Southern Belle in Training

Fashion, Travel & Lifestyle Blog || Est. 2012 || Virginia Beach, VA

December 31, 2019

2019: Blogging Highlights + Favorite Outfits.

     It's time for my annual last blog post of the year on Southern Belle in Training! If you missed part one of my year in review, check it out here. I always share the year recap for my personal life first, and then conclude with the year in blogging, which we're doing today!

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December 30, 2019

2019 in Review: Highlights From My Year.

     Time for one of my very favorite posts of the year on Southern Belle in Training!! I do two year-end recaps: one focused on my personal life (that's what you're reading today!), and one focused on the year in blogging (that will be live tomorrow). The blogging one is more for y'all, whereas this post is more for me. 😊 My life has had a lot of big changes since I started writing these yearly recaps a few years ago, and these are the blog posts that I come back to the most to look at- kind of a unique blessing that so many of the big (and small!) moments of my life each year are easy to be referenced when I'm feeling nostalgic.

     Anyways- let's get into it: 2019 in my life!!

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December 27, 2019

What I Wore to Work: December 2019.

     It's been so much fun sharing my radio work outfits with you all year long! I can't believe this is my last round-up of 2019. Excited to keep this series going in 2020 as each month's post is usually a hit! Overall December was an unseasonably mild month in Charlottesville, so I didn't pull out quite as many winter sweaters and boots as I expected to, but there was still a lot of variety in my workwear this month between the warm and cold days. If you're new to these posts- I link every outfit on my Liketoknow.it- so if you're curious about any of them you can find all the details there.

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December 26, 2019

Radio 101: One Year as a Morning Show Host Q&A!

     One year ago today was a day that I will never forget and a highlight of my career: my first day as a morning show host! It was the best belated Christmas gift ever last year, and a dream come true. I finished undergrad in 2016 and broadcasting school in 2017- I never would have thought that just a year and a half after starting my first full-time radio job I'd get to have my dream time slot of doing mornings!

     A couple years ago, I used to love sharing fairly frequent blog posts about working radio, in a blog series that I call Radio 101. However, I think today's post might be my first and only directly about my job in 2019! I really wanted this year to be a time to settle in to my new job and focus first and foremost of getting used to my new schedule, and being the best morning show host I could be.  Being so immersed each day at work meant that I didn't really feel like diving into work related topics on the blog in my free time! But now that the first year is behind me, I'm ready to get back into it on Southern Belle in Training in 2020. I consider it a great honor to get to share my career with y'all!

      I thought the best way to celebrate our show's birthday today and to get back into my Radio 101 posts was to do a morning radio themed Q&A! Y'all sent me great questions via Instagram- I'm answering them all today.


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December 24, 2019

Christmas Eve Outfit Idea.

     Merry Christmas Eve! 🎄Keeping things short and sweet on the blog today, but I wanted to share this cute red dress with you. I know that red is traditionally a December color for fashion, but I think this dress could also brighten up some January and February outfits in the winter months to come!

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December 23, 2019

HUGE Holiday PR Package Unboxing!

     Wow- this post is super overdue!! I normally try to write four PR package unboxing posts a year (one for each season), but somehow time got away from me and I haven't written one since last summer. Time to change that!! 
    If you're new to these posts, this is my chance to review the packages and mail that I receive as PR from brands. Brands (especially beauty companies) love to send bloggers free gifts in hope of a positive review. I am not in a paid collaboration with any of the brands featured today- it's my choice to share these products I've received with you, as well as an honest review!


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December 20, 2019

Christmas Decor 2019.

    How are we already less than a week out from Christmas? As per usual, December has absolutely flown by. I have a different fake tree this year than I've used for the past few years, so I wanted to be sure to snap a few photos of this year's tree and decor before the season ended for the blog! I plan to share a tour of my whole new apartment on here in January.

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December 16, 2019

RISE AND SHINE: How to Become a Morning Person from a Morning Show Host.

     I'm not a Kardashian fan, but I couldn't resist the Kylie Jenner reference for the title of this post haha! I'm just a week and a half shy of my one year anniversary of being a morning radio host. Work-wise it's been an incredible year full of learning, but the biggest challenge of the year has nothing to do with actually being on-air or relating to my co-host. The toughest part has definitely been my schedule. Over the past year, I've completely changed my lifestyle to accommodate my crazy work hours. I've gone from being the biggest night owl in the world back in college, to liking mornings in my first couple years after school, to training myself to wake up well before the sun for life as a morning show host! 

     I try to be a pretty humble person and there's not a lot of things that I'd say I'm an "expert" on, but I'd say I'm pretty well qualified to give advice about waking up early and becoming a morning person. Some of my Charlottesville girlfriends were recently asking my advice on this, and I figured it would make a great blog post topic!


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December 13, 2019

How I Paid Off My Student Loans.

     One of my resolutions for the year 2019 was the finish paying off my remaining student loan debt. My initial goal was to have it paid by the end of the year, then that goal got moved up to before my birthday (early September)... but I ended up becoming debt free in mid-July 2019!! 

      Everyone's journey with paying off school looks very different- I have friends with 10x the amount of debt that I had, and friends whose parents paid for their entire education or who had full ride scholarships. Knowing that everyone's situation is super different, I still wanted to share my own story in hopes it might encourage someone! Even if you don't have school loan debt, maybe my story could still inspire you with another type of debt (like credit card debt or car payments).


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December 11, 2019

Midweek Ramblings.


{A festive Christmas manicure from Rituals Salon & Spa! Use my code Annaliese20 for $20 off services there this season! And follow me on Instagram @miss_alk} 
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December 9, 2019

Purse Review: Why I Love My Barrington Gifts St. Anne Tote!

    If you follow other bloggers (especially other preppy bloggers), chances are you have seen others style and share about Barrington Gifts totes before. I found out about Barrington Gifts from other bloggers years ago! I was immediately captivated by how classic their tote styles are, and I loved the fact that they could be so customized. I've now been using my first Barrington Gifts St. Anne tote for about a month, and I'm excited to share a full review of this bag with y'all today!

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December 5, 2019

50 Holiday Gifts from Belk Under $50 + GIVEAWAY!

     Today's blog post is sponsored by Belk. Thank you for supporting the brands that support Southern Belle in Training!

     When I think about all of the marvelous things that I discovered about the South when I moved to North Carolina years ago as a college freshman, a favorite thing on that list would definitely be Belk. They are the the quintessential Southern department store! They carry so many fantastic brands, offer amazing sales throughout the year, and I love the fact that they're headquartered in my favorite city of Charlotte. I've been a loyal Belk shopper for years, so it's truly a dream come true to partner with them here on the blog! Their Charlottesville store has a beautiful new mural, so I'll be sharing a bit about that, a bunch of great gift ideas for men and women under $50, and the details of the Instagram giveaway I'm currently doing for a Belk gift card!

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December 4, 2019

Midweek Ramblings.


{I had fun going out for drinks and dinner at a new-to-me restaurant while I was home in Maine for Thanksgiving! Follow me on Instagram @miss_alk}
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December 3, 2019

Guess Where My Entire Outfit is From! (& a great Cyber Week Sale!)

     Cyber Monday may have officially been yesterday, but a lot of the best deals and sales are still continuing into this week. The dress, coat, shoes, purse and earrings I'm wearing are all from the same retailer, and they currently have thousands of items marked down for their extended Cyber Monday sale, which is continuing today. Ready to learn where this outfit is from?


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December 2, 2019

What I Bought on Black Friday!

     Happy Monday! It can definitely be tough to get back in the swing of things on a Monday after a holiday long weekend, but fortunately today is Cyber Monday, so that should make things a little bit better! 😉I'm excited to be sharing some of my Black Friday purchases from this year with y'all today- these retailers are all still doing sales today, so if you are interested in these items or something similar it's probably still very discounted!


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