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Nicole’s Soup for the Soul: 6.24.15

Alright I’m going to mix up the format of this a bit — let me know if you like it, love it, or hate it!

What I loved this week:

  • The U.S. Treasury announcing a woman will be on the face of the new $10 bill. About dang time. We won’t know who will be our new $10 icon for awhile so I’m excited to see the speculation and suggestions.
  • My new steamer. Y’all. Game changer. MVP. Best in class. You get the general idea. I would easily win  a competition for worst ironer of all time. I’ve burned clothes before, it’s that bad. I’d heard of steamers before but hadn’t used one before starting my new part-time retail job; they are so easy to use and work so well! We use this Jiffy steamer at work, but I couldn’t quite justify spending ~$200 for one. Luckily Target had the Conair on sale (& it’s even cheaper on Amazon right now!) so I can now live a wrinkle free life.
  • Twitter chats! I joined an Influenster one at the last minute and loved the interaction so I jumped into the #CreateLounge and #NectarChat last week as well. The last two focused on blogging, engaging readers and creating unique content on top of launching new ideas; it was a great sounding board and I really want to continue to hop into these to talk with other creatives and get inspired.
  • Make It Rain by Ed Sheeran. My mom’s a big Sons of Anarchy fan and finally finished the show last week. I’d never watched an episode but got suckered into watching two episodes with her, including the one that has this gorgeous song in it. New fave for sure.
  • This beach towel. Fun fact, going to public pools is a lot less intimidating when you’ve made peace with the way your body looks. Not saying I think I’m the hottest chick on the block or anything, but I feel comfortable in my skin and rarely find myself thinking negatively about my body.

What I needed to hear:

  • “Expand your comfort zone.” Hi, I’m Nicole and I hate trying new things, going to new places and meeting new people. All the experiences better me in numerous ways, but a year ago you’d never catch me volunteering for the opportunity.
  • “People who are proud of themselves tend to have passions in life, feel content and set good examples for others.” In the past year I’ve joined an advising board for my sorority, committed to instablogging regularly, started my website, and learned to be kinder to myself. I think it’s important to pat yourself on the back when you’re able to push yourself and get better. For me, a lot of the things I’ve done, from going to Chicago to meet people I only knew through Instagram to joining a gym all by my lonesome, have given me the confidence to continue trying new things. Please be proud of yourself — it’s vital.

Happy Wednesday,

Nicole

 

Must Have Monday: Beach Bag

My Beach Bag Picks

 

It’s finally hot as hail which means time for the pool and/or beach.
Let me start this post by admitting I am a hoarder. I need to constantly have all of my things to feel comfortable and so an “oversized” bag is probably just right for me. Working on a “What’s in My Bag: Pool Edition” for you guys so never fear.
I’ve got a handful of bags linked for you above that range from $12 – $125; I’m torn between the cute striped pineapple ones and the Beach Please — not that I need another pool bag at all.
vera bradley beach towel {available in different colors} + donut floatie via five below {not sold online – check your local five below to get one for $5!, similar, also available in pink} + vera bradley large colorblock tote {sold out, smaller size}
I made my first trip to the pool last week. I went to a friend’s wedding this weekend and desperately needed to tame my crazy tan lines from Lake Como. It was so nice to just lay out, read in the lounge chairs, admire the lifeguards and float around on the donut.
I’m so glad summer is here even though it’s five hundred degrees around these parts. What fun prints are you taking to the beach or pool this summer?
xo, Nicole

Nicole’s Soup for the Soul: 6.17.15

Here are my favorite reads recently!

Letter for Lauren: June Shape Up from Lauren Conrad.com

A lot of people are over being politically correct all the time, but Lauren and her staff have made the decision to stop using “skinny” to describe the goal of working out.

“Starting this month, we’ll be banning any body shaming terms from the site, and replacing them with words like “fit” “toned,” and “healthy.” We try do to this for the most part anyway, but now we’re making it official! The word skinny will now be reserved for skinny jeans. My editorial team and I had a long talk about it, and we want to make sure that the focus is on being fit as opposed to a number on the scale. Every body is created differently—and healthy bodies come in all shapes and sizes.”

Lauren is such a big source of lifestyle inspiration to so many people that I know; having her point out that no body is created equal and that working out shouldn’t be about getting slim is going to be huge for so many people.

10 Tips for Mastering Instagram by Krista Robertson

I’ve read Krista’s blog for a hot minute (anyone else remember when she was Southern Shopaholic?). She’s expanded so much and really come into her own which has been so crazy fun to watch. Krista’s tips are all worthy of a read but this one really spoke to me.

“This may seem like a no brainer, but you’d be surprised. I know I’ve been guilty of this and I’m hoping I’m not alone. There are days when I just don’t have anything to post. To make sure I don’t have radio silence online I’ll just throw up a shot that I know is just okay and not really all that great. Well, when you know it’s not that great, your readers do too. You’ll get some unfollows, not as many likes and very little engagement. Now who wants that?”

Having readers that are engaged is the biggest thing for me; what fun is Instagram if you’re just talking to yourself? Publishing content that you’re proud of and can speak on is important across the board.

Why We Hold Onto Anger and Resentment by Megan Wyatt

I can hold onto a grudge for years. Seriously. If it were a skill I could list on my resume that would be great.

“By holding on, you might still be searching for closure, and needing an apology from someone, again, or for the first time. You want to arrive at the moment with all the baggage in hand, to make sure they understand all the weight you have been carrying around. Seeking validation for your suffering, acknowledgment, and to be reassured, yes, indeed, you really were hurt.”

Letting go of past wrongs and mistakes is something I have to constantly be mindful of working on; it’s just my personality. Megan talks about break ups and friendships ending and I seriously was sitting in front of my laptop like, “YIKES THIS IS ME!” The truth is, I’m 100% a sensitive soul. You know that time you joked about me taking forever to get through school? My feelings were hurt. When you talked about me posting on Instagram too much? Still think about it today. When you were planning your wedding and couldn’t take my calls or texts for two months? I’m still not over it.

I’m a vengeful little thing but I’m trying really hard to be better about it.

GAP closing a quarter of its stores by Ashley Lutz of Business Insider

Okay, probably not as interesting to other peeps, but working retail makes me interested in what’s going on in the retail world.

“Big apparel brands are grappling with shoppers who increasingly want deeply discounted clothes over classic logos and status.

As Americans shell out for items like iPhones and Netflix, they are increasingly unwilling to pay full price for sweaters and jeans.”

The nature of retail is changing so quickly with e-commerce taking off and the increase in sales at outlet centers. Even more interesting, some companies are really pursuing factory and outlet sales by increasing the number of factory stores and even going beyond; Express has raised eyebrows and attention from competitors by placing several Express Factory stores in full-line malls.

What news articles have had your attention recently?

xo, Nicole

Nicole’s Soup for the Soul: 5.28.15

Was anyone else obsessed with the Chicken Soup for the Soul books? I used to always use any time I could get at the library to snag one and pour over the tragic stories that ended happily (and sometimes not). I wanted to start sharing some of the articles, blog posts and photos that lift me up, make me think and better me so you’ll always find it under “soup for the soul.”

image found via pinterest
image found via pinterest

The Pros and Cons of Loop Giveaways by Dressing Dallas

Lauren does a great job of touching on her experiences with being a part of loops and why she’s careful when selecting which ones to participate in. One of my favorite points from her is this, “The more loop giveaways you do, the more followers are only there for the giveaways, and could care less about your content! That is horrible for bloggers and shops because it never converts to real readers and real sales.”

At the end of the day, everyone is entitled to do their own thing; being able to connect with readers and companies is something that makes me happy at the end of the day. Having the ability to communicate with my followers is more important than immediately increasing the quantity.

10 Takeaways from “Terrible Things Women Do to Each Other” from Oprah’s life class

I’m certainly guilty of some of the things this warns against doing – oops, but it’s a good reminder on focusing on bettering yourself and living to lift others up instead of tearing them down.

One of my biggest struggles so far in my 20s has been dealing with friends who only know how to speak badly about other friends. It’s natural to be annoyed with someone’s behavior or how they handled a situation, but when all you can talk about is the negative feelings you have on someone else’s life, you’ve become toxic, in my mind.

This gets tackled as well as the destructiveness of negative self-thinking and talk. One of my favorite nuggets of wisdom comes from Iyanla Vanzant, “Comparison is an act of violence against the self.”

The Comparison Game by Chelcey Tate

Chelcey talks about getting so caught up in getting inspired that you get discouraged. Creating content should be fun, but sometimes you do get a creative block and sometimes it’s disheartening when it seems like no one else does. The online world, social media especially, allows us to handpick which angles, stories and experiences we share. Things aren’t usually quite as perfect as they may seem from the outside.

My favorite tidbit, “your story is good enough to tell, and you’re good enough to tell it.”

Kate Spade Everpurse Partnership

If you follow me on Pinterest, you more than likely already saw this but holy game changer! While the purses aren’t cheap — the fact that it wirelessly charges and then holds battery charge for your iPhone with no plugging in, is pretty amazing. I want to learn more before I invest, but this is definitely an item on my wish list.

What’s inspiring you this week?

xo, Nicole

Must Have Monday: Vera Bradley Slim Travel Organizer

I knew as soon as we decided we’d be vacationing abroad that I wanted a cute passport holder. I looked all over and wasn’t finding anything and then Vera Bradley released the Slim Travel Organizer. I had no idea when I purchased it how essential it would be to my travels, but wanted to share and rave about it today.

for size reference: nike free 5.0 + vera bradley slim travel organizer
While it’s name doesn’t indicate that this is a wallet, don’t be fooled…it is. It’s a little longer than I prefer for an everyday wallet but for traveling the longer design is intentional to accommodate boarding passes.

vera bradley slim travel organizer + triple c portable iphone charger card via urban outfitters
As soon as we landed in Milan, we grabbed train tickets to go to Florence. This wallet became my holy grail because it held my passport, credit card, debit card, hotel room keys, train tickets for day trips all over Italy, airplane boarding passes, Triple C portable iPhone charger, euros and pounds, and Oyster pass.

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