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3 Tips for a Stylish and Relaxing Home
They say that home is where the heart is — surrounding yourself with a beautiful home will make you feel at ease and will help you relax. As a soon-to-be first-time homeowner, I’m looking forward to my move-in date – where for the first time I can move in to a space and make it completely my own. I’ve lived in three different rented spaces in the past four years, and I’m looking forward to being more firmly rooted somewhere. As I decorate my new home, you can expect a slew of design and DIY posts to come out of it! For now, here are three simple tips for creating…
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Waiting for the One: 4 Things You Should Look for in a Relationship
Recently, my fiancée surprised me with flowers. It was a simple gesture, but it carried a lot of weight for me. As I cut my roses and placed them in a vase, I thought about all the times when I was single that I picked up flowers for myself. It is so important to learn how to love yourself before you’re in a relationship, and I definitely had plenty of time to learn that. A long time ago, I wrote a blog post about “waiting for the one.” This post garnered a fair amount of internet attention for me – I received a lot of emails about it, including an invitation…
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Thoughts on the Value of Gratitude
Gratitude. I must admit that this is something that hasn’t always come easily to me. In the past, I was somewhat of a blind optimist, excited for everything in my life. More recently, some of the struggles in my life have gotten to me, and I went through a time where I really had to look harder in order to feel a sense of gratitude for anything that I had. When I got diagnosed with bipolar I felt trapped and frustrated. My medicine was making my thought processes a lot slower than I was accustomed to, and in some ways this made me feel trapped inside my own head. I knew I…
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DIY Floral Wooden Letters
I was shopping at Home Depot recently when my boyfriend walked up to my shopping cart holding some wooden letters he had found. They were a J and an L for Juan and Lauren (those are our names, for those of you who don’t know). The COVID-19 quarantine was just beginning, and I knew I would be facing some raging boredom very soon. Plus, I thought it was adorable that he picked these out for us. So I purchased the letters and than ran to Target for a few other supplies to make this easy but stylish home décor craft. (By the way, all of these supplies can be purchased…
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A Comprehensive List of Thrift & Consignment Clothing Boutiques Near Cherry Hill, NJ
If you’re like me and you’re constantly on the hunt for new thrift stores (and you happen to live near Cherry Hill, NJ), this post is your ultimate gold mine! Besides compiling a list of my favorite haunts, I’ve also explained a bit about each store — what’s great about them and (in some cases) what’s not-so-great. I plan to update this post in the future as I make new discoveries. So if you’ve got a spot that should be on this list, leave it in the comments below! I’ll check it out and add it to the list if appropriate. Village Thrift Location: Pennsauken, NJPricing: Low Click for map Village Thrift…
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On Bipolar and Finding My Own Silver Lining
Last year, I missed my own birthday. I actually went out to dinner with two close friends for my 31st birthday. But I wasn’t really there. The reason was because I was experiencing my second manic-psychotic episode during that outing. The chemicals in my brain were roaring in imbalance. I might as well have been on drugs, because I had become an entirely different person. As I mentioned, this was my second episode. My first had occurred just about 9 months prior. After the first occurrence, my doctors had written off my symptoms as being caused by dehydration. I had been sick for about a week and half straight prior to…
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4 Special Details That Make a Home Fascinating
I both love to decorate and love to appreciate other people’s home décor. I’ve probably said this before, but I’ll say it again: your home tells the story of who you are. I always find myself entranced by the way that other people decorate, whether it’s similar to my design style or totally different. Here are some of the things about decorating that I find fascinating. 1. Clusters of jewelry and beauty supplies on a dresser I like to leave my perfume, my most-used hair supplies, my makeup, and my favorite jewelry on full display on my vanity table. This is because I think that these items are so interesting.…
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How Bipolar Disorder Affected My Life in 2019
In a few (since deleted) posts I’ve shared on my blog, I alluded to the fact that the past year and half has been a tough time period for me. I struggled for a while with whether or not I should share what’s been going on, but I feel that not talking about this has created a bit of a writer’s block for me. In the spirit of unblocking myself, here’s the truth of what’s been going on in my life. I was diagnosed this past year with bipolar disorder. For me, this manifested itself in a mental breakdown that culminated in a very public psychotic episode, which resulted in…
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My Perfect Hot Toddy Recipe
As a whiskey lover, a hot toddy is an obvious choice for a warm winter drink, but there are so many hot toddy recipes out there, with all different ingredients. Finding the perfect combination took a little experimentation. I tried recipes that involved lots of spices, such as cinnamon, but I didn’t like them! It turns out that my perfect hot toddy is super simple: lemon, honey, water, and of course, whiskey. Without further ado, here is the classic hot toddy that I love to sip in the cold weather. Ingredients Directions Combine whiskey, honey, lemon juice, and hot water in your favorite mug. Garnish with a lemon wedge.
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The Inspiration Behind My Design Style
Since I was a little girl, I’ve always loved design. It actually started with my childhood dollhouse. My first was a Playschool plastic dollhouse, which I received as a Christmas gift. My mom had staged some pretty pieces of furniture in it, and the first occupant was a Vanna White Barbie doll. Yes that’s right — Vanna from Wheel of Fortune was my first Barbie. My second dollhouse was where the magic began. My grandfather had recently made a beautiful wooden dollhouse for my sister, Lisa. Shortly after, he surprised me with my own dollhouse – exactly the same, except mine had blue trim. This is where my love of…