Today's post is another great guest post from another great person who is very near and dear to my heart - my best friend Sara! Sara and I met 2 years ago, shortly after she moved across the country from Boston to LA, and we instantly clicked. We ended up walking together at graduation, and we recently launched our own podcast, The Quarter Life Crisis Club. Sara is here today to share her tips on moving cross-country, some great things to keep in mind if you are planning a move soon. Enjoy!
I grew up in the suburbs of Boston, but moved to the Los Angeles area in 2016 to pursue a degree in marketing and to close the gap between myself and my long-distance boyfriend of 3 years (at the time, now 6.5 years :)).
Moving cross-country was a huge decision, but I’m so glad I did it, and I learned a few valuable things along the way.
So, without further ado, here are the 5 most important things I learned when I moved across the country. (more…)
A little over a year ago, I graduated from college and started working full time. This last year has been a whirlwind of change for me, and it keeps getting faster and more complicated to navigate… as it does for anyone in their 20’s. From navigating career growth, relationships, and finances to complicated life lessons such as car accidents, moving on your own, and dealing with rejection, there is a lot to learn at this step in our lives.
Throughout the last nearly 4 years since I started Dani Dearest, we’ve grown together in all aspects of our lives, and continue to do so as we start to step into this new territory of “adulting.”
A little while ago I asked you to take a survey and let me know where you’re at in your life, what your goals were for the next 2-3 years, what you’re struggling with right now, and what you want me to help you with. You answered and I listened.
You want to find and step onto your career path, become financially independent, and feel happy. Some of you want to graduate from grad school, some of you want to move across the country, and some of you want to get married. Some of you want to build your own business, some of you want to land your dream job, and some of you want to travel the world.
Throughout everything you said, there was one major consistency: Learning.
Learning how to budget, how to get healthy, how to nail a job interview, how to plan a wedding, how to travel frugally, how to make friends outside of school, and even learning more about me (how cool is that!?)
Dani Dearest is going to continue to be your source to learn, grow, and excel in your life and studies – like we’ve always been – but today I’m excited to offer you something more.
When thinking about what you are struggling with and want to learn about, I thought “what do I do when I am struggling with something?” My answer? Talk with my best friend, Sara. Sara and I are at very similar places in our lives, and when we’re dealing with something we sit down and talk it out for hours to find the best solution way to navigate through it. Afterall, that’s what best friends are for.
Your 20’s can often feel like you’re experiencing a Quarter Life Crisis – feeling stuck, unsure, and like you’re waiting for your life to begin. That’s why nearly a year ago I launched the Quarter Life Crisis Club Facebook Community: a place where women in their quarter life crises can connect, share, seek advice, and help others. A few months later, my friend Sara joined as my co-owner of this group, and it gave us an idea. (more…)
Today's post is a guest post is about traveling on a budget and is brought to you by my boyfriend, Anthony.
Anthony and I have successfully gone on numerous vacations while staying to a strict budget, helping us save a ton of money to prepare for our futures. Today, Anthony is sharing his frugal vacationing/travelling tips with all of you!
When thinking about traveling or going on a vacation, it’s easy to worry about the large amount of money which it can cost. As someone who lives frugally, this is something that’s constantly on my mind. Recently, I have learned how to unlock the secrets to traveling on a budget.
However, over the years, Dani and I have discovered how to travel and take simple vacations on a budget!
While the first step to being able to take a vacation on a budget is identifying the budget and the amount that you would like to stay under – how do you make sure that you’re able to enjoy yourself while not going over or stressing about your budget?
Here are some tips to getting in those vacations for cheap. Read More!
This post contains affiliate links, which help to keep Dani Dearest running. Learn more about these links here!
My Relationship With Food
Food has always been a source of anxiety for me.
As someone with a significant food allergy to an incredibly common ingredient (gluten), my relationship with food has been rocky for many years. When I moved out of my parents house and into my college dorm it got a lot worse. My school’s cafeteria was not accommodating at all, and quite often the chefs would say things like “well can’t you just have it anyway?” when I requested alternatives to the bread or pasta or pizza they were serving. I was required by my school to have a meal plan and did not have a kitchen in my dorm, so I lived off of microwavable gluten-free meals like oatmeal and mac and cheese, while paying for a meal plan I couldn’t use. Definitely not the healthiest situation.
My second year in college was a little bit better, my mother and I were able to fight to get me into a dorm with a kitchen so I was able to drop my meal plan and cook my own food. Thus became the struggle with… well… let’s be honest, I was a terrible cook.
I would get back to my dorm after a long day of classes and meetings and work and realize, oh no… I forgot to go to the grocery store. I would panic, my blood sugar would be low, I would be desperate to eat anything so I would order nachos at a local mexican restaurant for the 4th time that week just in order to eat something.
Finally, my 3rd year in college, something clicked and I started meal prepping.
Since then, my relationship with food has been growing and getting under control. I have not only been able to feel less anxiety over where my next meal is coming from but I have been able to have the time to focus on nutrition, meal sizes, eating vegetables, trying new recipes, learning how to cook, and so much more. Additionally, meal prepping each week has been a fantastic way to stick to my weekly food budget and save a boat load of money.
While my boyfriend is still the chef in our relationship (thank goodness) I definitely feel a bit more confident than I previously did with grocery shopping, cooking, and taking care of my health through meal prepping. Read More!
I’m here today with a confession: I took a big unplanned hiatus from blogging.
I was burnt out, I was dealing with a lot of changes in my personal life, I was struggling to find how to connect with you as a reader, I was going through a lot emotionally, and I wasn’t able to tap into my creative brain and write.
I needed to take a break. Now I’m back, feeling refreshed, re-focused, and ready for a new beginning.
