#AskE – (Tips for New Bloggers, Work Life Balance, Closet Cleanout, + MORE)

Ahhhhh, it’s finally FRIYAY. All I really want/need right now is naptime. This week has me beat! ICYMI, I was in Cincinnatti, OH with my friends at Olay, Herbal Essences, Pantene, Head & Shoulders, + Secret for a Beauty Immersion at P&G Headquarters. If you wanna catch up on the behind-the-scenes action (literally – we were in the labs making products firsthand!), make sure to tap on my little Instastory highlight that says #PGBeauty – everything is saved there! 😉 The last few trips I’ve been on, I didn’t get home until Sunday night. Which was kinda awful in a way, since it really felt like I had no weekend time to breathe slash get caught up on life – and then it was right back into Mondaying. No work life balance whatsoever. So I’m SO GLAD that I have today + the weekend to get my life together. Much needed. 🙂

I’m *super* stoked to be sharing another #AskE Q&A post today! You guys ask some *hella* good Q’s, so I’ve got a lil’ collection started for future posts. I absolutely lovelovelove hearing from you guys + A’ing your Q’s, so I hope you get as much outta this series as I do! If you’ve got anything at all ya wanna see A’d in a future #AskE, pleasepleaseplease feel free to drop some Q’s in this handy dandy form right here. While I can (+ do) def collect questions from social media, DMs, emails, etc, it’s soooooo much easier to just have one hub where they all live so that I make sure I don’t miss anything on ya! So, ASK AWAY. 🙂

Along with today’s Q’s and tips for new bloggers, I wanted to share this fun, chic look that I’ve been meaning to share with y’all for actually ever. I wore this look in Cincinnatti this week when in the labs, and I felt like a straight-up BALLER. Namely because they gave us lab coats with our names on them and safety goggles, so I was feelin’ pretty Bill Nye chic.

#AskE Q&A post - Tips for New Bloggers, Work-Life Balance, Closet Cleanout, + MORE by popular Philadelphia fashion blogger Coming Up Roses

#AskE Q&A post - Tips for New Bloggers, Work-Life Balance, Closet Cleanout, + MORE - by popular Philadelphia fashion blogger Coming Up Roses

#AskE Q&A post - Tips for New Bloggers, Work-Life Balance, Closet Cleanout, + MORE by popular Philadelphia fashion blogger Coming Up Roses

#AskE Q&A post - Tips for New Bloggers, Work-Life Balance, Closet Cleanout, + MORE by popular Philadelphia fashion blogger Coming Up Roses #AskE Q&A post - Tips for New Bloggers, Work-Life Balance, Closet Cleanout, + MORE by popular Philadelphia fashion blogger Coming Up Roses

#AskE Q&A post - Tips for New Bloggers, Work-Life Balance, Closet Cleanout, + MORE

#AskE Q&A post - Tips for New Bloggers, Work Life Balance, Closet Cleanout, + MORE by popular Philadelphia fashion blogger Coming Up Roses

Dress (Size up for length! Part of the HUUUUUGE Shopbop sale happening right now! Use code GOBIG18 at checkout. Shop some of my picks in this post!) // Over-the-knee Steve Madden boots (My faves you’ve seen me wearing all season long! They stay up beautifully, which is *key*. They’ve been selling out fast everywhere, but I found ’em on sale at few places for ya! Originally bought here and they’re sold out, so I found them in stock + on sale for 20% off herehere, + here too (And also on sale in taupe, which I also have – as seen styled here for New York Fashion Week!), + ALERT a few sizes left here for under $50!!! // Gucci bag // Liquid lipstick (New from the drugstore, and I’m loveloveloving the formula!) // Foundation (I’m the shade “Buff”!) // Mascara // Rose gold highlighter (as seen in February’s Cool Sh*t I Lovelovelove

 

Do you have any tips for new bloggers?

You bet I do! There’s actually an entire section under my “Blogging + Branding” category dedicated to blogging slash social media basics, with everything from my top lessons learned after years in the game, to pose ideas for style bloggers.

First, you’ll wanna make sure you’ve got all of the basics down for how to start a blog.

Make sure your “About Me” page knocks it outta the park (here’s how!).

Get + stay consistent. If nothing else, make your consistency your priority. You won’t build an audience any other way.

Know how to promote your blog effectively. And don’t be AFRAID to promote your blog! Create great enough, useful enough, valuable enough content that you WANT to share it with other people, because you believe in its worth that much.

Don’t get greedy. Sure, it may seem like everyone + their mom grows at hyperspeed nowadays (lookin’ atchu, Instagram). But you have NO IDEA what’s going on behind-the-scenes. Understand that great things take time, and it’s ALWAYS worth it to be an ethical, moral person. Don’t EVER buy followers or likes. Just don’t. It hurts everyone in the industry, including yourself. Be persistent, but be patient. Work your a$$ off – hustle hard – but don’t cheat. Overnight successes don’t actually exist.

If you find yourself NOT growing as quickly as you’d like, don’t jump to “it’s an algorithm’s fault!” right away. Instead, ask yourself tough Q’s. Ask your audience tough Q’s. Be ready + willing to make your own content BETTER. Make it irresistable. If something isn’t being received the way you hoped, change it. Make it better. Always strive to be better + better. Eventually, that will catch up and work in your favor big time.

Don’t be afraid to invest in yourself if you EVER want anyone to invest in you. Sure, there are tons of free resources out there to help ya succeed (here’s a list of my favorite free resources!). But as they say, it takes money to make money. If nothing else, getting used to making smart decisions will give you more confidence in your own self + work, which will most DEFINITELY help in things like negotiating with brands for sponsored content, etc.

 

Work life balance? How do you get it?!

Normally, I’d say LOL, NEXT QUESTION. Because for the *longest* time…I had no work/life balance. I mean, I’ve said it before – balance is a unicorn. I’m not really sure if there’s a way to achieve this mystical *balanced* life at all times – something’s always gotta give. Sure, you can achieve balance for maybe a day, but at one point or another, the scale’s are going to tip again and tough choices will be made. I think it’s moreso about being able to achieve balance in a moment, and feeling balanced in some way/shape/form.
For me, I had to give myself a lil’ #RealTalk about what truly matters versus what doesn’t. My family comes first. If J is upset because I’m scrolling my phone while we watch a movie, that’s a red flag. Do I really need to be on Instagram then? Will it kill me slash my business if I’m not? Chances are…nope. Nope it will not. That’s a moment to choose regular ol’ life over work. The people who mean the most to you + give you the best #RealTalks when needed will often be able to help keep ya on track with occasional reality checks if you’re always missing important events or glued to your phone when you shouldn’t be. I try to be intentional about recognizing when it matters versus when it doesn’t, and taking it from there. For example, if I know J has a late work meeting, chances are, I’ll use that time to work later myself, too. Whereas if he’s taking a half day, I’ll try to work a bit less as well so that we can enjoy a lil’ extra time together that we otherwise wouldn’t. Of course, if you’re not yet married/have someone you’re coordinating schedules with, it can be a bit different. But point being, be intentional about your time like that so you don’t wake up one day and realize all you did was werk werk werk werk werk.
I write errrr’thaaaaang down in my planner in time blocks. I know that in order for me to do something “for me” or in the “life” category instead of work, it needs to be on my calendar…or it’ll get overpowered by work. So I make sure to do that – going to the nail salon or catching up on Riverdale is in. my. planner.
Another tip: Write down a physical list of all of the things you want to do in a given month justbecause + just for you. Read 2 books, try a new Lush bath bomb, go to at least 10 yoga classes, learn how to cook shrimp scampi. If you’ve got a constant “bucket list” of really achievable things that you WANT to do, and you break it down by month (or heck, even by week), it becomes a whole heckuvah lot harder to say no. And, if it’s physically written down, you’ll be able to really see at the end of the month what you prioritized versus what fell to the wayside. If month after month you find yourself getting NOTHING checked off, sooner or later, something’s gonna give. If nothing else, you’ll realize you have a problem. 😉 That’s what happened for me – I realized that I had nothing accomplished on my “me” list. I hadn’t read anything, I hadn’t played the piano, I hadn’t had a night out with girlfriends – I had just worked. And nobody goes to the grave saying “I wish I had worked more.” 😉

#AskE Q&A post - Tips for New Bloggers, Work Life Balance, Closet Cleanout, + MORE by popular Philadelphia fashion blogger Coming Up Roses

 

How many pictures do you currently have on your camera roll, and how do you choose which ones stay or which ones go?

…11,852. AWK. Is that an obnoxious amount or what?! Granted, it’s 100% because I’m taking pictures everyday for my job. And as we all know well, it can take literally 100 shots to get 2 good ones. The sweet Lord baby Jesus didn’t #bless me with model talent, so it takes a village. Honestly I don’t get to go through everything nearly as much as I’d ultimately like, justbecause there’s so dang much to sort through constantly! But typically, that’s a flight task for me. If I’m traveling, I can more easily scroll through, delete bloopers (or collect them for bloopers posts – HA), or just get rid of old, unnecessary screenshots, etc.

Can you share your fitness routine? I love reading about others’ fave ways to get moving!

Sure can – I did here, and not much has changed! CorePower Yoga is still my favorite. I explained a lot more about my sports background in that post, but long story short, I was an athlete for YEARS. Many of those were as a hardcore runner. BUT, my knees are anatomically crooked (sidenote: I actually have an orthopedist appointment today for X-rays, so you know it’s legit LOL). So those years of hard pounding on crooked joints (we’re talkin’ minimum 3 miles daily for years) really took a toll. Now I can’t run without ending up in excruciating pain, and now my hip is affected, too. SO there’s that. Now, I try to find great workouts that have minimal joint impact but still work the surrounding muscles. CorePower does that – and I also lovelovelove that it’s a mental break, too, since group class settings are my fave.
Alternatively, I love using my personal trampoline for a solid workout. J thought I was kidding about it and laughed at me – and then I wooped his butt at it. 😉 I was inspired to try trampolining after a “rebounder” class I tried that was literally all jumping around. And OH MAN, is it a good workout. The key is to not stop! Crank up music, jump to the beat, and then I do different leg movements + jumping patterns to work different leg muscles. For example, scissor jumping back and forth + side to side, or jumping with high knees. And do that for sections of songs – an entire chorus with high knees will beat you. AND, I add in weights for an upper body twist. So I’ll hold one weight in front of my chest to engage both of my arms and hold it steady while doing jumping per usual. It’s a KILLER cardio workout, and there’s no pressure on joints!
And then of course, there are days where my “workout” is walking to the mailbox. BALANCE, people. HA. 😉

#AskE Q&A post - Tips for New Bloggers, Work Life Balance, Closet Cleanout, + MORE by popular Philadelphia fashion blogger Coming Up Roses

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE online shopping/shopping as much as the next girl. But it seems like fashion bloggers (in general) buy/get sent SO much stuff!! What’s your remedy for this? Do you/do you think they’re also continuously getting rid of old clothes too? I always have an overstuffed closet and I’m always getting rid of stuff I no longer wear. So I guess I’m just wondering how you balance the new and old stuff without feeling totally overwhelmed by all the things!

Um, I’m just totally overwhelmed by all the things most of the time. HA. I feel SUPER #blessed + fortunate to do this for my job, because it justifies my shopping addiction. And it’s a good excuse when my husband comes home to a doorstep covered in Nordstrom or Amazon Prime boxes. 😉 JK JK I don’t have a problem. Or that’s what they all say…

But in all seriousness, I make it a habit to go through my stuff with a tough eye pretty much all the time. Granted, I 100% have room to get better here. Really, the thought of going all Marie Kondo on my closet is terrifying to me without any help, because I might actually drown in sh*t. But I go through stuff pretty rigourously nonetheless and am constantly donating to local women’s shelters. I could sell some of the like-new or barely worn stuff (+ have considered/am considering it still) if there’s interest, but I just really enjoy being able to help other women through my gently used stuff. So I’m trying to be pickier in my closet – if I haven’t reached for it in 6 months/a year (or if I’ve had it since my teens, since I’ve found some stuff in there that I got in 7th grade no joke...), it goes on the donate pile!

Beyond that, I have my main closet and then a mini closet in my office. So I’ll sometimes separate newer stuff from the rest to make sure I test it out and/or shoot it for you guys if it’s something worth sharing! Newer purchases are often in my office, so that I can play around with styling things then, too, and make sure it was a smart buy.

 

#AskE Q&A post - Tips for New Bloggers, Work-Life Balance, Closet Cleanout, + MORE

#AskE Q&A post - Tips for New Bloggers, Work-Life Balance, Closet Cleanout, + MORE #AskE Q&A post - Tips for New Bloggers, Work Life Balance, Closet Cleanout, + MORE

#AskE Q&A post - Tips for New Bloggers, Work Life Balance, Closet Cleanout, + MORE

Got any Q’s you wanna see A’d in a future #AskE?

I’d lovelovelove to hear ’em all! Nothing is off limits. 😉

Past #AskE posts are right here, if ya wanna peep through the archives!

Thanks for reading, friends! Any fun weekend plans???

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