Sunshine Blogger Award

Today, I’m excited to share some Q&A with you! Thank you so much for Kim from Fierce Fashion, Julie from This Main Line Life Laura from I Do DeClaire and Carrie from Curly Crafty Mom for recently nominating me for the Sunshine Blogger Award! The Sunshine Blogger Award is given to those who are creative, positive and inspiring while spreading sunshine to the blogging community. The award is given by bloggers to fellow bloggers and is a great way to share, recognize and learn more about each other! I’ve got four rounds of questions to answer so let’s get started!

First up is Kim from Fierce Fashion. Kim is a recent empty nester, and I’ll be joining that club in the fall when my daughter leaves for college. I love her philosophy on fashion! She encourages you to be open to it and creative with how you style the pieces you love.

Kim’s questions:

1. How did you choose the name for your blog?

My daughter encouraged me to start my blog, and the name came from brainstorming with her. I knew I wanted to focus on fashion for the everyday woman but didn’t want my blog name to be fashion specific. Pink is my favorite color and makes me happy, so we came up with Doused in Pink.

2. What is your next blog goal?

My biggest goal currently is improving my photography. I take my photos on my own with a tripod and use my iPhone as a remote. It’s a work in progress.

3. Is there a blog event you’d like to attend? What would you hope to accomplish?

I would love to attend a life and style blog conference at some point to meet, network and learn from other bloggers! I’m an introvert so attending one would definitely push me out of my comfort zone, but I’m all for it!

4. Who is your greatest fashion influence or inspiration?

I get so much inspiration from the blogs I follow! I also love Reese Witherspoon, Gweneth Paltrow, and Gwen Stefani’s styles!

5. If you could work with any brand, who would it be, and why?

Anthropologie. I’ve shopped there since they opened in the early ’90s. I love their unique clothing and home furnishings. I’d also love to work with Aerie, Francesca’s, Modcloth and Sole Society!

6. How far in advance to you take photos and plan blog posts?
I try to plan out my posts a month in advance. I typically take my outfit photos anywhere from a few weeks to a few days depending on the weather.

Julie from This Main Line Life has teenagers around the same age as my daughter. I love her posts on tips relating to teens! Her blog has a little bit of everything from fashion, beauty, wellness, recipes, and lifestyle.

Julie’s questions:

1. Howwhy did you get into blogging?

I was reading blogs for a while when my daughter came home from school one day and said: “you could do that.” I laughed it off but then a few weeks later she said: “you should create a blog.” This time I said “okay” and with no research or knowledge of what I was doing, had a blog 30 minutes later!

2. What is a favorite post that you’ve written?

Why Clean Beauty Matters. Clean beauty is something that I’m passionate about. In a country where everything is regulated, the beauty industry is not. We should not have to question if there are harmful chemicals in the products we use every day!

3. Is there a blog event you’d like to attend? What would you hope to accomplish?

See my response to Kim’s.

4. If you could work with any brand, who would it be, and why?

See my response to Kim’s.

5. What do you think has helped you the most in growing your blog?

Engagement and growth go hand in hand. I try to find, read and comment on a few new blogs every week.

6. What are some of the tools/apps that you find really helpful for your blogging?

I have a bunch of apps downloaded but have never taken the time to learn how to use them…Planoloy and Tailwind I’m talking about you! I do use Adobe Lightroom to edit my photos.

7. About how much time do you spend per week on the blog and do you have any tip or tricks for balancing blogging and the rest of your life?

I work full-time, so time management is critical for me. I don’t know how many hours I spend on my blog, but it is basically like a part-time job. I stopped blogging for a year because I had too much going on in my personal life and didn’t have the time to dedicate to my blog. Now I block out time in the morning, evening and weekends and set a timer because it’s easy to go over the time I’ve allotted.

Carrie from Curly Crafty Mom and I hosted Thursday Fashion Files together for a few years until I stopped blogging in 2017. I love Carrie’s style, and she has so many fun and creative home decor/entertaining/recipe posts!

Carrie’s questions:

1. Where are you going on vacation this summer? If nowhere, where would your dream vacation be?

My dream vacation was a reality when I went to Paris in September 2017. We did all of the tourist stops so now I would love to go back and spend more time exploring through different neighborhoods.

2. What is your favorite beverage (alcoholic, nonalcoholic or both!)?

Brut Rosé champagne but when I go out, a Moscow Mule is my drink of choice.
3. Do you make a summer bucket list?

I don’t, but I love the idea of it and reading bucket list posts!

4. Do you take a blogging break in the summer? Blog more, less, same?

I don’t think I’ll be taking a break this summer, but in the past when I went on vacation, I would ask other bloggers to guest post for me.

5. Perfect/favorite summer date night?

Listening to live music at a street fair and then dining al fresco with a margarita and a plate of lobster tacos.

6. What are your favorite items to grab at the Farmers Market during the summer?

Fresh peaches, plums, berries, cucumbers, zuccini, potatos….

If you could have an entire day to yourself, what would you do?

I would go to a spa and have a massage and manicure and then sit on my porch and read a book from cover to cover.

Laura was one of the first bloggers I connected with back in 2014 when I first started blogging and lives about an hour away from me. She’s super sweet, and we’ve met for lunch and shopping a few times!

Laura’s Questions:

1. What is your favorite self-indulgence?

A manicure. I do my nails myself and am not very good at it, so it’s always a treat for me to get a mani.

2. Do you prefer dark chocolate, milk chocolate, or white chocolate?

Even though dark chocolate is better for you, I prefer milk chocolate.

3. What is your favorite type of music to listen to?

I like almost every genre of music but have a preference for 80’s music!

4. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Paris! I felt at home when I was there.

5. If you received $5,000 what is the first thing you would spend it on?

I’d love to say a shopping spree or amazing vacation, but I’d probably be smart and spend it towards my daughter’s college tuition.

6. What is the ultimate experience you would love to have as a result of your blog?

A travel collaboration with a vineyard in Napa.

7. How long do you envision yourself blogging?

Not sure. I thought I was done with blogging in September 2017, but I missed it and returned after a year!

8. Who is another blogger you would love to meet in person?

I’d love to meet Chrissy from Granola in Grace. She seems like she is so down to earth and would be fun to hang out with.

9. What is one thing on your bucket list?

Swimming with dolphins. My parents did this years ago, and it sounded like an amazing experience.

10. What is your favorite holiday and why?

Halloween. The hubs and I always loved decorating our yard and creating scary scenes for the trick or treaters.

Whew! That was a lot! Now it’s time for my nominations! These are women whose blogs I really enjoy and would love to know more about them. No pressure to do a post! Just wanted you to know I love your blogs!

1. Ruth from My Little Nest

2. Andrea from Living on Cloud Nine

3. Gina from On the Daily Express

4. Lana from My New Happy

5. Kellyann from This Blonde’s Shopping Bag

Questions:

1. How did you first get into blogging?
2. What has been the best strategy that has worked well for you to get more traffic to your blog?

3. How do you motivate yourself to keep your blog going?

4. How would you describe your personal style and is there a person who is your go-to for fashion inspiration?

5. What do you do in your spare time outside of blogging?
6. What’s on your summer wishlist?
7. Has a stranger ever recognized you from your blog and approached you to say hi?
8. What are your top 3 favorite brands?

If you do decide to post, here are the rules: link back to the person who nominated you, nominate a few of your favorite bloggers, write your own questions, add the Sunshine Blogger Award logo to your post!

As always, thank you for reading!

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