Category Archives: Life

5 Easy Personalized Gifts for Pet Lovers

August 30, 2018

With the week starting off with National Dog Day, it seems like the perfect time to celebrate our best furry companions! Having a dog has changed my life for the better, and I’m happy to celebrate Rigby any day of the year!

Disclosure: This post was created in partnership with Snapfish. All opinions are my own!

Earlier this month, I was thrilled when Snapfish reached out to me about working on this sponsored post featuring some of their fun and unique pet gift options. I have so many photos of Rigby, from puppy to now, that having them on my phone or in a photo album doesn’t seem like enough. Meaningful gifts reflect the time spent with family and pets, and having a reminder of this reflected in our home means a lot to me.

And really, with all that has happened over the past couple of months, the timing couldn’t be better. If you don’t follow me on Instagram, then you may not know but we had a bit of a health scare with Rigby. He was having some digestive troubles and the vet said he felt a mass.

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What No One Told Me About Blogging // A Life Update

August 13, 2018

Last week something kind of weird happened to me. I talked about it on Instagram, and I was honestly shocked at the number of comments, messages, and overall feedback I got about the whole situation. I want to share a bit more about it today because I feel like I’ve had a hard time being completely transparent lately for a multitude of reasons.

So first off, I should probably address what I think is the elephant in the room: sponsored content.

Photos by Megan of Diary of This Girl Megan

When I started blogging, I had no idea that you could make money from it, or make close to a living on it, unless you were essentially a superstar blogger or celebrity. The truth is, that over the past several months, I’ve seen a steady increase in the amount of paid projects I’ve been offered. I call them projects because often these are things that take hours to carefully plan, come up with an idea or concept, pitch, photograph, write about, send for approval, and then eventually share with the world. Often, these projects have a quick turnaround time, like in a matter of days, not weeks or months.

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Swizzle into Summer the ANGO Way with these Easy Cocktail Recipes


July 19, 2018

Recently, I’ve found myself hosting more and more gatherings at our house, which means I’m even more motivated than ever to find new recipes to try out when we have guests over. All of our guests are 21+ and, with the summer heat, it’s hard to beat an ice-cold, refreshing summer cocktail!

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by ANGOSTURA® bitters. All opinions are my own!

With cocktails, I’ve found that being adventurous leads to the best flavors. There’s always a lot of experimentation that happens, but sometimes when you find a recipe that’s just right, you don’t need to tweak it a whole lot. I mean, with a good tropical beverage, if it’s not broken don’t break it! That’s my tiki motto.

Today, I wanted to share a couple of cocktail recipes I really enjoy, and that all share something in common: the swizzle! If you’re unfamiliar, swizzling is the process of stirring a drink with crushed ice with a swizzle stick. It’s the perfect way to ensure ice is distributed evenly throughout a drink for the perfect degree of dilution. After all, why not play bartender and swizzle into summer?

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3 Days at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco // Where to Stay, Eat, & Visit in SF’s Embarcadero Neighborhood

July 2, 2018

At the beginning of June, I set off on an adventure to San Francisco. If you can believe it, I had never been before! With family in SoCal, I had yet to make the adventure up to the Bay Area. With Pinterest hosting the in the making conference for creators, it was the perfect opportunity to visit San Francisco!

Disclosure: Thanks to the Hyatt Regency San Francisco for hosting our stay! All opinions are my own.

San Francisco is a beautiful city bordering California’s bay and the Pacific Ocean. With wine country, Sausalito, Alcatraz Island, and the iconic sights of the city like the Victoria houses and cable cars, there is plenty to do and see in the city, no matter what your interest may be. Shopping, food, drink, sports, arts, and culture can be found in nearly any neighborhood, and we were thrilled to stay at the Hyatt Regency in Embarcadero, which is in one of the most exciting and interesting neighborhoods.

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25+ Books to Read This Summer // Plus, a Giveaway!

June 28, 2018

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means if you click through and make a purchase, I may make a small commission. St. Martin’s Press is kindly sponsoring the giveaway in this post. All opinions are my own!

Who can believe summer is actually here? Last week, yes. This week? Well, the weather is a bit confused about whether it’s almost July or if we’re back in spring shower mode. Random rain sprinkles at 2 pm? Eh, no thanks. I’d rather be basking in the sun, book in one hand, a glass of wine in the other.

25+ Top Beach Reads for Summer 2018, or anytime!

Shop my Furniture: Burrow Arm Chair // Similar Plant Stand + Faux Plants // Similar Side Table // Similar Lamp // Target Project 62 Pillow // Similar Geometric Sculpture

For the gray days where all I want to do is to do is curl up on my Burrow armchair, or for the beach trips or long plane rides you have planned this summer, you’re going to need a good summer read. And for that reason, I thought it was about time I dust off the old bookshelf, dig into some of my archives, and pull together a list of some of my most recommended books, plus a few new releases! While I haven’t finished each of these quite yet, they are definitely going to be read before summer is over.

If you’re curious about my top book picks AND are interested in a giveaway for a special book package to kick off your summer reading, then read on!

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