19 Things I Think You Should Know About My Family

Guess who is here with you today??! That's right, it's a Veenie takeover day!

My mom is having a serious blogging rut lately, so she decided to take her own advice and just go through her list of Blog Post Ideas For When You're in a Rut! And wouldn't you dog gone know it (hah).... have your DOG take over is the very first thing on the list!

Mom told me I could post today about anything I wanted. I ran the first idea that came to mind by her, "Reasons why my pee smells better on that patch of grass than your dog's pee. Reason one, this is my patch of grass, bitch." Unfortunately, she stopped me right there in my tracks (hah, a little more dog humor) and ruled out that post topic even though I had about 47 more reasons to give.

So instead, I decided to spill some secrets about me and my family you might not know. I even have a few insider secrets about Mr. CB for you! Heck, Mr. CB has walked in on me on more than one occasion as I was getting out of the shower, so he might as well be family at this point right?

1. My mom eats pizza in bed. Like, really often.

2. When my mom leaves for work, I have to get locked in the bedroom because I thoroughly enjoy pooping and peeing in one very specific spot in the living room. I could get into the reasons that my poop and pee belong on that one spot in the living room, but my mom ruled that out, remember?

3. I don't believe in personal space. It's overrated.

4. Gee doesn't like to be touched while he's sleeping. Not so much as just light grazing on his fur, by a paw or fingernail. He gets angry and yells at me. I sometimes cry. I just want to make my big brother proud :(

5. Mr. Cb has two cats that he's had for 11 years. They do not like me and Gee.... at all. Well, I can honestly see why they wouldn't like Gee. I mean he tries to eat their poop AND their food. But how could you not like little ole me? I just want to be friends!

6. I know Mr. CB's real name and what he looks like.... and you don't!!! Nanny nanny boo boo!

7. My brother is obsessed with squirrels. We go to the dog park and all he does, the whole time, is bark up at the squirrels in the tree. He never even says hi to any of the other dogs. I'm for sure the social butterfly of the family, just like my mommy!

8. I either love you or hate you.... there is no in between. For example, if you're riding a bike, I hate you. What the heck do you think you are? Half man, half machine? I just don't understand, therefore, I do not approve.

9. The only thing I've ever seen Mr. CB choose over hanging with my mom on the weekend, is duck hunting. Otherwise the two of them are inseparable. Props to my momma on those weekends though, because she will usually steal Mr. CB's girl friends away that night for a girl's night out on the town! Mr. CB always ends up having a baaaaad case of FOMO. I can see it all over his face when he gets back!

10. Both Gee's birthday and my birthday is next month! He will be 7 years old and I will be 3! Do you guys think this is a good age for me to start wearing under eye cream before bed?

11. Playing fetch is my jam, but I like to make mom work for it too. I'll put the ball down just slightly out of her reach, to where she has to get up out of the chair to throw it for me. It's hilarious to see how irritated she gets!

12. Mom has never ever given us people food. But Mr. CB sneaks us some off his plate allllllll the time. Don't tell my mom ok?????

13. I've never seen mom happier. True story.

14. Mr. CB and mom turned the Seahawks vs. Packers game off with 6 minutes to go when the score was 19-7! Bahahahahahaha! They missed the greatest comeback ever! Suckers.

15. I love little kids and I'm really good with them! They are close to the ground, just like I am, so they don't scare me like those big scary men on the bicycles. I sit down and show my belly anytime a little boy or girl comes up for pets.... and get this, they always rub my belly and giggle! My mom is so proud of me for being so well behaved around kiddos. I get pets, and my mom tells me what a good girl I am... it's a win win!

16. Mom will drop money on literally anything if she thinks it will be hilarious. She is usually spot on..... exhibit A:

17. Giving face licks makes my world go round. My mom secretly looooooves my face licks, but pretends not to because Mr. CB doesn't like them for some ODD reason. I literally can't even imagine not liking them??!

18. We all snuggle together. A lot.

19. I often get so excited that I pee myself 

  So those are just a sampling of things I think you should know about my family! I hope you learned something new today. Perhaps mom will let me return and spill even more beans in the near future!  BYEEEEEEEEEEEE!

7 Tips for Balancing a Blog + A Full Time Job

Working a full time job is time consuming enough, but when you add a blog and a blog design business on top of it all, it starts to take over your life. For quite a while, when I was really struggling to make new friends in Dallas, I welcomed the constant time spent at the computer. Now that my whole life has changed, and my social agenda has bulked up,  I had to maximize my productivity in the after work hours.  Giving up blogging or designing was never on the table. This blog is one of my proudest accomplishments, I genuinely enjoy blogging. I just needed to figure out how to have it all while doing it all! 
I used to use my desktop computer all the time, but as of late, I haven't so much as touched a key on that keyboard. I need to be able to work from anywhere, at any time. If I'm over at CB's on the couch, at Starbucks or even at one of our monthly neighborhood events. I often times feel more creative or inspired when I'm out and about anyway. 


I was lucky enough to test drive the HP Stream tablet with Intel Inside®, and incorporate it into my blog and design routine. The HP Stream is a new kind of tablet with Intel Inside®. Not only is it lightning fast because of the Intel Inside®, but get this, it comes with free 4G data right out of the box. Yes, I'm not joking, free 4G data. That is huge for me, it literally means I can work anywhere! It also comes with a year of Office 365, and 1TB of free cloud storage for one year, so I can save all of my gigantic photo files, no problem. This tablet allows me to #WorkFromHappyPlace, which for me, is essentially anywhere with CB! Haha, sorry for that mushy-ness y'all!!!! I just can't help myself sometimes! 

Over the past several months, I've picked up some great tips that have worked for me to continue to run my blog and Social&Chic, while having a full time job. 
1. Write everything down.I have ideas all day long. If I have a great idea, and I don't write it down, poof it's gone, and sometimes within seconds. I'm weird in that I like to email myself the idea, but I'm sure most people would use a reminder app. Whatever you prefer, type your great blog post idea up and save it for later! 

2. Constantly be drawing inspirationDesigns don't just pop out of thin air. I struggle with color combinations. Always be on the lookout for colors, textures, patterns etc that catch your eye. Snap a photo and use those colors or that pattern in your next design. 

3. Make everything an adventureGreat bloggers always have content because they turn ordinary meals out or neighborhood events into something memorable. Use your nights, and the fun things you go do to your advantage. Everything can be a blog post if you look at it that way. Document everything in a way that tells a story. Take your readers out with you, and you'll always have easy, fresh content.

4. Take pictures on top of picturesThere is no such thing as taking too many pictures. The more pictures you have, the easier it makes blogging, and in turn, the faster you have a post up! 

5.Don't be bashfulYou've got to get over worrying about people around you. If you see a great photo opp, but there are people around and you're embarrassed, you'll never get the shot. Take the same approach to blogging that you take to vacationing... who cares, you'll never see these people again! 

6. Make every space your work spaceSure we all see those beautiful Pinterest work spaces with the gold stapler and inspirational "get it guuuurl" posters hanging on the walls, but when you are a busy girl constantly on the go, that work space collects dust. Put your tablet in your purse at all times, and you can work from anywhere. 

7. Tell Your FriendsI know there is a lot of debate in blog land on whether or not to tell your friends about your blog. Personally, I tell everyone that I have this blog, because I am so proud of it! Look at all the effort you're putting in, why wouldn't you want your friends to be apart of that? I find that my friends often notice things that would be great for the blog, and will point them out to me! 

What are some tips you've acquired over the years for balancing a blog and a full time job? I'd love to ready about some ideas I may have missed!