*Today’s post is a collaboration with one of my favorite chicas on the planet, Taylor. We hope you thoroughly enjoy hanging out with us.
When people think of “bloggers,” they usually think of glam girls wearing pearls and chunky knits, Instagramming their perfect lattes while filing their freshly-manicured nails. When people usually think of “Taylor and Erica,” they (should) think of us as a hot mess on the loose, with glitter everywhere and a total lack of hand-eye-foot coordination. Yes, that’s us.
I have a feeling we’re not the only ones. Behind every blogger is a messy desk, ten unfinished “to do” lists, and way too much caffeine. Blogging is not always as glamorous as it seems. There are 19 things every blogger knows to be true:
1. Instagram is a lie. It might look like you all have your you-know-what together, all wrapped up in a metaphorical bow of fresh flowers and designer sunglasses and strolls to get iced lattes and more fresh flowers. But you don’t. The flowers are fake. And that’s ok.
2. If you don’t wake up and do yoga before getting aforementioned iced lattes and fresh flowers, you’re not fetch. (You’re just a normal human being on an average Tuesday morning. No shame there, folks.).
3. You know the difference between Passionfruit and that tropical purple and yellow fruit thing otherwise known as a passionfruit.
4. Anytime anything interesting happens, your family/friends/significant other look at you and ask, “Are you going to blog about that?” Of course you are.
5. Blogging has made you love statistics. You salivate over things like “conversion rate” and “acquisition.” Why couldn’t Stats class be this interesting?
6. When you enter a new relationship, you struggle with when is the right time to have the “Can I blog about you?” talk. This is almost more important to you than the “Are we serious?” talk.
7. Sometimes you get all excited and post something so insightful and deep and change-the-world-esque. Most people won’t actually find it so deep and insightful and change-the-world-esque. Disappointment may ensue, but don’t worry, there’s ice cream for that.
8. When you get said ice cream, you’ll Instagram it obviously, with at least ten hashtags for good measure.
9. Bigger bloggers’ lives are probably a thousand times more unorganized and crazy than they let on. Don’t let them fool you with their fancy web design and mega-following.
10. You also totally set up shop to create those “look how organized and peony-filled my desk is” Insta shots. It’s like building a still-life in art class. #busted
11. You know you can’t physically ride a “follow train.”
12. Posh coffee shops only happen ⅕ of the time.The other 80% of our time is blogging on a mobile device at a random bus stop or train station as you live your real life and procrastinate on your online one. Or you’re in purple fuzzy slipper-socks. Sometimes you’re not even wearing a bra. #realtalk (Or is that just us? Awk.)
13. When you’re posting, you’re in pajamas. Or just your underwear.
14. You know the difference between “roflcopter” and “rafflecopter.”
15. Every series of moments has a “I should blog about this” moment somewhere in there. And you always find it.
16. You sometimes work tirelessly to come up with these ridiculously creative posts that are bound for virality and reposts on Thought Catalog and Buzzfeed. But, as noted in the classic romcom He’s Just Not That Into You, virality is “an exception, not the rule.”
17. Your mom takes your fashion pictures.
18. To bee an “official blogger,” you need a floppy hat. You just do. And you need at least ten pictures of you wearing it, preferably in a field of blossoming flowers in rural ‘Murica.
19. You end up writing an absurd amount of to-do lists which you never finish. These are usually written in ten different colors of pen, and contain at least one vanilla latte stain.
For those of you whose lives look just like what you post on Instagram, you go, Glen Coco. For the rest of you – the ones who stay up too late catching up on life and laundry while eating B&J’s from the pint and indulging in late night caffeine – we get you. Even if your blog is as big as Gretchen Weiner’s secret-filled hair, it’s ok; we all know the truth.
Shout out to Tay for being awesome; be sure to grab a tea and check out her newly re-branded site. And just in case you wondering, yes, we were actually sitting in a coffee shop and wearing bras while writing together.
What do you find to be universal truths in blog world? Do you like seeing collaborations on Coming Up Roses?
Be sure to check out this post about how CVS is like Target, minus the addictive houseware and apparel sections, and this post in case you feel like winning $75 and walking down memory lane with me.
Have a happy weekend!
