Friday Feature: Simply Emily's Designs

Emily is a fellow YouTuber who I've been watching for almost two years now.  She recently decided to start a little Etsy shop full of adorable bookmarks, and I immediately knew I wanted to feature her video explaining her new business venture. They look like really great quality and like a fun, colorful way to keep track of your reading.

Check out Simply Emily's Designs here.

Visit her YouTube Channel here.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Friday Feature: May Favorites

Friday Feature: My Tumblr Pages

Finally, my promised introduction to Tumblr!  For those of you who don't know what Tumblr is, it's basically a simplified blogging website where people post text posts (much like here on Blogger), quotes, music, and most of all lots and lots of pictures.  There is a whole Tumblr culture, made up primarily of teenage girls who look and act a certain way in the hope of becoming "Tumblr girls."  There is also a lot of weird stuff on Tumblr.  I'm talking really, really WEIRD stuff, so if you've never used the site before, be warned.

As for me, I started using Tumblr sporadically this past fall and quickly fell into the trap of the never ending scroll bar.  Seriously, you can lose hours simply scrolling down your home feed because (this is an important tip!) there is no end of the page!  I use have been doing surprisingly well with my Lenten Tumblr limitations, and I think I'll definitely maintain them for productivity's sake even after the season is over.

I use my primary Tumblr, littlespider's web as a sort of never ending inspiration board.  I don't post that many original photos, but use it mainly for sharing quotes and reblogging beautiful pictures of clothes, nature, and of course, books!  Feel free to come follow me and leave a comment with your Tumblr as well!

If you like my Sketchbook Sunday posts and would like to see more art, you can check out my portfolio Tumblr here.  I'm still working on posting and curating my art work, but I like how it's coming along so far.

Friday Feature: Spotify

Okay, so I definitely know that I am late to the party on this one.  As in, this became-a-thing-in-2011 late to the party.  But I'm going to feature it anyways because this is such a fantastic service for music lovers!

Basically, Spotify is both an online music player and an app in which you can listen to practically anything you could ever want.  You can create your own playlists and listen to online radio curated for your specific tastes. One of the reasons I didn't partake in this music platform for so long is that I didn't understand how this was anything other than a mashup of Pandora and 8tracks.  However, there are a couple of things that make Spotify unique:

1) Yes, you can follow friends to keep up with their listening habits, but you can also follow celebrities and Internet personalities as well.  You know, in case you want to add another dimension to your stalking habits.

2) You can listen to full albums!  Rather than forcing you to listen to bands similar to the one you actually want to listen to (like Pandora does), Spotify provides a discography section on each artists page, and you can listen to them like you would an album on your iPod/Phone.  As someone who likes to fully immerse myself in one band at a time, I really, really love this feature.

Needless to say, if you haven't already tried Spotify, I highly recommend that you do so.  Both the players for computer and mobile work well and are super easy to navigate, and you can sign up with your Facebook account.  Honestly, with this discover, I think my Pandora will become very, very neglected.

*I should mention that I am in no way being paid or sponsored by Spotify to promote their services.  I only ever share things I genuinely love and have discovered myself.

Friday Feature: January Favorites

Friday Feature: My Body Image

If any of you spend a lot of time haunting different corners of the Internet, you might already know that last week on Tumblr was declared Body Confidence Week.  I personally wish that I had known about this when it was going on, because it is the perfect transition into another new series I will be starting next week.  It will be called College Confidence, and it is inspired by the tradition of self-improvement New Year's resolutions.
Rather than trying to explain this new series, I will just leave you with this well-spoken video from the YouTube vlogger MorganPaigeLoves.  Hopefully this will not only prime you for some of the topics I be writing about, but that you will truly listen to the beautiful things she has to say about being a human being.

Friday Feature: Barton Hollow

I have to admit that I feel a bit bad about this Friday Feature.  I first heard "Barton Hollow" on New Year's Eve when hanging out with a friend and was instantly hooked by the bluesy, sexy sound of The Civil Wars.  I promptly went home, bought the song, and haven't been able to stop listening to it since.  I already know that this will be my favorite song of the month.

However, I feel bad about introducing you guys to this amazing song given that The Civil Wars have all but officially disbanded.  Apparently the two singers are having some internal feud and its doubtful whether or not they'll be "getting back together."

"Barton Hollow" is an amazing song nonetheless, and I hope you guys enjoy.  Happy Friday!

Friday Feature: Matt's Dorm Room

Happy Friday, lovely people!  I've decided to try a bit of a series of features here on the blog, and as it conveniently happens to be Friday, I'm calling it Friday Features.  Yep, I am just that talented.

For the first feature, I would like to introduce you to my lovely friend Matt.  He's a junior here at school and he's a resident advisor (RA) in my old dorm.  He has his own YouTube channel, MattNazario, where he makes videos about college life and traveling and whatever else strikes his fancy.  He's got a super funny, quirky way of putting things, so I'd highly suggest checking him out.

Anyways, for those of you who have followed the blog for a while you know that I attempted a few different decoration ideas during my time in the dorms, which you can find here.  Once I moved in with my grandparents I also decorated that room, and I think it's safe to say that my decorative skills have definitely improved.

But I have nothing on Matt.  He's a three-time dorm room survivor, and his room always looks fantastic!  After weeks of bugging him about it, last week he uploaded a tour of said amazing dorm room, which you can find above.  I'm still in awe.

Do you guys have any tips for decorating a small/dorm room?