24 hours and counting...

In less than 24 hours, I will officially be on Spring Break. PTL. I have to make it through one last class tomorrow night (Federal Criminal Procedure) and then I will be able to enjoy a few days off from school. My only (non academic) goal over the break is to get some much needed sunshine on my face. (And though the sun was shining, standing on a roof for days for work, getting burnt to a crisp, does not count).

My goal is geared toward a more relaxing type of sunshine :)

Inspiration: Day 5 - Entrepreneurs!

Since I was introduced to the blogging world, bloggers have constantly amazed me. So many All of the blogs I follow are written by motivated, talented and hard working people. Blogging is all about connecting to the community, sharing new (and old) ideas and learning from other bloggers experiences. Bloggers range from stay at home mothers to teachers to lawyers to designers. And I truly believe that regardless of what a blogger's "day job" is, their blog is like a business. Think about it. Some bloggers advertise, host giveaways, run promotions of books/products/businesses, write books about blogging. Writing a blog is like running a business and it is a great way to grow a business. This is an amazing thing. Society recognizes that the blog world is an effective way to build and expand business networks. Bloggers are changing the world. :) And at the same time bloggers get to do what they love to do (write, teach, share), their blog grows, and hopefully they reap the benefits of ever-expanding world of social media networking. Awesome! The Pioneer Woman is a perfect example of this success. Does this mean that bloggers have to write books and have television cooking shows on the Food Network to be considered successful? No, of course not. But there a plenty of bloggers out there that do amazing things on a bit of a smaller scale everyday. Bloggers are Entrepreneurs taking the world by storm one blog post at a time!

Speaking of Entrepreneurs, I personally know a few :) The below links will take you to websites of a few business owners who work with small businesses to utilize this great social media network effectively to grow their businesses (and blogs!). Inspiration has definitely come from watching these business owners work toward their dreams and watching their businesses (recently) launch. For you, your business and your blog's sake - check these websites out people!!!

Appitechture LLC
Need an iPhone app? You (and your business, church, band, Etsy shop, blog, etc.) can have your very own! In the interest of fully disclosing my potential bias, my husband is one of the business owners in this venture. However, this in no way takes away from how amazing this idea is! :) Completely unbiased opinion, I swear. The 3 owners of Appitechture LLC have developed an app that is affordable to small business owners and organizations and that can be individually customized! If you have an iPhone or iPad, go to the iTunes store and search for the Silver Spool (which is a small quilting company) app. You can download it for free to see the available features of the apps that Appitechure offers. If you are interested in creating your own app, let me know!

Launch LLC
This company is run by a wonderful lady, Kelly, whom I have known since early childhood (again, I see the potential for bias here, but please keep reading I promise you will not be disappointed). Kelly is in the business of creative marketing and started her own business!! Launch specializes in branding, social media strategy, event and media coordination. She has some great ideas and her blog is definitely something you should follow!

Moral of today's story - get out and network with somebody! There is a bit of Entrepreneur in all of us!

Is there an Inspirational Entrepreneur in your life?

Inspiration: Day 4 - Weddings!

As I mentioned back in my very first post, 2011 was an absolute crazy year full of weddings! 5 in total (one of which was mine). 2011 flew by (and 2012 is on the same track - how is it already March?). So back to weddings. 2012 will also be full of weddings! Catherine, a friend and fellow blogger, is getting ready to tie the knot soon! One of G's best friends is gettin' hitched in September! Aaaand a bridesmaid from my wedding is getting married in about a month! (You can check out her engagement photo teasers here). All so exciting!!!

I had a TON of fun planning my wedding! I also had a TON of help planning. It took place last hot, hot, hot August. We were all sweating, but we still had a blast! More blogs, websites and people inspired me throughout my own planning process (and helping the other girls with theirs) than I could ever write about, so I thought I would leave you with a few links showing just a taste of my favorite, inspiring things.

Caroline & Evan, our wedding photographers, were incredibly inspiring throughout the planning and the big day itself, and continue to inspire other couples. They are so wonderful and have some many great ideas for engagement/wedding photos & planning! They have even started their own wedding magazine called click! to help the bride-to-be with her planning! The first issue launches tomorrow! Check it out!

G's wedding. LOVE. Here is the feature in Florida Bride Magazine (which has some great inspiration for Florida Brides). I think I still have tan lines from the beautiful sunshine that day, almost 2 years ago!

Joe & Lauren's Wedding. My baby brother got married last year! He married his high school sweetheart and they are now expecting their first baby! I will be an aunt yet again! Hooray! Ahem, back to their wedding...they had a traditional ceremony in the church we attended throughout our childhood. It was beautiful. I love, love, love the purple details. Overall, we had a blast!

Re's wedding. Winter wedding in downtown Boston. Wedding + Skyscrapers = Heaven. Absolutely beautiful. Here is the feature in Emmaline Bride. Her details (most of which, including the bouquets, were DIY) were stunning.

So much inspiration, so few weddings for me to plan. I could go on and on, but I will try to contain myself!

I had a lot of items handmade through Etsy. One of my all time favorite websites! :) I learned that if you can't find it, they will make it for you. I promise to do a post about more specifics of my wedding SOMETIME. Promise. And I will give you a list of my Etsy vendors and other vendors because they were all wonderful. In the meantime, here is our quick feature on Fresh Squeezed Weddings. This website will give you all sorts of unique ideas and inspiration!

Ahh I love weddings.

Have you attended an inspirational wedding lately?

Inspiration: Day 3 - Bloggers Around the World!

I would be perfectly content traveling the world (and probably even settling down and living in Italy) for the rest of my life. But something tells me this dream of mine will never come true :) Oh well. A girl can dream, can't she?

These are two of my favorite blogs for different reasons, but both are written by women who live overseas.

Life of an Expat Parent
Written by one of my older sister's college roommates, we will call her The Foreigner, this blog is a must read (for parents and the childless alike). She moved to England after college graduation and fell in love (and stayed). It is such a sweet story and now she is a parent to beautiful 9 month old baby girl! She is quite witty and I love reading her posts (though I cannot relate to the "parent" bit). Her story inspires me because, though I do not know what it is like to permanently live across the pond, I do know what it is like to live 1000 miles away from my family. Not that I would trade my life here for anything, there are times being so far away from loved ones is terribly difficult and causes a little heartache. But, I know, I know, it comes with the territory. Amazing friends help make being so far away from family tolerable. Anywho...I cannot even imagine living across the pond from them! The Foreigner is truly an inspiration! You should stop by and read about a day in the life of an Expat Brit.

Simply Semplicita
I love this blog for a completely different reason than I love The Foreigner's. I truly believe I was Italian in another life :) I had to be. Anywho, back to why this blog inspires me (please refer back to the very first line of this post). Lauren travels, cooks and lives every bit of the Italian life in Rome. Her blog has a little bit of everything. Her typical day trip is a dream for an Architecture lovah. She provides city guides for places she goes (even if you never plan on going to these places, you should check them out because they are fascinating!) And she balances friends and family on multiple continents. Amazing. I hope to be at least half as well traveled as she is one day! A girl can dream, can't she? :)

Where have you been lately?