{master bedroom artwork | kira luca art}

The master bedroom is easily my favorite spot in the whole house! It gets amazing light in the morning, has soft soothing colors, is bright and white, but still has fun texture and palm pattern! When Kyle and I began talking about what we wanted art wise above the headboard we agreed on one thing: it needed to reflect where we lived and us as a couple. We talked about Gray Malin artwork (we both love his beach scenes) but neither of us had even traveled to the places that were photographed. We then talked about something textural - maybe drift wood or a sculpture made by a local artist? We kept falling short.

When Kyle left for patrol a month after I moved in I made it my mission to search for something that told "our story". That sounds silly... but we basically wanted it to be about us. So I instantly thought about the colors of Key West water and places that we liked to go to together like the sand bars!

Going off of texture and bright colors I thought of a friend from college who had beautiful artwork on Instagram! Kira Luca Art - she worked with vivid blues, shocking pinks, and had textures to drool over. Her Instagram is so inspiring too! I reached out to her about making a custom piece and we got started - it would arrive right before Christmas so I could surprise Kyle :) Spoiler: he loved it! (I was actually really nervous he wouldn't like it haha)

I emailed Kira the size I had in mind and that I wanted two canvases. We then discussed layouts, inspiration, colors, etc. These are a couple of the images I sent Kira as inspiration:

Initially I thought about a boat moving across the canvases without any sand, but we've made some really great memories at different sand bars in the keys so I loved the idea of incorporating the sand and water. I sent her both ideas because I wanted her opinion since she's the professional. We decided on the layout that had the boats arranged as if they were anchored near the shore (#1 in the first photo below)! Then Kira painted the background of the paintings - the sand, water, and slight waves. Once I gave that a thumbs up she sent me a brief idea of how the boats would be laid out. I was so excited to get that little sketch I could hardly stand it! I gave her another thumbs up and she began painting... and I waited patiently haha.

I love the final design that we chose - incorporating the colors of those gorgeous blue Key West waters and the colors of the "boats" imitating the bright houses on the island! I like to think that the boat moving away is Kyle's Parker!

I love how it ties the whole room together :) definitely nautical which is both of our style!! The bright colors and movement in the water just creates such a soothing vibe.

I've tried to link everything I can below but if you have any questions feel free to email or DM me. Be sure to check out Kira's website too! Because we don't have a lot of space on the side of our King bed (similar bed) Kyle found these floating side tables (the sides of the bed open up into drawers where we store our sheets) but I don't know where they're from!

The striped pillows are from Home Goods (we switch them back and forth with the palm print pillows sometimes) and the Navy blue pillow was custom made for me by a commercial textile company called Geiger. Our curtains are from West Elm but I couldn't find an exact link. Kyle painted the paddle himself and made the leather strap from scraps I got during a furniture factory tour (I love how it all comes full circle back to us mixed with a lot of DIY).

Love Always,

{coffe date no. 8 | comparison is the thief of joy}

Well hey my friends...

It's been a while since a coffee date! In all honesty, I haven't felt like writing. I will give a more in depth Coffee Date in March but there's just been a lot going on. I also couldn't really get words out that weren't a hot mess of emotions ha. I've been focusing on just me this past month and a half. That meant prioritizing my workouts, planning dinners with friends, and most nights just cooking at home and watching Netflix.

I've had some tough days this year (yes, I know it's mid-February) where I wasn't sure if the plan for my future was going to happen. If everything I'd worked for was going to fall apart and I'd be left picking up the pieces all over again. I've prayed about it and decided that I'm just going to have faith.

In all of this darkness I realized that what was constantly bringing me down was comparison. "She gets to travel all the time." "She just got an amazing collaboration." "She has her boyfriend going to parties with her." "She looks amazing in that dress." "She is so skinny!" You get the picture... instead of focusing on the joys in my life and what I've worked hard on I was comparing my norm to someone's highlight reel. That doesn't sound fair right? On the other side of my phone someone could have been saying the exact same thing about me!

Comparison is the thief of joy.

Think about that... I mean really think about it. When you compare yourself to someone else - what does it do? Does it make you work harder? Maybe. Does it make you feel good about yourself? Rarely. Does it make you dislike that person? Probably.

Comparing myself to others made me feel inadequate and like I wasn't good enough. I couldn't measure up to all of the great things those other influencers were doing. If I tried to imitate them it didn't come across as genuine and I felt like a cheat or copy cat.

I had a nice sit down with myself and dished out a huge dose of reality... I work a full-time job. So of course I can't travel every week and shoot during the day and write all of my posts in the early afternoon. That means half my nights I dedicate to this blog - that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make because I love it. It's absolutely freezing in DC so I'm not going to be shooting bikini photos!! But there are other ways to shoot Spring content and get excited for warm weather. Kyle is military and that means there are certain sacrifices that have to be made. Being with him is the best thing that's ever happened to me so I choose his lifestyle every day - I couldn't be prouder of the job he does. Some people have a natural thigh gap and some don't. Guess what - I will never have a thigh gap haha I feel ridiculous that I actually wanted that. I work hard in the gym and on my nutrition every day. I've documented my own results so what the heck, Jenn?! I work with an incredible group of ladies at The Confidence Co and they support me no matter what.

You know what my solution is? Focus on what I am good at. I'm not going to compare myself anymore. It's not healthy to try to do everything and what everyone else is doing. Instead, I came up with three different ideas and began executing them. I'm a creative individual so why can't I pave my own path!! Will I lose followers over it? Probably. Do I care? Heck no!

Workout Calendar // I created these in November/December when I couldn't find one that I aesthetically liked. I decided to create an original hashtag (#workoutwithjennrog) so that I could track my fitness posts and then I shared it with you all! It's been amazing to see everyone jump on board and stay committed to a healthy lifestyle!! That only inspired me even more to begin doing giveaways for y'all - little ones since this is on my own dime :) [side note: you will never see me do a loop giveaway. I believe that that's cheating and buying followers] It's helped me stay accountable and it's created a really fun network of individuals cheering each other on! Check out my story highlight called "templates" or "giveaway" to see what I'm talking about!

Pantone Color Series // I described this a bit in my first IG post but I work with color every day as an interior designer. It's what inspires me, excites me, and grabs my attention! So many of my outfits are pulled together with color in mind. I actually work with matching Pantone colors to fabrics a lot... the idea came to me one day when I was pulling a blue and my shirt matched the blue perfectly! I wanted to bring my inspiration to Instagram and share it with y'all and it just makes me so happy that it was well received!! It's not all linking new outfits and accessorizing in my life ;) Color is at the root of what makes me @jennrog!

Outfit Videos // I have always wanted to try my hand at videos!! One morning, while I was taking the bus to work and stuck in horrible traffic, I was playing around on my phone and accidentally reversed an entire video. I looooved the outcome!! I did a teaser a couple of weeks ago and finally shared a full reverse outfit video last weekend! Seems y'all loved it too since everyone was trying to figure out how I did it haha. So now I'm going to make that my new "thing" - backwards videos that make it seem like accessories are flying towards me! It's fun, unique, and I haven't seen anyone doing it yet lol.

Go back to your roots and where it all started...
Find what inspires you.
Find what motivates you.
Find that thing that makes you smile.
Create your own joy *take that Mari Kondo*

If you're still reading - thanks for sticking around! I'd love any input from y'all or thoughts about comparison. It's a hard trap that I think anyone can fall into when you're down and things aren't going your way. But life is all about how you pick yourself back up and keep on keeping on... Hoping to update y'all more about what exactly has been going on in my life next month ;)

Love Always,

{how i'm staying optimistic and recovering}

Staying optimistic has always been a strength of mine, I’m able to put on a smile and make myself feel better by finding the silver lining in things. I attempt to see the good in people and believe laughter can cure anything.

Recently, pushing the pain out of the front of my brain has been an active struggle. When I lost my dad I was suddenly under a pretty dark cloud – random things would make me cry and so much reminded me of him. I wanted so desperately to stop thinking about everything so that I could move on with my life. But that wasn’t realistic…

So many people asked me how I was doing in the immediate days and weeks following my dad’s death and then memorial service. It was so touching and sincere but my usual answer was “taking it day by day.” It was almost a canned response because I wasn’t actually processing it and I wasn’t handling myself well. The sweet friends that continued to reach out to me made me realize this because I felt insincere saying that to them week after week. So I decided to come up with a list that I could refer to when I was feeling helpless. Something that would help guide me back to where I was before.

We all go through dark times, it’s part of being human. In light of “self love” continuing after Valentine’s Day I wanted to share with y’all what I’ve been doing for myself. I have to proactively, every day, remind myself to be optimistic and to keep my chin up and stay strong!

HOW I STAY OPTIMISTIC:

1. Write 3 things that make you smile every morning // I’ve been doing this for months and it starts my day off on a positive note. Sometimes it’s as simple as “fresh flowers” and other days it’s something more specific. I repeat myself every now and then but it’s a great way to remind myself that I’m lucky and loved.

2. Staying active // Walking home from work, attending a workout class, being outdoors… anything that helps my wellbeing.

3. Focusing on my health // After seeing what the body goes through when you’re sick with cancer I am now determined to get myself to the healthiest point possible. This means cutting back on dairy, limiting my alcohol, and making better choices!

4. Cutting out triggers // I had to learn this lesson the hard way. I’ve had to stop myself from watching shows like This Is Us (I will hopefully be able to catch up in a month or two), reading sad books about death or loss, changing a song quickly if it hits a nerve, and sometimes not watching the news. It sounds ridiculous, but it’s a bit of self-preservation. At this moment, my wounds have barely healed so I’m attempting to keep the band-aid on still.

5. Sticky notes with quotations // I’m always jotting down lyrics, phrases, quotes and sticking them on my mirror or computer screen. It’s a nice reminder to reread the words that spoke to me in a moment. This helped me get through my last breakup and reading certain words over and over really drills it in your brain what you need to remember. Currently my sticky note reads “to have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever” –Albus Dumbledore

6. Planning time with friends // This is self-explanatory. Keeping myself in isolation and holing up was only detrimental to my recovery. I’m so lucky that tons of my best friends live so close to me!

7. Looking at photos // It didn’t make sense to try and forget so I try to remind myself of the happy memories and look back and laugh at the times we had together.

...when those things don’t work, and I can’t make myself smile, I’ve learned other ways to cope:

8. Let yourself remember and feel // Feel everything in that moment. Let it take over completely. When you allow yourself to recognize that emotion you gain a sense of freedom.

9. Taking time to be still // Staying busy with friends and exercising is great but sometimes you need to be alone, quiet, and just sit on your sofa or take a nap… just not for too long.

10. Embrace reality so you can allow yourself to move on // I constantly have moments of pure frustration where I can’t understand why I’m feeling the way I do. I have to step back and tell myself that I just went through a rough time (and I’m still in it honestly). I have to let myself accept that things have changed and that it’s normal to be feeling confused like this.

So how am I doing? Well… I’m taking it day by day J except this time I actually am and I’m learning how to walk through my new normal! If any of y’all found this helpful or have additional tips you’d like to add please let me know! Thank you for reading!

Love Always,

{coffee date no. 7 | struggling to do it all}

Photo by Allie Provost

It's been awhile since I wrote a coffee date post. I used to share at least one a month updating y’all on all of the fun things I’ve been doing and just taking a moment to chat. It’s fun knowing there’s a real person behind the outfits and beauty. However, the last coffee post was something that had been weighing heavily on my mind and writing that became my therapy. It seems that turning to these more serious posts is not only an outlet for me but an outlet for y’all as well - because I know we can all relate. I seem to write these posts for weeks before I finally gather the nerve to hit ‘publish.’ So what’s jumbling up my brain and needing to be spilled into a blog post this time?  Struggling to do it all…

Over the past month I’ve had so much going on and I overwhelmed myself so much that I wasn’t sleeping and my lack of focus/attention became very apparent. I was physically drained of any energy my body and mind could produce. I always try to do it all – be the best designer, keep this blog running, be a supportive girlfriend, be the best friend every girl wants, make time for my friends, IG twice a day, study for my LEED exam, create innovative and fresh ideas at work, make time for my family, call my dad every day and physically be there for him, push myself to reach that new level at work, shoot new content for the blog, have the newest trends/clothes, attend work events, create new business relationships, go out on date nights, grab dinner with friends, etc. I’m exhausted simply reading that list.

These past two Mondays have been almost impossible – not just because of what was going on in the world with shootings/fires but also because of personal situations as well. I want to do so many things and be so many things that I’ve been pulling myself in multiple directions. I sincerely thought that I could balance everything with work, the blog, and my personal life because I had been for so long. I realized that I need to reorganize my priorities. Not because I was “balancing” incorrectly but because my family needed more of my time. (For those of you new around here, my dad was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer four years ago. The cancer has spread to his bones and lymph nodes and he isn’t able to walk unless he is using a cane.) My once a month visits home just aren’t cutting it and attending every event under the sun during the week took away time from my boyfriend and friends.

How did I let it get to this point? I’m what you would call a perfectionist. I know… most of y’all aren’t surprised. I try my hardest to be my best, look my best, and put my best out in to the world because I’m a strong believer of karma and I truly believe that I can trick myself into thinking I’m okay half the time. Spoiler: it works and then I come crashing down. Hard…

Last weekend I was supposed to go home to visit my dad on Friday with Kyle and then go back to DC for a friend’s wedding on Saturday. Sunday I was planning on blogging the whole day while doing my laundry and cleaning my apartment. I was thinking to myself “oh this is a perfect way to balance a weekend doing everything we want to! Checking off multiple categories of our lives!” 

We didn’t leave Baltimore until Sunday... I found myself sitting on my parent’s bed Saturday morning holding a water bottle with a straw for my Dad because he was in so much pain.

Yeah.

Do you know those personality tests you can take where it gives you your five strengths? My #1 characteristic is “futuristic”. I’m always looking forward to things, I love to plan, I try to focus on that next step I’m taking, and I’m constantly thinking “okay, what’s next.” That’s why I’ve been able to juggle multiple aspects of my life simultaneously! The thought of the future and what’s next has always excited and motivated me. But sitting there Saturday morning… I was so overcome with fear of the future and what I am going to lose. I realized that’s what I’ve been struggling with for the past month. My conscious was telling me to lighten my load so I could be in Baltimore more often but I was trying to live my life as I always had like nothing was changing. I am so scared for the future that this particular aspect of my life is all I can focus on. I haven’t been able to take my work or the blog forward because my “future” is so overwhelmed by one thing.

Maybe this all boils down to two things: one, I need to learn to say no, and two, I need to understand that change happens. When I try to do everything and reach for every futuristic want my reality struggles. I can’t be in multiple places at once and I’m never going to be the perfect version of myself that I try to be. I’ll never stop fighting for my goals but recognizing what’s in front of me and what’s happening right now is an important thing to fight for as well. So for the time being I’m going to focus on putting my family first.

Now I’m struggling to just hit publish… here goes nothing. Wearing my heart on my sleeve again. 

Love Always,

{coffee date no.6}

Well friends, it’s been a long time since I wrote a coffee date post. Truthfully, this one has been sitting in my queue for awhile and I’ve edited it multiple times. I took a nice blog break for a couple of months at the end of 2016 and that's when this blog post started to be written...

So let's do what we used to do - grab a cup of coffee (or tea) and let's have a chat, or in this coffee date post, a heart to heart.

There's been a lot of behind the scenes stuff going on. {Let's get real, there always is.} I hit a breaking point where I felt like I couldn’t be genuine with y’all. I had no motivation to put together new looks or share things that I was loving. I felt trapped by the blogging world and under a lot of pressure. I was fed up. So, I took a step back because it wasn’t what brought me joy every day.

Maybe I need to explain myself a little further… because I know many of you realized that August was when I started posting less frequently. August became a beautiful new beginning but also a heart breaking ending for me. I moved into a studio apartment in the city and then went through some tough personal things. I had no idea the ways it would become a true, start everything over, rewrite your future, fresh start. I’m not even sure how to put into words the emotions that the following Fall season became for me. Imagine living by yourself for the first time and dealing with heartbreak like you've never experienced before.

I took a month for myself - I wrote letters that I never sent and I made lists of things that I wanted for my future. I reached out to my friends and found the people that truly, deeply cared for me. Not the ones that simply reached out because they wanted to get the latest gossip. I worked so hard to find the things and people that made my life happy. I learned to “fly” – a girl friend taught me this saying a while ago, it means, “first love yourself”. I took this to heart. I listened to what I needed to be okay; I took time to grieve, to cry, to feel, and to eventually heal. I found the things that I liked about myself and I worked on the things I didn’t like about myself.  I told myself every morning and night: a person who values you, would never put themselves in a position to lose you. I listened to that – really hard. I felt that phrase in so many aspects of my life. It made my healing process so much more clarifying.

Once August was over I decided that I needed to get back to blogging to help me find my normal routine and happiness again. But this had already changed. My whole life routine was altered so I scrambled a bit figuring it out. I posted here and there but it wasn’t with the same zest for blogging that I normally had… so I simply stopped. I just didn’t hit publish. I didn’t plan shoots. I didn’t browse tirelessly on websites to find the latest and greatest. Instead, I went out and found inspiration and love in the world. This was when life got really wonderful - when I allowed myself to let other people in and I started focusing on this new chapter of my life. I said yes to things I had always wanted to do and I listened to my heart. Then I began not blogging as much because I was learning to love my life again!

I’ve struggled with posting this because I attempt to keep my personal life private while still showing you that I’m a real person (and I know I can be vague at times). That’s why I started these Coffee Date posts, because it’s always fun and interesting to learn more about the girl behind the blog… so I felt that to let my guard down and continue on a good note it was time to hit publish {mainly because I've been getting lots of messages and comments haha}.

This blog isn’t my full time job. It started out as a hobby and grew into a business. The biggest strength behind Southern Anchors was my passion for it and I saw it suffer when that fire behind the blog started to fade a little (that fire in me). I always want to show y’all the best outfits and the most unique finds but that requires me to be at my best and in my happiest state – mainly because this little website takes a heck of a lot of work!! Hours and hours to plan, shoot, write, email, link, edit, craft, and post. You know the drill. I began comparing my life to others and felt that I just wasn't good enough for anyone. I wasn't pretty enough, didn't make enough money, didn't love enough, yada yada... enough!!!

Then something changed. I found the most perfect moment of bliss and I felt inspired again. The world around me influences my thoughts and actions tremendously – and the people in my life bring me so much joy and inspiration. I have people in my life right now that are making me laugh again and feel things I didn’t think I could feel again. I am just simply happy, so incredibly happy. My new routine has become a source of strength for me. I work long, hard hours at work and then get out to see my friends and loved ones. In regards to blogging, I actually want to carve a couple of hours out of my weekend to do a shoot with friends, or to tidy up my apartment, take photos, and teach myself some new things. I found that passion and love again for life.

So I’m back. Still learning, still working on myself, but moving forward! I probably don’t say it enough but thank you for supporting me, coming back to read this blog even without new content, emailing me with your questions, and checking in on me. I love communicating with y’all through snapchat and IG stories and seeing you comment on my photos made me feel like I wasn’t a total blogger failure. Thank you for making this blogging journey continue!!

So if you've read this far you're probably thinking: "okay cool, you're clearly back to blogging and this all started in August so WHY post about this now?" Why? Because last week I was browsing through some of my favorite blogs and realized that everything seemed so damn cookie cutter perfect. That bothered me. Every blogger was already tan, rocking bikinis, taking vacations, buying new things, getting engaged, having perfect babies, etc. and I found myself playing the am I enough? game again. I went down that dark comparison spiral and questioned my job, relationship, and decisions. I had to remind myself of everything that I have going for me right now. Truth be told, EVERYONE needs that reminder. So this is me breaking up the cookie cutter blog post - reminding you that you're enough and you're human and you'll get over whatever difficult thing you're dealing with right now. I'm not an inspirational coach so I'll leave it at that. You do YOU, girl ;)

Okay, now I'm taking a deep breath... I think my queue is happy to get this post out of the cobwebs! Thank you for reading this lengthy coffee date – I know the next one will be a lot more fun ;)

Since I always like to end on a good note... I've linked some of my recent finds below!

I would love to hear what you want to see in the future. More outfits? Home content? Personal posts? Please shoot me an email or leave a comment below!


Love Always,

{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

Watch // Baublebar Bracelets // Love's Affect Bracelets // Similar Ring

Shirt // Necklace

Dress // Similar Shoes

Purse

Necklace // Dress // Purse // Shoes

Shoes // Bracelets // Necklace

Earrings // Shirt // Lipstick

Earrings

Necklace // Shirt

Purse // Bracelets // Pineapple (similar)

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,

{coffee date no. 3}

It's been three months since my last coffee date post... and goodness a lot has happened! I try to keep y'all updated but sometimes life just gets in the way :) I'm excited that this is the first "coffee date" of 2016 because it wraps up last year pretty well!

This year is already shaping up to be one for the books: I've got one more exam to pass for my certification, lots of weddings, fun trips planned (February in particular - NYFW!!), and some pretty big milestones happening at the end of this summer! I've been putting my resolutions and goals together so I'm hoping to make things better across all aspects of my life.

Did you catch last week's posts?

Warm and Cozy // Kendra Scott Bethesda Event // Out of the Woods

Follow me on Instagram for more daily inspiration!

October // This was a really rough month for me... I'm not quite sure how to describe it but I was tested in so many ways, both professionally and emotionally. Work was tough, I spent every weekend studying before I took another exam, I barely got to see Jon, I fell into a rut with blogging, and I overall was really down on myself - not feeling like I was good enough. One morning at work, I finally thought to myself: you know what? If things aren't going to go my way then I need to tell someone and do something about it. I'm not going to sit around and watch other people make decisions for me. This got the ball rolling!! Then November came and I was able to breathe...

November // To start off the month I did something that's very near and dear to my heart. I created a Movember Team in honor of my dad - Some of you may know, but two years ago he was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer. We've had a lot of changes and hard times but creating a team to raise not only money but also awareness was a light in the darkness. "Team Welsh Man" raised $2,860!! Incredible!

My office does a thankful tree every year and it's always my favorite thing we do out of the whole year. People write things they're thankful for ranging from their dog to chocolate to having a roof over their head or their friends. It makes the month start off in a really grateful way.

I had the opportunity to hear Andre Leon Talley speak and then meet him during a book signing. It was so much fun to hear him speak about Oscar de la Renta, working with the first ladies and how he got his start in the fashion industry.

After a wonderful weekend in Blacksburg to see Frank Beamer's last game I headed to Jon's hometown to celebrate Thanksgiving with his family. Normally, it's a big ordeal with 40+ people and my family comes down from Baltimore to join. This year, it was a bit smaller with just the immediate family (still around 20 people haha) celebrating over a delicious turkey meal.

Finally home for Thanksgiving... it was a quiet weekend because it was just my parents and me. Samantha couldn't fly home because she had to work so I spent a lot of my time makeup-less and in big sweaters with my favorite bralettes ;) I ate way too much and read even more!

December // A month full of celebrations, food, drinks, and lots of friends and family!! Two of the best things that happened this month? I passed my big exam in October (YES!) and Jon graduated (double YES!!)

I started off my December by making some delicious s'mores cookies for a cookie swap with some bloggers. Boy, were they taaaasty! This was how I cooled them quickly (so that they would' fall in on themselves) as seen on my snapchat: jennrog3.

Off to dinner with my best girlfriends one Friday night - wearing my new favorite vest and pattern mixing with stripes and leopard.

We finally got a true Christmas tree this year! A beautiful frasier fir :) It was so much fun driving out to pick a tree with my roomies. After we strapped it to the top of our car we drove around the neighborhoods and looked at all of the giant houses and picked out our favorites!

The BEST part of last year was Jon's graduation. He has been working for 2.5 years to become a Physician's Assistant and now he's finally finished!! It was so incredibly special to see him get his white coat and then be hooded and presented his diploma! We had a wild weekend celebrating in Roanoke with all the Barlow family and two of Jon's best friends, Dave and Mac. I can't wait to take the next step in our lives together (even though we're still long distance) and see where we end up.

Packing up my favorite plaid scarf and some fun Christmas jewels :)

The first present of Christmas ;) Benson just looked so pretty in the Nordstrom bow! (Not sure why I took zero pictures while home... I really unplugged from social media!)

January // Jon and I packed up the car early Thursday morning (7am people...) and headed down to Smith Mountain Lake for New Years Eve. We spent our weekend playing board games (I'm awful at Trivial Pursuit... yikes), corn hole, air hockey, and hanging out in the hot tub. There was no ESPN or football so we really put that hot tub to the test and had an amazing view of the lake! Some of the pups that came with us didn't last until midnight ;)

First day of 2016! Wearing my new Aerie blanket scarf I got for Christmas and Jon's bean boots... I forgot to pack normal shoes (7am wake up call really left me unprepared) so I rocked the big foot look all weekend. I'm amazed at how warm these shoes are - I don't know why I haven't gotten a pair for myself yet!

Cheers to all of you, my dear readers. I'm so grateful to be going into another year with you all by my side. This year is already looking to be better than the last! I have a lot of goals and resolutions for this year but I'm still fine tuning them. I'd love to know if there's anything you want to see from me or if you have any suggestions! My doors are always open to you - southernanchors@gmail.com

Love Always,