Being a teenager is hard. Looking back on your teen years as an adult can be even harder. I know it is for me.
When I was a teenager, I had a hard time. It didn’t seem like I had a hard time, but I did. I received a lot of advice, but as well meaning as it was, it didn’t help me.
Today, I know what I wish I had known back then. If I could tell my teenage self advice, here are some of the things I would say….
Continue reading “Some of the Advice I Would Give to My Teenage Self”
Earlier this year, I decide to read the book From Harvest to Home by Alicia Tenise Chew and Tom McGovern. Alicia wrote the book while Tom took the photographs inside the book. It is a book about “seasonal activities, inspired decor, and cozy recipes for Fall”. I wanted to see what it is like, so I decided to read it in spring so I’d know if there were ideas I want to use in the fall.
Since I read it in the spring, I decided to wait until the fall to write a review about the book.
Continue reading “Book Review: From Harvest to Home by Alicia Tenise Chew and Tom McGovern”
Many years ago, Taylor Swift was asked in an interview about why she wrote so many romantic songs as a teenager. In her response, she mentioned that she read too many romance novels at that time and didn’t have a realistic perspective on love.
When I heard that, I felt conflicted. I am not everyone, but I thought there were more teenage girls that knew that romance novels are not real life. Real love isn’t always as dreamy as a romance novel. When I was in high school, I saw too many of my female classmate that read romance novels and began pursue relationships based off it. Since they dated boys from our high school, I also got to hear about the gossip and rumors about what the relationship actually was like. Sometimes, I would even get to see how volatile the relationship would be.
This is also why I didn’t want to date anyone from my high school. I was able to graduate without dating anyone, which I felt conflicted about. Today, I am happy I decided to do this. The reason is because out of all the girls in the school, I seemed to emit the most hopeless romanic aura to the boys. Since there were many boys in my high school that wanted to date girls like me because we were the easiest to be with. We wanted to find “The One” and keep him for the rest of our lives. The sad thing is the girls in my high school also wouldn’t say no to doing things they shouldn’t have. Some did this because they wanted to. Some did it in order to keep their boyfriend’s attention and to make sure they don’t leave them. Continue reading “Thoughts on Romance Novels and Keeping a Realistic Perspective On Love as a Teen”
I have celebrated many Valentine’s Day alone. Some have been easier to celebrate than others. Today, I know I spent all those Valentine’s Days alone for a good reason: To learn more about myself and what kind of love I’m looking for.
In the lead up to Valentine’s Day, I decided to write posts about relationships and love. Not just love from a stand point of couples, but love of others, self, and for anything that makes someone feel happy. For this post, I wanted to talk about six tips for celebrate Valentine’s Day alone. I want this post to be optimistic, so I tried to write every tip from the stand point of moving into the next year cycle without someone important while not giving up on love. I hope it inspires anyone who spends Valentine’s Day alone to not give up hope! Continue reading “6 Tips for Celebrating Valentine’s Day Alone”
Since I was a pre-teen, I collected coffee table books. When I started collecting them, people, including my parents, thought I was weird, but I loved them. The first coffee table books I owned are Lord of the Rings books that I’d ask for my birthday. Despite how odd my love of coffee table books was, I continue to buy them to this day.
Over time, I began to learn a few things about starting a collection of coffee table books. Right now I’m in the mindset of purchasing, or potentially purchasing, new books, so I decided to write a post dedicated to collecting coffee table books. Especially since they can be very expensive!
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Whenever guests come over to visit, it can be a stressful time. Between prepping for their arrival and making sure they are entertained, it can be hard to remember everything to do in order to make a great impression on guests and show you appreciate their visit. After having guests come over for visits over the years, I learned five basic things to do before they arrive. These things are basic guest prep things, but I know they do make someone feel better about coming to your home.
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This is the time of the year when people make an effort to visit their family and friends’ homes. Since this year will be the first year since the start of the Pandemic in 2020, it’s important to make use your have enough supplies before guests come over for a visit. Even though there are important supplies to have for guests, such as food, there are supplies I forgot in the past that I later regretted I didn’t have. This year I won’t be hosting guests, but I wanted to write a post about five things I learned to stock up on before guests arrive.
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I don’t like to talk openly about my relationships online, but it’s because I like to be privet about my personal life. There are many things I don’t mind opening up online, but there are things I don’t want to talk about. One of the biggest areas I don’t want to talk about online is my relationships.
Despite this, I recently thought about dating, relationships, and what to do on a first date. I used to have rules I used to follow as a teenager, but as an adult woman, I knew I would need to adjust these rules for an adult. I have many rules about dating, including safety concerns for a blind date with a complete stranger, but I wanted to share my 5 main rules for a first date. Most of these rules are meant for men I go out with and how I hope the date will go, but I hope someone will maybe have an idea for a future date of their own. Continue reading “My 5 Rules for a First Date”
Christmas time is hard on anyone’s budget, especially if money is extra tight. I’ve had years when I couldn’t afford many gifts while other years I had money to splurge on Christmas presents. Along the way, I learned how to buy Christmas presents for someone without worrying about money as much as I used to. Since it’s the beginning of December, I wanted to share some of my tips and tricks for buying Christmas presents on a budget. Continue reading “Buying Christmas Presents on a Budget- Tips and Tricks”