Hello, it’s me. Bad to the Blonde – Dani on the Daily.
As a new blogger, someone had to create this inspiration. The inspiration to become a blogger and vlogger (Lauren “Loz” Curtis, Casey Neistat and Zoella were my inspiration to vlog my life on YouTube) was found on Instagram when I came across these awesome feeds which then led me to their websites/blogs. These people are as follows – in no particular order.
First up…
The Blonde Abroad – I favor blondes, alright? We stick together. Kiersten you sucked me in, girl. She is living my dream life – the dream life. Her website is my absolute fav with the little touch of Barbie. I love her “The Blonde Abroad” logo – #nailedit – her brand is on point in every aspect (and my inspiration). I love how there is movement on her website with videos right in your face (you can spend hours on her site), bright colors and so much information laid out in a simple with a lot going on. Her YouTube videos are so much fun to watch. Can we collaborate? Oh, before I forget, who designed your website? And can they design mine?
Cons – Nothing. I really can’t name one. Okay, the website is a little too busy, and there is a lot going on and I want to see it all at once. One more thing – her Instagram is super professional whether she is really good at taking her own photos or I just really suck at taking mine (both are correct), I would assume she has an extra hand in the art department.
Then there is…
Natasha “Tash” Oakley – I love the balance and simplicity of her blog. Plus, who wouldn’t want to be her? Even for one day – I would love to switch places. A girl can dream right? She is a swimsuit designer and professional model who gets the travel the world for work and for fun. We all dream of living in a bikini and she made it happen.
Cons – This is a dream life and very few of us get to go to St. Barths, the Hamptons, Mykonos, Italy and Capri for a weekend- you get my point. It makes for a damn good Instagram feed versus what my daily surroundings produce. This is not my reality (most likely not yours either) so following is just for fun. Like I said above, a girl can dream right?
Next up…
Tamara Waterston of Champagne and Macaroons – She is Minnesotan like me so I have to support her but she is really from Texas (I also love Texas). Just like her about me section – her blog and IG is a relaxing place for me to creep. She makes me miss the “lake life”. She is an all-American girl. Easy to relate to.
Cons – She needs to be more Minnesotan and her photos lack color – Minnesota is a beautiful, colorful place and I don’t see that part in her feed (and it makes me sad). Without knowing she lives in Minnesota, I would have thought she lived in Oregon or Washington because of the gloominess. I am also not a fan of some of these filters bloggers are using but I understand the importance of a good looking feed. She is too much of a city girl and doesn’t represent a Minnesotan in my eyes – where are the bonfires and the seasonal fun? I might be being too harsh on her because I was born and raised north of the Twin Cities ( in the “middle of no where”), and I grew up snowmobiling, ice fishing, living the lake life, backyard BBQs, drinking “Natty Ice” at bonfires, playing pond hockey, etc. Her profile lacks the character and color of what makes Minnesota awesome (where is her purple pride and Minnesota Wild christmas colors?) . I am not being very “Minnesota nice”. Eh? It’s Texan. I give her a solid B.
Next…
Passport to Friday – For only 20, Chelsea Martin has her shit together. Great brand name. Her career works for the blog and vice versa – all the pieces are there for the puzzle. And she has a great colorful Instagram feed (which is where I found her and decided to follow her). She doesn’t have a lot of followers and maybe because her followers are real and not paid people, and like me, I am just letting people find me themselves and hoping they stay. Her Instagram is the perfect balance of her living her life and those perfect blog type photos (flat lays, space, scenery). Why do I feel like I am a Grandpa learning how to use a computer and these 20 somethings look like professional models with celebrity lives traveling the world and I can’t even get a free trip to Napa for some wine vlogs (I think I am quite funny and entertaining – plus you would really want to hang out with me, just ask Brian)? Where am I going wrong? Did I go to college for the wrong thing? We actually had this debate in a journalism class more than five years ago (I have a bachelor’s degree in journalism) and we all agreed that journalism isn’t blogging and blogging isn’t journalism. Now I agree to disagree. Look what I am doing and how the times have changed. We saw it coming.
Cons – She is a travel consultant so she has a “leg up” on the rest of us. Smart way to make some extra (or a lot of) money by combining it with her blog and vice versa – she’s a specialist. Hopefully it works for her. I am going to say though, that I see “stereotypical” blog stuff on her website like a typical travel blogger. But it is simple – which is why I like it. How are people seriously doing this? My iPhone is always blurry and even when I try to take a picture of my fro-yo that matches my Leggings of the Month Club, it gets deleted. Get it girl. Keep doing what you’re doing.
Next…
Meg_Legs A.K.A. Styled Avenue – Girl, you are what I feel like I am inside but I just don’t have the wardrobe. I want to be you (if only I was a few inches taller)! She really is fashionable with “not too much thought put into it”. I like a #basicbitch. You find fashion through “people on the street, color palettes, magazines” and I find fashion through you. Plus – props for starting your blog while working two jobs. She is like the cute tomboy that I think I am – but I am not. I wish I wasn’t so lazy but I really go to dog park, go to workout, occasionally travel for work (rarely for vacation even though my jobs/gigs/bookings really feel like a vacation to me with the bonus of a sweet paycheck) and pretend to live in a bikini so that “fashion” part of my life is pretty much non-exsistent. Maybe I just need to add some more basic pieces to my wardrobe? But then again, I feel like that’s all I have in there and I still don’t dress like @meg_legs. Can I have a life coach? Personal stylist? Can we be friends? Maybe I do need a real job so I can become a better blogger! It would force me to get dressed everyday.
Cons – Is it Meg Legs or Styled Avenue – pick one because now I am thrown off and I have OCD and need consistency! And why can’t I be taller, I am jealous of those long legs! Dammit. Alright, who takes your photos? If I could just get that part right maybe it would help my brand because who reads the text anyway? If you have gotten this far, thank you! Lastly, she is like a biker chick who isn’t one. That’s my pet peeve with the leather fashion trend right now – biker chicks wear leather and boots for a reason and not because it’s a fashion statement. Even though it is a hot one and I love it. Do you ride?
Last but not least…
Jessakae – You’re kinda like a @meg_legs but who shares her love life and two dogs. You are adorable, and a little more girly than @meg_legs, which I like because I feel like I am one extreme or the other (can I just fart and drink beer or can I be Miss America today) and you show me (depict) that balance, and you are a #dogmom so I love you even more. You are relatable. And I am a little jealous – inspired – but in a good way! You’re “Flybird” blog drew me in – that American pride – is why I became a follower and a fan.
Cons – “You photograph the best bloggers around” so your “brand” and blog and Instagram – are perfectly put together. But who shoots you? Or do you SERIOUSLY photography yourself? Your perfectly styled hair, “perfect couple” status and dogs that look like stuffed animals that do the purse thing – that annoys me (yes, I am a fan of bigger dogs vs. smaller dogs) – it is a little too Cali girl for me. Your perfectly put together Instagram and blog is probably because you are a professional (and damn good) fashion and commercial photographer so once again you got a leg up – and I wish we lived closer so we could shoot. Maybe some day?
That’s a wrap.
So there you have it – the bloggers I love with a little sarcasm (from yours truly) thrown in there! It takes talent to do this. Time. More time. Money. More money. Skill. And some more skill. But I have come this far and I have loved every minute of it – and spend every minute doing it.
I guess what I am taking away from all this is that it is ok to edit yourself but I hate the filters and the editing part because it isn’t real, and I am a professional model – I really don’t like to say that but I get paid to work as a commercial model – which is less editing than fashion, etc., but I can’t say that because I am way to short to even consider being a fashion model.
I really want to make blogging my full-time job since I am a very real, unfiltered and an unedited person who needs work (financially and internally) just like the rest of us. Plus, as a journalist who has spent most of my time in broadcasting and live TV…print is very relaxing. I love to write. I really enjoying lifestyle blogging.
Thank you for sticking with me! I want you to know that we can have a glass of wine together or a couple of beers and shoot the shit. I really think I was a boy in my previous life.
I like motorcycle boots and pleather leggings, and can’t wait town a bike again someday (after all this debt is paid off). But let’s be real – congrats to all of you and keep on killin’ it girl.
I want you to know that I am a cheap ass and don’t have hundreds and hundreds of dollars to spend on outfits and photoshoots – I have wine and dog food to buy, a truck payment (I am proud to say I own my dream vehicle even though I can’t afford it) and rent to pay. And I am a single. And a dog mom.
I find “class” in camo and a bright pair of wedges with a fun dress because when you wear dresses you don’t have to wear underwear. I am a redneck. I love my roots. I am a Minnesotan, country girl at heart. I don’t need to be cute to sit by the bonfire and if I walk down the dock in wedges – people are going to stare – it’s just not needed.
Someone told me in a recent photoshoot to leave the leather and motorcycle boots (look) behind – now that I am thinking about that – screw you. That is who I am. I am not a Cali girl on the beach. I don’t live in bikinis like runway and high fashion models in a bikini. I like to live life wide open. I like to live like a “rebel without a cause”. I want to drink beer with the boys and sit in the garage.
But at the end of the day (and in those moments) I still want to look and feel beautiful inside and out – whether you agree or disagree. I have a tough, wild heart. I am a motorsports reporter and I do some modeling. If I let people’s comments get to me and dictate my emotions…I would have never made it this far. I hustle for my paychecks, and the jobs come and the jobs go. I know the people who I have worked with, and my family and friends, and even the people on Facebook that I have never met in person – there is as much love, joy and fun for you and our moments as there is from me in return.
So I am going to drink wine in motorcycle boots and pleather pants, or maybe have a shot of whiskey in my cowgirl boots, and let me party like the country girl I am with my country music blaring in the middle of a wide-open field. I am going to be loud and crazy because that is when I feel the most alive and free.
I am a wild one with an angels face.
Be classy, sassy and a bit bad assy.
XOXO