Since deciding to go move to New York City almost ten years ago at age 17, my mantra has been, “If it doesn’t scare me, it’s not worth doing.” That mindset has taken me on planes across the ocean and down the continent. It made me fall in love, get married and moved to Boston all in the same week.

When I moved, I was unsure about a lot of things. About my career, my passion, my future. I was, in short, 24-years-old.

Lots of people began to ask me what my dream job was and I shyly claimed I didn’t have one. Growing up, I loved dogs. I wanted to breed golden retrievers and live in a house filled with puppies. That’s the closest I ever came to dreaming up my ideal job at age 12.

Until I started blogging.

Three years ago, I blogged because no one wanted to talk to me about thrift shopping or makeup, but by the end of my first year, I was secretly telling my best friend that my plan was to eventually become a full-time blogger. Blogging not only slowly took over my life, but it became my passion to the point where I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.

Which is why I’m going to be transitioning into blogging full-time in mid June. This is truly scary to share because it’s been my policy for years not to talk about work on my blog. But I am elated, excited and, yes, scared to be moving into blogging all day, every day.

So, What’s Next?

So what does that mean for Those Graces? I will be posting here more often with the goal of three to four times a week. My blog will become much more of a personal journal of my life that is less theme driven. I’ll still be talking about topics I care about, but much more about myself, my life and my opinions.

I’ll also be relaunching Beauty Shy on Monday, June 17th. It’ll be a beauty blog about basics, how tos, honest reviews and also more philosophical questions about beauty and people’s reaction to makeup. That being said, most of my beauty content will be moving over there.

Wait, There’s More!

And if sharing that I’m starting a new job and launching a new blog wasn’t enough, I am also going on an epic solo road trip across the country for all of July. I’ll be writing about it here at least 5 times a week with photos, videos, thoughts about everything and everywhere. I am beyond elated that this is actually happening–it’s been one of my dreams for over 10 years. Don’t worry, the trip will get tons of posts in the future!

Thanks for Sticking Around

I wouldn’t love blogging as much if it weren’t for my lovely, endearing, humbling and generally amazing readers. So to everyone who comments and those who read quietly (mom, dad, I’m looking at you!), thanks for encouraging me along the way, I can’t wait to see where this adventure goes next.

The post On Agency, Adventure and Hitting the Road appeared first on ThoseGraces.com.

A Quick Word About One Medical

Before I kicking off Fashion, Beauty, Boston, I wanted to share a bit about One Medical, a boutique medical office in Government Center that I recently started going to for my primary care.* One Medical basically cuts out all the things you hate about your doctor’s office–hard to get ahold of your doctor, hard to make appointments, even harder to cancel them in a bind.

One Medical offers same day appointments and email access to your doctor. They also have a killer online interface that makes it easy to manage your medical care. And did I mention the view is gorgeous? There’s typically a $199 annual fee to join, but when you use this special code you get a complimentary one year membership: OM13YBOS01. Sign up here!

And now onto the blogs!

Orange Color Moment

I’ve been stuck on all things orange ever since trying Make Up For Ever’s Rouge Artist Intense lipstick in 40, which is a bright satin orange.  Zoe of Fashion is Freedom featured ways to incorporate orange into your wardrobe from shoes to bathing suits to dresses.

Blog Better Boston Fashion

Though I couldn’t make it to Blog Better Boston because I was in North Carolina, I enjoyed seeing what everyone wore to the conference. Striped maxis were a big hit and donned by both Kristen of The Boston Fashionista and Emily of So Anthro. I also loved seeing what Georgina of Notes on Lifestyle and Elissa of Style Wire were wearing. As you can tell, Bostonians live in stripes and florals once the weather gets warm.

Get Your Kicks

Two spring shoe trends I want to try this spring: Oxford shoes and lucite heels. Marni of Style Carrot hunted down 25 of the cutest Oxfords. Marisa of The Well Appointed Catwalk showed us 12 amazing lucite heels. Before I was on the fence about lucite heels because they simultaneously call to mind both strippers and Cinderella, however Marisa’s picks will luckily have you thinking of neither.

Long Live the Jean Jacket

We’re still in that weird weather period where it’s super warm during the day but then drops to 60 at night. Before heading out the door, grabbing a jacket is imperative. I need to do some shopping soon for Boston’s jacket of choice: The jean jacket. Check out Emily’s casual weekend outfit idea for the jean jacket. Want to dress it up more? Erin of Elements of Style shows you how to wear it out on a Saturday night.

Creative Midi Rings

I’ve been noticing more and more people rocking midi rings, and Amy of Creative Soul Spectrum has an easy DIY on how to make your own midi rings. I might just have to try this one out!

Click Away

Now that Boston is so beautiful and green, lots of people are out with their cameras, clicking away. Samantha of Glimpse of Glam added a great camera strap to her camera from Capturing Couture. I might have to get one to dress up my Nikon D5000. In addition to her camera looking adorable, Samantha’s photos are always so inspiring!

*Disclosure: I am a patient of One Medical and I am also contracted by their marketing agency as a Brand Ambassador. All opinions in this post are my own. Offer valid for Boston office only.

The post Fashion, Beauty, Boston 5.12.13 appeared first on ThoseGraces.com.

Growing up, I obsessively archived and chronicled everything from my first crush to fights with my mom to choosing a college. As an adolescent, I took to over a dozen journals to write down every thought. There was something freeing about getting it all out via pen and paper. I took trips and wrote obsessively, not wanting to forget anything. After I got married, I spent three hours writing down every detail. Just laying on the living room floor in my wedding dress as everyone sat around and talked once the night was over.

My own writing isn’t the only thing I keep. I have a shoe box for every year of memories. I have every letter my sister ever sent me and every note someone passed me in 7th grade. Birthday cards, hotel keycards. I even kept my grandmother’s last check to me. She sent it as a present after I wrote her a long letter. It felt silly to cash and then she passed away a few months later. It makes me both sad and happy to see her handwriting, something that seems so personal.

I never realized that my obsession with archiving my own life was unique. I thought everyone was their own historian, keeping postcards from far away lands and old love letters. Surely a lot of us hold onto the stuff that matters, but what matters to me seems to be all the little things.

With remembering, there’s always been this driving fear that I might forget. Forget what a moment felt like, that first kiss or the first time I got lost driving around in the middle of the night. It helps me remember lessons I learned that I long forgot. Lessons my foster dogs taught me, how much I loved them. The times I let them sleep in the bed even though David didn’t like it.

These days, I have to remember to chronicle. I have to remember to archive. I collect rocks from all the places I’ve been. I even found my first piece of sea glass last month. I put them in a bowl on my nightstand. I couldn’t tell you where they were from, but only that I had been there.

The post The History of Me appeared first on ThoseGraces.com.

Aside from everything that’s been happening in Boston, I recently calculated all the miles I’ve driven in the past month. In 30 days, I had driven approximately 3,885+ miles, enough to drive across the country one way and part of the way back. I’ve been to Ohio for a wedding, Pennsylvania for a bachelorette party and North Carolina for a family reunion. When I recently recounted my travels to my mother, she commented, “Wow, you must really like your friends.”

When I moved to South Carolina, I vowed not to miss the life events of my friends and family just because of distance. This meant 12 hour road trips and plane rides, but it was all worth it. Since then I’ve stuck to that pledge to myself and have yet to miss out big things like weddings and family events. If your kid is turning one or you’re getting hitched, I will be there.

Here’s some photos from my travels over the past month. I hope you enjoy and please know I’m back in the blogging swing!

The post 3,885 Miles and Counting appeared first on ThoseGraces.com.

Emerson Blogger Panel

Last week, I had the opportunity to sit on a blogging panel hosted by the Fashion Society at Emerson College. Georgina, Jaime and Kristen were also part of the panel, and we shared our thoughts on everything from being Boston bloggers to which blogs we like to read. By the end of the panel, we were all laughing and talking about random blogger things that only made sense to us, which I’m sure was just thrilling to the students attending the panel. I had learned a lot from the other women and went home with a renewed sense of inspiration. I felt a sense of community.

“I love how Boston has a tight knit blogging community, at least as an outsider across the pond that’s what it seems like to me, anyway,” Arash commented on my last Fashion, Beauty, Boston post, and he’s right. Having moved here from South Carolina where there was NO blogging community, I was immediately struck by the amount of Boston bloggers who were excited to get to know me. I saw them at events, gave them hugs, celebrated with them, and, yes, maybe after this week, cried with them a bit, too. On Monday, everyone was tweeting back and forth, “Are you OK?” “Where are you?” “Has anyone seen…?” This wasn’t for show. We really are a community.

That’s why the answer is community whenever someone asks me what I love about blogging. And after this week, it means so much more than just a word.

Just a few notes: This week I was selected as the Blog Trends Featured Blogger. Also, you can find the Fashion Society of Emerson College on Facebook and Twitter, if you’re interested!

The post Why Community is More Than Just a Word appeared first on ThoseGraces.com.

My friend Ryann is having her bridal shower and bachelorette party this coming weekend, so I thought I’d share what outfits I’ve put together for both events! If you want to see the outfits on, keep an eye on my Instagram this weekend for outfit shots.

Bridal Shower Outfit

Bachelorette Party Outfit

What do you like to wear at bridal showers and bachelorette parties? Do you have trouble finding appropriate party dresses like me? How do you document your changing style?

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. This means if you click on a link or ad on my site and buy something, I may be paid an affiliate commission. See my site policies for more information.

The post Weekend Wear: Bridal Shower and Bachelorette Party appeared first on ThoseGraces.com.

Such a 90s Kid

I have a soft spot in my heart for all things 90s, and I freely admit stealing Angela Chase’s outfits on a regular basis. Amy of Creative Soul Spectrum put together an awesome 90s guide featuring the fashion of Kelly Kapowski, Clarissa Explains It All and Recess. There’s even an accompanying playlist with “I Don’t Wanna Wait,” by Paula Cole and “Criminal” by Fiona Apple.

Cherry Blossom Season

Can’t make it to D.C. to see the cherry blossoms? Check out Marni of Style Carrot’s round up of all the ways you can use cherry blossoms for home decor. Not into decorating your house? She has recommendations for purses and phone cases, too.

Mother Nature is Too Cruel

Earlier this week, temperatures reached 80 degrees. I was hot, sweaty, and I loved every second of it. Don’t get too jealous, though, because it’s back down to 40 degrees today. I don’t know if Mother Nature can get any more unkind. However, the brief glimpse of spring got bloggers excited about the wardrobe possibilities. Emily of So Anthro has the best picks for wedges and espadrilles this spring. If you’re more into heels or flats, check out this post on J. Crew’s offerings by Zoe of Fashion is Freedom

Color Me Spring

According to Georgina of Notes on Lifestyle, the hottest spring trends for makeup will revolve around colorful eyeliner and colorful lips. Take my advice, however, and just don’t do those two things together.

Remembering Lilly Pulitzer

The fashion world mourned the passing of heiress and designer Lilly Pulitzer. The most touching in memoriam post I read was by Erin of Elements of Style, who wove many touching personal details into her remembrance of Pulitzer including the time when she forced her then-boyfriend, now-husband to wear a Lilly tie to match her Lilly dress. Adorable!

The Psychology of Fashion

What to wear when? How to replicate celebrity style? Who’s judging me? And why?! A lot of us have anxiety and nervousness when it comes to fashion. Kara of The Bostonista opened up about the pressure to create a head to toe outfit that wows every time. Unless you have a stylist or are Rachel Zoe, this is practically impossible to do everyday. The rest of us shouldn’t worry so much. Kara’s thinking about doing more outfit of the day posts (and guess what? so am I!)

The post Fashion, Beauty, Boston 4.12.13 appeared first on ThoseGraces.com.

While I’ve never suffered from an eating disorder, like many women, I’ve struggled with poor body image. Every now and then, I look in the mirror with a critical eye at “problem” areas, thinking, “Could I be thinner?” Most of the time, I respond with, “You’re being silly! Stop worrying!” I’m slowly learning to be kind to myself, to my heart and to my body.

Despite having a healthier body image these days, online I run into detours that are completely out of my control. Last week, while looking at Pinterest, I scrolled past several images easily classified as thinspiration–very thin but muscular women in revealing workout clothes. Some may see these images as workout tips or inspiration. What I saw was what I wasn’t. Again, I found my mind back in the same place:

In spite of my best efforts to avoid the things that negatively impacted my body image when I was younger, I still run into them randomly online. For the past week, I’ve been thinking about ways to avoid images that negatively impact the way I feel about myself. One strategy has been to unfollow boards on Pinterest that are aimed at fitness or solely feature thin models. Another thing I’ve been doing is unfollowing people on Twitter who predominantly talk about weight loss.

What Do You Think?

Do you experience this same issue? How do you deal with getting dragged down? What’s your advice for navigating a thinspiration-free web?

The post Avoiding Thinspiration: My Quest for Healthy Body Image appeared first on ThoseGraces.com.

Don’t Brush Your Hair

I’ll just be honest here: In the morning after selecting my outfit and polishing off my makeup, there’s but a few precious moments for hair. Most of the time, I just look in the mirror and say, “Yeah, I guess that’s OK,” and head out the door. Turns out there’s a term for this called the “Undone Do,” which Georgina of Notes on Lifestyle by Georgina chronicles in her blog post. The look is rocked by everyone from me and you to supermodels like Tyra Banks and bloggers like Kate of The Small Things Blog. In other words, don’t feel too bad about your “bad” hair day.

That’s Great, Gatsby!

You’re ready for it. I’m ready for it! Bring on Leo as Gatsby! Sami of Glimpse of Glam features sketches of dresses featured in the film designer by Costume Designer, Catherine Martin, in collaboration with Miuccia Prada. I seriously cannot wait to see this movie!

A Pile of Sad Plaid Shirts

Remember a few weeks ago when I mentioned Lei Ann of Lei Ann…Off Duty scored big at the Oona’s $5/bag sale? Well, I went to check it out and all that was left was a very sad pile of plaid shirts and some creepy mannequins. Don’t fret your hipster heart! Oona’s isn’t going out of business, they’re just remodeling.

Let Go of the Magazines

I did my first round of spring cleaning, and realized I have an absurd amount of magazines. Zoe of Fashion is Freedom has some basic tips for spring cleaning your magazines: Keep your favorite issues (the September ones, foreign editions) and recycle the rest. Stack up what you have left and make ‘em look good. Now to tackle the three foot high stack in my closet…

Smells Like Massachusetts

United Scents of America recently launched a scent for Massachusetts, and Emily of So Anthro shares that the scent is, “woodsy, a little salt watery, and with an overall sweetness.” Sounds about right to me!

Entrenched

Last fall, I set out on a search for the perfect trench coat and failed miserably. Erin of The Elements of Style shared stylish women in trench coats, thus renewing my zest for the trench coat search. Because, come on, who doesn’t want to look like Audrey Hepburn?

The post Fashion, Beauty, Boston 4.5.13 appeared first on ThoseGraces.com.

Blog Lovin’

Now that we’ve dried our tears over Google Reader shutting down, you can hop over to Blog Lovin’ (or the reader of your choice) and catch up on Those Graces there!

Twitter @msfemminista

I’m addicted to Twitter. And I love talking. To everyone. And anyone. It’s a good way to get to know me and see what I do when I’m not blogging.

Pinterest

I share my favorite ways to wear eyeliner as well as the dresses I wish were in my closet.

Instagram

I hated it. Now I love it. Again. I share bits and pieces of my life from what makeup I’m wearing to what kind of mail I get. Yeah, it’s random.

YouTube

Video filming and editing is one of my favorite pastimes that I hope I have more time for in the future. I make videos on body image, trends, reviews and more.

Tumblr

I mostly just reblog images from posts here as well as my favorite quotes and random playlists.

Facebook

I saved this for last because it required an extra explanation. A lot of you know I quit Facebook almost three years ago. However, I recently decided to start a fanpage for Those Graces because I know a lot of readers use Facebook more than any of the other networks I mentioned above, and I want to keep in touch with you all! So if Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr, and YouTube (deep breath) is not your cup of tea, you can now find me on Facebook. I currently have 8 likes, so if you want to make me feel better, stop by and say hello. As a side note: I will NOT have an active personal Facebook at this point in time. One does exist, but only for administrative purposes for my fan page. I won’t be adding any friends to my personal page, though. Gotta draw the line somewhere!

Where Are You?

Where’s the best networks to find you on? Twitter? Facebook? Tumblr? Some other thing that I do not know about yet? Share!

The post Follow Me: Where to Find Those Graces on Social Media appeared first on ThoseGraces.com.