Ohgabetta

4 years ago this month, I logged into Blogpost and decided to publish a blog. Said blog was meant to serve as a place for all of my thoughts to transpire, my hopes and dreams to dance across the page, and for me to truly cultivate my personal voice. At the time of starting this space, I was doing more "professional" writing gigs, working for others, with a few publications in my area. I still cherish those opportunities, but this space offered a little nook of the online world all my own. Shoes, cookies, odes to flowers- whatever struck my fancy struck these pages.                                                       Just carrying on here in blogland As years have passed, and occasional lapses in posting have occur...

Isn't that a pretty picture to start a post with? May it bring comfort, a scent of salt air, and serve as a reminder to celebrate all those who have given their lives so we can take in such wonderful sights. Happy Memorial Day to all who have served and who continue to serve to allow our freedom My better half took that picture of the gorgeous ocean when we escaped to New Smyrna Beach for a few hours on Sunday. When you have a long weekend in Florida, how can you NOT venture ocean side for fresh seafood and selfies? ---side note: I eat fried foods very, very seldom but when I do, I do it right. Breakers in NSB has got the most amazing, crunchy french fries. I could not order them fast enough. Mmm, mmm! We also tried out a new sports bar in our area and I gotta say, their lob-sta cobb salad was quite scrumptious. Filling, fresh, and oh yea, served with avacado ranch dressing! (insert cat with heart eyes emoji here) Speaking of cats, these two surely enjoyed themselve...

Today is the last day of #20HappyDaysInMay , which has been hosted by the always hilarious The Daily Tay . I jumped right into this Instagram photo challenge after doing Helene's #30Photosinbetween challenge . I made both challenges my own and chose to blog about each photo topic, each day as well. Well the results are in and out of 50 days of blogging opportunities, I only missed two posts! They happened to be yesterday and the day before so my endurance game held strong. I'm pleased. Blogging is the best and I'm really enjoying finding ways to push myself to stay at it more consistently. I have a few ideas that I've been inspired to chat about so stay tuned for some fashion, food, and weekending adventure updates coming to a blog near you! (This blog, they're coming to this blog ;)) For the last of the #20HappyDaysInMay challenge, I give you muah , a la splashes of yellow and hints of pink: Until we meet again, M

I opted to combine two pictures from the Instagram Photo Challenge I am doing in to one blog post. There are only two days left of this photo/writing challenge and I'm just as sad to see it go as any other I've done . Saturday's prompt asked for a picture of a happy place for you, while Sunday asked for May flowers. Now, I don't just love flowers, I love love love them. In my hair, on table tops, or strapped to my pens to write with---I adore some floral goodness! In fact, when I graduated high school, I had this grand plan to study horticulture in college, minor in business, and planned to open my own flower shop... said the girl with terrible allergy problems . Way to think that one through ol'gal. So in short, life's a garden. Dig it. Until we meet again, M

Because I intended to post this post yesterday, here I am today. Wow. That almost sounds philosophical. My boy and I ended a busy week with some delicious and decadent sweets from my all time favorite sweet spot: Toojay's . I mean, is there anything they don't do right? No matter what I order for a meal or dessert, I am never unhappy. The vibe, the ambiance, the quality all around = best choice ever! What's your favorite indulgence spot for some sweet goodness? Until we meet again, M

Ahh yesssss! Thirsty Thursday back in the day! What you can't see in this college glory days picture, is the bucket of fun juice we (lucky for all of us) split to drink. Still, I'm talking seriously a bucket , y'all. This was most likely a Thursday night, was at a piano bar, and they discounted hospitality industry employee tabs. WHAT...a good/bad idea. I so cherish pictures like this. It's fun to go back and remember the smells, sights, accessory choices. Thank the Lord for #TBT! How ever did the world live with just having drawers full of film negatives and nowhere to post them to?! Presently in my life, Thirsty Thursday is consistent of me guzzling my beloved water by the gallons to hit my hydration goals. Eh. Potato, po-tah-toe is the progression of life, no? Until we meet again, M

If you are not new around these parts, it should be of no surprise that I love getting dressed . It's the best part of every single day in my opinion. Some of my favorite outfits are the ones that come together based around one key accessory. Take for example, the ring in this picture: This particular day I wanted to wear that ring so I had it tie together my dress, bracelet, shoes-you get the idea. Among many reasons I love to blog, an extra fave part is being able to revisit fashion posts. I adore looking back, or down, at various shots that make me recall "Oh yea, that look!" Now if you'll excuse me, I must get to playing dress up in my closet for a bit. I have some exciting outfits planned so stay tuned! Before you go, tell me, are you into looking back at your fashion choices? Until we meet again, M

I love fashion, particularly summer time fashion. The bright colors, patterns, the sandals---summertime gets me! When planning this outfit, I figured it would be best to OOTD-it with a pre-summer look encompassing all of my faves. I needed something that would keep me cute, but also cool cool cool. Here in the good ol'sunshine state, we have officially crossed through the threshold of dog ass hot, humid, sweat in 2 seconds of being outside heat. Good times, Florida. I usually feel a little silly posing for style shots until I get going. Then I like to think it comes naturally. Yea, that's it. Natural. When in doubt, get fancy with that stancey! And of course, get those accessories working for ya! The best part of any masterpiece is the cherries on top. Go 'head and throw on some fab jewels in fun punchy colors! As always, have fun with fashion and your style. Mix it up, have a good time. Remember, you're doing it right when you make it work for you...

An uncle and a nephew bond is really quite special. It's amazing to see the fascination from little eyes, while adoring the big eyes in their own state of captivation. ---Insert cat heart-eyed emoji times 10 here--- Until we meet again, M

As we close out such an amazing weekend (Who am I kidding, ALL weekends are amazing by default), I am so extra grateful for the people in my life, the memories made, and the celebrations for goals and of moms. And for brunch. Brunch is always a good idea and time. Happy happy happy Sunday and Mother's Day! Until we meet again, M

So yesterday was the first day in 39 days I have missed a post. I have steadily been doing The Daily Tay Instagram Challenge in May, which is halfway done today, and in April I participated in all #30PhotosinBetween with Helene in Between . While I made it my own personal goal to write every as well as post to the Instagram, yesterday took up all my time and excitement and thrill for living life in real life. But man did I take some pictures! Allow me to elaborate... This guy graduated with his degree that he's been focused on for a bit of time. Hunter has worked so tremendously hard to get this accomplishment accomplished, never wavering or hesitating to make it clear as his goal. Pausing his pursuit only for a bit because of work commitments a few years ago, Hunter jumped back in full spirited to get it done. Working full time, maintaining friendships and relationships, and lord knows doing whatever I asked of him these last few years, Hunter balanced each commitment...

Fri-YAY! That good looking alley cat with the beard above is graduating the University of Central Florida tomorrow! We couldn't be more excited!!!!! We started the celebrations tonight at an Orlando City soccer game. The game was fast, fun, and full of anticipation with every hit on the head. Goallllllllll! I will be back to talk about tomorrow's momentous occasion, but let me just say that I could not be more proud of Hunter's tenacious and persevering spirit. His hard work and strong ability for balancing many plates in the air has served him well. It all brings him to tomorrow at 2pm, when he makes his way across the stage at his ceremony. A to the men. Until we meet again, M

Coming to you late this evening but by God I am here! I am determined not to miss my personal goal to not only post daily to Insta during The Daily Tay's Instagram Challenge , but also to blog daily. It may be close but it ain't midnight! Anyhow, today's prompt is #Currently. As I was scrolling my Insta feed this morning, I found that my very favorite boutique Francescas's posted an #OOTD challenge . As luck would have it, or really not luck at all but rather a shopping problem, I was currently wearing a ring, a bracelet, necklace, dress, and earrings all from my beloved Franny's . All also from entirely different shopping adventures too. #accessoriesaddiction The challenge set forth from Franny's said to post a pic of you showing off your creativity in your Francescas's best. So I give you how I typically dress all day every day: I felt mildly goofy but also giddy. I love fashion and it wasn't all bad posing randomly and having my go...

I used to read for leisure a lot. I got away from it a bit, mostly because of commitments to school reading material the last few years. Such a poor excuse but it's all I got. After making a vow to myself to get better at this again, I'm proud to report I am succeeding. Since finishing Bossy Pants and The List last week, which were such excellent reads, I am on to the next. Currently, I'm reading Not That Type of Girl by Siobhan Vivian, also the author of The List , which I clearly can't stop raving about . That's what happens when you're an amazing author. I have plans to get two other books of hers as well. This past weekend, we cleaned and organized that bookshelf above in le pic, making it much easier to find a good read. Gang's all here; professional literature, fictional fun reads, and my beloved biographies are all present and accounted for. So many # favsinagram just living the good life! How do you keep tabs on your books? Until...

Cinco de Mayo has been one of my fave holidays to celebrate for many, many years. The tides have changed to where I don't day drink on it or have salsa down my bathing suit top before 11am anymore, but still it's a personal favorite. I'm a "grown up" now and try to keep the celebrations under control until at least 3pm. This year marked the 7th Cinco Hunter and I experienced together. We chose Taco Tuesday at our neighborhood Tijuana Flats with some sides of b/light and queso. This did not disappoint, my friends. Scrumptious as always, low-key like not many May 5th's before us. Happy Cinco y'all! Until we meet again, M

I spruced up this ol'blog space today. This was prompted because I keep finding things that remind me how much I love writing. The picture above is 3 gifted journals, which had become buried in a storage bin, that I've received over the years. These were from approximately ages 24-27 for me. For those late to class, I turn 30 in September. Talk about recognizing growth, yet appreciating what stays the same. Ambitions and aspirations are consistent, better picker of battles apparent. Essentially, much like this blog land of mine, my hand written "posts" exemplify someone learning who they are and who they strive to be. There may or may not also be some consistent accessories talk. But, that's just muah. Perfect timing to find these; today's Instagram Photo Challenge is #MondayMotivation. Hollaaaaaa! All that said, I felt it necessary to give Ohgabetta a little L-O-V-E. Time for new journal pages to be drafted.

This girl. She appreciates lazy any day. She can always get nestled up real good, any minute of any hour. She loves to sleep with us, with Pepper, and has her own little dog fun sized spots all over the house that are hers and hers alone. My point here is that Roni knows how to take a break from the hustle of her life. It's tiring keeping the throw pillows warm and Pepper on her toes after all. It's refreshing to see a gal who knows what's good. Until we meet again, M