me and Minnie

In life, change is the only constant.

With the celebration of my 2 year blogiversary, I decided to make a make a few changes; a fresh new website for the exciting changes that are on the horizon and a small name change. Head over to meandMinnie.com for the complete story.

XOXO,

Shanna

8.28.16|#DOFB

 

Dear Diary,

To say this has been busy week for the blog would be an understatement! I have so many cool projects in the works and I’m both excited and nervous about how its all going to come together. When I was heavy into acting, I rarely told people about my auditions. I didn’t want to tell 50 people I landed an audition for this amazing role only to not be chosen for the role; then have to go back to said 50 people and tell them what happened. Same thing with this, have told a few people but I don’t want to announce it yet until I know for a fact its going to happen. I have my fingers and my toes crossed that it all works out and keep yours crossed too!!

Summer camp has come to an end, but classes start so there’s no slowing down in the near future for me. Classes actually started last week but because of work, I was unable to attend; don’t worry I emailed all my teachers and let them know. I’ve been juggling work and school for about an year and half and I’ve gotten a rhythm with making it all work but with blogging moving from a hobby to something more, I have to sit and make some adjustments to fit it all in.

Well that’s it for me. The last few times I’ve spoke to you have been pretty short but soon I will have A TON of things to talk to you about so be prepared! I have class in the morning so I need to find something to wear because I can finally get out of running shorts and tee shirts (insert dancing emoji) lol

 

XOXO,

Shanna

8.21.16|#DOFB

 

Dear Diary,

I know, it’s been a while since the last time I’ve spoken to you. I wish I could say I’ve been so busy I have not had the chance to write to you but honestly I’ve been lazy; plain and simple. Blogging is a lot of work. Blogging and working is a lot of work. Blogging and working and going to school is a lot of work. And add being a mother and running a household in the mix; yes A LOT OF WORK!! So I got a bit lazy and I slacked off with blogging. But I’m back. And I’m glad to be back. I hope you missed me. Because I missed you too. But absence makes the heart grow fonder right???

XOXO,

Shanna

 

 

7.24.16|#DOFB

Dear Diary,

I don’t think I’ve ever told you but I am in the process of switching careers. For nearly nine years, I’ve worked as a Recreation Instructor for the City of Richmond and though I love working with children, I’m ready for a change. Part of my job is to plan and promote programs for the community centers where I’m assigned and over the years it’s become the part of my job I love. I always knew that recreation was something that I wouldn’t do forever but I had no idea what I wanted to do. I went back and forth in my mind for a few years with ideas and every time I would be trying to figure it out, I would be in the process of planing and promoting a program; I finally took the hint lol! Last summer I enrolled in school to pursue my degree in Marketing and I have never been happier; super tired with going to school full time and working full time and blog full time and being a mommy full time but happy! I am trying to get some real world experience in this field so I applied for an internship with a local museum in my area and fingers crossed I get it!

It’s been crickets over on the blog and on Instagram this week. I’ve been trying to keep up with my assignments for my online class and yea…the blog needed to take a week long break. But just because I’m not posting does not mean I’m not working! When I was blogging before, I could not figure out the secret to doing this full time and working full time and found myself burned out. I now know the secret and it’s “batching processing”; in short I schedule day’s during the week to get one task done with the blog. For example, one day I write all of the weeks post, another day I shoot all of the pictures for the posts and another day is for editing all the posts. I first heard of this method from Mattie James who is the blogger behind Mattieolgie and it has been a GAME CHANGER!! To be honest I thought it was stupid and not sure how this one little trick would be a benefit but I gave it a try and boy was she right! I’m no longer falling behind on posting, stressing out about meeting deadlines and I have more control with what needs to get done. I had someone ask me recently how I manage to post three times a week with everything else that I have going on and I shared with them this method. Now I’ve sucked with posting the past week but that was not for lack of content, I just needed to breathe and disconnect a bit to focus on school but its back to my regularly scheduled programming!

Well its time to go and get ready for the week, I’ll talk to you soon!

Until next time,

Shanna

 

7.17.16|#DOFB

 

Dear Diary,

I returned back to work after three days off and though I was suppose to take a week, the few days I spent away worked. As promised, I tackled some task around the house while on my mini vaca; my biggest project…the closet! I swear, I don’t understand how I could ever say “I have nothing to wear”, because my closet conveyed a different story lol! Half of the unwanted items went to Goodwill and the other half are being shipped off to Thread UP; I am stalking two pair of booties and I’m selling old stuff to get new stuff lol!

Nothing new going on with the blog, everything is chugging along smoothly. I’ve been posting three times a week and traffic is increasing daily. I have a few post in my draft box that I need to finish up and finally schedule time to meet with Lauren to shoot pictures for the series I’m working on. That’s it…I kinda feel like I should be saying more, but I don’t have anything else to update you on.

Short and sweet!

Until next time,
Shanna

7.10.16|#DOFB

 

Dear Diary,

Work this week was super crazy! So crazy it was suggested I take a few days off to get my mind together and though I was reluctant with the idea, I caved in. I don’t take off during the summer and I have guilt leaving during the busiest time of the year, but I know if I don’t take a step back I will do something that I’ll regret. I’m going to sit down today and make a list of things that I need and want to get done with all of my free time. When I get home from work I just want to shower and sleep, so now I’ll have plenty of time to knock out a lengthy to-do list. Though I’m nervous about how things will run while I’m away, it will be nice to sleep past 5:30am and not have my name called 100 times in an hour lol

When I sat down to write today I realized that I’ve been posting regularly for the past few weeks! I talked last week about being consistent and without me knowing it I’ve been doing just that, yea me!!  There’s been a steady stream of traffic AND I’ve started to make a bit of money; $3.10 to date lol! Yes, it pales in comparison to other bloggers and I can’t even buy my favorite drink at Starbucks with it, but this proves that I can one day turn this into a full-time job. Through one of the Facebook blogger groups I belong to, I found another blogger, that has a HUGE following, looking for contributors and I’m trying to decided if I want to use a post from my blog or create a new one to submit. If my post gets picked, it could be great for the blogs exposure so fingers crossed! My “Five Things” series has been well received by my readers and could not be more happier! I have soooo many “five things” that I’m working on and can’t wait to share them. I’m still working on that 4 part series as well! I had to push back the date it will go live on the blog but it’s still coming, it’s just not where I want it to be yet.

Now that I’ve been blogging on a steady basis, I’m going to set a few monthly goals for myself. I’ve seen other bloggers post monthly goals for traffic and income earned from their blogs and they say that having these goals have been really good for growing in these areas, so here are the two goals that I want to focus on for the rest of the month.

July Blogging Goals

Traffic:

1000 page views

500 unique visitors

Income:

$10 (enough for two lattes lol)

Now it’s time to put in the work to make these goals a reality!

Until next time,

Shanna

7.3.16|#DOFB

 

Dear Diary,

The first week of camp is done and I am still alive lol! I’m trying to get my body adjusted to getting up at 5:30 am and after another week of early morning wake up calls, I think I’ll be just fine. My summer class starts Tuesday and I am excited! Since its only one and online, I won’t have any issues with feeling overwhelmed. Last summer I took 4 and I was at my whits end 3 weeks in; lesson learned!

I got the opportunity to attend another sort of blogger event Saturday, this time for the opening of the new Kendra Scott store in RVA. The event was hosted by a fellow blogger and was really nice. I was only able to stay for about 30 minutes but enjoyed window shopping all the pretty earrings, necklaces and bracelets. I am slowly getting involved in the RVA blogger scene and I’ve been enjoying meeting other local bloggers! In keeping up with my networking, I joined the “Style Collective” and so far its OK. I have to get used to the layout of the website and how to navigate through it and I am excited to connect with other members.

I have decided to take a break from reaching out to brands for collaborations and add all that focus on the blog and building my content. I realize that in order to have a brand take me seriously, I need to show them that I can produce constant, quality content. The goal is to start reaching out again in the next few months when I have a bigger body of work.

Well that all for now; off to enjoy the rest of this looooog weekend!

Until next time,

Shanna

 

6.26.16

 

Dear Diary,

Tomorrow my full-time job gets a little bit busier; summer camp begins! And while I enjoy the constant running around; it makes the day go so much faster, I don’t enjoy the extras stress it brings. My mind never get’s a chance to rest; it’s always running about one thing or another and that drives me insane. A few summers ago, I took 20 minutes before getting ready for work to run and that really helped with my stress levels, so I’ll be doing the same this summer.

I have my first sort of blogger event today and I’m getting kinda excited. A few local bloggers are hosting a styling event at Sephora and at first glance I made no plans to go but since I’ve been working hard at networking with other bloggers, I changed my mind and decided. Last night I pulled a million outfit options and still have yet to settle on one, but that’s an everyday struggle for me so….yeah lol

I’ve been a busy, busy worker bee with the blog this week. In addition to putting the finishing touches on the series I have been working on for the last month, I will be adding a new weekly series to the blog and that hits this Friday. I’ve always been a big fan of reading them other bloggers have on there blogs but until putting one together, I never knew the work that is involved, they make is seem so easy!! It has been so nerve wracking making sure everything is just right and I am nervous about how it will be received by my readers. I’ve made more changes and edits to it than I can count but I’m finally happy with how it’s turning out. I have to add a few more things to it; visuals and possibly a video and then it will be ready to hit the blog.

Well I have to sign off, lots to do today before tonight’s event and even more to do to get ready for the first day of camp tomorrow.

Until next time,
Shanna

6.19.16|#DOFB

 

Dear Diary,

My little graduated from elementary school and I was so proud of him!! He’s on to Jr. High School and he though he tells me “I not excited” and “I could care less mommy”, I know it’s the opposite. I can remember his first day of school and sitting there watching him graduate, I couldn’t believe that his time there was over. I told him that I was sad he was not going to be my little boy any more and his response was “Mommy I will always be your little boy because you will always be older than me” LOL! That’s my boy!

And I have to wish all the dad’s out there a Happy Father’s Day and especially to my dad! He’s not a fan of the sappy stuff but I can’t let the day pass without saying….Daddy I love you very much and I am lucky to have you. Thank you for having my back, giving me good advice and being such a great papa to my son. You don’t say you love me opting to show me instead and that’s worth more to me than gold….but if you want you give me gold I would not turn it down!

You may have noticed I only posted once over the past week….shit happens. It was all about prepping for a two day training and I still haven’t recovered from back to back 10 hour work days. This week I will be playing catch up with the blog; posting on a regular schedule, scheduling a shoot with Lauren, prepping post and finishing up a series that I’m working on. Blog traffic has been really picking up over the past week and that is giving me the motivation to hang in there. For new bloggers its the one thing that can be frustrating, not seeing any traffic and the leads to many closing up shop very quickly. I have learned that building an audience takes time and you just have to keep pushing. If you stay consistent, join blogger groups and stay encouraged, the audience will come.

I have one more week of training and then our summer camp program begins, so I’m researching scheduling apps for Instagram because posting will be a chore and a half until camp is over. I’ve been saying that I wanted to put IG posting on auto pilot and now I’m finally forced to do so. I post all of my pics in real time, most of the time, and that won’t be an option during the summer. Not only will I have to plan out my blog post, I will have to get in the habit of planning my IG post as well so that is on my list of things of to knock out this week. I’m looking into Hoot-Suite but I will be asking around for other ideas in my blogger groups!

Well its time for me to sign off. I have to take my dad his gift, Chipotle lol

Until next time,

XOXO

Shanna

 

6.12.2016|#DOFB

Dear Diary,

Something pretty major happened to me….a post I wrote a few weeks ago was featured on the Independent Fashion Bloggers site as one of their Links a la mode! You can’t even begin to imagine how may bloggers submit there post hoping to be picked. In the two years I have been member, I have never submitted; but this time I said what the heck and I was picked! It’s beyond cool and I am still super happy about being featured!

Between preparing for training’s and putting the final touches on a summer program at my full time job plus working on the blog, I am TIRED and it’s not gonna slow down. With my 9-5 rather 1:30-10:00; I have two weeks of training, one of which I’m helping to plan, a big summer project that needs to be finished, summer camp parent meeting to prep for, and of course the start of summer camp shortly followed by classes in July. I was planning on taking just one but Uncle Sam said take two, so two it is. I made my weekly to-do list to keep things on track but still; I mean I know I have as many hours in my day as Beyonc’e but how does she get it all done?!? I wonder if she would lend me some of her help for a day! I am working on a new system of daily planning and when I have finished testing it out and get it up and running, I will share it with you; hopefully that will help!

Anyway, last week I told you my goal was to reach out to more bloggers and that was the main focus for this week. There I was, trolling the internet like a creep looking for blogs to interact with and then came upon a site that changed my life…it was a blog link up! Right there in front of my face were hundreds of links to other bloggers that I could interact with; why on earth did it take me so long to figure this out!! And as a bonus, I could link my blog in the party as well for others to come and interact with me! This is the definition of working smarter and not harder!

Monday I joined  Pink Sole and Sincerely Jenna Marie

Tuesday I hung out with I do deClaire and Style Elixir

Wednesday, well I needed a break lol

Thursday it was The Mix and Stylin in St. Louis

And Friday I ended my party spree with Forage Fashion and Two Thirty- Five Designs

In addition to linking up all over the place; well that sounded kinda dirty and my mother reads this now lol, I joined two blogger groups on Facebook; Show Your Blog Love and Bloggers Supporting Bloggers and that has been a big game changer! I’ve gotten more traffic in the past few days than I got in my in the first few months of this year; so much so that I had to update my media kit! And yes the traffic is great, but its also been great to meet other bloggers and dive into their content. It has been nice to get advice and just talk all things blogging with other like minded people; there is this theme within the blogging community, “Community over Competition” and you really feel that in these groups. Everyone is eager to help and support each other and its a good thing because bloggin’ ain’t easy!

The one thing that I didn’t get to this week was following up and pitching to new brands for collaborations. I have been so busy with my full time job that when I get home all I have energy for is cleaning my house; half assed might I add, and editing blog post. I have added some time in my week that is totally dedicated to this, so I will have an update for you next week. Also on the list is working on new content and finishing up a fun series that I have been working on for a few weeks!

Well that’s it for me time to get ready for the week ahead; my little is “moving on” from elementary school…here come the tears!

Until next time,

Shanna