Friday, April 8, 2016

{coffee date no. 4}

Well folks, I'm back...

Writing this post right now makes my life feel a little bit more normal finally. I want to start it off on a good note - I've linked some of my recent purchases that you can shop before they hit Southern Anchors. I'll be shooting a lot of them this weekend!








I'm sure you've been wondering where I've been since I've had near radio silence on my IG, blog and twitter for the past two weeks [except snapchat ;) jennrog3]. Most of you know that I work at a large architecture firm as an interior designer in DC (I went to Virginia Tech and was in the College of Architecture. No, I'm not a decorator - let's not go down that road, okay?) Usually, I work an average 50 hour week, come home, attempt to work out, cook dinner, and then I finish up my blog posts, schedule tweets, snap some instagrams, and answer emails. The last three months (no joke - I'm psycho) this schedule has changed a bit because I was studying for the final portion of my certification exams so that I can become a licensed designer. You may remember my past two "breaks" for the first two sections of the exam in April and October of last year. Those were 4 hour long multiple choice exams taken at a Prometrics Center (ew). This time around was a bit more intense... my exam was 8 hours long and was all hand-drafting, aka pencil and paper with an architectural scale. So every night I would complete one of the 7 exercises that makes up the exam and every Saturday morning I would go into work at 7:30am and take a day long practice exam. I didn't go out. I rarely saw my friends. I wasn't doing fun photoshoots with Emily or blog friends. I never took a break. Studying was my life.

My exam was April 2 and I'm so happy it's over!! But, now I have to wait 10-12 weeks to get my results back. I'm not gonna lie - this was the hardest thing I've ever done and I have a bad feeling I'm not gonna pass and will have to retake it in six months (just being totally honest here! I'm not ashamed to admit failure - barely 40% of people pass this portion of the exam). My exam didn't go too hot. I had low blood sugar and got a migraine with 2 hours left then got sick when I got home. It was a less than ideal experience. If you want to read more about the NCIDQ (that's the certification name) you can go here :) it's really not that interesting haha. Feel free to email me as well... I know there have to be some aspiring designers out there!!

Why am I rambling about this short break? Because I want to be transparent with y'all about what's going on in my life. I hate neglecting the blog and I really hate neglecting my readers. I was going to create a full week of content last weekend but after the exam my boyfriend picked me up and we drove to Baltimore. We spent Saturday night and Sunday at home with my parents since I hadn't seen them since Christmas. I have mentioned it here and there but my Dad was diagnosed with stage 4 Prostate Cancer almost 3 years ago. He's been having a really hard time lately so I put everything aside and just spent time with him, my mom, and Jon. I normally go home at least once a month (and I see Jon once a month as well - stupid long distance) so it was wonderful to have them all together at the same time. Whenever my Dad is struggling it always helps to go home and see him. It instantly lifts his spirits and it makes me feel like I'm doing something to help. A lot of my struggle with his cancer is feeling helpless and that I can't do anything. All in all the weekend ended on a happy, positive note! There are other things I'm struggling with but we'll save that for coffee date no. 5 ;)

Let's get on to the fun part of this coffee date, shall we?

This weekend - I'm FINALLY shooting with Emily again :) I've been linking all of my new purchases on the right side bar under my picture so you can shop them all before they hit the blog. I'm going to be shooting a lot of looks this Sunday so grab them early!

My Instagram lately...


Necklace // MIMI Bag details found here





















What I've been loving recently:
-Adding new wish list items to my Boutique page! Shop it all here.
-The new Color Story app! I can't get enough... so easy to use and I love that you can save the filters that you combined as your own filter!
-Blue Apron - I've been an avid cooker all thanks to this service. I learned this week that the owners are all women! HECK YA! Read it here.
-This beauty mask has been on heavy rotation recently. My tired skin is in heaven!

So much inspiration from BLOGS:
-My sweet friend, Brittney Ann, is back to blogging - this dress is so cute!
-I dream about Napa every day. Julia's post is too good to miss.
-A Washington, DC travel guide via my blog BFF, Kristyn!
-A good themed photoshoot always draws my interest... but THIS had me squealing!! Congrats, Kate!
-Alex's denim jacket and blue sunnies! Adding this jacket to my list...

What do you want to see?
I want to tailor this space more accordingly this summer. What do you want to see? Travel posts, outfit posts, hair tutorials, advice, Q&A, etc...??? I'm anxious for some feedback so let me know, please :) You can leave a comment, email me, snap me, anything!


If you've made it this far... thanks for sticking around!!
Love Always,

6 comments:

  1. Sorry things have been so crazy lately! I'm excited that you are back (and sending good thoughts about your exam!) I really love your style posts! XO

    ReplyDelete
  2. So glad your exam is over!! I am sure you did much better than you think. So proud of you!! Can't wait to have my bestie back. Thanks for including my post :) xo

    Kristyn

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sending good thoughts for your Dad and your test results! Can't wait to see the looks you have coming up for warmer weather. Hope we can get together for a real coffee date sometime soon! xo

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm super excited to see more outfit posts for Spring and Summer! Been checking the blog daily and so glad you're back!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sending good thoughts your way for both your exam and your Dad! So glad you're exam is over and I'm sure you did better than you think!

    xo Bree || http://bree-west.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. Love ya sweet gal!! xoxox

    http://adoredbyalex.com

    ReplyDelete

Pin It button on image hover