rebranding poverty luxe.

hello everyone! im back from my month off from blogging and before i get going on all the exciting things ive been working on, i feel like i should address this rebranding business thats been going on. by now youve heard me talk about this "rebrand" a few times, and im sure youre sick of hearing about it. well i have some GREAT news for you: its done! ive really put a lot of work into this over the past few months so today i want to take some time to talk about all the changes ive made and what that means for the future of poverty luxe.

first off, just in case youre not familiar with branding and what a "rebrand" even is, its a change in the direction or aesthetics of an existing brand. in this case, poverty luxe, my blog about making a good life on a budget, is getting a  bit of a face lift. some of the changes have been slowly happening for a while, and others are big and brand new, but overall, this is very much the same blog. 

so heres a breakdown of whats changed/changing around here: 

1. the logo/site design. this is where the biggest/most obvious changes are: i designed the new logo myself during last semesters illustration class, had minty fox designs make my template, and, most recently had ashley beaudin write all-new copy for my about page. i LOVE how everything has come together and finally feel like this site really represents what i want this blog to be. 

2. my posting schedule. ive worked REALLY hard to keep up a three day a week posting schedule, which im really proud of. except, three posts a week isnt really enough to cover all the content i want to cover and still have room to do something fun/spontaneous. so im planning my editorial calendars to have FIVE posts per week for the next couple of months to see how that goes. 

3. the content. during my month off i spent a long time thinking about what kind of posts i like writing most, what kind of posts get the most response, and what kind of posts are most valuable to my readers, and i realized that there was a LOT i could be talking about (like money, goal setting, crafts, and personal style) that i havent had room for in my schedule, and well, those things are all coming soon. 

4. monetization. there are a LOT of ways to make money from blogging (which i wont go into in detail here), and while making money here is something i would LOVE to happen, ive realized that most of those ways involve things that just really dont fit with the poverty luxe brand. so im sticking with google ads and skimlinks for affiliate commissions, saying goodbye forever to sidebar ads, and looking forward to partnering with individual brands and selling my own digital products in the near future. 

5. my motivation in blogging. when i started this blog, i really just wanted a distraction from how difficult life was for us at the time so i just shared whatever. later, i decided that i wanted to be more serious and started trying to make money and tried a bunch of things that just really didnt work out. but recently ive been reminded of what exactly i want this blog to be/do for the people who read it: i want it to be a source of useful information, practical tips, and projects/recipes that are actually doable. i never really had a "mission statement" for my brand but i suppose now i do (which is probably the most important thing to come out of this rebrand).

long story short, poverty luxe is still very much the same blog: its still written by me and its still talking about our life and how we make it work on a tight budget. im not changing any of that. im just making some changes to take it to bigger, better places so that it can be more useful and valuable to you, the reader, because at the end of the day, thats what really matters. 

what do you think of the new look? where would you like to see the content go? what types of posts are your favorite? 

life lately + our may goal progress.

is it really june? are we really almost halfway through this year? it cant be, can it? the calendar says it is, so it must be true. it seems like i just wrote the last life lately post but here we are again, checking in on how things went in may. 

i have to be completely honest here: may was a rough month all around. im going to blame this mainly on pregnancy and that ive reached the point where everything is too hard. im tired, im hungry, im swollen, everything hurts, generally speaking i feel like crap and cant do much of anything. plus, you know, i still have a life and family to take care of. and well, there has been a lot to take care of this month: the semester ended and (of course) james was sent out of town the week of my finals. the following week james had school and no one to carpool with so alice and i spent five days waking up at 5 and spending way too much time in the car. i have a lot of doctor appointments to go to these days and alice has just about had it with going with me to doctor appointments. 

thats not to say may didnt have its moments, i mean, the semester is over, and (especially in the last week or so) weve had some great opportunities to have fun with all sorts of family and friends. may wasnt a bad month, it was just a hard month. a hard month that just didnt feel productive, especially where our long-term goals were concerned. actually, in a lot of ways, i felt like this month was really counterproductive in a lot of areas, but after looking over our main goals for the year (you know, the big goals revolving around my "word for the year", focus), we didnt really do so bad. we just had our struggles, but, i guess thats just how it goes when you make big long term goals rather then mile long to-do lists. and i mean, not every month can be april, can it? 

so how are things progressing? 

blog goals: 

aside from missing a few posts in the beginning of may due to finals/james working out of town, ive been doing much better with content, planning, and working in advance. ive also even been able to move beyond stronger branding in my content to working on stronger branding in my branding. so far ive done major updates on my social media pages (you can check them out on Facebook, twitter, and instagram), and if you havent noticed, the new site design is live (thanks chrissy!). so may was a good month for blogging. 

shop goals. 

unfortunately, may was not a good month for the shop. being exhausted and feeling poopy all the time (coupled with having a lot to take care of) resulted in: 1. missing the application dates for the two craft fairs i wanted to do in june, 2. not even touching my new serger to make new product of any kind. on the bright side though, i have a very nice list of projects to work on eventually. 

family goals. 

james and i actually got another date, two months in a row! and while our idea of "family time" has had to shift as my size/energy levels continue to get in the way, weve had some good times as we try to adjust to end of pregnancy/having a newborn type family activities, like ice cream dates and long afternoons at costco so i dont have to go to the grocery store every week. i havent had much energy to work on anything "formal" with alice at all, but weve been talking more about letter sounds and numbers and suddenly shes very curious about math and science, so, in a way, shes gotten a whole lot more serious about homeschooling herself as i find the answers to all her questions. 

home goals. 

i honestly wanted to mark this one up as a huge fail because were having some major trouble getting our old dressers sold so that we can get the new dressers/baby furniture in, but then i realized that wasnt even part of our original goal plan for the year. weve got the living room fixed up, the new bed all taken care of, AND were getting really close to running out of stuff to go through/get rid of (have i mentioned that there are entirely empty shelves in some parts of the apartment? its glorious). so home goals are actually going great. 

financial goals. 

ok, this is another spot where were struggling: not only is jamess income just not consistent enough right now to get on a good "budget plan", but were also in a weird transition of figuring this out with me not being able to do a lot of what i normally do to keep expenses down, as well as anticipating the changes well face as a family of four. also, while our savings account has been holding steady for a while, its about to take a hit as there are some bigger (totally necessary) baby-related expenses coming. on the bright side, we have tried a lot harder this month to break the bad spending habits wed fallen into, so the spending side of things is getting better. 

personal goals. 

ive already mentioned that the semester ended, but i didnt mention that the grades HAVE been posted and i did get a 4.0 again this semester! ive also been way more adventurous in the kitchen, and actually made a legitimate part-time income with jamberry in may (though, its permanence as my part-time job is still in question). 

so, long story short: may was hard. may was not a big exciting month for goal progress. but progress was made, and were ready to make more baby steps next month. 

did you make yearly goals for 2015? how are they going so far? 

life lately. (and our march goal progress).

a long, long time ago (its honestly hard to believe ive been blogging long enough to say that) i used to do a "month in review" post at the end of the month with photos and tidbits about the past month and lately ive started to miss that. especially as life has gotten crazier and things are shifting with the blog and im not really writing much about our general family activities anymore. march really made me miss this old feature. march was one of those months that really flew by.

among the highlights were our first real family trip, probably the best wedding ive ever been to, beach days, bridal showers, baby showers, family dinners and days at disneyland. in a lot of ways i was a little too busy enjoying life to get to the computer to work on serious blog posts. especially since, you know, i have school and james has work and we still have all our other normal adult things to do. 

but theres also been a lot going on behind the scenes, stuff that i want to write about, stuff that i probably should be writing about, but stuff that i cant ever really get myself around to actually writing about. 

like this pregnancy. pregnancy has not been kind to me. i mean, im not all that alarmed/surprised about how things are going, because ive done this before. i know that im just not one of those women that gets to go about her normal life while pregnant, and i really dont enjoy this process all that much (like seriously, can the stork be real please?). i was really sick for a good four months, i am really tired basically all the time, and (very much unlike last time) i have had to deal with horrendous back pain on top of my usual fibromyalgia related issues, and really this whole time ive barely been able to function as a human. and thats not even getting into the emotional effects of constantly feeling ugly and gross as i slowly transform into a huge, greasy, sweaty, useless bipedal land whale that is vastly inferior to seemingly every other pregnant woman that gets to just go on doing 20x the things i do in a day and still have nice hair. 

i dont want this to come off as being unnecessarily negative because even though yeah, pregnancy totally sucks (which i really feel like women are not allowed to say/talk about but thats a rant for an entirely different day) were all very excited about the new baby (which, for the record, we do not know the gender of) and the assorted preparations that we get to work on. im just, equally as excited at the prospect of finally not being pregnant anymore (and wouldnt be at all opposed to baby coming a bit early the way ive heard second babies have a tendency of doing). 

and as if a new baby wasnt a big enough change to go through right now, james and i have also decided to embrace/move towards a more minimalist lifestyle. actually thats kind of a lie, were getting close to embracing full-blown minimalism around here. see, in a lot of ways weve really been weighed down by the sheer amount of crap in our lives, and over the past year or so have been slowly making changes in our habits (buying only what we absolutely need, getting rid of things we dont use, etc.) and values (people and experiences over things, quality over quantity, efficiency over excess). this has been a slow and gradual process, though recently, weve just been on a mission to get rid of all the things. and it feels SO good. 

we literally own less right now than we have ever owned in our marriage and the more things we get rid of, the more things we see that we can totally get rid of. its like a vicious cycle thats also COMPLETELY FREAKING FANTASTIC. there are surfaces in this apartment that im not sure ive ever seen empty, and the place feels HUGE compared to when we moved in. and no, we are nowhere near being finished. did i mention we havent even gotten the new, smaller, more efficient bedroom furniture yet? for a long time we worried about where wed put another baby, but now its starting to look like baby #2 will get its own WHOLE CORNER in our room. maybe even with an actual (mini) crib. the only downside to this whole process is its kind of a mess: one area gets torn up, we make a big pile of stuff we dont want, put the stuff we do want away and then have to deal with the pile before moving on to the next area, lather, rinse, repeat. this constant state of flux is not great for my anxiety (though, removing the clutter is actually totally great for my anxiety!). 

putting all our physical possessions into their place has also had me trying to figure out how to put all my different interests/efforts into their place. the past couple years has been awesome as far as finding things that im good at/make me happy/put us on a path to me actually providing a second income from home, BUT i cant give 100% to all of them. school, blog, shop, jamberry, theyre all great. i love all of them and they all have their different strengths and benefits, but its really getting to be too much trying to juggle all of them. realistically, even though its the slowest going, finishing/doing well in school is really necessary so that i can build the skills that ill need wherever i end up in my creative pursuits, and investing time and effort into a strong blog/web presence probably wisest since that will give me a foundation for launching any kind of actual business. and honestly, im running out of steam and inspiration when it comes to the shop and jamberry, but i also really dont want to just flat out quit either of them (especially when its jamberry that has the most/easiest earning potential). so what do i do now? i dont know yet. 

so thats whats been going on around here lately, and since its a fresh new month, why dont we quickly check in on our goal progress this month: 

blog: 

with a solid foundation for my content/branding coming together, its getting a lot easier (in theory) to plan posts and write consistently (of course, in practice real life keeps getting in the way), and lately ive been working on less conventional ways to connect with my readers/other bloggers that i think are more effective than the traditional sponsorship/link up route. 

shop: 

we traded patchwork for the silver lake market, and while it wasnt a financial success, we did it, and tomorrow ill be doing my second craft fair of the year (the community bazaar in anaheim), so the craft fair related goals are coming along nicely, even if more design-oriented things are more or less on hold. 

family: 

this month we have gotten WAY better at having intentional family time every week, and while james and i didnt get a date date (march had some kind of big thing every single weekend) we did do the silver lake flea market together without alice. homeschooling though, i need to work harder at finding better (age appropriate) activities. 

home: 

you probably read about our most recent trip to ikea, and how we totally got the credenza situation taken care of before the bed/mattress. but we also DID pick a bed and mattress and are making GREAT progress with decluttering so our home goals are sailing along nicely. 

financial: 

march was still slow work-wise for james but we are working on figuring out a reasonable budget plan, our savings account is inching along, and weve made a couple big payments to the credit card, so i cant complain here. 

personal: 

school is going amazingly well, i actually got the only perfect score on my illustration midterm, and im learning a lot (which is whats most important), and im really finding a lot more confidence in the kitchen. jamberry though, i dont know if im being lazy or if maybe thats run its course, but i suppose i should give it some more time. 

so whats going on in your life lately? 

february goal check-in.

happy first monday of march! ive been a big fan of mondays and the fresh start to a new week, and the first monday of every month is DEFINITELY my favorite, since its a new week AND a new month. SO many possibilities for new goals and plans! though this year, i did things differently and instead of focusing my time and energy on small, bite sized weekly and monthly goals, i made big, subtle, long term goals for 2015. and unfortunately, i quickly got discouraged. i didnt feel like i was making "enough" progress, and because i already had goals i was working on, i didnt want to distract myself by making new little goals every week/month. 

but just the other day i figured out a way to combine these two problems into a solution, that, for the rest of the year, should be a big help to keep me motivated and focused on my big goals for the year, as well as to help encourage any of my readers that might also find themselves in a season of slowly working through long term goals: 

at the beginning of every new month (tentatively scheduled for the first monday of the month), im going to check in on the progress we made on our goals for the year, however big or small, and take a minute to share any plans we have for the next baby steps. it may not always be big and exciting stuff, but it will at least be a way to keep an eye on what we have done and the progress we are making, as well as not letting those goals sit around getting ignored because they arent getting "done" fast enough. 

so where do we stand with our big goals? (you can read more about what they are here, here, and here)

blog goals: 

solidify brand and content: this one is actually done! ive been planning and brainstorming and picking over old stuff and i am happy to say: i know exactly where poverty luxe is going from here on out. 

consistently blog through the whole year: eh, i took an unplanned break in january/march, but for good reason as i was working on goal number one. the good news is that ive got plenty of motivation and inspiration to get things moving, the bad news is that i still need to work out finding the right rhythm with my current school schedule. 

plan and write posts in advance: though getting back into writing has been slow going, i am very proud to say that the vast majority of the posts ive posted lately have been planned, written, and scheduled in advance (though, not this one, of course). 

collaborate and connect with other bloggers more: unfortunately, i havent got much done with this one, BUT (another helpful thing about these monthly check ins) now that its on my mind again, im thinking of some new ways to do this. 

shop goals: 

apply for one of the spring patchwork shows: this one i actually changed my mind on, applications havent even opened for the spring patchwork shows and they might be out of my budget. so instead were going to try out the silverlake flea market this month. 

do 2-3 "big" craft fairs: well, this upcoming silverlake market would be #1...

launch kids line and ladies tops: this one is on hold indefinitely while i re-focus the shops branding and transition away from etsy, but hopefully things can get going again by years end. 

family goals: 

go on one "real date" every month: this one didnt go so well. its wintertime, james hasn't been working a ton, and we havent really had much extra date money. we didnt do anything at all in january, though last month we did go see my most favorite band ever (with my sister, so im not sure that counts as a date?). 

schedule family time into every week: lately we have been doing much better about getting out of the house together as a family, im not sure weve done something every week, but im happy to say that there has been much more disneyland days, ice cream dates, and taco tuesdays lately. 

be more consistent with homeschooling: this one has been really hard because while alice is very smart and totally needs more intellectual stimulation, shes also three and totally not ready for the more "traditional" school-type activities. so instead, weve been reading together a TON, and going on more field trips (last month we went to the zoo AND a new museum). next up ill be looking for ALL the free museum day schedules so we can get more trips in (and more family time too!). 

home goals: 

purge and declutter the entire apartment: ive made some serious progress on my closet, but otherwise weve been slacking. on the bright side, we made a big list of bite size pieces to tackle as we can get to them so that way we can get things moving without getting ourselves overwhelmed and just making a bigger mess. 

buy a new bed/mattress: weve researched options and it seems like the most practical option for both bed and mattress are at ikea, but obviously we need to go take a look/feel in person before we commit (so maybe thats our next family outing?). also, i want to get the bedroom completely purged before we bring anything new in, so...

replace the hi-fi with a more practical credenza: im actually having a hilarious problem with this one: theres one from west elm that i LOVE but obviously were not buying it because its $900. ive been looking for a similar (but less expensive, obviously) one and found a great alternative at target. for $300 MORE than the one at west elm. so far ikea doesnt have anything thats really doing it for me so i think a trip to some of the local antique stores is in order. 

financial goals: 

set a reasonable budget and stick to it: wintertime was a really bad time to do this since our income is especially erratic right now, but as things settle down well continue to discuss it. 

improve my credit score and get a better credit card: obviously this is a slow one and i have to wait to open a new card until an appropriate amount of time has passed since getting my first card, but on the bright side, i have found which travel rewards card would be the best fit for us!

get our emergency fund 1/2 way full: again, because wintertime, weve had to take a good chunk of money out, and the credit card has way more on it than im comfortable with, BUT with our tax refund and my pell grant i think we may be at least back to where we were at the end of last year, AND we've planned a no-spend month for march (more on that later) which, coupled with the big raise james just got, should help us jump start getting the credit card taken care of. 

personal goals: 

stay in school and keep getting straight As: this semester, while being much more expensive than last semester (which stressed me out to the point of almost quitting a few weeks in), has actually been much easier than last semester and things are going really nicely, though i am looking forward to spring break in a couple weeks...

maintain a part-time income with jamberry: despite doing basically nothing from november-january, im slowly getting back into booking parties and getting things going again. in other news, does anyone want to host a party? 

try some new recipes: this is the one goal where i really feel like im doing well. ive already tried a few new recipes that im really excited about, and am getting much more comfortable with branching out of our normal dinner rotation. you can expect to hear a LOT more about this soon!

so yeah, even though i dont have big things crossed off left and right, progress is being made, albeit slowly, all across the board. which feels pretty good since we still have ten more months to go this year!

did you make big goals for 2015? how are they going? 

2015: a year for focus (part one: blog and shop goals)

hello january! nice to see you around again. if were being completely honest here, ive never been a huge fan of january. i often refer to it as "the monday of the year". but as ive gotten older, ive grown to appreciate mondays. monday is a day to regroup, make a plan of attack, and kick the next weeks butt. and maybe january can be like that too. 

in my last post, i unveiled my "one word" for 2015, and in case you missed it, that word was "focus". i chose focus as the guide for my goals this year because with all the crazy changes and developments of the past year, i realized that while we have lots of REALLY cool stuff going on right now, what i really need to do is step back and focus. 

focus on our long-term plans, focus on why were doing the things were doing, focus on what we actually need to do, not just get wrapped up in whatevers being thrown at us on whatever day. 

and im starting this year of a new, focused mindset with a different kind of goal list. rather than writing a long list of scattered, random goals for the year, i picked six key areas (blog, shop, family, home, financial, and personal) and made just a few goals in each area to focus on. 

and since six topics is a lot to cover all at once, ive paired them up so that this can be a little mini-series. today: we have blog and shop goals, on monday well talk about family and home foals, and finally on wednesday well talk about financial and personal goals. lets press on, shall we? 

blog goals: 

1. solidify my brand and content. ive been writing this blog for (gasp!) almost two years and for basically all of it ive really struggled with my identity as a blogger and the direction/brand of this blog. who am i? what kind of blog is this? where do i fit into the blogging community? what is my niche? if this blog is going to really get anywhere, i need to stop trying to do all the things and figure this out. im currently in the middle of coaching about this, and its really exciting to start the new year already making progress on a big goal. 

2. plan and write posts ahead of time. since im not a full time blogger making a living at this (yet), i have to balance writing and maintaining this blog with all the other things i juggle on a daily basis. this means im not able to write, edit, and promote each post on the day its supposed to go live. i need to use my large blocks of free time (weekends, late nights, days alice is out), to get multiple posts ready to go. and if that is going to work at all, i need a plan. so in the immediate future i need to map out my topics for a, um... long time, so that i can use my writing time for writing. 

3. consistently blog throughout the entire year. this means: figuring out a comfortable (but reliable) posting schedule, finding my rhythm for social media, not taking huge breaks, things of that nature. obviously this is going to take some trial and error, but for now my first step is to determine my weekly posting schedule, both for timing as well as topics. tentatively i have things set like this: mondays - personal/family/random posts, wednesdays - money/home/shopping posts, fridays - food/craft/shop-related posts. this way, you guys know when to expect a post from me, and also, that youre always going to have something a little different to read. 

4. collaborate and connect more. one of the hardest things about being a blogger is feeling like youre in this alone, when really theres a HUGE and super supportive community out there to work with. and this year, i really want to embrace that. how? im not sure yet, this may mean more sponsorships, linkups, giveaways, and guest posting, it may mean something totally crazy and different. well just have to wait and find out. 

shop goals. 

1. apply for patchwork santa ana in the spring. black friday weekend i was invited to sell at a somewhat spontaneous holiday market with some friends, and to my surprise (it was a small event, mostly of people i know), i ended the year with a decent amount of money to invest in my business. and i decided that its finally time to stop being a scaredy cat and apply for my first "real show". if i get in, this would be a HUGE step for me as a person, and poverty luxe as a business. if i dont, well then its off to goal #2. 

2. vend at 2-3 "real" craft fairs. by "real" i mean not the small, community type events that ive done in the past, i mean serious events like patchwork or the silver lake flea market or something else similar (obviously im researching more options). ive learned (over and over) that the smaller events, while lower in booth fees, are lower in attendance, sales, and networking opportunity, and while ill probably only be able to afford a couple of larger events over the course of the year, id rather invest in events with a greater chance of growing my business. 

3. launch my kids line and experiment with womens tops. ive had a kids line planned out for a while: more sizes of skirts, a sundress that doubles as a top as the child grows, and a simple little t-shirt in fun prints, and before i can launch, i need to do a little more sizing research and make the paper patterns. also, in order to launch the shirt, i need to either be very patient and fix my serger, or be extra very patient and save up for a new one. ive also had some ideas for adult sized tops, so by the end of the year, id like to at least have made some prototypes. 

4. turn my stash into inventory. seriously, im just sitting on piles of beautiful fabrics just waiting to be turned into something useful. so this year, my focus is to build my inventory from the fabrics i have until i absolutely need to go fabric shopping (and also to donate/give away anything thats not useful. 

so those are my blog and shop goals for 2015. now, if you notice, some of those goals, well, i could use a little help to accomplish. and im not the type to ask for help without offering anything in return. so to help jump start my goals to collaborate with other bloggers more, and to help finance my future vendor applications, im having two HUGE sales: 

50% off ALL sponsorships with code JAN15 in my passionfruit shop! i have two options: one includes a large sidebar ad, social media shoutouts, AND a full blown guest post on poverty luxe, for just $10 ($5 this month), and the other includes a small sidebar ad and an introductory shoutout on twitter for $3 (just $1.50 with the code). buying a sponsorship from me is not only a super fun (and inexpensive) way to grow your blog by collaborating with someone super fun (me), but also ALL the money i bring in through sponsorships goes RIGHT back into sponsoring other bloggers! 

30% off EVERYTHING in the poverty luxe etsy shop with code JAN15! in order for me to keep things moving with the shop, i really need to keep things moving in the inventory department, both to make room for the new lines, as well as to help fund the application/booth fees for any shows i apply for this year. this means you can score some AWESOME (if i do say so myself) handmade, eco-friendly clothing at an even more awesome price. 

both codes are good for the whole month of january, too!

how to take an extended hiatus from blogging without losing all your blog friends.

regular readers (if i have many left) already know about this, but in case you missed it, this summer was really weird. james worked out of town six days a week for a long time, and continued to work satudays (which is really unusual with his job) all the way up until after school started (he even worked a SUNDAY recently. this is COMPLETELY unheard of). because jamess hours have been super inconsistent for, well, out entire marriage, none of us is really used to not having james around all the thine (though i will admit that six months in a row of financial stability has been totes amazeballs). obviously with all this happening, plus me transitioning to working from home AND going to school three days a week, we have had, well, a prolonged season of transition. to be completely honest, were still figuring out how to make this work, but thats a topic for another day. 

long story short, with all this craziness going on, this here blog (and of course, the etsy shop) became terribly neglected. i used to post four (sometimes even five) times a week, every week, have new product in the shop most weeks, AND keep my editorial calendar a month ahead. but life happened and i lost my grip on blogging (and etsy-ing). 

being the defeatist quitter that i am (not being self-deprecating here, just being honest), i figured that if i couldnt keep my blog in tip-top shape id lose all my readers and i might as well give up. but surprisingly, i noticed after a few weeks that my blog wasnt going completely dead. yes my traffic was lower, and the percentage of probably-not-so-legitimate page views is maybe a bit more visible, BUT my daily traffic (even on days that i dont post) seems to be hovering around where it was maybe a year ago when i really started promoting myself. and when i do post, I'm still getting enough response (views, comments, etc.) that make it pretty obvious that not everyone has forgotten about me. 

which is really pretty awesome. but now that ive had some time to think about it. this wasnt really because of chance, or even that my blog friends are just way more awesome than others (though they are_ but also because of a few things that i did, that (knowingly or not) kept this little blog from going COMPLETELY dead during my absence. 

and since all the holiday craziness is coming up and I'm sure lots of you kind folks would like to take a breather, i thought id share some advice on how to keep things going (even when you arent blogging regularly:

1. stay active on social media. we all know by now that most of our personal connections are going to happen through social media rather than full blown blog content, right? well conveniently enough, it just so happens that staying active on social media (posting pictures, asking questions, sharing content you like) happens to take way less time and effort than writing full blog posts. during my break i spent some extra time developing my instagram, and you know what? its been great: i still got to keep up with my existing blog friends, i made some new ones, and it helped me find the inspiration to get writing again. 

2. pin all your posts on pinterest. i dont know about you, but quite a lot of my referring traffic comes from pinterest. and that wouldnt have happened if i hadnt pinned every. single. one. of my posts and images (whether i really thought they were all that pinnable or not) onto  the appropriate pinterest board. if youre not already doing this, start now. and when you have time, go back and do all your old posts. really. 

3. write reusable, perennial continent. a big reason my blog still has (a teeny tiny bit of) traffic even when im not posting is that the majority of my (recent) posts are (at least somewhat) perennial. and by that i mean, people still read them even weeks (or months) after i originally posted them, because what ive posted is still relevant and useful at any time. this is the main reason that ive shifted my content away from daily family life (which, while i do love writing it, doesnt have much of a shelf life when im not posting consistently) to more things like crafts, recipes, and tips. finding a good balance of timely and timeless posts seems to be the key here. 

4. write when you can. to be completely honest, the main reason i havent gotten to post much, is because im just simply not home much. and when i am home and have time to spend at the computer, i usually have jamberry or homework related things to handle. for a long time i was frustrated that i never had time to write posts, but then i started using early mornings and my breaks at school to write my posts in my notebook and make the graphics i need on my phone, so that way the only thing i need to do at the computer is type (and edit photos if necessary). the posts i write ahead of time dont always get published right away, but when i have a day with free computer time, i can bust out a post or three in no time at all. 

5. use your downtime wisely. not blogging consistently every week surprisingly meant that i had quite a bit more time to think about blogging: what i should write about, where i should go next, how i should change, etc., and instead of just sitting in my frustration about not having time to post, i used that time to brainstorm ideas, figure out my identity as a blogger, and i even booked a coaching call with kayli (which i highly recommend) to get a second (not-husband-cause-he-just-thinks-everything-is-great) opinion on where i should be headed. even though i didnt know when this break would end, i knew what to do when it did, which made it a lot easier to...

6. ease yourself back in. you know that perfectionist thing? well one side effect was that i kept telling myself i couldnt go back to blogging until AFTER i had an editorial calendar done for at LEAST a month and could go back to posting four times a week. and you know what? im not exactly in a position to do either of those things. so instead, im doing what i can, when i can, and slowly easing my way back into blogging. someday i may get back to my old pace, but if not, at least i didnt give up. 

7. dont compromise your content. it can be tempting to throw up a lame post or do something sponsored that you wouldnt normally do when you arent feeling inspired. i know, ive done it. but sometimes no post is better than something that doesnt fit (or worse, compromises your brand). sometimes something is better than nothing. but sometimes its not. 

8. most importantly, DONT APOLOGIZE. explain if you need to (especially, for instance, if the reason for your absence is relevant to the content of your post, like this one), but you DO NOT HAVE TO APOLOGIZE FOR NOT KEEPING UP YOUR SCHEDULE. im not even going to elaborate here, you just dont have to. 

so if youre currently taking a break, planning taking a break, or are coming back from an unintentional break (like i am) i hope that you find these tips helpful! cause what are blog friends for if we dont help each other out once in a while? 

cutting back on sponsorships.

like any blogger, i love the idea of getting to make money from blogging. and i love the idea of getting to help other bloggers and shop wonders even more. offering blog sponsorships seemed to be the best, most personalized way to do this. 

but, as you can imagine, its a lot of work. and for me, it can be really difficult to balance my sponsor features and normal posts and to tie them together so that this blog makes sense. some bloggers are really great at this. i am not one of them. im also not particularly great at staying on top of emails and scheduling and communication, and in an effort to try and cater to every possible scenario of somebody wanting to sponsor me, i made way too many different packages/options/prices/etc. and its just not working anymore. 

but thats not to say that im getting rid of sponsorships entirely. because i do want this blog to be an active part of the blogging community. i want to help and support other bloggers but i also want to protect myself from getting so burned out that i dont blog at all for two months again. because that was bad. 

so I'm cutting back the options. instead of like, fifteen, now there are two: 

large ad: $8- includes 250x250 sidebar banner, 4 (or more) social media shootouts, AND your own whole guest post! topics are all yours as long as it at least somewhat relates to the poverty luxe lifestyle and you can even do a solo giveaway as long as you furnish the prize and rafflecopter code. 

you can see more details (and updated stats) on my sponsor page. 

small ad: $3 (available for swap)- 125x250 banner, includes welcome post on twitter (to my almost 1000 followers), plus possible social media shootouts depending on content. 

and if you have an idea for a different way that we can work together, id love to hear it! shoot me an email at wifeofmeyers@gmail.com, ill probably say yes. 

bloggers: do you offer sponsorships? whats your #1 tip to balance sponsor/"real" content? 

its time to kick the summer lazies.

im not going to lie, this summer has been an exceptionally lazy one. i mean, youve probably noticed that i havent been around much (or at all) right here, but blogging isnt the only area where ive let myself get lazy. part of it was due to james spending so long out of town, part of it was transitioning into full-blown self employment, part of it was burnout, and part of it was my fibromyalgia REALLY not getting along with this exceptionally humid summer. 

but reasoning aside, i havent been writing AT ALL, i havent (aside from preparations for create 2014) made (or even planned) ANYTHING for the shop, my jamberry calendar is empty until mid september. all my usual routines, structures, and busy-ness? thats all been a mess: the chore rotation is off, the errand schedule is a mess, and i dont even want to THINK about how much take out weve been eating. we certainly have NOT been keeping  close tabs on our finances.

but im not sorry, not one little bit. 

we needed the break. well, i guess it hasnt really been much of a break for james, hes STILL working tons and tons (fortunately in town, though). so what i mean by that is i needed the break. earlier this year i was working three jobs, rushing all over the place trying  to keep everything from falling apart, and for the last couple months, i havent had to do that. so i just sat back and enjoyed not having to do it. and it was awesome. 

but all good things must come to an end, and since school starts in two (!!!) weeks, now is that time. ive been easing myself back onto the meal planning/errand running/housekeeping/budgeting wagon, and for the most part, i can feel those things all getting back on track. 

and with the little things under control, im feeling a little less lazy and a little more ready to get serious about blogging again, about running the shop like a legitimate business, about planning AWESOME birthday parties for alice and i, about tackling home projects, and putting some major work into our long term family goals. 

like going on vacation. no seriously, were going on vacation next month. is this even real life?

p.s. everybody please notice my super amazing and adorable CUSTOM handmade (and surprisingly affordable!) bathing suit from beverly swimwear. shes amazing and will totally hook you up with the best suit ever (and she didnt pay me to say that).