31 Days of Chasing Big Dreams

Last October, I watched as so many bloggers joined in with Nester as they each wrote about the same topic for 31 days. This year I decided to join in! So for the next 31 days, I'll be writing about chasing big dreams. I attended Blissdom in February and felt the desire to change my blog some when I returned. I realized that since leaving my job as a teacher in 2011, I've become much more of a risk taker as well as a dream chaser. So I wanted to create a place where I could share my stories, inspire and encourage others along their journeys of dream chasing as well.

I've laughed a little as I've worked on a few blog posts because quite frankly, I never really pictured myself being quite the dream chaser that I've turned into. In fact I few years ago, I told myself I'd never get on an airplane ever again. However, amidst all the dream chasing I've done, its lead me to board so many more planes than I ever imagined having bravery for this past year.

I have not written all the posts for the month despite secretly wishing I already had! So I'm leaving some of this open to see what direction I feel led to write about. Throughout this blog series, I'm also so excited to hear about your dreams, your stories, and your journeys!

5 Things to be Happy About

I can't believe that its Friday already! This week seemed to fly by; which I guess is what happens when you are keeping busy! I just got back from the Becoming Conference last weekend and now I'm gearing up to go on two more trips in October. In April, I vowed that I was done with airplanes for the year and yet it's looking like I'm going to board five, yes five more planes in October. Let's hope that the people I  sit next to are extra friendly and potentially offer me a hand to hold!

1. I had blast with my sweet friends Kate and Lauren. These girls are seriously a hoot and a holler and then some. We had so many moments of laughter as well as they gave me about 20 nicknames, such as merry-carrie and care-bear.

2. I've had some zebra shoes lying around for months now. I've been too afraid to take the plunge and wear them. They are definitely out of my style comfort zone. But after wearing them around the conference for awhile I started to really love them. And thus, this is just another reason why all my money goes straight to Target!

3. I'm working on some new products that will be launched in the months to come. It's been fun to get the creative juices up and running again. I've got some big plans for 2013, so stay tuned!

4. My best friend had a baby a few months ago and I'm kinda obsessed with him. I love being able to go over and play with him.

5. I'm going to join up with Nester and lots of other bloggers for the 31 day challenge. I thought since I changed my blog title and website in April that it would be only fitting to do "31 days of chasing big dreams." I'm going to share little bits of my heart and hopefully give y'all a little encouragement.

Creating Community: A Link-Up

Community is something that is so vital within the blogging world. It allows us to share pieces of our hearts, tell our stories, as well as encourage one another along the way. The point of this link-up is to bring us together, to build more community, and to walk through life together. Feel free to link up your home page, your about page, or a post where you are sharing your heart.

Here are a few rules:

1. Follow the host

2. Follow the co-hosts

3. Connect with other blogs; leave a comment, follow along, or send an email! 

The point of this is to make some new friends!!

**If you would like to co-host this link-up send an email to chasingbigdreams@gmail.com!**

Becoming Conference

This past weekend I traveled with Lauren and Kate to hear Kate speak at the Becoming Conference. We were only gone for a little over 24 hours but the trip was filled with so much laughter and adventures to say the least. For starters, I forgot to bring my wallet on the trip. Who does that?! Luckily, Kate and Lauren loved me enough to keep me well feed over the trip.

The funny thing was I really needed this weekend more than I realized. I really wish I could put on paper just how funny and sassy Lauren and Kate truly are. I think it was great for me to get out of town for a bit, refresh, laugh, take in the beautiful view, and come home and rest.

We drove down on Friday; which was an absolutely beautiful day. The sun was shining and the weather was so pretty for the start of fall.

Aren't they adorable?!

We made a pit-stop at Panera since its one of our favorite places to eat. Kate insisted that we take a bathroom picture.

On Saturday, Kate did all four sessions sharing tips about hair, makeup, and clothing. She did a live hair tutorial on an audience member each time. It was so fun to watch her totally in her element!

5 Things to be Happy About

1. I had my first cup of hot cocoa and whip cream the other morning. It officially feels like fall and I could not be any happier. I'm excited to pull out my boots and sweaters and get ready for this season!

2. I was over the moon when I discovered that Toms shoes was coming out with a college line. I'm a Carolina girl thru and thru, so I grabbed a pair. I love the way the colors are placed and how two-toned they look. I'll be wearing them plenty this fall.

3. Kate and I had a little heart-to-heart at Panera last week. Oh, it did wonders for my heart! As we walked out the door, I saw a sign for a hair salon down the street that said "Famous Hair." Needless to say, I made her model in front of it. 

4. I decided to have a bit of a spa day on Thursday and went and got my nails done. I almost always ask them to paint them "strawberry margarita" color. I just love love the pop of the bright pink.

5. My bags are all packed as I'm heading to Asheville today! Kate is speaking at the Becoming Conference this weekend. Lauren and I are going along for the ride to support her. I can't wait to meet some new bloggers and also explore the beautiful city!

Creating Community: A Link-Up

Community is something that is so vital within the blogging world. It allows us to share pieces of our hearts, tell our stories, as well as encourage one another along the way. The point of this link-up is to bring us together, to build more community, and to walk through life together. Feel free to link up your home page, your about page, or a post where you are sharing your heart.

Here are a few rules:

1. Follow the host

2. Follow the co-hosts 

3. Connect with other blogs; leave a comment, follow along, or send an email! 

*there are many ways to follow: GFC, bloglovin', email, etc.

The point of this is to make some new friends and build community with one another!!

A Tuesday Giveaway

I hope you had a wonderful Monday! I'll confess and say that I had a serious case of the "mondays" and I may or may not of stayed in my pajamas for a majority of the day.

I thought I'd start Tuesday with a fun little giveaway of a new product! I just added some teardrop necklaces into my shop. I seriously can't stop wearing them.

Each necklace is $34.99, but I'm offering a sale this week only off 50% off, so you can score a necklace for about $17.50! {please note that quantities are limited!} Use code: FALL50

a Rafflecopter giveaway 

PS: I'm launching a new line of necklaces and bracelets on October 1st called "Hope for Haiti". I'm partnering with an amazing organization to donate part of the proceeds to help children in Haiti. I would love your help to get the word out and spread hope by using our voices for good! If you'd be willing to share about it on your blog or host a giveaway, just let me know! It would mean the world to me and them! Thanks!

5 Things to be Happy About

This week has been such a whirlwind of fun, adventures, and a whole lot of relaxing! I'm getting excited because next week I'm heading on a roadtrip with Kate, Lauren, and their mom to hear Kate speak at the Becoming Conference. If you're going, I can't wait to meet you!

1. I ordered Annie Down's book and it came in the mail earlier this week. Y'all, its so good. I mean really good! It's geared more towards teens and oh how I wished there was a book like this around when I was a teen. I'm going to write a post on it shortly. But if you have a teen, get her this book!

2. Remember when I told you I have a problem.... Ice cream and I are currently becoming fast BFFs. I'm sure this is probably a terribly unhealthy habit that I'm developing, or perhaps I'm just holding onto the last few days of summer. Either way, I'm going to need an intervention.

3. My sweet friend Liz always gives me pink and green hand me downs. It's my favorite when she is getting rid of things because I always score big time. This past week she gave me a Lilly entertaining book. It did wonders for my southern heart!

4. Haiti has been on my heart a lot lately. I think I'm partially missing loving on little ones like I did when I was a teacher. I'm hoping to maybe take a trip there in the future. However, I'm launching a new line of products in October and hoping to use some of the money to help children in Haiti.

5. Going back to bad habits; my favorite sweets are candy pumpkins which are in full force now. I may or may not of had a whole bag of them the other day! Yes, I think the gym is calling my name.

6. I've been known to lose a key or two, so my roomie got me an adorable new house key. It just so happens to be pink, green and argyle. I'm kinda in love with it.

7. My lovely friend Amy had a birthday celebration last night, so we all went out to the bowling alley to celebrate her. I love getting together with my sweet girls!

I realize that 7 is a little more than 5. ;) Lets just say it was a good week. Thank you for all of you who linked up yesterday. I've been going through the links and trying to connect with all y'all!

Creating Community

My absolute favorite thing about blogging is hand downs the community. I have seriously met some of the most generous and kindhearted people via the blogging community. So as a result, I started a link-up two weeks ago called "Creating Community". The heart behind it is for us to connect with one another, build new friendships, and spur one another on in love and encouragement.

Here are a few rules:

1. Follow the host

2. Follow the co-hosts

3. Connect with other blogs; leave a comment, follow along, or send an email! 

The point of this is to make some new friends!!

A Fresh New Start

I absolutely love this time of year for numerous reasons. Mainly because the weather starts to cool down and I'm not melting in the hot Carolina sun and humidity. But another reason is because September typically marks the start of a new year for me. I realize its kind of silly to celebrate a new year nine months into the actual year, but I do. Since kindergarten, I have lived on an academic schedule being that I went straight from college into a teaching position. Over a year ago, I decided to not return to teaching as I wanted to chase after my dreams.

{via}

This past year has been nothing short of an amazing, wonderful,  and exciting rollercoaster ride. I have overcome some fears, taught myself that its okay to fail, and met some wonderful new friends along the way. A few of the highlights from this past year were:

The Anderson Cooper show calling me to chat about my blog. While they didn't end up using my story, I was beyond flattered that they even found my tiny blog.

The opportunity to fly out to NYC for a few days to learn from the amazing staff and team at the Martha Stewart Living headquarters. An added bonus was having the producer select me to ask a (very random) question during a segment.

I also loved getting to see Rascal Flatts up close and personal!

I'm only ten days into my "new year" and it has already wildly exceeded my expectations. There is a lot more riding on this year than last year, so I'm excited to see where it takes me and where I end up.

Thank you for walking this journey with me and being my community along the way! I seriously couldn't have done any of this without such great friends and an unbelievably supportive community!

ps: my shop is temporary closed so that I can restock a few products. Y'all sold me out way faster than anticipated!

5 Things to be Happy About

1. Kate and Lauren helped me go through my closet and styled cute outfits for me. We almost lost Kate in all the clothes!

2. The girls also helped me get rid of a lot of clothes that no longer fit or were in style. It was such a great feeling to downsize and really only have the necessities in my closet.

3. I did a style post earlier this week based off an outfit that the adore Jillian Harris once wore. It made my little heart happy when she retweeted the link the other day! 

4. Thank so much for entering my giveaway this week or ordered. It makes my heart happy to no end. I recently decided that I'm going to try and take a trip to Haiti this year, so your orders are helping to make that a possibility. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

5. I sat on the edge of a golf course yesterday sending a bunch of emails as well as soaking up His beauty and creation. I think my soul might have taken a deep sigh of relief because I felt so much better after I left.

Community

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about community. I've come to realize just how important it is for all of us to live within a community; to be held accountable and to have people who will walk through the hard times with us.

This was the quote I used on that post which now hangs on my wall as a reminder that getting through life is about doing this together; hand in hand.

"You can't do it alone, as you navigate through the rest of your life be open to collaboration. Other people and other peoples ideas are often better than your own. Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you. Spend a lot of time with them and it will change your life. No one is here today because they did it on their own."

So every Thursday, I'm going to have a link up, where we can come together and create community. Feel free to share posts that reveal bits of your heart, or perhaps your "about me" section so that we can all get to know one another better.

Check out the person who links up before and after you, follow their blog, and make some new friends!

What To Wear, Week 1

Have you ever stared into your closet full of clothes and wondered, "what am I going to wear today?" Or after a big sigh said, "I have nothing to wear!" I think perhaps a good majority of us have been there before.

Last week, I decided that I needed some styling help, so I sent a quick text message over to my friend Kate asking if maybe she'd be willing to come over to my house and go through my closet with me. She quickly suggested having her amazingly stylish sister Lauren come over too, which of course was a yes in my book! If you haven't checked out their blogs, you definitely should. They are super stylish, gorgeous, and about as sweet as can be.

The main reason I asked for help was because I wanted a fresh pair of eyes {lucky for me, I got two pairs!} to see my wardrobe. Kate and Lauren both know me well and what kind of style I like, as well as what kind of styles I have yet to try. In the coming weeks, I'm going to be sharing photos of the outfits we picked out as well as style tips they gave me.

It's still fairly hot here this week so I went with a simple summer outfit they helped pick out. I love this navy dress because of the polka dots. The main reason its hardly gotten any wear out of it was I didn't know what kind of shoes to pair with it. When the girls suggested pink peep-toe shoes, I absolutely jumped for the outfit. And the great thing is they helped me figure out how to wear it into the fall by pairing it with tights and boots. {I'll show you that outfit when it gets colder}. I actually bought this dress when I saw a photo of the adorable Jillian Harris rocking it!

Style Tip #1: Show off your best features!

Confession: I really don't like my legs. I try to hide them more times than not. But when I wear a dress, shorts, or skirts, I tend to get compliments. The girls showed me lots of great and practical ways to show off my legs while still being comfortable and confident!

Kate and Lauren challenged me to step outside my comfort zone. The point of this was not to run out and buy tons of new clothes, but rather to re-pair outfits with clothes I already own as well as take more style risks outside of my usual look. So now, I have a challenge for YOU. I'm going to start a new link-up series call "What To Wear" kind of like the show "What Not To Wear" except we are going to showcase our best, not our worse! ;) Each week there will be a challenge that I'm giving myself, and I would love to have you on board. So let's step out of our fashion comfort zones together!

Next week's challenge: Neutrals! 

Maybe this is something you are a pro at already. I can't wait to see what outfits you put together, so that I can learn from y'all because next week's challenge is way out of my comfort zone!

I'm including a link-up this week for any fashion related posts. I seriously can't wait to see what outfits y'all are rocking!

GFC Blog Hop

It's Tuesday again which means it's time for the GFC Blog Hop!

When I want to follow a blog the first thing I look for is GFC (Google Friend Connect), it's so easy and  nice to be able to go and see all of the blogs you follow in one spot. It's really a great tool to have. 

One side note- Did you know you can follow through GFC using your Twitter Account? TRUE, it's definitely an option!

If you are interested in co-hosting the next GFC Blog Hop send me an email at melissa@thelifeofanotsoordinarywife.com

Ok, so let's get to the party, shall we?

RULES are simple:

1. Follow your host via GFC

The First link below

2. Follow your co-hosts via GFC

The Next 8 links below

3. Link up below using your main blog url not a specific post.

4. Make sure to visit some of the blogs in the link up and follow them via GFC 

and if you want to leave them a comment, I'm sure they'd appreciate that as well.

5. Tweet about this blog hop

Tweet

6. Share about this blog hop by grabbing a button and putting it on your sidebar!

<a href="http://www.thelifeofanotsoordinarywife.com/search/label/gfcbloghop"> <img src="http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z237/melissaenault/gfcbloghop-1.gif" border="0" /></a>

Hello Monday: Giveaway!

Happy Labor Day sweet friends! I decided it'd be fun to have another lovely little giveaway plus a discount code on another item since y'all seemed to enjoy it last week on the bubble necklaces! {thank you so much for all your support!}

This week, I'm really excited to share this next necklace as it comes in bright, happy colors, which I happen to love! 

And just like before, a reader can win one (in color of their choice) and the rest of you can use a discount code in the meantime! Use code: SEPT50 for 50% off this necklace!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Influence Conference

In about 5 short weeks, I'll be boarding an airplane and flying to Indiana for the Influence Conference hosted by some incredible women! I've actually been trying not to think about it too much as I told myself back in April that I was done with airplanes for the year. But, I'll put back on my brave face and conquer my fears for the 10th time this year! I'm so excited to link up and see who else is going and start connecting with new bloggers!

I'm hoping I have packing down to more of a science because I just about broke my suitcase traveling back from Blissdom!

Three fun little facts:

1. I like pink just a teeny tiny bit, incase the photo didn't speak to you or anything.

2. I absolutely love mailing cards, candies, and treats to people. I kinda think chocolate might be my love language.

3. I'm hoping to go to Haiti or Africa for a week or two in the next year to do missional work. As much as I love being a business owner, the former teacher in me would love to spend some time loving on little ones over there!

There are a few things that I'm absolutely jumping with excitement for:

1. The Community: I can't wait to hug and squeeze some of the sweet bloggers that I've already meant in real life this past year. Not to mention, there are so many women that I just absolutely adore and can't wait to meet and chat well as well. 

2. The Future: I think Influence is going to be so helpful to figure out just how I want to use my voice, and what direction to take my blog and business in as well. Not to mention, I foresee a bunch of changes coming my way in the next year or two, so I'm excited to how things unfold as I get a better vision over the weekend at the conference.

One thing I can't leave home without:

1. My iphone, enough said.