think it’s safe to say we have all been there. I can’t remember if I mentioned it in my last post talking about this word, but I want to just say that I did not have a bad childhood, my mom and dad never told me I wasn’t good enough or anything like that. I just care what people think, therefore I feel like I’m not good enough and don’t meet their expectations. I also do not have a bad life now, I have just always felt that way but I’m working on it.

I want to share something with y’all that my husband told me because it really made me stop and think and don’t tell him I said this, but he was right. Whenever I was talking about all this to him he said “it’s because you care what people think, just don’t care what people think.” I told him it was way easier said than done, and that’s when he hit me with his knowledge, he said “everyone is going to have their own version of you and you can’t be all those versions, so just be yourself and if they like you, they like you, if they don’t, they don’t. There is no way you can be every single version of you that people have in their head, so don’t even worry about it.” Those probably aren’t his exact words but hopefully you get the point. I have never thought of it like that and now having that mind set, it has really helped me a lot. There are times when I do care what people think, but I have gotten so much better!

With all of that being said, I want to just encourage each and every one of y’all to take even baby steps to loving yourself for who you are and to not care what people think, if this is something you struggle with. If you love yourself and how you are, that’s amazing! Please continue to love yourself and spread the self love to those still working on it!

One of my friends Tabatha was reading a book by Jordan Lee Dooley and she quoted something that has really stuck with me so I wanted to share it with y’all, “ if you wouldn’t say it to a friend, don’t say it to yourself.” I absolutely love that because we shouldn’t be talking about ourselves negatively, and we do it all the time, especially women. We are so hard on ourselves and pick ourself apart. If this is something you do, I challenge you to say something positive about yourself when you are about to complain about yourself. I also challenge you to tell a stranger she is beautiful, or has a cute outfit, or whatever it may be. I want us to spread more positivity and lift each other up instead of tearing each other down, which I feel is what women tend to do, which is so sad to me. You would think that since we know how it feels to be judged that we wouldn’t judge other women.

Last month I was actually able to participate in a photoshoot all about self-love and I am so thankful I was able to do it. Not only was the photoshoot fun, but the past few weeks I have been able to see everyone’s take on self-love. I will link everyones instagram down below if y’all want to check out what self-love means to them. If you follow me on Instagram they will be tagged on my self-love post there as well. Everyone who participated in the shoot are different shapes and sizes and have different careers, but we are all beautiful and have something different to bring to the world! That is another thing I want y’all to remember, it doesn’t matter what size you are, what you do, what your personality is, you are unique and have so much to offer the world! Be happy with your size, be happy with who you are. If you aren’t happy there are definitely ways to help with that. If you aren’t happy with your body try eating a little better and maybe start exercising. If you aren’t happy with your job maybe think about why and if your heart is somewhere else, go for that change. If people tell you you aren’t pretty, you should be a different size, you shouldn’t quit your job, you shouldn’t do this, you shouldn’t do that because of your age, DON’T LISTEN! If you want to do something or wear something don’t let anyone stop you. Do whatever makes you happy! I know a lot of things are easier said than done, but just take baby steps and try not to care what people think! Like I said before, this is definitely something I’m still working on as well.

In case you were wondering what made me write this post, it’s because I really want to add an “enough” movement to my business. I want to inspire and encourage you to realize that YOU ARE ENOUGH. I want to remember that I AM ENOUGH. Working in the beauty industry I hear probably at least once a day “I’m too old to wear that eyeshadow,” or “I’m too old to wear that color lipstick.” The first thing I ask is if they like the color and if they say yes I tell them who care what anyone thinks, wear it. What is even more sad is there was this beautiful girl shopping with someone, not sure the relation to the young lady, but she was looking for a concealer to help with her dark circles and the older lady that was with her told the girl that she needed more makeup, because she wouldn’t get a guy if she didn’t wear more makeup! I could not believe that was even said and that really made me mad and want to cry. First of all, you do not need to change for a man! If a man wants you to wear more makeup tell him to find a woman who wears more makeup. I don’t know her situation and I haven’t been in a situation like that before, but I would have said well I guess I won’t get a man. I just felt so bad for the girl and I hope it is not always like that, because I can’t imagine how that girl feels about herself. So that is another big reason I want to start this movement, for women who have been told they aren’t pretty or need more makeup or anyone who don’t feel good enough. YOU ARE!

I really hope y’all will join me in my movement and stay tuned for more things to come. I’ve been playing around with designs, so hopefully I will have some merchandise soon! I would love for y’all to comment below and let me know what self-love means to you! Also, keep scrolling to see some pictures from our photoshoot!

Sarah, Tabatha, me, Erika, Brandi, Ashley, Emily, Katie, Brooke, and Patty Lauren.

Sarah, Tabatha, me, and Erika.

Yummy drinks made my the mobile bar Drink Knox.

Delicious appetizers by Family Meal Chef!

Family Meal Chef

Loved these self-love cookies made by The Gourmet Cookie!

A special thanks to all these Knoxville businesses for being part of this special day! Click each name to visit their instagram!

• Cook Loft

• The Gourmet Cookie

• Family Meal Chef Knox

• Drink Knox

• Jaira Johnson Photography

• Southern Sirens

1 Year Blogiversary

In case some of you are wondering what the heck a blogiversary is, it’s the anniversary of when someone started their blog. I have actually had a blog for over 5 years, but just decided one year ago today to turn it into a business. To also clarify on turning it into a business, I bought a logo, started getting professional pictures made, and started working hard on monetizing my blog (making money with it). Since I’m always honest with y’all I haven’t started making money with it yet, but I’m on my way there….hopefully. I do have a blog post already on some of the things that go into being an influencer if y’all want to check that out. It is pretty lengthy, but it shows how much work actually goes into this business. I will link it here for y’all.

Anyways, it is so hard to believe that I have been doing this for one year already! It has really flown by! I truly feel like I have grown so much as a blogger and as a person this past year. A lot of that actually has to do with my blogger group, the East TN Boss Babes and an even bigger part has to do with Tabatha. She is the one who reached out to me to attend the first event and become part of the group. When she messaged me on Instagram I had actually been struggling with blogging. I was feeling pretty lost and alone (with blogging), not really knowing what to do, where to start, and not knowing any other bloggers I could reach out to that was going through the same things. Not to be mushy and weird and I don’t really talk about faith much on social media, but I know for a fact that God brought Tabatha in my life for a reason, just like He did the rest of my boss babes! His timing could not have been more perfect.

Blogging and being part of the ETBB has really made me open up and be more social. Before blogging I wouldn’t go to events by myself or go up to people I haven’t met and introduce myself. Now, I’ll go more places and introduce myself to new people. Not going to lie, I still get nervous before and have a little anxiety, but I go for it and that’s all that matters.

Besides the ETBB, I have also been able to connect with other amazing business owners, local businesses, and brands. Erika from Evolve Creative is another one that has made an impact on my blogging journey! She designed my logo, started taking my pictures, and she has also become a great friend! She has really helped me grow more confident in front of the camera. I can tell a huge difference when I take pictures now from when I first started. I was very awkward and didn’t know what to do, but Erika gave me direction and made me feel so comfortable! I still get awkward in front of the camera some, but it’s a lot better i think, haha. It’s also thanks to her I got in contact with Tema Athletics. It’s a woman owned athletic wear company that focuses on body positivity at any size. I love companies that help people, especially women, be more confident and love themself for who/how they are! I’m so grateful that they reached out to me and sent me an outfit. They are some of my favorite leggings! I’ll post them below.

I’ve also been able to experience some awesome local restaurants and a gorgeous event venue. Some of the local restaurants include, Cafe 4 in Knoxville at Market Square, Copper Cellar (the original on the strip), and Hard Knox Pizza in Hardin Valley. The beautiful venue was Dara’s Garden, also in Knoxville. I have a blog post on each one of these places if y’all want to check those out next, I will link them below.

Through the ETBB I have also been lucky enough to connect with a local boutique in Knoxville called My Kind of Lovely. It is in University Commons downtown and they also have another location which is their home store in Madisonville, TN. It is owned by two sweet woman, Katie and Caroline.

Another boutique in Knoxville I love is Lizard Thicket. They have been my most recent collaboration. This is a franchised boutique, but I love their values and what they stand for! It’s in Turkey Creek and everything is so cute and affordable, so definitely go by and check it out! Be sure to tell them I sent you!

I know this post is pretty lengthy, but I think I did pretty good summarizing one whole year. Normally when I explain things or tell a story I go into way too much detail. Anyways, I really hope y’all enjoyed reading more about my blogging journey this far and be sure to keep following along for hopefully more to come! Comment below and let me know what your favorite post of mine has been so far! Also comment what kind of posts you hope to see in the future!

Blog posts mentioned above-

Blogging as a Business

Cafe 4

Copper Cellar

Hard Knox Pizza

Derby Event

East TN Boss Babes Members- (Hopefully I didn’t miss anyone, if I did I’m soooo sorry!)

Tabatha, Meredith, Kaitlyn, Maleia, Erika, Brittany, Chelsea, Brooke D, Sarah, Emily, Erica, Ashley, Megan, Brandi, Taylor M, Taylor J, Patty Lauren, and Olivia.

My first ever photo shoot with Erika.

Gifted outfit from Tema Athletics.

Tabatha and I when we first met!

The first ever ETBB meet up!

Galentine’s hosted by Copper Cellar.

Behind the scenes of our selfie at Copper Cellar.

Victoria’s Secret preview I was able to attend with Tabatha! Such an incredible night ;).

Mandy Hart Photo. Derby Event

Derby Event.

East TN Boss Babes Derby Event

I’m sure most of you have heard me talk about the East TN Boss Babes, but if you haven’t it is an amazing blogger group/community I am in. I have a few posts about some of our events that I will link here, here , and here if you want to check them out. Anyways, last week we had our biggest event to date and it was Kentucky Derby themed. Our husbands were even able to accompany us to this incredible event. Tabatha, Meredith, and Kaitlyn (the wonderful, beautiful ladies that help start the group) worked their butts off for this event and it totally shows! They have been working on this event for months and months and I am so thankful that I can call these ladies my friends! Everything they did for this event and everything they have done for our group so far and yet to come is amazing! Y’all are rockstars!!

This East TN Boss Babes event was hosted by a wedding Venue in Knoxville called Dara’s Gardens. If you have a wedding coming up or any type of event, you should definitely check out Dara’s Gardens. It is such a beautiful venue and they even have a bridal suite for the bride/bridal party to get ready in! The grounds are gorgeous and there are so many pretty places to take pictures too! Thank you so much Dara for hosting us!!

You can’t have a boss babes event without having some delicious food! The food was catered by Rothchild Catering and everything was so good! They had items that were derby themed and they even had little horses placed throughout. I love little details like that! I highly recommend them if you have any events in Knoxville coming up! Here is the menu they had for us! I loved the prosciutto wrapped asparagus and the roasted red potatoes!

Beverages:

Southern sweet tea (sliced lemon on the side)

Iced cucumber mint and lemon water

Menu:

Cold food station:

Mini watermelon feta salad bites over greens with a balsamic reduction

Freshly cut vegetable platter with dill Benedictine dip

Mini cups of brown sugar and butter derby pecans with a rosemary garnish

Prosciutto wrapped asparagus

Hand passed:

Pork belly on herb crostini with a bourbon glaze

Fried green tomato with pimento cheese

Hot food station:

Carved sirloin of beef for sliders (Brioche buns, horseradish and spicy mustard)

Shrimp and white cheddar cheese grits topped with chives in ramekins

Fried chicken on waffle biscuits with spicy honey

Roasted red potatoes

Dessert Station:

Mini bourbon cupcakes with a caramel frosting

Mint julep parfaits topped with crumbled chocolate

Mini jars filled with fresh fruit and honey custard

Mini truffles rolled in pecans

The yummy drinks were made with liquor from Old Forge Distillery and made by Single Barrel Events. Sticking to the Derby theme, they of course were making mint juleps, but had a blackberry twist to it! Everyone talked about how good the drinks were and the bartender even threw in some Vegas tricks. He was really nice and you could tell him what you liked and he would make the perfect drink!

We even had a DJ from Special Notes! Besides a DJ they also have bands, string ensembles, and live musicians available for Knoxville and the surrounding areas!

Lastly, no event would be complete without a Photo Booth! Oh Snap Photo Station was there with a super cute set up! I’m so sad that I got to talking and forgot about it, so I didn’t get take take pictures in it! All the other ladies did though and they were so cute! They had props and a really pretty glitter backdrop!

We even had two amazing photographers donate their time to capture this awesome event. They were gracious enough to let us use their pictures, so if you hover over the pictures below you will see who took each one. I will link their instagrams here: Mandy Hart Photo and Devon Adrianne Photography.

Thank you again so much to Dara, Tabatha, Meredith, Kaitlyn, and all the vendors who made all of this possible. I cannot wait for our next event! Be on the lookout for a vlog showing more of this event!

Mandy Hart Photography

Devon Adrianne Photography

Mandy Hart Photography

Devon Adrianne Photography

Mandy Hart Photography/ Single Barrel Events

Mandy Hart Photography/ Single Barrel Events

Mandy Hart Photography/ Old Forge Distillery

Mandy Hart Photography/ Rothchild Catering

Mandy Hart Photography/ Rothchild Catering

Mandy Hart Photography/ Rothchild Catering

Mandy Hart Photography

Mandy Hart Photography

Mandy Hart Photography

All the husbands getting instagram pictures for us! We have some good men!

Mandy Hart Photography

Mandy Hart Photography

Devon Adrianne Photography

Devon Adrianne Photography

Photo cred to my husband, haha.

Photo: My husband again.

Hubby did this too!

How to make a Vision Board

Whenever I was writing out my 2019 goals I started on two vision boards. If you aren’t familiar with what a vision board is, it is a poster board or bulletin board where you cut out pictures and quotes of goals/dreams you want to accomplish for the year. At first I wanted to do one board for this year and one board for two years from now, but decided to add those dreams to this years board. I first thought a couple goals were too big to accomplish this year, but I can still work towards them anyway. If they don’t happen this year I can always add them to next years board.

The purpose of putting pictures to your goals/dreams is so you can see them everyday and picture what it would be like if those dreams came true. I know that when I see my goals laid out in front of me, it makes me want to work harder to make those dreams a reality. Everyone’s process is different for creating their boards, but I just wanted to let you know mine. First, I started out with just a piece of blank printer paper and I wrote out my goals for 2019. Most of my goals have to do with growing my tribe on instagram, youtube, liketoknowit, my blog newsletter, so I printed off those logos from my computer and I wrote the following number I want to achieve by the end of the year. If you know specific things you can print pictures off the internet, or to make it more fun you can go to a bookstore and buy a few magazines to cut pictures out. I decided to do both so I can make it look fun so I will get excited about my goals and reaching them.

I’m sure y’all understand the concept of a vision board, but I just wanted to give one example to make even more sense. Say one of your goals is to take your family on a trip to Hawaii this year, so your goal is to save enough money to go on that trip. You will want to find a picture of Hawaii or specifically a resort in Hawaii you want to go to, put it on your vision board, and when you look at it you can picture you and your family there. It will make you want to save more and work harder for it than if you were to just write that goal down on a piece of paper. If you are tempted to buy something you don’t need, you can look at that picture of the resort and hopefully make you realize that is more important than another pair of shoes or more clothes.

Saving is definitely something I am trying to work on this year, because I would love to put extra money towards one of my student loans to get it paid off. That is definitely going on my vision board, and maybe I need to put that as my phone background so I can see it when I want to shop online, haha.

Anyways, I really hope this post inspires you to create a vision board so you can start making your goals and dreams a reality! Let me know in the comments if you are creating a vision board this year!

New Year's Resolutions

If you watched my last vlogmas ( I will post below) I talk about how I decided to call my resolutions goals this year. I feel like they are pretty much the same thing, but for me calling them goals will make me work harder to achieve them. When I make “resolutions” I usually only keep them until around March, so this year I’m going to work harder at attaining my goals. I thought I would share some of them with y’all, as well as the steps I’m taking to make it not so overwhelming. Hopefully these tips will help y’all with your 2019 goals as well. I also decided to have a word for the year. A word that I will try to use and practice all year. A lot of people do this and I haven’t done it before, so I decided to give it a try this year. I will talk about that later on in the post. I first want to share my 2019 goals with y’all.

I have a few personal goals and a few business goals (blog, instagram, youtube.) I will start with my personal ones first. The first few are the generic, eat better, drink more water, workout more. About 4 years ago I think my husband and I were working out about 6-7 times a week and I loved my body. I really want to get back to that fitness level, so I know I need to eat better too. One of the things I struggle with is just knowing what to eat. I bought a book called Thinner, Leaner, Stronger by Michael Matthews that is supposed to break everything down as far as muscles and food for women. Now I just need to read it so I can understand what my body needs and what I need to do to get to where I want. Another goal is to run a half marathon in at least 4 new states. I would love to do 6 states, but that will be pretty expensive since we will probably have to start flying soon, so I will take 4. I need to start saving for races but I always take money out of my jar, haha.

I saw a quote somewhere and now I can’t remember where or who said it, I’m thinking maybe Dave Ramsey, but it said to break down your goals and have a timeline. I thought that was really good advice so I did that with some of my goals yesterday. For example, my eating better goal, instead of doing every single meal healthy all at once, I may can try and add in at least one healthy meal everyday. Then maybe February add in a another and March another. So by March I would be eating three healthy meals a day. That may be easier than just all of a sudden eating all healthy all the time. That would also be plenty of time to have healthy eating habits to get that “summer body.”

My business goals are mainly to add more to my tribe (gain more friends, aka followers.) I am also thinking of adding something new to my business, but as I mentioned in my video I haven’t decided 100%, so I don’t want to mention it quite yet. Just be sure to follow along to see if/when I announce it. Also be sure to subscribe to my newsletter because they will be there first to know. I will also be doing different things for my newsletter tribe this year, including special giveaways just for them, so be sure to add your email to stay updated! You can be added to my tribe on the side bar of this post or at the bottom of my home page.

For each one of my social platforms I have a follower goal I want to reach by the end of the year, so every three months I have a smaller goal I want to reach and wrote down some ideas that could help me get there.

Now onto my word for 2019………..Enough. About to get pretty deep and open with y’all.

A lot of people probably don’t know this about me, but I have always struggled with feeling like I wasn’t good enough. I did not have a bad life growing up or now by any means, so I hope it doesn’t sound that way. I am so grateful for my family and everything I have. I had a great life growing up and I have a great life now, I just always felt like I wasn’t good enough. In school, a good enough piano player, a good enough friend, a good enough girlfriend, good enough in college, etc. I could go on and on about all the areas I felt not good enough in, but I think y’all get the picture. I still feel that way and nobody is to blame because that is something I personally have to work on, that’s why ‘enough’ is my word for 2019. I want to work on feeling like I am enough and I want to encourage y’all to do the same. I know it’s hard, especially in the world today seeing all these “perfect” bodies and perfect hair and makeup on instagram, tv, and magazines and wanting that, but it is mostly smoke and mirrors, along with photoshop. I’m not saying everybody uses photoshop, but a lot of pictures are photoshopped. That is why I am always open and honest with y’all because I know that I am not perfect and I want y’all to see that. From the very beginning I have wanted my blog to be real and relatable and that is what I hope to always be for y’all. If I’m ever not, y’all better put me in my place!

Anyways, I hope you all had an amazing Christmas and a very happy New Year. Let me know your word for 2019 is and if you don’t have one what’s some goals you have for the year?

Hey y'all! Vlogmas is officially over! I made it! I know I have said it several times, but I am so glad I took the leap and did vlogmas this year. I have learned a lot from it and I have gotten more comfortable in front of the camera doing vlogs.

Blogger Brunch

A few weeks ago I met a fellow blogger on Instagram and she reached out to me and invited me to a blogger brunch for local bloggers. When she first told me about the event I saw that I had to work, but told her to let me know if they had another one. We exchanged numbers and got to talking and we have so much in common it’s scary. I got to thinking about the brunch and realized that this could be a great opportunity, so I decided to see if I could get off work. I am BEYOND happy I was able to go, because it was one of the best days I have had in a while. All the girls were so sweet and empowering and uplifting and I got so inspired. I am so thankful I got to meet each one of them and I can’t wait to see all the amazing things we accomplish as a group and individually! I am a little envious of the blogger groups that go on trips together and hang out, so I am so excited that we are forming a community of boss babes in East TN. We actually started an Instagram for our community, if y’all want to follow along I will link it here.

I actually captured some footage from the blogger brunch for my vlogmas, so I will add the video if y’all want to check that out too!

Hey y'all! On the vlog today I go on a little bit of a rant so be prepared for that. Also, I noticed my accent gets a little thicker when I'm mad, haha. Other than that, I think this is my favorite vlog so far.

We met before the restaurant to take some pictures by a big Christmas tree in downtown Knoxville with the amazing Erika with Evolve Creative. We took some individually then as a group and they turned out so good! I will add a few below so y’all can see how great they are!

We ate at Cafe 4 in market square and it was really good. I just got a simple breakfast of eggs, bacon, grits, and toast, but everyone else’s look great too! They have a little bit of everything.

I also wanted to share the beautiful ladies that came to the brunch and I am going to link their instagram so y’all can check them out! I’ll share them under our group picture so y’all can see names and faces. There were a couple of boss babes that weren’t able to make it for pictures, but I wanted to include them as well and that was Lindsey and Megan.

Elizabeth, Brittany, Meredith, Brooke, Tabatha (aka new blogger bestie), Kaitlyn, and Maleia.

We are already planning our next meetup, so definitely stay tuned for more. I am so grateful and thankful I met all these ladies! I think this was perfect timing for them to come into my life, especially Tabatha. I really think we are going to be lifelong friends!

The beautiful lady on the far left is Erika, the amazing photographer, friend, behind the camera!

Vlogmas 2018

For those of you who don’t know what vlogmas is I thought I would explain it a little more. Before I explain vlogmas I better explain a vlog in case you aren’t sure what that is either. Basically, a vlog is just a video blog. Some YouTubers will do a few vlogs to show a special trip or just their daily lives, and some will do them to catch everyone up if they have been MIA. A couple of my favorites to watch are Alex and Michael, I have talked about them before on my Instagram, and Nicole Guerriero. Alex and Michael are husband and wife and they actually have a vlog channel where that’s the only videos they upload. Alex, Alexandrea Garza, has a channel where she does fashion look books, beauty tutorials, home decor, and many other lifestyle videos. I have been following her for years and I have been watching their vlogs from the beginning! I will link their vlog channel here if y’all want to watch their vlogmas and I will link Alex’s main channel here.

Nicole Guerriero mainly does makeup tutorials, but occasionally she will do a long vlog to kind of catch everyone up on things she has been up to. She loves being home so she does’t go out a lot, so I think that’s why her vlogs are so long because she adds a bunch together. I will link her channel here if y’all want to check her out. I know Halloween is over, but she always does such amazing Halloween looks.

Now to explain a little more about vlogmas and why I am doing a post about it. Starting December 1, YouTubers who participate in vlogmas will vlog every single day in December until Christmas. Usually their last vlog will be on Christmas Day, but some will vlog the entire month of December. It is kind of like when Hallmark does their 12 days of Christmas. It is pretty much the same concept, just instead of movies everyday, you get someones real life everyday.

So the reason I am doing a post about vlogmas is because……………………..I’M DOING VLOGMAS THIS YEAR! I was trying to decide whether or not I wanted to do it since I haven’t been very consistent with my YouTube channel this year, but I thought why not? I wanted to start a YouTube channel two years before I actually did it, so I thought why wait for vlogmas. If anything it will help me get better and grow, and maybe I will reach new people and grow my tribe. It will also give y’all a chance to get to know me better. I am just warning y’all now that my life isn’t very exciting, so somedays the vlogs might be pretty short, but it’s just because I don’t want to bore y’all. On days I work it may be a late upload, but I am going to try my best to get them up every single day. Day 1 is actually going to be a little late because it will be later when I get home, then I will have to edit and upload it. If I had to guess they will probably be anywhere from 5 minutes to 20 minutes at the most in length. It just kind of depends on what I am doing that day. I will definitely let y’all know on instagram when the vlogs go up, so be sure to follow me there if you don’t already. You can also subscribe to my YouTube channel to get notified when they go up as well. I will link my instagram here and my YouTube here.

If y’all have any requests for vlogs I will take any suggestions. If there are any challenges you want me to do or a Q&A I can do that too. Just comment your ideas on this post! If you have any challenges that include my husband also leave those and I will try and talk him into it, haha. I am so excited about doing vlogmas this year and I hope y’all are too!

Christmas Lights to See

I love seeing Christmas lights, so I thought I would share a few places that have good ones that y’all might want to see. I am sharing three different places, but I have only been to two of them. The one place I haven’t been but really want to go to is Biltmore Estates in Asheville, NC. Even though I haven’t been there around Christmas time, I can only imagine how beautiful it is!

The Christmas decorations at Biltmore are up from now until January 5. Tickets are a little pricey for this one, but in my opinion it would be worth it because it looks gorgeous in pictures. I know a lot of times places don’t look the same in person as they do online, but I feel like Biltmore would look better than the pictures. I have been there once, kind of. I say kind of because it was the Asheville half marathon so I got to run all around the estate, but we didn’t go inside Biltmore. I wish we would have, but I was honestly so sore I didn’t want to walk around anymore. My husband did say we could go back one day, hopefully he wasn’t just saying that to get me to leave, haha. I need to take him up on the offer while the Christmas lights are up. Anyways, tickets to see the lights range from $70-$90, depending on when you go. Through the week is a little less than weekends. If you want to go I would recommend going soon because it is $90 the week of Christmas and the week after.

The next two places I have been to and they are both so pretty as well and not quite as expensive as Biltmore. The next one I want to talk about is Rock City on Lookout Mountain, GA/Chattanooga, TN area. They have what’s called Enchanted Garden of Lights and it is beautiful! That is where the pictures above were taken. You walk through Rock City and everywhere has lights and they have a little cafe where you can get hot chocolate and they also have my favorite, Starbucks. Santa there too so kids can get their picture made with him. When I went last year with my niece they had a little station where she could decorate her own gingerbread cookie. I thought that was pretty cool. Tickets are way cheaper for these lights, regular admission is $24.95, and weekday admission is $21.95. Ages 3-12 regular admission is $12.95, weeknight is $11.95. As you can see this one is a better price option, especially for families. This one is a great option for kids.

The last place I’m going to talk about is probably the most affordable, Pigeon Forge, TN. Well, it’s the most affordable as far as just seeing Christmas lights, haha. If you are staying a few nights it could definitely add up, but it is a great place for a little getaway, or if you are local a great place just to drive up and see the lights. This is also another great family option. The whole town always has a ton of lights and they have them up through the end of February. If you want to go somewhere you can walk through and see lights Dollywood is a great option as well. They have more than 4 million lights throughout the park and they also have a nightly parade of lights. I actually did a night 5k run through Dollywood a couple of years ago and it was pretty cool to get to see all the Christmas lights. It was pretty cold though, so that part wasn’t too fun. Tickets for Dollywood are $69.95 for 1-day and you can get a 2-day pass for $89.95 and you can go up to 5 days after the first day you go. Children 4-9 cost $56.95 and they have a senior price of $64.95.

I’m sure there are a lot of other places that have Christmas lights, but these are the ones I have either been to or want to go to. Y’all know I always like sharing things that I would do/have done myself. I also think it is fun just to drive around neighborhoods that have a lot of Christmas lights on houses. Camp Jordan in Chattanooga, TN used to have where you could drive through in your car and see Christmas lights, but I don’t think they are doing that this year. If y’all know of any places to see good Christmas lights comment them below to share :).

Trade Coffee Co

If you have been following me a while you probably know by now how much I love coffee. If you are new around here I just wanted to let you know………… I love coffee, haha. Anyways, I have been trying to branch out lately and drink different types of coffee and try local coffee shops instead of Starbucks, and for the most part I have been doing pretty well, but I still have to have my Starbucks. Let me know if y’all want me to do a post on local-ish coffee shops, meaning coffee shops in my surrounding towns.

A few weeks ago a newer coffee company reached out to me and wanted to send me a bag of coffee and I of course was not going to say no to that. Anytime a company wants me to share something I always try it out first before I tell y’all about it. I don’t want to share anything that I don’t believe in or don’t like. The coffee company that reached out to me is called Trade Coffee Co and they offer a huge variety of coffee from various different roasters. It is always freshly roasted coffee too which I love. It isn’t roasted until you place your order, so you never get pre-roasted coffee that has been sitting on a shelf for weeks or months. Under each bag it tells the next roasting day so you will know when they will be roasting the coffee you want. They always work with companies that have the same ethical values as Trade which is one more thing to love about the company. It seems like companies today just want to make money and they don’t care how they get products, so whenever I see companies with values that stick to them I love giving shout outs! They even make the roasters they work with sign a pledge before they go into business together and you can see that pledge online under roaster.

They have over 400 coffees to choose from and I think the coolest thing they have on their website is a quiz that tells what coffee you should try. You select if you are new to coffee or if you are a pro, the roost you like, the coffee machine you have, if you like traditional coffee flavors or different, ground or whole bean, and then it will pick a coffee they think you would like. You can try that one or of course go through all the other coffees and pick one. You can also see all the roasters they work with to see if there is one you already know and see which ones they offer.

I ended up getting something different from what the quiz picked for me, but I definitely want to try my pick next. In all honesty, I got the one I picked because of the name, but the flavors did sound good too. The roaster is Huckleberry and the blend is Blue Orchard Blend. It says it tastes like dark chocolate, caramel, and roasted walnuts. It also says on the bag that they donate a portion of proceeds from the bag to local and global charities, so I love that too.

I know this is a lot of information but I wanted to tell y’all as much as I could about Trade Coffee Co. You can visit their website here if you want to check out all the coffees or click here to take the quiz. I also have some exciting news, Trade Coffee Co. was nice enough to give me a coupon code for y’all to get 50% off your first bag of coffee that cost $25 or less! I don’t think I even saw a bag for that much, so that makes it even better that they are affordable! My code is just my IG handle, which is _aliciabice. Whenever you check out there is a place to add a promo code and that is where you will put my code.

I hope y’all enjoyed this post all about coffee! Let me know if y’all order a bag and tell me what you think! If you have an instagram and you post it tag me there too so I can see! Also, comment on this post if you know what movie Huckleberry is from.