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The Liebster Award is an award for bloggers, given by bloggers to promote communication and the discovery of new bloggers with less than 200 followers. I answer the 11 questions handed on to me, then I nominate 10 more bloggers to pass on the award to! Let's get started.
How did you decide on the title of your blog?
Okay, warning: this story is a bit crazy. When I finally decided to start a blog, it took me a really long time to find a name because every single name I thought of was already taken! I tried to be witty and play on my name, but even that didn't work out! I was super frustrated so I switched browser tabs to my university's course catalog and started looking for any fun classes to add to my schedule. Lo and behold, I came across the Southwest Home Gardening course, which (weird as it sounds) instantly inspired my blog title!
What made you decide to start your blog?
The summer before my junior year of high school, I met quite a few different girls who introduced me to the world of blogging. It started off mostly as I loved having more unique material to read, seeing amazing pictures of people's outfits and their travels, and I was just fascinated. I had been encouraged to try my own hand at blogging, but I put it off because I didn't know what I would write about and I didn't want to start a blog only to give up on it because I didn't know what to do. Two years later, I decided to start my blog because I was feeling overwhelmed with the prospect that I was officially a college student, moving away from home and beginning to develop my life. I am not the most crafty person in the world, but I do enjoy being creative - this is my little outlet to experiment and keep that piece of creativity within me alive.
What is your Starbucks order?
Grande White Chocolate Mocha Frappuccino, extra whipped cream. Oh, and a warmed-up chocolate chip cookie or a couple of cake pops (depending on the day, of course). Hey, a girl can indulge a bit, right?
Where is your favorite place to shop?
To be honest, I don't have one. I have my regular stores that I look for when at the mall (i.e. American Eagle, J. Crew, Ralph Lauren, etc.), but I don't particularly have a favorite place to physically shop at. However, I have seen so many pictures of the inside of Lilly Pulitzer stores that I have a feeling that if I ever visit one it will probably be my favorite! I just love classy prints and colors, who doesn't?
If you could travel to anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
At this point in time I don't have a super specific place I'd like to go, though I would love to travel Europe! London, Paris, Dublin, Rome, Amsterdam, I want to see them all! I love learning about new cultures, history, and architecture - ooo, I love architecture. I never really developed an interest in architecture until around my sophomore/junior year, and I'm not too sure why, but now I just love it. A few landmarks I hope to see in my life are the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, the canals of Italy, the Sistine Chapel, Buckingham Palace, and more. It's really cool that it's so easy to travel between countries in Europe and I hope to one day experience what it's like to be in Prague one morning then ride the train to Vienna!
What is your guilty pleasure?
I am a huge geek/nerd over a lot of things, but especially superheroes (both DC and Marvel). Superman, Batman, Iron Man, Black Widow, Captain America, the Flash, Arrow, you name it. As unfashionable as they are, I have Batman socks. Yes, I just typed that. They're super thick and great for cold weather so I don't wear them often, but I have them and I love them. Favorite TV shows at the moment? The CW's Arrow and The Flash! Stephen Amell and Grant Gust are just amazing. Oh, and I'm a nerdfighter (if you understand, DFTBA).
Where do you see yourself five years from now?
Five years from now, I hope to be working on achieving my Master's of Accounting and preparing for the CPA exam and law school.
What is your favorite song at the moment?
Mmm, I love music so this is so hard! Let's break it down just a bit. Current favorite song to dance to? I'm caught between Fall Out Boy's new song Uma Thurman and Maroon 5's Sugar (the video was in my last Little Discoveries post!). Current favorite song to wake up to/study to? River Flows in You by Yiruma is so beautiful, I just love the piano. Current favorite song to feel sad to? A Sad Song by We the Kings - I know this is a weird thing to specify, but I heard it the other day and I just love it.
What is one piece of advice you would give to other new bloggers?
Blog because you want to, because you like doing it - if it begins to feel like too much of a chore, I suggest you take a step back just for a little bit. Blogging should be fun, something that you use as a way to procrastinate whatever else you're doing, because you'd rather be blogging than doing your homework. Okay, that's bad, but still I'm sure you get the point! Once it stops being fun, relax a little and re-evaluate.
Where do you see your blog going in the next year?
I'm not sure, but I hope upwards in terms of just blogging more and developing more content. In my first six months I averaged 9 posts per month, so maybe increasing that to anywhere from 10 to 15 would probably be nice. Honestly though, I care more about having fun and expressing myself than trying to be the next blogging sensation so I will just blog as I go and if I make the goals then that's nice, if not, this isn't the end of the world. As long as I continue to blog and enjoy it while making plenty of blogger friends, I think I will be more than happy.
Where does your blog inspiration come from?
The very first blog I ever read was Carly Heitlinger's The College Prepster. Her fashion posts are definitely great, but I love how the way she blogs is just so... what's the phrase? I'm not too sure how to accurately describe it, but there's just something about the way she writes that you feel connected. I also love Katie from A Touch of Teal and Alex from the The College Life Stylist (their links are below)! All three of these beautiful young women are bloggers who show that you don't have to confine yourself to one area. I don't want to box myself into one blogging category, because that's not who I am.
Hope you enjoyed getting to know a little bit more about me! Now I nominate:
I can't wait to read your answers! Remember to have fun with them! :)
xx
Catch you next time.
