How I Bought a House as a Self-Employed 24 Year Old

Buying a house has been an exciting, stressful, wonderful experience that was a wild ride beginning to end. I documented a lot of the process on Instagram and I got a handful of questions (and assumptions 🙃) about how I bought a house at 24.  Now, here’s a bit of a spoiler alert: I live in an area where housing is super accessible. I dipped into my savings account for the down payment, and now my monthly mortgage is significantly less than my rent was. With that said, I have always been really good with money. My parents would get… View Post

Shopping Sustainably for Beginners (Even if You’re Broke)

I’ve spent a long time ignoring that nagging voice in the back of my head reminding me how important converting to a more ethical lifestyle and shopping sustainably is. Truth is, I’ve been comfortable ignoring big issues and living my life worry free. As I get older I realize how irresponsible that is. A few big realizations I’ve had are: my decisions has consequences, my decisions do make a difference, and I am responsible for making decisions to live my life in a way that causes as little harm to others as possible. And a big slap in the face was realizing how… View Post

Thrift Shopping: A Beginners Guide to Finding Hidden Gems at the Thrift Shop

Thrift shopping can be intimidating if you don’t know what to look for. I used to always see girls finding incredible pieces at places like Goodwill and the Salvation Army. I, on the other hand, was finding windbreakers and high school spirit shirts from 2002. Now? When I go thrift shopping I’m confident that I’ll find cool pieces that fit well or can be DIY’d. It took me time to figure out, but I wanted to minimize the learning curve and give you my tips. But first… Why thrift shop?  A lot of people think that thrift shopping is overrated,… View Post

Summer Traditions: The Freight House Farmers Market

Summer is my jam. I actually love being what others would consider to be uncomfortably hot and I don’t mind the sticky sweaty mess that comes with my favorite season. Summer traditions I have a handful of summer traditions that make the season that much sweeter. Sundays spent on the river with my dad, Friday afternoons at my grandparents, and going hiking as much as humanely possible. Another one of my favorite traditions? Saturday mornings at the Farmer’s Market. The Quad Cities has been growing so much in the past few years, and one of the best additions (in my humble opinion)… View Post

What I Wish I Knew My First Year of College

This is a sponsored post in collaboration with BabbleBoxx. All opinions are my own. It’s that time of year again—all of my college posts have tripled in traffic and my inbox is full of questions from new college freshman who found my blog and are looking for guidance. While I’m past the college chapter of my life, I was looking back at my freshman year and asking myself how I’ve changed and what I know now that I didn’t know then. While I’m not a college blogger anymore, I want to share the ten things I wish I’d known my first… View Post