9 Things I Won't Miss About Living in Vermont.

     Around this time last year, I wrote a blog post entitled "Charlotte NC: 10 Things I'll Miss the Most About Living Here." A full year later- and most of those things still hold up for Charlotte! The city that I went to college in (and stayed for one year after) will always hold a very special place in my heart. Now as I prepare to move out of Vermont and head back to the South... I realize how not bittersweet this move is in comparison, and how truly happy I am to be getting the heck out of here!  Many of you know that I haven't really enjoyed Vermont culture or found that I've acclimated well here, and I am so happy to be going back South. Vermont is truly a very unique place.... it's super different even from my home state of Maine (even though Maine is just four hours away!). I thought it would be fun to reprise last year's post in honor of my move this week... but instead of 10 Things I'll Miss... I'm sharing 9 Things I WON'T Miss! I've found during my time living here that the Vermont lifestyle is kind of idolized in media portrayals and in reality is very different- so this might open your eyes a bit to what it's like in the Green Mountain state if you've never been here!

     1. The lack of cities and population in general: Shortly after I accepted my job last year, I was Googling resources about moving to Vermont. The "Move Here" page on Vermont.org begins by saying "It's true, Vermont is not for everyone. We're not known for high rises and an all-night club scene." I remember reading this line a year ago and thinking "Uh oh... how small is this place that I'm moving to?" Spoiler alert: MUCH smaller than I properly anticipated!
     The entire state of Vermont had an estimated population of just under 625,000 residents in 2016. The entire state! For comparison, Charlotte had a population of almost 850,000 in 2016 just within the city limits, and almost 2 million within the greater metro and surrounding counties. YIKES! That's a huge difference. I knew Vermont was going to be smaller and slower paced, but I had no idea how much of a shock it would be until I actually arrived. I am definitely a city girl and need to be in a place near large metro areas... and that just is not Vermont. I love cities because it's great to be living in a place where you feel like there is always something going on, and to me looking out over a skyline is magical. Burlington is actually the smallest biggest city in a state in the country. It really is more like a glorified large town. There is one interstate exit for Burlington. ONE! Have you ever heard of a biggest city in a state with one interstate exit?!
     Sometimes when I think back on how much I struggled in my first several months here to make friends and develop a social life outside of work, I have to remind myself of what I was dealing with. Burlington just isn't that big! 2017 was actually the first year since 2013 that Vermont saw a gain in population in census data... that means from 2013-2016 the state lost population, either to death (mainly from the elderly) or residents moving out-of-state.



     2. A state of bedroom communities: I've shared on the blog before that I became a morning person during my year in Vermont. While all in all I think this was a positive lifestyle change and I have grown to love mornings, I kind of became an early bird without a choice. Vermont is an entire state of bedroom communities. Minus some things geared for college kids that live here to go toUVM and a couple other schools  in the area (which is a nighttime scene I wanted no part of obviously), there is non-existent nightlife and things to do after like 7 pm in Vermont. Your nighttime options are going to the movies, a few weird bars downtown which are mostly full of 18 year olds with fake IDs or sketchy older people... and well, that's it! People aren't really into going out at night, especially in the colder months. When my hours at work switched this fall and I started getting out of work at 7 instead of 4:30, whatever chance I had at a weeknight social life was 100% shot. Back in Charlotte, I didn't really do super exciting things on weeknights, but it wasn't uncommon to go to a friend's apartment to hangout, or to go run and get fast food late at night. That just like wasn't apart of my life here in Vermont! I'd come home from work, make dinner, watch TV, go to bed, and do it all over again on both weeknights and weekends.



     3. EXPENSIVE living costs: Oh my goodness... it is so expensive to live in Vermont!! You are paying Boston prices without getting a Boston quality of life or Boston amenities. When I first accepted my job, I genuinely thought for awhile that I'd have to live in an extended stay hotel on the outskirts of town for awhile when I first got here, because it seemed hopeless to find a safe and comfortable apartment (sans roommate) in my price range. I finally did find a very nice apartment, but it was a lot more money than I'd wanted to be paying for rent. And despite the high cost it still didn't have some of the amenities that my Charlotte apartment had either- like pools or a tennis court! (And I definitely didn't live in a luxury apartment complex in Charlotte.) It's not just rent that's high in Vermont either. For those that do decide to buy property here, the housing market is exorbitant, and property taxes are high. Scratch that- all taxes are high in Vermont! There is a high tax called "Meals and Rooms" (for dining out and lodging), and gas is also very expensive here! Another thing that's a lot of money in Vermont are driving associated costs. Not only are snow tires a necessity, but getting a Vermont license was more than double the cost of my North Carolina one, and annual car inspections here cost four times what they did back home in Maine. So this is not a cheap state to call home, and I wish I had done more research about that before accepting my job.



     4. Depressing for dating: I got the BIGGEST kick out of the fact that so many holiday Hallmark movies are love stories set in Vermont, and also that the Bachelor spin-off show Bachelor Winter Games was set in Vermont this year. (Although in that show's defense, it was filmed about three hours from where I lived- so maybe Southern Vermont is where it's at?) I won't go into too much detail on this one, but this is NOT THE PLACE to find love if you're a single girl like myself. By this fall, it became evidently clear to me that if I stayed in Vermont long-term... I better start praying to have a miraculous healing from my cat allergies because #CatLady was the future that awaited me in this place....
     However- if you are looking for dating app matches who list "organic farmer" or "aspiring musician" in their bio- this is definitely the place for you!! Lots and lots of men to choose from!  (In my defense, my Christian faith is very important to me and where I'm looking for someone who shares that, I knew that dating options would already be more limited in a more secular area like Burlington. But even taking faith out of the equation hypothetically.... still TERRIBLE guy options! Lol.)



     5. The priciest airport: Travel is another one of my huge passions, and it's something that I crave getting to do every few months. I didn't realize until I finally got to Vermont how far away Vermont is from everything. There is only one commercial airport in the state. Let's just say that growing up in Maine, I always thought the Portland airport was the smallest airport ever. I WAS WRONG!!! The Burlington International Airport is the tiniest "biggest" airport, and it is exorbitantly expensive to fly anywhere. When I traveled to Indiana for New Year's... it was over $500!!! And that was for not-direct flights, booked months and months in advance. Had I traveled over the same dates but flown out of a larger airport like Manchester or Boston in New England, I could have saved between $200-300. It sadly didn't make sense for me to drive the long distance to those airports (in the winter) for such a brief weekend trip, but that price difference made me angry and is INSANE!!!! (I don't even want to tell y'all what the cost was for my last-minute booked interview flight to Virginia from Vermont....) Where travel is such a love and passion for me, it's important that I live in a place with a variety of airports to choose from, and a place where travel just isn't so expensive or hard to come by!



     6. The severe lack of chain restaurants: I can't help this, and I own it. I love me some chain restaurants, and there's several that I'm very loyal to. Don't get me wrong- I don't exclusively eat out or eat fast food (I love to cook, and I also enjoy trying local restaurants when I travel) but I definitely appreciate my favorite national restaurants for when the cravings hit. If you move to Vermont, expect to say your forever goodbyes to Chick Fil A, Dairy Queen, Waffle House, Sonic, Krispy Kreme, (and two of my Carolinas favorites, Bojangles and Cookout). Sit-down chain restaurants are limited here as well. There are a few chains in the South Burlington/Williston area, but a lot of my favorites didn't make it up here, like On the Border, Macaroni Grill, Maggiano's, P.F. Chang's... and the love of my food life, The Cheesecake Factory. Out of all of these.... Dairy Queen is probably the one I have missed the most!! Nothing like a Blizzard, y'all.



     7. Worst highway driving: Vermont's Interstate 89 has to be the worst interstate I've ever driven on- ever. I have always enjoyed highway driving, ever since I first learned to drive in high school. A lot of my friends were scared of highway driving when they first got their licenses, but it was always my favorite! When I moved to Charlotte, I actually really liked having major city interstates to drive on. I'm weird I know. Anyways, I-89 up here has almost killed my joy and love for the American Interstate System. In the Burlington corridor (if you can even call it that... remember that earlier in this post I taught you that Burlington, the largest city in the state, only has one highway exit!), the speed limit on I-89 for several miles is 55. 55!!! And the cops will pull you over for going 60+! They are always hanging out in the median, just waiting. Clearly because Vermont is so boring and has no major crimes or anything exciting going on, so catching drivers cruising down the highway at 65 mph is a priority.
      Once you're out of Burlington either north or south, the speed limit on I-89 does increase, but the driving conditions get low-key terrifying. There is NOTHING on this highway. It goes to 10-20 miles between exits. And there is NOTHING between exits. Sometimes you may see a farm on the side of the road if you're luck- that's it!! It's just trees, trees, more trees, maybe some mountains, maybe a river, and TREES. No cities, no town, and no billboards because Vermont is one of four states (my home state of Maine included) that they're illegal! A lot of stretches on I-89 also have little to no cell phone service because it runs through such secluded parts of the state. It's TERRIFYING. Once you cross from VT into NH there is a decent sized town on the border, and then it becomes New Hampshire nothing-ness for a lot of miles again.
     A lot of people have asked me why I didn't try and go home to Maine more while I lived in Vermont. Part of it was due to my insane work schedule, but part of it was due to the fact that making the drive from Vermont to Maine solo on I-89 terrified me! Like what if something every happened to my car on one of the stretches that was 15 miles between exits?! And again- this is coming from someone who genuinely enjoys interstate road trips.... but not here!! I'll just say thank goodness Vermont didn't have tolls. It did have that going for it I suppose!



     8. The not-hot summers: I'm not going to list Vermont winter as one of my list items because everyone knows Vermont winter is snowy and cold. That's not an earth shattering fact or a surprise... and that was something I knew when I moved here. However- something I was not expecting was how not-hot Vermont summer's are. It barely got out of the 70s at all last year! The midwest is also known for having brutal cold and snow-filled winters, but many midwestern states also have very hot summers so they at least get a true summer season. Vermont does NOT. Pretty sure it only hit over 90 degrees for five days in 2017? Most of summer was in the 60s and 70s... and after a few years in North Carolina that is April weather to this girl- not July weather!!!



     9. Burlington parking costs: You can see my frustration with this illustrated in one of the photos above- lol! Burlington, like many other cities around the country, has very limited free parking. There are a couple public garages (TBH I was amazed Vermont had parking garages), some lots, and many meters throughout downtown. My gripe about paying for parking in Burlington is that Burlington isn't like a city at all and really is like a glorified large town, so there is nothing there worth paying for parking! Sure, it was annoying to pay for parking in Uptown Charlotte, but Charlotte is a real city and when I'd go to dinner in Uptown with friends, it felt like a real night out on the town, and worth it to spend a few dollars to park and treat yourself. There is nothing city-like feeling about Burlington... so why on earth should I pay Charlotte parking costs to go there?! Some of the lots are truly ridiculous in what they charge. Once when my parents were visiting, I changed my mind on a restaurant I wanted to take them to because the lot closest to it was charging so much that day!
     Some good news related to Burlington parking: all the city meters are free on Sundays, so that is a plus. And a couple of the garages are free for the first two hours, so if you have quick business to do downtown and keep track of your time, you don't have to pay. But still very annoying!!
   

   

     Thank you for making it through this list of grievances about my time in Vermont!! You might be wondering with all these things that I won't miss- if there's anything that I will miss. The answer is yes! I will definitely miss going for nature walks at my favorite trail in Vermont, the Colchester Causeway. This summer I was walking there as much as 3-4x weekly! (The photos for this blog post were shot on the trail there!)


     I will also miss a few wonderful friends that I have made here in Vermont. I have truly met some incredible people here. It was very hard to make friends when I first moved to Vermont, and figure out how to have a social life with my weird and crazy work schedule, especially since I worked both Saturdays and Sundays for my first five months here. Around the holidays, it finally hit me one day that I finally had made a few good friends here, and that was an amazing revelation to have! Although I am SO EXCITED to be leaving for Virginia, I will treasure the friendships I did make during this year, and I have no doubts I will keep in touch with everyone. I might even expect a couple Vermont visitors to Virginia in the next year or two!




     I can't believe that I'm just a few days away from moving day- eeeek!



     God Bless,



     xoxo Annaliese

   

2017's Best Blog Blooper Photos.

     Today it's time to show off the less staged and put-together side of blogging! Let's laugh together and take a look back at the best photography bloopers from 2017 on Southern Belle in Training. In my earlier years of blogging, I used to try and share blooper photos every few months. There's no reason really why I stopped doing it (I guess as my blog grew and I got busier with sponsored content, that took first priority!), but I still love looking at the funny outtake photos from time to time, so let's do that again today! 😉 The original blog post that each photo appeared in will be linked by each picture.

     June 2017: "One Maxi Dress Two Ways: Breezy Daytime Look"


     I titled this blog post "Breezy Daytime Look" for a reason! This dress was super fun to let blow in the summer breeze (Melissa and I shot these photos lakeside in Burlington), but at the same time, there were also a lot of fun outtakes, like this one. What even is going on with my hair?! Between the dress and hair... too much to keep hold of!

      October 2017 at Vermont Country Store (never blogged this outfit)


     One thing that happens a lot with blogging photography is that the camera is still clicking away even as I'm adjusting poses or moving to a new spot! That's exactly what happened in the photo above! I think I was already over the poses I had done in this spot - ha!

     December 2017: "Vermont Holiday Look"


     This was one of the coldest days that I've ever been outside doing blog photos in! Serious props to Amanda for toughing the cold with me and shooting four outfits that day. We did manage to get some cute shots for this outfit despite it being 10 degrees outside, but of course in between pictures I let my distaste for the weather show... which was captured so well in the picture above! (At least my eye makeup looks cool in this shot?)

     September 2017: "Late Summer PR Packages Review."


     My parents kindly help out with my photography needs for Southern Belle in Training when I'm visiting home in Maine, we're traveling together, or they're here in Vermont and I need a quick Instagram photo or have something come up. I love the fact they're able to help with this! My mom is an artist and photographer (for her job) so her images are usually beautiful. My dad on the other hand.... photographer in training. 🙂 The picture above is one of his outtakes, and the ones following are as well. We sure do have fun when he helps with my blog photos, but let me just say it takes a LOT of effort to get the photos with him that you'll actually see featured in a blog post!

     July 2017: "I Tried LipSense - My Honest Review!"


     I shot the photos for this post at home in Maine this summer with my dad... this was a favorite outtake. Man oh man.... haha!!

     August 2017: "Nautical Lilly Pulitzer Look"


     During my dad's summer visit to Vermont, we took a sunset lake cruise one night on Lake Champlain. It provided the perfect backdrop for some blog photos! We did end up getting some that I loved, but with the crazy wind on the boat there were also tons of funny ones of me trying to tame my hair.

     November 2017: "New Must Have Cardigan"


     On my dad's fall visit to see me, we ventured across the lake to Plattsburgh, NY. I'd always wanted to do blog photos in their downtown so that was kind of fun. This picture though was my favorite outtake, it reminds me of the iconic scene in Princess Diaries where Princess Mia is being taught how to wave!



     And lastly... as I mentioned my parents help me out from time to time with photography on the blog... they also enjoy trying their hand at imitating my blog poses from time to time as well. 😉

     Hope that you enjoyed my 2017 edition of blogger bloopers!! Wishing you a wonderful start to you weekend as well. TGIF- we made it!! I'm very excited about this weekend for two reasons. One: today it is 50 degrees! Granted it's raining all day... but STILL, that is 60 degrees warmer than it was last weekend in Vermont! (Yes... -10 last weekend.) Secondly, I have tomorrow off! I haven't had any Saturdays off from work since starting my job, minus the couple that I've used PTO for when I've been traveling out-of-state. But I actually have tomorrow off to enjoy to myself. Ahhhh!! I forgot what having a Saturday off looks like. This won't be a weekly happening, but I'm planning to try and really enjoy this weekend.



     God Bless,



     xoxo Annaliese
   

"Han Solo" Season...

     Have y'all seen the memes floating around the internet about how fall is also becoming known as "Han Solo" season? As in Han Solo from Star Wars (I'm not much of a Star Wars fan myself, so I'm kind of proud of myself for understanding the reference- ha!) He is famous of course for wearing boots, a vest, and a white blouse throughout the films, and the joke of the memes of course is that fall is #basic season for girls, and many a girl is spotted wearing this same outfit during the autumn months!! I was so excited to wear this look for a day of shooting during peak foliage week in Vermont a few weeks back... and it didn't really hit me until going through these photos for the post that I unintentionally became the meme!

Photography by Amanda Rose Photography

This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for supporting Southern Belle in Training!

Top // Vest // Jeans // Boots // Purse // Necklace c/o {mine not online, identical here} // Bracelets c/o {sold out, similar here} // Lipstick c/o // 

      Vermont is so famous for its radiant fall season. I knew that I had to do my best to take advantage of that this year, especially since I'm a blogger! Peak foliage season hit a little bit later than usual for all of New England this year, since September was quite warm. It began to dawn on me around the time that the leaves were at their fullest, that I had a bit of a conundrum regarding my blog photoshoots. I was so hoping to be shooting for some outfit posts this fall in peak foliage, but I schedule my shoots based on upcoming collaborations, and the dates of my collabs were not matching up with the week that ended up being peak foliage, since it was a little later than I expected. Eeek! 

      Thankfully, one of my Vermont photographers, Amanda, responded to a frantic text from me asking if she had any time to do a very quick shoot, with the purpose of mainly getting pretty leaves pictures and capturing a glimpse of foliage beauty. She was happy to oblige, and that's how today's post came to be! This blog post is a bit more photo-heavy than normal, but I couldn't pick just a few favorites. 😊 (The spots that we shot these photos in are nearby the ones featured also in this post.)

     It's finally cool enough here to wear this Lauren James vest which I'm styling in this post! (I might refer to it as my Han Solo vest from here on out though...) I purchased it during Lauren James's Pink Friday sale this summer when I was able to score a great deal on it, but thankfully it is still in stock!! And it comes in a few colors.

     Sadly Vermont's foliage is just about gone now and the pretty leaves from these pictures have long since fallen, but I am so happy I was able to get a few blog photos this year when it was at its brightest! I'll treasure these- Vermont really was magical to experience and drive around in during peak week in October this year.

     God Bless,

     xoxo Annaliese 

Midweek Ramblings + Recent Purchases + Current Wishlist.

{I've had to work several radio events over the past few weeks at a lakefront bar in Burlington, and this is a view that I get to pass each time I'm there! How pretty right? Follow me on social media @miss_alk!}

This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for supporting Southern Belle in Training!

Ramblings:

• Despacitoooo: When I first heard Despacito this spring, I absolutely loved it. Latin pop is one of my favorite types of music, and I was so excited that a hot new Latin song was hitting the Top 40 charts just in time for summer. However, working in Top 40 radio and having to hear the song at least once an hour for the past few months.... I now have a different opinion of it! Haha. I have been really enjoying all of the funny Despacito parody videos on Facebook that have been popping up lately. I think this one might be my favorite, because it also samples one of my favorite cartoons! 
• Clippy is Back: Who else remembers Clippy, the famous Microsoft Word paper clip who would watch you work on documents back in the early 2000s days of Word? (If you have no idea what I'm talking about, Clippy has its own Wikipedia page here.) When my family got our first computer when I was in elementary school, I used to love writing short stories, poems, and even little newsletters in Microsoft Word (I guess I was always born to be a blogger!). Of course, getting to see Clippy was one of my favorite parts of using Word! Anyways, I recently found a Google Chrome plugin that will bring Clippy to your Chrome browser. The second that I found out about this, I downloaded it, and it was quite possible the best thing I've ever done for my computer. Now a new and improved cute little Clippy is there on the side of my page whenever I'm using Chrome, and it honestly makes my day! Here is the plugin if you want to use it also!

Purchases:

• I have a love/hate relationship with department stores. They're great since they carry many good brands and a large variety of items and many departments... but sometimes if you walk into a department store you walk out buying more than intended. I was guilty of that this week! I walked into one here in Burlington to buy a strapless bra... and walked out with that and sheets? But they were on sale and the cutest sheets I had ever seen in my life, so I couldn't say no! I shared a picture of them on my Instagram and y'all seemed to agree! They come in all bed sizes and a variety of fun patterns. Get 'em while they're still on sale!!
• I also did buy a strapless bra as intended, and I love the one that I purchased! Since well, forever.... I've been very loyal to Victoria's Secret for all undergarment purchases. But I think I like this strapless bra way better than any of my VS ones, and it was bout $20 cheaper too! 

Wishlist:

• The Nordstrom Anniversary Sale ends next week, so take advantage of the deals while you still can! I just love these Tory Burch flats that are included in the sale... I have a feeling that next year I'll be buying a new pair of Tory Burch shoes again!
• This is such a classic summer dress! It would be perfect to wear all throughout August before the cool weather arrives.
• Out of all the Kendra Scott jewelry that I own, I wear my bracelets the most. Seriously- I wear them to work almost everyday as they match so many outfits! This is a newer bracelet style from Kendra Scott but I just love it- how beautiful right?
• When we have events for work, all staff at our radio stations have to wear polos with the station logos on them. I like the try and dress them up a bit, and I also get cold easily, so I've been pairing my work polos with different colored cardigans. I've started realizing recently that my cardigans could probably use some refreshing as I've had some of them for many years! This is one of my favorite cardigans as I already own it, and it's back for this summer in new colors!

      Hope that you're having a great week! Tomorrow on the blog I'll be sharing a "24 Hours in Montreal" travel guide, so stay tuned! 😊

     God Bless,

     xoxo Annaliese (or Charlotte XO on the radio!)

Midweek Ramblings + Recent Purchases + Current Wishlist.

{Follow me on social media @miss_alk!}

Ramblings:

• Best inauguration memes: While I have no problem discussing faith on my blog, politics is something that I don't enjoy writing about (or even discussing that much to be quite honest). I think a person's political views is a very personal matter, and I'm happy to say that I have friends and family whose views fall on all ends of the political spectrum. The inauguration last week was a day for some Americans to celebrate and some to mourn. HOWEVER: something that we all should be able to rejoice over, no matter our political affiliations, is this round-up of the most hilarious inauguration day memes! I'm always down for a good meme, and you have to admit that all of the election/inauguration ones were pretty spectacular. 
• My photographer: Last May, I started working with the fabulous Deeana Kourtney Photography for my photo needs on Southern Belle in Training. Deeana has been an absolute joy to work with, and many of our photoshoots were some of my highlights of 2016. She has her own photography blog as apart of her website, and yesterday she wrote the sweetest post all about how she began wanting to photograph bloggers. Check it out, and you'll also get to see some images from the very first shoot we did together! 
• Once a sister, always a sister: This past weekend, I went back to my alma mater for the day and attended an alumni social event for my sorority! Despite being very involved in Greek life in college, ADPi is something that I've taken a bit of a break from since graduation college (for various reasons in my life). But I was indeed reminded this weekend that sisterhood isn't just a college commitment, but instead truly a lifetime bond! It was really nice to see some of my sisters and catch up, and also fun to be back on my college campus for a bit. Despite still living in Charlotte, I can count on one hand the number of times that I've been back to my university since graduation.

Recent Purchases:

• This retailer is having free shipping all week, so I couldn't resist the chance to pick up these pretty earrings! I've had my eye on these for months, my preference just goes back and forth between different colors. I eventually settled on black- partly because it will match so much of my winter wardrobe during the rest of this month and next, and partly because it coordinates well with a dress that I'm wearing to a rehearsal dinner this spring. Win-win! 

Current Wishlist: 

• I went to the mall this week to try on something that I saw online (this dress!) - but I'm glad that I did as it ended up not fitting as well on me in person as I thought. ANYWAYS- while in store, I fell in love with these heels. They're so simple but so chic, and really a closet staple! (The color I want isn't currently on sale but I think I'm going to buy them as soon as they are.)
• I think this pretty set would be so cute for attending a bridal shower, tea party, Galentine's celebration, or other upcoming spring events! And you can't beat the fact that it's currently on sale for under $40. 
• This chic blouse would go from work to weekend outfits so effortlessly. 
• I love warm weather so much that I always start browsing swimwear online as soon as the holidays are over. Even though I don't have any warm weather vacation plans coming up, I'm crushing on this bikini hardcore!

     I hope that y'all are having a great week! No special question for y'all this week... but thanks as always for reading. 

     xoxo Annaliese 

Midweek Ramblings + Recent Purchases.

{A couple weeks ago at the City Lights Rooftop x Diet Coke End of Summer Bash. Follow me on Instagram + Snapchat @miss_alk!} 

Ramblings:

• Free Pinterest e-course: Starting off this week's Ramblings by getting real for a sec... I've seen extremely low page views on the blog this month, which has been really discouraging to me. I'm not really sure why this is, as I've still been posting regularly here on the blog and social media. But I know that I definitely want to bring my numbers back up for the rest of the year! One area of social media that I can definitely improve on is Pinterest. I love using it for things like recipes or to save articles that I enjoy reading, but I haven't always been the best at using it for my own bloc content. That's going to change! This weekend I went through and cleaned out a lot of my irrelevant boards, and I made some behind-the-scenes HTML changes as well. All of this was inspired by the information that I learned from my friend Jenny's new FREE Pinterest e-course launch! Jenny (from Breakfast at Lilly's blog) wrote an awesome 5-day email course that will be sent to your inbox 100% free of charge. There is so much useful information in this course. Definitely sign up for it if your Pinterest is also in need of a revamp, and while you're at it support Jenny as she prepares to launch her social media business Confetti Social! 
• A unique clothing line: My funniest online article find of the week would be this one. A Swedish ad agency recently developed a clothing line with designs that feature some of the most well known (and tackiest) stock photos. I was laughing so hard looking at these clothing options... you just have to see this!
• Charlotte in the news: As many of you know, Charlotte has made national attention over the past week for violent riots (and some peaceful protests) that began after an African American man was shot and killed by police last week. Many friends of mine from out-of-state or other parts of NC reached me over the weekend to check in on my safety, of which I was very grateful for! I currently live in a part of Charlotte that wasn't near any of the protests, but it was still unnerving to just be living in the same city where it was happening. Thankfully, the protests seem to be calming down now. The bottom line is that this is all around an extremely tragic situation, without casting judgement for either side. I pray that the city will find peace and understanding in the weeks, months and years to come! 
• Product reviews: In the past few weeks, I've received a few PR gift packages from different haircare and beauty companies. I have so many new goodies that I've been trying out. Bloggers frequently receive gifted items, but other then featuring them on social media occasionally, I feel that these gifts often don't get featured on actual blogs. Would y'all be interested in seeing a big review round-up post of some of the items that I've recently received? Let me know in the comments!

Purchases:

• In New York City a couple of weeks ago, I picked up this gorgeous top!! I'm obsessed with both the cut of it and the pretty pattern. 
• Possibly one of my best bargains of all-time... I found a Lilly Pulitzer skort in my size for $9.99 at a consignment shop here in Charlotte this week! The pattern in a couple years old, but this is the current equivalent. 
• I also picked up these pretty heels while in NYC. 

     My question of the week for y'all: Since I shared the funny stock photo find above, what is the funniest thing that you've found online this week?

     xoxo Miss ALK

Midweek Ramblings + Recent Puchases.

{A peak at the Moon and Lola Store in Charleston! Follow me on Instagram and Snapchat @miss_alk}

Ramblings:

• Birthday/Blogiversary Q&A: My birthday and blogiversary (which conveniently fall on the same day) is less than month away. To celebrate this year, I wanted to publish a special Q&A post with questions from reader friends! I've seen a lot of other bloggers do this throughout the year, and I think this is a really fun way to get to know the girl behind the blog. Feel free to send me questions this month by tweeting me @rainbowflash94, or emailing me at rainbowflash94@yahoo.com. I'm happy to answer any blogging or personal questions (especially funny questions- love those!) Curious for the story behind my email address and Twitter handle? Check out this blog post!
• The Mint Julep Conundrum: Here is random funny story from my trip to Charleston this weekend for The Blog Societies conference. So just over a year ago was my first professional conference experience, when I was an intern for the 2015 Fraternity Communications Conference in Louisville, KY. One of the many things that Kentucky is known for is bourbon. One of the FCA conference networking events actually centered around a bourbon tasting, however I couldn't try anything at the time as I was not of age yet. I also visited Churchill Downs twice during that trip, and I couldn't try the famous Mint Juleps due to not being 21. I've always wanted to try a Mint Julep ever since, and just automatically assumed that I would love the drink since it's the official drink of one of my favorite places. I finally got the chance to try one at a bar in Charleston... and goodness, they're actually are nasty!! I realized very quickly I am not a fan of bourbon, nor of Mint Juleps. I only drank about half of mine, and I felt so awful after that I had to leave the bar early and take an Uber back to the hotel before everyone else. My apologies if anyone reading this has a taste for Mint Juleps, but I can definitely say that was my first and last. I'll be sticking in the future with another minty drink of choice: mojitos! 
• Fun Weekend Ahead: There's not post-blog conference depression for me.... I have another fun and blogging related weekend ahead! One of my blogger besties is coming to visit me in Charlotte. Hint: it's not someone that I went to the conference with! Any guesses as to who is coming? I can't wait to show her all around my favorite city, and enjoy some much needed catching up and girl time! 

Purchases: 

• I recently purchased this simple but chic LBD. I think a closet essential for every girl is a conservative LBD, and my previous dress was a bit on the older side and in need of replacing. This one was exactly what I was looking for! 
• This necklace was the perfect finishing touch to one of my outfits that I wore at TBSCon! I'll be sharing a full post of the outfit soon.
• I had to stock up on my two of my favorite mascaras for TBSCon! Fun fact: I actually use three mascaras daily. This one is my bottom layer, and this one is my middle layer. I'm all about lashes that WOW!
• These aren't technically purchases... out of the all the gifts that bloggers received at TBSCon, some of my favorites were from Vera Bradley! I was a HUGE Vera Bradley fan in middle school and high school, but I honestly hadn't kept up much with the brand in recent years. At the conference I was generously gifted this tote, this wallet, and this umbrella. How cute are all of these?! Way to go Vera Bradley! I'll definitely be featuring all of these here on the blog soon. 

    I'll be sharing lots more from The Blog Societies conference in the weeks to come! In the meantime, stay tuned tomorrow for a very fun collaboration post.

     My weekly question for y'all: have you ever had an experience where you had an idea about something and thought that it would be amazing, and then actually experienced it, and it wasn't at all what you thought? (Like my story this week with the Mint Juleps in Charleston!)

    xoxo Miss ALK

The story behind my email address...

     This is a blog post that I have been wanting to write for over a year! The idea has been saved in my "blog posts for rainy days" section of both my brain and my blog planner. I have a few larger posts that I am currently drafting for the coming weeks (including a new travel guide post and some room tours for my new apartment!), but while those posts are in progress I still wanted to have something up for y'all today. Two of my favorite fashion bloggers, Katey McFarlan and Haley Shepard, both published posts this week which discussed more of the behind-the-scenes aspects of blogging. Both of these women are full-time bloggers, and I was just in awe after reading their posts at how dedicated they are to creating amazing content and running their businesses! Katey's post especially stressed the importance of consistency in blog content. Since the larger posts that I'm working on won't be ready just yet, today seemed like the perfect day to share this post idea that's been floating around for awhile!

      Having active social media accounts is a huge part of being a blogger. I use Instagram and Snapchat the most frequently, and my username on these accounts is @miss_alk. (This is also the name that I sign all of my blog posts with... for an explanation behind that, see this blog post!) My Pinterest username is also @miss_alk. Some of you might have noticed though that both my Twitter account and my blog's email address are @rainbowflash94/rainbowflash94@yahoo.com... say what? That is definitely not related to @miss_alk, or to my blog's name! There is definitely a story behind the rainbowflash94, and without further ado, here it is:



     In Winter 2004, I was 10 years old, and desperately trying to think of the *coolest* email address possible. For a 10 year old girl in the early 2000s, having a basic email address with just my name simply wasn't an option! (Y'all remember the days and know what types of email address I'm talking about!) My passions at this time in my life were figure skating, dancing, and reading, but I couldn't think of anything that was cool enough, sounded right, or wasn't already taken, that could incorporate these things that I liked.


     Then my mom thought of the perfect idea, "rainbow flash". Here is where the name comes from: a few days after I was born when my parents were bringing me home from the hospital, back in Maine in September 1994, during my very first car ride my mom saw a rainbow and a flash of lightening collide. She said it was a scene that she will never forget! (Years later, she saw a photography piece by a Maine artist who had seen the same sight that day and was able to capture it on camera!)


    I thought that rainbowflash was perfect, and I added the number 94, for my birth year, to the end of it. Hence my very first email address!


      What differs this email from many of the those in the early 2000s though is that I've never stopped using it. My inbox today has over 35,000 emails. Yes, 35,000! This email address has been with me through everything: middle school, high school and college! It's received some of the best and worst messages of my life. One of the funniest things to think about are the countless emails that I used to send with my middle school crush since this was before I had a Facebook account... technically those emails are all still buried in there somewhere!



      I've been lucky enough to never experience any sort of major email hack in the 12 years that I've had the account, so I never saw a need to stop using it. When I had my personal writing blog in high school, I developed a separate gmail account for that blog. It started becoming more of a chore to check a second email account though, so when I started this blog a few years ago I knew that I wanted to launch it under my personal email. Yes, it's true that my email account for this blog might not end with @southernbelleintraining.com, or have my blog's name in the title. But the story behind the name means a lot to me, and what means even more to me is how long it has been with me for!  I started my Twitter account when I was in high school, way before this blog was created, so my Twitter was made under the name @rainbowflash94. When I started other social media accounts in college after my blog was created, it made more sense to use @miss_alk since that is the name that I signed my blog posts with, and it's a lot shorter!



     So there is your random post from me for the week! :-) Do any of you still use your childhood email addresses?


     Stay tuned next week for lots of new posts, and this weekend I'll try and put a post together with some 4th of July sale deals! Have a great holiday weekend everyone!



     xoxo Miss ALK

Nordstrom Half-Yearly Sale Picks + Memorial Day Weekend Sales.

    {The collage is shoppable! Click on each product to shop}

      In the blogging world, fashion bloggers enjoy keeping up with current sales at their favorite retailers and passing the word onto their readers. However, one sale each year trumps all others for blogger promotion. That would be the famous Nordstrom Anniversary Sale, which begins in mid-July of each summer. If you follow a variety of fashion blogs then you know what I'm talking about! Come the start of the sale, most bloggers will be oversharing gift guides, sale notifications, and Instagram and Snapchat pictures of their favorite finds. But hey- a good sale is a good sale. :-) While I didn't shop the Anniversary Sale last summer (nothing in the 2015 sale really caught my eye!), I bought one of my favorite purchases of all time, my Tory Burch riding boots, in the 2014 sale.


     However- something that isn't to be confused with the Anniversary Sale is another big Nordstrom Sale event, the Half-Yearly Sale, which is happening now! I like to think of this one as the pregame to the main event, which happens later in the summer. As you can see from my round-up collage above though, lots of fantastic items are already marked down now for the Half-Yearly Sale! This is such a great time to stock up on some new wardrobe or shoe collection essentials. (Especially shoes- I think that Nordstrom killed it in the shoe department in the sale this time around! There are even Jack Rogers on sale!)


     Nordstrom isn't the only retailer having a big sale right now. Thanks to Memorial Day Weekend, many stores are having awesome sales right now. My favorite deals are rounded up below:


ASOS - Extra 20% off with code HISUMMER. Ends 5/30.

Ann Taylor - Take 50% off a full-priced purchase, and an extra 40% off of sale items. Use code SUMMER50. Ends 5/31.

Express - 15% off online purchases with code 9492 entered at checkout. Ends 5/31.

J. Crew - 30% off purchases with code WEEKEND. Ends 5/31.

LOFT - 60% off summer favorites + sale styles, and 40% off new arrivals. No code. Ends 5/31.

Macy's - Extra 20% off sale and free shipping for orders over $50. Use code MEMDAY. Ends 5/30

Modcloth - Extra 20% off sale styles. Use code SOHOT. Ends 5/30.

Nordstrom Rack - Extra 25% off all clearance. No code. Ends 5/30.



     And of course, one of my personal favorite stores, Lilly Pulitzer, had to get in on the fun for the long weekend! They are offering some incredible free gifts with purchase during this weekend- so if you're in the market for some new Lilly, now is the time to buy!

     And lastly.... because I talked so much about the upcoming Nordstrom Anniversary sale in this post... and who doesn't love a good meme?! (Fun fact about me: I absolutely adore memes and after I discovered some of the easy websites where you can make them, I now make memes for just about everything and text them to friends on the regular- ha!)

      Happy weekend and happy shopping!



      xoxo Miss ALK

Midweek Ramblings + Recent Purchases.

{Follow me on Instagram and Snapchat @miss_alk!}

Ramblings:

• Carolina Cup Fun: A full recap of my first Carolina Cup experience will be on the blog this Friday, so stay tuned for that! I went to the Cup with my fellow North Carolina blogger bestie Cara of Caralina Style, and she ended up spending the whole weekend in Charlotte with me, which was too much fun! 
• The best TED Talk ever: A few weeks ago, I found a link to this TED Talk in a post on the blog Keynotes From Kay. Kay described this video as "if you have a free 10 minutes, it will make your day," so of course I had to give it a watch! After watching it the first time and laughing so hard that I cried, I'm now OBSESSED with it, and have shown it to several friends. If you do have a free 10 minutes, I promise that this hilarious video will indeed make your day! 
• Live in the moment: This is kind of a more personal rambling, but in a month from tomorrow, I graduate college! Despite all of the stress that this month will bring with end-of-the-year festivities, plus exams and lots of finals projects, I really want to take time over the next few weeks to enjoy the end of college. This time will only come once in my life, and before I know it, these days will be over. (Although with that said, I am still so, so excited to graduate! And so thankful that it is happening on time, I was very lucky everything worked out since I transferred schools!)

Purchases:

• Guess who finally made a decision on a graduation dress?! (*Cue girl with raised hand emoji*) I never realized that shopping for a college graduation dress could be so difficult! When I graduated from high school, my school required that all of the girls wear white sundresses. While this rule was a little to uniform for my colorful fashion preferences, it definitely made dress shopping much easier. I was so excited to be able to purchase any type of dress that I wanted to college graduation, but as a fashion blogger, of course I had to find the perfect one, and I didn't know how hard that would be! I can only imagine what wedding dress shopping will be like for me someday... ha! Anyways- this is what I went with!
• In other large purchases news, things are coming together for my apartment! My mom and I found a great deal on my mattress during the weekend that she visited to help me apartment hunt, but up until now that mattress was the only piece of furniture that I owned! This past Friday though I finally bought bedding and a bed set. My bedding set is from a department store brand that isn't online, but this bedding set looks almost identical to mine! Both the bedding and bed are so different from what I've had in college, so I can't wait to see everything all put together. 

     This week might not have brought the most exciting ramblings, but at least I have my graduation dress. ;-) It is Greek Week at my school right now, so my sorority has events every single night. Tomorrow night is the biggest event of the week: Lip Sync! 

     xoxo Miss ALK

Best in Blog Photo Bloopers: Summer 2015.

     First and foremost, I apologize for not having a post up yesterday! I honestly cannot remember the last time that I didn't have a Monday blog post ready to go. I guess that over the past weekend, work and also just living life/enjoying summer kind of got the best of me!! I definitely put a lot of time into my blog, but sometimes life does have to come first. :-)


     Anyways, it dawned on my recently that it's been quite some time since I've done a Blogger Photos Bloopers post! I try and do once about once a season (here's the last one I did!). As much work as there is that goes into fashion blogging, not every picture is obviously perfect, and I always think it's fun to share some of the funnier outtake pictures. Here are my favorite blooper moments from this past summer in blogging!

     ....And my favorite is below...

       Hope that y'all enjoyed! Already kind of bracing myself for how badly I know the Fall blogger bloopers will be- haha.

      My blog might have fewer posts than normal this week, as this is my last week at my summer job (40 hours of retail coming up!), and it's also starting to be crunch time for packing for Charlotte! My dad and I leave for our annual road trip on August 25th. I usually do blog a lot while on the road though, so everything should be back to normal next week!


     xoxo Miss ALK

The Ultimate Blogger Gift Guide.

Blogger T-shirt || Blog Planner Notepad || Blog Post Ideas Notebook || Let's Blog Mug || Blogging Wall Prints || Blogger Travel Mug

   

     Something I learned last week: Etsy + Blogger goodies = DANGEROUS FOR THE WALLET!

     Recently while browsing various bloggers' Instagrams I have seen the above Blog Planner notepad being featured, and while I had some time to kill while waiting for my car to be serviced last week I decided to try and find the notepad on Etsy. That was a big mistake. Not only did I end up finding the Blog Planner notepad from Heart and Arrow Design, but I found more amazing accessories and apparel for bloggers than I ever knew existed! And of course I wanted ALL OF IT. Luckily for all of you- I have rounded up all of my favorite Etsy finds into what I would like to call the "Ultimate Blogger Gift Guide."

     (I realize that Gift Guide type posts are extremely popular here in the blogosphere during the holiday season- but I figured why wait until December to share all of these amazing finds?! I know that I'll be ordering at least a couple of these when I return home from France!)


     Let's start with that adorable pink t-shirt. "Eat, sleep, blog, repeat." Ummm, how accurate is this?! I know that more often that I'd like to admit this is how my days off from work in the summer look (or some lazy weekends during the school year!).

    Next up there are some organizational tools perfect for any blogger- fashion, lifestyle, food, fitness, faith, photography... you name it, these tools will work for bloggers of all categories! First is the handy dandy Blog Planner notepad (which is what brought me to Etsy to be looking up blog accessories in the first place!).  This notepad allows you to visually plan out your posts for each week! And how cute is this little pink "Blog this!" notebook?! I know that post inspiration often hits me at the most random times, and the best way for me to remember all of my ideas is to write them down! Currently I have been writing my post ideas in the "notes" pages of my Lilly Pulitzer agenda, but a.) I'm running out of those pages, and b.) I don't carry my agenda with my everywhere in the summer months, so I really should invest in a separate notebook just for blog inspiration!

     The decorating concept of gallery walls is something that has just exploded in the blogging world. These two adorable prints, "Bloggers Gonna Blog" and "Blog It Like It's Hot" would just be perfect for any blogger's gallery wall, or really just for any decorating of any sort!! I know that I'll probably be ordering at least one of them for my dorm room for next year, and I'll probably head to Hobby Lobby to try and find an adorable frame to coordinate with it!


     And last but not least- the MUGS. Who else has an obsession with collecting adorable mugs?! (*raises my hand*) The travel mug says the same adorable quote as one of the wall prints, "Bloggers Gonna Blog." And the coffee mug... oh my word! Y'all have probably noticed that I'm not normally one to use that type of language... but just seeing this literally made me laugh out loud. I can only imagine the reaction that I would get if I carried that with me to my school library!!


     So who else is in love with all of these fun Etsy finds?! The links to all of them are under the product collage! Happy shopping blog friends! :-)


      xoxo Miss ALK