In vs. Out

I've always loved Allison's in vs. out posts, so I have to say I'm more than excited for her monthly link-up. If you haven't seen one yet, go check out Allison's page! And now, I also found out that Chelsie is hosting a similar link-up. All the excitement.

Now without further ado, here's what in & what's out for me this month.

In

Getting on a regular exercise schedule that includes some workouts during work. I've finally nailed down a schedule and now I just need to stick with it! I'm still recovering from that weird hip flexor pull/tear but I'm just resting it as much as I can

Yoga! Okay, I've said this before, but I did not realize how tough yoga is. It is awesome. I love going every Tuesday now.

Season two of the Affair and hating Noah. If you haven't yet watched this show, you need to. Here's why. 

Boo.

 

My first JulepMaven box that's arriving this week. I've mentioned how I hate going to pay for manicures before. So now I can get these amazing nail polishes shipped to me each month for a pretty good price. Have you tried Julep yet?


Finally getting to use this bottle for some beautiful roses that I received.

 

Writing all my essays and compiling my recommendations for grad school.

Cool afternoon walks with Starla.

All the snapchat stories. Follow me @ alannaandco


Maybe trying to make a vlog? Want to submit some questions for me to answer? Submit them here.

Out

Studying for the GRE. Especially the math section. Like I legitimately think I need a math tutor. Why is algebra so hard?

Pumpkin-smelling candles. They're starting to make me sick. No more, please!

Morning walks in the dark at 6 a.m. with Starla. Brrrrr

Mondays. Let's be serious, they've always been out.

In case you missed it, here are my top posts from October!

Fall Swap Reveal and Books Lately

Eight Must Read Books

Five Ways to Optimize your Blogger SEO

Relationship Myths and Questions

Simple 10 Minute Blackened Tilapia Tacos

 

Lastly, I've teamed up with some awesome girls for an amazing Ad spot giveaway! Make sure you enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

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Humpday Confessions | I don't like Adele's Hello...

 I confess that...

I heard the new Adele song, "Hello" and it's nothing to write home about. Don't know why you guys are all freaking out about it...

I went to Barktoberfest this past Saturday and it was so much fun!! I took a whole bunch of photos, and realized that the tasting cup that they gave us totally looks like the cup they give you for urine samples at the doctor's. #ISwearItsBeer

I dressed Starla up as a little pumpkin for the festival. She was such a cutie! The winning dog costume contest was actually a family who dressed up all as batman characters. There was a Batman and Robin dog, and the family was joker, riddler, and poison ivy. #Adorable

I've been trying to lose weight and I've successfully gained three pounds. Yay....Not. I don't understand how this happens. Maybe I should just forget about losing weight and I'll drop 10 lbs? Does it work that way? #struggles

I'm thinking of trying the weight loss shakes. Apparently most of them are pretty cheap at like $3.50 per meal, which is less than what I spend per meal now! Even if I am eating a crappy lean cuisine every lunch. I can substitute breakfast and lunch and then have a regular dinner. Have any of you tried a weight loss shake before? What are your opinions?

As of yesterday, I'm admitting that I legit pulled/tore my hip flexor on my left leg. I can't fully extend my left leg or else it hurts terribly. I'm limping around and still hobbling to the gym. My yoga instructor gave me this look yesterday like "So....why are you here?" I promised myself I would work out four times a week!

I just realized that it's daylight savings time this Saturday. AKA one more hour to party for Halloween. If I can even stay up that late. We'll see....

Now onto the link-up!

Here are the ground rules for the link-up:

• Each Wednesday create a post about what’s going on in your life and confess!


• Grab the button and include it in your post or include a text link back to the link-up. This will be mandatory.


• Link up so we can see what you're confessing this week.


• Comment on at least one other blogger’s post from the link up, if there is more than one hopefully!


• Feel free to share on social media with the hashtag #HumpdayConfessions and I'll retweet.


• Enjoy!

Linking up with Life with Lolo

Say hello to this month's sponsor:

0

Fall Stitchfix Review

Last week I received my third Stitchfix. If you don't already know what it is, you can see my first review here.

This month was alright. It wasn't as disappointing as some other fixes I've seen on other blogs, but still not the best. I think I have a new stylist. I can't remember the name of my last stylist for whatever reason, but this time I had Jessica style me. If you follow me on Snapchat (hint, you should @alannaandco) you got a whole video review too. But if you missed out on the fun, here it is right here.

Jayne Dress by Collective Concepts

$88 - Returned. It was small but it was just too big for me. The shoulders didn't line up for me and I would have wanted it a bit more form fitting around my waist. It didn't help my shape whatsoever, and for the price it wasn't worth it.

Sabrina Yoke Detail Blouse by Papermoon

 

$44 - Kept. Simple, cute blouse. I don't have a hot red blouse anyways, so why not.

Toni Peplum Blouse By Alice Blue

 

$48 - Kept. My favorite out of the whole fix. It really helped make my waist look smaller and even though the peplum fad isn't as big now, it was perfect for a date night or even to wear with a nice skirt to work.

Alan French Terry Asymmetrical Zip Cardigan by Market & Spruce

 

$68 - Kept. I was really iffy about this cardigan. The zip is neat but zipped up looked kind of odd on me. I love the way that it drapes when unzipped though and the material is very light and breathable.

Tonya Button Up Cardigan by 11 Star

 

$48 - Returned. I said it in my snapchat and I'll say it again. I could find this at target for a lot cheaper.

What do you think of what I received? Do you have a favorite Stitchfix stylist?

 

0

Simple 10-Minute Blackened Tilapia Tacos

I've said before how I'm not such a great cook. I'm not very experimental in the kitchen, I don't like using recipes with more than 6-7 ingredients, and often times, even when I do follow a recipe, I skip steps and mess something up. So for people like me, it's always good to have a "go-to" meal that you're great at cooking. For me, it's my Blackened Tilapia Tacos. Seriously, I've cooked it for so many friends (and my parents!) and they all like it!

Not only is this recipe quick, but it uses ingredients that you typically have in your kitchen on a regular basis. I often buy a huge bag of frozen tilapia, and whenever I need to, I just defrost a couple filets and make this.

 

Blackened Tilapia

 

[ultimate-recipe id="1336" template="1"]

 

Usually after I coat the tilapia filets with the blackening powder, I let them sit at room temperature for a little bit while I cut up all the rest of my taco ingredients like lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and cilantro. I typically also make a quick guacamole as a spread. That way, as soon as you cook the filets, everything is ready to get thrown into your taco!

 

Have you ever tried to make a fish taco? What's your favorite go-to recipe?

39

Humpday Confessions | You're a Hot Head

I confess that...

I've finally decided what to be for Halloween. Yay! It was getting close.I'm not typically one who goes for a lot of trends, but I've recently been getting on the "trendy" boat. I just ordered a hoop nose ring, I got my first blanket scarf, and a pair of trendy sunglasses.

I've been obsessed with Snapchat! If you follow me you would have seen blanket scarf and trendy sunglasses. I've been moving more to snapchat than instagram recently. I still like to keep some nice, pretty photos on the instagram, but snapchat is so much more personal. I get to take a little peek inside your day-to-day lives. I love it!

Andy and I went to brunch on Sunday at Commissary. It was amazing! I loaded up on all the Jewish good food. Apparently the owners are Jewish! My platter was eggs, latkas, lox, and apple sauce. #Stuffed

After we went to brunch we walked next door to see a friend who was working down at Logan Tavern and just had a couple drinks there at the bar. Were just sitting there minding our own business when this girl keeps trying to steal his seat when he goes up to the restroom so I tell her, "It's okay you can sit there in the meantime when he's gone." So he comes back and taps her on the shoulder to let her know that he's back and she needs to move. She moves and then says to him, in a way that I can't hear, "If you touch me again, I'll punch you in the face." So he gives her a face and doesn't really say anything back. She then laughs and goes to me, "Your boyfriend is a hot head!" and scampers away because both of us are now annoyed. I am so glad that I didn't hear the punch in the face comment... #hellnaw

I typically skip out on most Oktoberfests because I'm not a big beer drinker, but there's Barktober fest this weekend and I couldn't miss it. They have doggy costume contests, unlimited beer tastings, food trucks, and all proceeds to go the Washington Animal Rescue League. How could I miss out? If you're in the area, definitely think about coming. I'll be there!

I really don't know how people do multiple things in the evenings. Now I study an hour every evening, and all I have time for is one other chore and dinner when I come home in the evenings. I really wanted to work out yesterday, but had to do groceries. By the time I was done with groceries, it was dinner time, by the time I was done with dinner, it was time to study, then bedtime. Maybe I should be more productive on weekends? #growingupishard

now that I have food in my fridge, I can actually cook things for myself. So I made a ravioli on Monday and chicken teriyaki last night. I don't usually make recipes that are too difficult so I can't mess too many things up. But as soon as I'm cooking for someone else I panic and forget how to cook. Like serious mind-blocks. Like how long to I cook this broccoli for? How do I know if the chicken is done? Do I dump in the entire box of rice for two people? #strugglecentral. Is that only me?

 

Now onto the link-up!

Here are the ground rules for the link-up:

• Each Wednesday create a post about what’s going on in your life and confess!


• Grab the button and include it in your post or include a text link back to the link-up. This will be mandatory.


• Link up so we can see what you're confessing this week.


• Comment on at least one other blogger’s post from the link up, if there is more than one hopefully!


• Feel free to share on social media with the hashtag #HumpdayConfessions and I'll retweet.


• Enjoy!

Linking up with Life with Lolo

62

Eight Must Read Books

 

Hi there, my name
is Amanda and I blog over on Anchored
to Sunshine. I blog about recipes, fitness,
life lessons, and (obviously) books!

Picture this: You
hear about a book that’s supposed to be “the best”. You read
raving reviews about it on Refinery29, see it recommended by
theSkimm,
and find it in the front window of every bookstore you pass. You
think to yourself, it was meant to be!

You pour yourself
a glass of red wine, pop a bag of Skinny Girl lime & salt popcorn
(totally channeling your inner Olivia Pope) and dive into the book…
only to find out it’s a total dud. Literally the WORST!

But then there
are those magical moments when the great reviews and hype are well
deserved and you want to sing the book’s praises from the rooftop!
It’s like when you love a food that’s actually healthy for you,
or find a restaurant with a great happy hour on a delicious cocktail.
Stumbling upon a book that is truly worth the hype makes my day!

Here are eight
books that received great reviews that I whole-heartedly recommend
you pick up immediately!

FOR THE LOVER
OF HISTORICAL FICTION: The
Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

FOR THE LOVER
OF BEACH READS: The Rocks by Peter
Nichols

FOR THE LOVER
OF GONE GIRL: The
Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

FOR THE LOVER
OF A GOOD (not too graphic) WAR NOVEL:
The Things They Carried

FOR THE LOVER
OF COMEDY: Modern
Romance by Aziz Ansari

FOR THE LOVER
OF EDUCATIONAL NOVELS: How to Win
Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

FOR THE LOVER
OF BOOKS THAT BECOME MOVIES: The
Martian by Andy Weir

FOR THE LOVER
OF MEMOIRS: Now I See You: A Memoir
by Nicole C. Kear

Still looking for
more recommendations or even warnings about books you should steer
clear of (I’m pretty opinionated when it comes to reviews), check
my blog out for all that and more! I consume books like I consume
air.

 

Thanks
for reading along; it was nice to (virtually) meet you!

0

Relationship Myths and Questions

This whole dating, relationship, growing up thing is hard. I've come to realize that I'm always learning and that many people know a lot better than I do. One thing I'm struggling with right now is relationships. As most of you know, I ended my longest, most serious relationship earlier this summer. So now, here comes the tough part, dating. This is the first time I'm dating out of college now, since my last relationship was technically post-grad, but we had met in college, at a fraternity, and we partied like we were still in college. So I'm not counting it as a post-grad relationship.

I'm a very self-confident person about myself and about my decisions. However, this is one thing that I just don't know what to think. I can't tell whether I should blaze my own trails or listen to others. I'm getting a feeling it's a weird mix of both.

Right now, I'm dating someone. It's new, it's fun, and I enjoy it. I've had people tell me it's too soon since I ended my last relationship. I've had people say that he's just "not the one". I've had people say that he's a complete opposite to my last boyfriend, and how that's weird about the variety of men I date. I've had people tell me that I'll eventually figure out what I want when I get older. All of the above comments make me groan. Most of my friends and family keep their opinions to themselves, but sometimes when I hear even a few comments like this it causes me so much self-doubt.

In response to all these comments, I think:

It's too soon...

Is there a math equation that you are using to determine this? Do you realize that each person works on their own timeline?

Not the one...

I'm still really not sure this is a thing. To all my married readers, is there a "one" that you just knew the instant that you met them? What if I figure out that someone is the "one" for me after a year of dating? Does that happen? What if I have many "ones" for me? (or no one) So many questions.

Secondly, how do others know this on your behalf? Isn't this something you need to determine for yourself? I get that if your friends or family notice a few red flags, they can see why it won't work. But I'm skeptical if they just "have a feeling" or don't really know him.

He's not anything like your ex-boyfriend...

Good! And no, don't think that I'm over-rotating. I'm learning what I like and what I don't like.

You'll figure it out when you're older...

Maybe....however, one of my close friends just got married and she's 24. Guess when she met her husband? Over SEVEN years ago in high school. Does she not have it figured out because of her age?

 

It's a frustrating process and honestly, I might be being stubborn about this and maybe these are all true. Maybe I am over-rotating and I don't realize it yet. Maybe I will be gifted with wisdom at the age of 30 and know everything I want in a man. Maybe at 30 my mystery dream man will walk into my life and I will know forever and always that we were always meant to be together. Maybe? I don't know.

All of this is frustrating and stressful and I just want to enjoy and figure life out. If I'm most happy doing that with someone in a relationship, I feel like I should be able to try it out. Why shouldn't I date the guy who I like right now and see if things fall into place? If not, what's the worst that can happen?  We break up, we move on, life continues. I've done it before.

Where do you draw the line and listen to your heart and not other's advice? What advice do you have for me about dating?

(All photos from Giphy)

 

0

Fall Swap Reveal and Books Lately

About a month ago, I signed up with a Fall swap from Lindsay from Bourbon, Lipstick, and Stilettos I received the cutest package from my partner last week!

My partner was Julia from Grace Makes New.

And here's what she sent me:

I got some great stuff! Starla loves her new toy. I've already put the foxy socks to good use. I also can't believe I never tried the mint/vanilla EOS before. I always get the mint but never the mixed one. It is sooooo good! I'm obsessed. Julia did a pretty good job shopping for me I'd have to say.
Thank you Julia!

 

Want to see what I got her? Hop over to her blog and find out!

 

What I Read

#Girlboss by Sophia Amoruso
Big Little Lies by liane Moriarty

Between the Lines on Big Little Lies

1. The power of secrets is a theme throughout the novel. Jane remembers, “She hadn’t told anyone. She’d swallowed it whole and pretended it meant nothing, and therefore it had come to mean everything.” [p. 220] Do you think this is a universal truth, that the more you keep something secret, the more power it takes on?From my experience, yes. I've haven't been in a situation like Jane's, but I can see how she had to face her secret daily and how she had to deal with it. In the end, not telling anyone such a huge secret definitely made her more introverted and almost ruled how she acted on a day-to-day basis.

2. There is a lot of discussion about women and their looks. On the beach Jane’s mom shows that she has rather poor body image. Jane observes that women over 40 are constantly talking about their age. And Madeline says, “She didn’t want to admit, even to herself, just how much the aging of her face really did genuinely depress her. She wanted to be above such superficial concerns. She wanted to be depressed about the state of the world….” [p. 82] Do you think this obsession with looks is specific to women, particularly women of a certain age? Why or why not?

I think it's particular to women of all ages. I remember being a teenager and saying my ass was fat, because self-shaming was so prevalent in my high school. Magazines, celebrities, tv, movies, and more show women the ideal image for their body and don't take into account the many shapes and sizes that women can be healthy and beautiful. I can't speak for how strong this gets the older you get, but I know from experience that this obsession with looks typically starts at a young age and continues on.

3. At one point in the book, Susi says that, in Australia, one woman dies every week because of domestic violence. In the United States, more than three women are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends every day. Every nine seconds in the United States a woman is assaulted or beaten. Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women—more than that caused by car accidents, muggings, and rapes combined. Are you surprised by these statistics? Why or why not? Clearly, the author chose Celeste—the picture-perfect mom and/ wife as well as an educated lawyer—to be the victim of domestic violence in order to make a point. Do you think it’s plausible that someone like her would fall victim to abuse such as this?Literally reading this prompt gave me goosebumps. I thought the statistics for Australia was bad. The statistics for America are far worse, and far more saddening to me. I 100% believe that it's plausible for a character like Celeste or someone like her to fall victim to abuse. I appreciated how she showed the other side of the picture of Celeste fighting back and refuting the fact that she was the victim. I think many women in situations like that have a hard time seeing themselves as a victim and deny the entire situation as abuse when it truly is.

4. At the beginning of the novel, Madeline is enraged over Ziggy not being invited to Amabella’s birthday party. Why do you think Madeline becomes so angry about such a seemingly small injustice? Do you think Madeline is the kind of person who just looks for a fight, or do you think she was justified in feeling so upset? And do you think that by tackling both ends of the spectrum —from schoolyard bullying and parents behaving badly in the playground to displays of domestic violence in all its incarnations—that the author is trying to say something about the bullying that happens out in the open every day?


This is a great question that I didn't even think about when I was reading the book. I can now see how the author took something small and broadened it into something much larger. The author showed many aspects of violence, overt and not, and weaved it into a wonderful story that tackles very important issues.

What I'm currently reading

Bossy Pants by Tina Fey

My Reading Challenge Updates

Total Books this month: 2

Total Books read this year: 18/75

Total Books Read for the Modern Mrs. Darcy Challenge: 8 / 12

 

0

Humpday Confessions | Horseback Riding Hurts

Thank you Columbus Day for making me almost forget that today is Wednesday and almost forgetting this link-up. But fear not, confessors, I somehow made it!

 

I confess that...

I totally am messed up for this week, it's official. Today is Tuesday not Wednesday. Not that I'm complaining though!official have registered for the GRE. I am actually planning on applying to business schools, which typically ask for the GMAT. I did a whole ton of research and noticed that the majority of business schools take either GRE and GMAT. Considering that GMAT is more math intensive, I chose the GRE because I think I'll do better on it. Now, I just need to study my ass off for it. #workhardplayharder

I am obsessing over what schools to choose, right now my short list is about 8 schools. #whoops

I'm slowly getting the hang of my DSLR! I took a bunch of decent photos this weekend including an amazing headshot for my mom.

I went horseback riding on Sunday. If you follow me on snapchat (@alannaandco) you got to see a sneak peek into it. I was afraid to take too many photos because I would probably drop my phone. Anyways....I'm still sore from it. I used to ride all the time, and never got sore, even if I took a month long break from it. I guess I'm getting older?

 

I still haven't decided on what to wear for halloween yet! And I have a house party that I'm going to so I definitely need to have a good costume because I won't be hanging out in some dingy-dark bar like I usually opted to do for the past two years (and regretted it). #IdeasWelcome

Lastly, I'm hosting my first instagram loop giveaway! Of course, I #failed miserably and missed the launch time becuase I had a last minute work call, so that sucked, but oh well. Live and learn. If you want to enter, click here. It's a whole bunch of Sephora goodies.

What are you confessing this week? What are you being for Halloween?

Now onto the link-up!

Here are the ground rules for the link-up:

• Each Wednesday create a post about what’s going on in your life and confess!


• Grab the button and include it in your post or include a text link back to the link-up. This will be mandatory.


• Link up so we can see what you're confessing this week.


• Comment on at least one other blogger’s post from the link up, if there is more than one hopefully!


• Feel free to share on social media with the hashtag #HumpdayConfessions and I'll retweet.


• Enjoy!

Linking up with Life with Lolo

Say hello to this month's sponsor:

0

How to Remove Denim Stains from Your Purse

A little while back I bought this adorable Kate Spade cross body. This is the first time that I have ever used a cross body for my daily purse, and with that came an issue that I didn't even think of. It will regularly rub up against my jeans and to my dismay, your jeans will leave stains on your light purses!

 

 

So to fix this naughty little problem I found a nice simple solution that is safe for your purse! I can't believe how easy this was.

I took Simple Make-up remover wipes and they were completely able to remove all the dark jean stains on my light purse. Any alcohol-free make-up wipe should be able to do the trick. I use Simple because there are no extra chemicals that could damage the leather on my purse. I just wiped for a couple minutes before all the blue stains on my light purse completely came off onto the wipe.

After a little bit of cleaning, the purse looked a lot better. I was able to get off almost all of the jeans stains and went off to clean the rest of the purse with the wipe. After that i went back and doubled up with some purse protectant. The one I use is directly from Michael Kors and can be used on handbags, shoes, and suede.

 

Not 100% gone, but much better, right?

Do you ever have this problem with your purses? What do you do to avoid stains on your purses?

46

My New Unexpected Love: Press-on Nails

Like most girls, I definitely like a good spa day once a month (or more...) but sometimes a girls gotta stick to her budget. I don't know about you but whenever I paint my nails, they typically last a day or two before they get chipped. To fix that I would used to go and get a gel manicure at the salon, but each manicure costs $20+ and you need to go back every two weeks or so. Ah! No thank you.

Now here's how you can get salon looking nails, that last for 1-2 weeks for a quarter of the price. Press-ons. Yeah, you heard me right!

If I say so myself, I think they look pretty good. So when imPress contacted me about their new line of manicure nails, I was more than happy. I typically go for the usual french, but imPress have a variety of colors, styles, and even gems that you can put on to the top of the nails, too.

They are even easier to put on than other press on nails because you don't need glue! They have an adhesive backing that you just need to peel of and press onto your nail. No more accidental glue mishaps (I've totally glued two fingers together before...)

My only issue with them is that they don't come in petite size. I know I'm not alone with having baby sized hands and with that comes baby sized nail beds. Unfortunately, since they didn't have petite size nails I had to file and cut down all of the nails before they fit on my hand. However they still looked good after some work at it.

With the petite size nails, all you need to do is find the size that fits each nail, glue, press-on, and wait a minute for the glue to dry. The total time it takes me to finish the entire manicure is about 10-15 minute. With the imPress nails, since I had to file and cut them down it took me about 20 minutes to finish the manicure. It's so easy, fast, and inexpensive! I don't know why I ever considered going to a salon for a manicure before.

I use a couple tips to make sure my nails last as long as possible.

1. Select the right size for your nail. Make sure that they aren't too big or else the nail will catch and pop off easier. If they don't have the right size, you can cut them down and file them to fit.


2. Take care of your cuticles and cut them down or push them back before applying.


3. Right before you start, wash your hands with soap, then rub a little bit of acetone on your nails. imPress nails come with a prep pad that works just the same (if not better!)

Since last week when I first applied the nails, I've been able to:

• Typed easily, without any unusual typos.


• Taken out my contacts, and put them back in.


• Opened a can of Diet Coke, every day.


• Eaten finger food (wings, to be exact.)


• Pulled cards out of my wallet.


• Picked food from my teeth.


• Pulled on tight jeans.


• Held a coffee and taken photos with them.

And they still look great!

Have you ever tried press-on nails? Do you like them as much as I do?

Powered by BrandBacker. I received these products for free in exchange for an honest review.

0

Humpday Confessions | When I Remembered How Tough Yoga Is

It's that day again! You ready to confess?

 

I confess that...

My weekends always go by too fast! Or maybe I'm just having too much fun...Either way, they're definitely not long enough.

I'm finally buying fall clothes. I bought two new pairs of jeans (one's purple), three sweaters, a new workout outfit, and my Stitchfix is coming next week. This might sound like overkill but I honestly don't have clothes for in-between weather like it's been. I'm either in a bikini and summer dress or a parka. If you haven't heard about Stitchfix, here's a round-up of how that works.

I'm feeling a lot better than I was last week. I started complaining to my mom about all the issues I was complaining about in the post and she literally tells me, "Sounds like first world problems." #ThanksMom

I have my computer back! I had just upgraded to Windows 10 and a whole bunch of applications and drivers just decided they didn't like it, so I had to take it in to get it all fixed up. I was without a laptop for two weeks. It was a struggle. #Bloggerproblems

I have no idea what I want to be for Halloween or what I'm doing. I feel like everyone is getting prepped and I just don't care really this year. I do really want to dress Starla up however...

This weekend is my Mom's birthday and we're going on a cabin adventure. It's about two hours away and Starla can come. I couldn't be more excited to truly disconnect for a while. #NoWiFiNoProblems

I'm putting more thought into furthering my education. Except I always get caught up in the small things. Right now I'm worried that the GRE/GMAT will be too hard for me to take. I think I just need to schedule the test to make myself study for it and just try. What's the worst thing that will happen? I'll get a bad score and know what I need to study for the next time I take it? Have you all taken GMAT or GRE?

 

After you all chimed in about work hours last week, I agreed and switched my hours to 8-4 p.m. So much better. I don't even know what I was thinking trying to sleep in. Having that extra hour in the evening is so much better!

We also have free yoga at work on Tuesdays so I decided to pop in and give it a try. I haven't done yoga in years because I always opted to do pilates instead, but this was hard. When we were doing corpse at the end, I was fighting not to take a nap right there.

 

What are you confessing this week?

Now onto the link-up!

Here are the ground rules for the link-up:

• Each Wednesday create a post about what’s going on in your life and confess!


• Grab the button and include it in your post or include a text link back to the link-up. This will be mandatory.


• Link up so we can see what you're confessing this week.


• Comment on at least one other blogger’s post from the link up, if there is more than one hopefully!


• Feel free to share on social media with the hashtag #HumpdayConfessions and I'll retweet.


• Enjoy!

Linking up for #HashtagHumpday.

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Five Ways to Optimize your Blogger SEO

There's always that debate about Wordpress vs Blogger and why which is better. I've talked to you about why I moved to Blogger from Wordpress.com, Helene's a great "Blogger" blogger and has covered the great debate between the two platforms, and there's many many other posts that you'll find out there telling you which is better. But regardless of all that buzz, today I'll be talking to you about how to optimize your SEO for your Blogger or Blogspot blog!

 

Wordpress definitely makes SEO a bit easier with their plugins and additions but for us "Blogger" Bloggers, we need to be a bit more creative!

Make sure your blog is searchable and has a description.

You can find this by going into your blogger account, clicking Settings, then click on "privacy" on the first page. You'll find a part that looks like this. Make sure that both are selecting "Yes."

 

Secondly, go down to "Search Preferences" under Settings. There should be a description option right at the top of the page. Go through and write up a short but detailed description of things that your blog is about and what you write about. Here's what mine is:

If you don’t have a blog description, Google will pull up the first line of text of one of your recent posts instead. That may mean you aren’t always putting your blog’s best foot forward.

For example, this is what my blog description looked like before I changed it to be more descriptive. That looks so bad! What does that even tell readers about my content?

Sub-Headings and Headings

I use sub-headings to separate each part of my post in a list format, which if you can't tell is one of my favorite styles of writing my posts! I like being able to skim through and see the breaks in the content, and guess what, so do search engines! Search engines specifically look for heading tags because they generally have important information regarding the content of the post. Use them!

 

 

Search Description

At first when I saw this, I thought I should just type in keywords. No! You want to write a short description in sentence form, maybe 150-200 characters, describing what the post is about. Otherwise, if you don't type in a search description, search engines will pull up the first part of your post. Take a quick peek back at the first paragraph or so of my post. It's a lot of nice fluff to pull your attention into the post, but for a search engine, not a very good at describing what the post is going to convey.

Now that I typed in a search description this is what search engines will pull up about your post. In addition, if you link your posts to Facebook, this will be the short caption underneath your shared link on Facebook.

Image Titles

So there's two steps to this, and one I just learned as I was typing this post! First is image titles before uploading your photos. Google looks at your photo titles when searching for keywords in a post, and they are the only thing google looks at when doing image searches. So for example, I started taking screen caps and labeling them "1" "2" "3" in order of where they would fall in this post. That's not what you're supposed to do. Even if I labeled the photos as "Blogger Blospot SEO 1" that still isn't descriptive enough for google.

What I should have done was labeled the photos something along the lines of "Blogger SEO Search Description" for the last photo that I have above. That way the photos have the keywords of exactly what they are showing.

Image Alt Text & Title Text

After uploading an image when composing your post, you can click on it and it will pull up a menu for sizing, centering, adding a caption etc. The option you are looking for in that window is “Properties” and this is where all your SEO information should go.

 

There are two options: one for title text, and one for alt text. Your title text is another way of labeling your photo. It can be more wordy and in sentence form. One huge point for you to remember about title text is that when someone goes to pin your image, that is the text that is pulled up by Pinterest! Many templates for blogger already have some sort of written code in it that will automatically add title text to your photos if you do not specify it. For my template, it will automatically pull the post title and then put " | Alanna & Company" at the end of it. Since I'm not a blog designer, I'm really not sure where that code is or how to change it. Definitely get in touch with your blog designer if your photos aren't automatically pulling some sort of text. Or you can manually add your title text in.

Alt text is what is more important to search engines than title text. Since google can’t see an image, alt text is what google determines what your image is actually about. Also, if your image doesn't load, these are the words that will show in place of the image. You'll need to keep your alt text a bit more consise and organic and since you already titled your images like that, you can type your alt text in as exactly what the image was titled. So again, I would title the photo "Blogger SEO Search Description" or something along those lines depending on which photo it was.

I know this all seems like a lot to do for each post, but trust me, it'll help you in the end! Just keep these five steps in mind and it'll do miracles for your blog. The best thing about it, is that you can test it, too! After you start implementing these tricks to your blog and blog posts, take a quick peek and search your blog on google. You'll see the difference with your own eyes.

 

What tricks do you use to help your SEO for your blog?

 

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