10 Things I'd Tell My Newbie Blogging Self

I can't really remember much of what I thought to myself when I started blogging so for Monday's post, I wrote about what I'd tell my newbie blogging self.

1. Find a new designer and volunteer to be their guinea pig so you don't pull your hair out trying to perfect your own mediocre design.

2. Don't you dare use Google+ as your profile. G+ is the devil's work.

3. put yourself out there. comment on others' posts and you'll make connections a lot faster.

4. Use the Twitter. Tweet your posts and use it to bond with other bloggers. Use the Twitter.

5. Click around on linkups. Make some friends.

6. Don't be afraid to reach out to the "big bloggers." They're usually pretty down-to-earth people. Hey, Taylor and Helene (masterminds behind #Blogtober14)!

7. It's okay to take a break when you're feeling burnt out. Refresh and ease yourself back into it with a cool linkup.

8. Make an attempt to have a uniform width for pictures.

9. Tell your mom about your blog. She'll love it.

10. Have fun -  people will love what you've written and you'll make some awesome friends!

Hello 2014

Happy New Year everyone!

I hope you all had a fantastic holiday and that you're not too hungover today. Haha, right. Pop some Advil, eat an egg sandwich, and chug some Gatorade. I'll wait.  I've been spending the last few weeks resetting and relaxing and I've missed you all. Following the custom for the new year, I'm writing out my goals for 2014. Hopefully I can use this post to hold myself accountable and maybe inspire a few people to stick to their own goals. Hey we can all help each other out, right?

SMILE
Apparently my bitchy resting face made too many appearances in 2013 because I constantly had people asking me if I was okay. No one ever believed me when I was I was fine. Time to smile more.

READ

Once upon a time, I read 104 books in a year. That year was most definitely NOT last year. This year I wanna get back to my first love: books.

STUDY
I have to retake the GRE before I apply to grad school in September I plan to do a few chapters a week until my scores improve.

EXERCISE
Even though I can eat whatever I want without gaining a pound, I can't walk up a big flight of stairs without getting winded (I'm actually an old man #geezer). This year, I wanna get back into some kind of shape.

SIMPLIFY
Yes, I stole Rachael's word of the year. Out with the old and in...nope. Let the old stay out. I don't need new stuff. Mostly because I have nowhere to put it. Also becauase I want to pay less attention to things  and more attention to everything else in life.

PRAY
I started to realize at the end of 2013 that I only find myself praying when I need something. My goal for 2014 is to pray in all situations because God is always around, not just when we need something.

BLOG
I also have a few goals for this little blog of mine for the coming year.

• keep to the "blogging plan" I've created for myself so that I'm not scrambling to figure out what to write at the last minute
• answer all emails in a timely manner
• sponsor at least 3 blogs (dolla dolla billz y'all)
• write a guest post
• update my design
• cohost a linkup...maybe?

What are your goals for 2014? Let me know in the comments!

Wine-ing About the Weekend

Hi Lovelies!

I'm lazy this week. It isn't because of school or work. I just open this post and then close this post without giving it much thought. I don't feel like writing it. I've been writing it for 3 days now.

Here's my hump day weekend recap.

FRIDAY:  I went straight from school to work on Friday and clocked in an hour early. #dolladollabillz After work, we sat on the couch and watched home videos. I can't even fathom how obnoxious I was in tenth grade (Mom and sis say I'm still like that. It might be true).

SATURDAY: On Saturday afternoon I went to a wedding ceremony with my mom for her friend's son.  It was beautiful and purple and the bride looked exquisite.

After the wedding, we hopped in the car and headed to the Renault Winery.

We ate dinner in their gourmet restaurant. It was the bombdigs. First course was a sweet potato pancake with roasted duck(still can't believe I tried duck) and baked peaches. Second course, which isn't pictured because I'm an idiot was a veal and gorgonzola(?) manicotti with creamy tomato sauce and basil infused olive oil. My God, I could've eaten 10 of those. Next they gave us raspberry sorbet that was floating in their blueberry champagne. LAWD. It was so freaking delish. Last, I ordered the 2 filet medallions with fingerling potatoes(there were only two.) and green beans. Mmm.

After dinner we went to my aunt and uncle's house and I gave my 9 year old cousin all of our "formal" dresses. I made her promise to take good care of them so I didn't have to kill her. I have to admit, it would be kind of hard to kill something that looks this cute in your senior prom dress though.

SUNDAY:  I sang at church then went to Kris's aunt's house for dinner. It was so delicious. And we had pumpkin dump cake for dessert. HEAVEN. Before dinner, I decided to take a walk in their backyard and spotted a trampoline. I haven't been on a trampoline in like 6 years.

It was awesome and fun until I fell on my butt...into a puddle of rain water. But don't worry, it was captured on video! Please excuse the sideways-ness of the video(boyfriend doesn't know how to use snapchat correctly)

After dessert, we went home and I started my sign language homework. I had to answer questions from a DVD with this guy. I really can't get past the eyebrows. That's all I could concentrate on so I ended up rewinding the section like 4 times. CREEPTASTIC.

Hopefully my next post doesn't take another half a week to write and I get my ass(ass ass) back on the wagon.

Have a happy HUMPDAAAAAAAY!
XO - Monny

Blogging About Blogging

Happy Thursday, Bloggers!

Are you ready for today's Blogtember prompt? Discuss ways that blogging or social media has changed you. I'm gonna keep this short and sweet because I have a special visitor today.

Since I started blogging, I've learned that I can actually write stuff worth reading. I also use social media way more than I used to. I mean I was always kind of addicted to Twitter and Pinterest, but blogging has allowed me to become friends with girls all over the country. Since we're all on Twitter and Snapchat all day, erryday, we can talk to each other, no matter what time zone we're in.

I'm also less afraid of putting myself(my weirdness?) out there. I definitely am more comfortable with myself, knowing that everyone else is kinda weird too.

I mean, who wouldn't want to receive Snaps like this?

 And now for today's special guest, drum roll please! I'd like you all to meet my gingery cousin Gregory. Greg and I have been best friends since the day I was born. We have more inside jokes than anyone I know and I know I can talk to him about anything and he'll always have my back(even when I'm dressed like a boy).

Thank God for puberty.

Notice: we're still both blind as bats.

Ohmygosh, his post is so cute. STAHP!
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#12 – How has social media changed my life?

Greetings, internet! The Soulless Avenger here! My name is Gregorius (Stop lying, it’s Greg), Monica has mentioned me a few times before (I’m kind of a big deal) and she has given me the privilege to guest post on her blog!

Social media has recently made my life 95% better. I’ve met this girl on Facebook through my buddy, Mike, a few years ago. It started out just commenting on the same pictures and posts but as the years went by she and I started talking more. Her name is Katie, and I finally had the chance to meet her in person about a month ago! 

A few days after we met I invited her to attend a Harry Potter party with me that my friend and I were throwing. I could go on and on about her and that night but I don’t have time to write a novel! We shared our first kiss that night, this girl who I’ve had a crush on for nearly 2 years! So, how has social media changed my life? It helped me get my first real kiss, and with a girl who I think is wonderful!

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About Me: I'll Probably Crash & Burn

Welcome to my first monthly blogging challenge, or as I like to call it, "The challenge that ended before it even started." Here's the deal, I've never finished any challenge ever in my life. This one from the Northeast Bloggers Network is perfect because I feel obligated to post every day YAY! Without further ado, here is my first post for the August Blogging Challenge.

DAY 1 : Who are you?  Introduce us to you!

Oh boy do I love to spew random info talk about myself. My name is Monica and I just turned 22 (HOLLA). I've been dating my boyfriend Kris for 5 and a half years and probably won't get married for a while because we're starving college students. 

I probably shouldn't admit that the "prom pose" was my idea.

I'm starting my last undergrad semester in 24 days and then I'll hopefully be accepted to a Doctorate of Audiology program for next fall. I love hearing and ear stuff and I will probably die if I don't get in. 

My best friends Amy and Sarah are perfect. They love me even though I send them hideous Snapchats every day and complain about my boobs being nonexistent too small. 

I live at home with my parents and I work on the weekends to pay for my train pass to school (#commuterproblems). I kinda can't wait until school starts so I have more fodder for my blog posts. Public transportation is a goldmine.

I love to read, tweet, pin, tumbl, Instagram, and blog. At some point, I'm sure you'll realize that I'm a huge geek and drop me like a hot potato. I love Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, and oxford commas.  I also love snuggling with dogs and babies, painting my nails, screaming at the tv while watching Philly sports, photo-bombing, and popping bubble wrap. I'd also be lying if I said I wasn't a fan of beer, wine, and vodka.

Yes, I dressed up as Tonks for a Harry Potter movie premiere.

I love to drink tea too fast and it's always gone before I know it. Hence, The Empty Teacups. If there's anything else you'd like to know, check out my about me tab at the top of the page or talk to me on The Tweeter.

 XO - Monny

Gratitude : week 1

Happy Thursday, Blogland! I hope you're all staying cool this week. We're smack in the middle of the HOTTEST day of the year and it is too damn hot to think straight. I'm gonna make this a short post and then plop myself in front of the AC.

"Gratitude turns what we have into enough."

Today I'm linking up with Steph at Insert Classy Here for an Insta-gratitude post. I always have a ton to be thankful for so here is this week's highlight reel.

 I'm grateful for having cousins who are my best friends. I'm grateful that I can go to them with anything. I love that we can be silly on giant Adirondack chairs at school (#TUbigchairs) or that they can make me the queen and ruler of the 7 kingdoms of Westeros. Yeah that's me on the Iron Throne, bitches!

 I'm thankful for summer thunderstorms because they always cool things down and you can take the best pics afterward.

I'm thankful for my mom, who treats us to Panera Bread and all their glorious calories. Annnd their green tea which is more refreshing than anything I've ever tasted.

I'm also thankful to have a roof over my head and this bangin' ass air conditioner to cool my bedroom off when it's 954534.3° outside.

Last, but not least, I'm thankful that my blog is finally starting to look the way I want, I'm getting less and less nervous to put myself out there, and that Meg at Yammering Yankee decided to put my banner in her sidebar! YAY!

XO - Monny

Hi

Has anyone else realized that writing about yourself is one of the hardest things to do? 

I'm the oldest of three kids.  When I'm not being told to speak up, I'm being told to shut my big mouth.  I have a short fuse when I see people being crappy citizens or treating others like trash. I love helping people and I'm always willing to give advice. I love tea.

 Stuff I hate:

• putting money on the belt instead of handing it to the cashier
• conversations in the train's quiet car (commuter's worst nightmare!)
• homeboys who need to pull up their pants
• disrespect for elders or authority figures
• drivers that roll through crosswalks 

I'd keep going, but it would never end.

I quit choral singing after 10 years, but I still sing a ton - TV jingles, my to-do list, even midterm reviews. I don't know what it means to have a favorite type of music. I listen to hard rock one minute and turn on opera the next. 

I always race through books so I can get to the next one on my list. I procrastinate, correct people's grammar, and look at myself in every mirror I pass.

I always get a little sad when I get to the last page of a book or the bottom of a teacup.


XO - Monnny