Back to Bright Ideas
There was a time long ago (last June) when almost every one of my outfits was bright, bold, cheery, fun. Since then I feel like I've stepped out of that realm in fears of looking too young, not being taken seriously, and wanting a new mature look (sort of). Today I got back into it and decided to be fun and quirky Mel from last Summer. I think today was the last of our "warm weather" days before the rain starts and stays with us all weekend....you know what that means, outfit posts will be limited. I took advantage of it by wearing this easy white dress (that i'll be sporting all summer) and added a few color pops. I really wanted to incorporate this scarf (1st pic) since the colors tied everything together, so tied to the bag it went.
I had an interesting conversation with another blogger today (yes, on the phone!) about how blogs affect our lives and all the stuff that comes with it. It is true that blogging has created many friendships for me. I mean just think how often I mention Nickie and I met her last summer through chictopia. So there are alot of positive things that comes out of it but there's the negative also. I know how easy it is to be swept up by it all and have this competitiveness get the best of you. I see it everyday in the blogs that I read and the fashion community sites that I'm a part of. Now, I'm hesitant to write all of this but its something that's been on my mind for a while now.
I think the best advice I can give a girl wanting to start a blog is to stay true to yourself. I know getting "inspired" by someone's outfit is easy. You see her wearing a few items and say, wow, I want to do that, hey, I've even done that myself, but the thing to keep in mind is, either give credit to that person, or make it your own to show your personality. No one wants to read another blog with a girl taking pictures of herself in an outfit she just got "inspired" by on a daily basis. They want originality, something unique about you that makes the reader get to know you better.
When starting your blog, make sure you know why you're starting it and keep that in mind every single day. This past week all I've been thinking of is: "What would happen if I just stopped blogging tomorrow?". Would I be happy to have more free time? Would I be bored? Would I feel like something is missing? I constantly try and keep myself in check by asking myself: "Are you still enjoying this?". If I hesitate on the answer, (which hasn't happend yet), I'll stop. I've made the conscious decision to keep this blog a hobby, not a career. I make sure that I manage my online time carefully, not to get too absorbed by it all and keep a healthy social, non internet related life. Again, this is just my opinion and my choices but I think this is easily overlooked when you get too fixated on the life of blogging. Have fun with it and don't compare yourself to others. (You'll notice I've recently taken my "followers" counter down, this after reading a similar post on jenloveskev, you can read Jen's thoughts about it here.)
O.k, I think I need to stop here before getting too preachy. I rarely tend to get too serious and offer up any strong opinions in this blog but today was just THAT day when it had to come out.
Outfit:
Dress}mac&jac
Top}Thrifted via Beacon's Closet
Tights}American Apparel
Boots}80%20
Nailpolish}Essie Greenport
