a very voguish introduction

Sometimes it amazes me that it has already been over 2 years since I began blogging here at Voguish. It's quite fun for me to look back through all of these posts, which I've been doing a lot lately as I've been contemplating how this blog has changed and grown along with my style and my writing.

Now that we've commenced The Right Type Society and I've had a chance to begin connecting to other bloggers that I admire, I've been thinking a lot about my blog content and how it appears to new readers. I know that someday soon I'd like to reformat my blog into a real domain, perhaps restyle it and redesign it to something a bit more official and personal. I'm a very basic blog user at this point. 

It occurred to me that as I write posts, they tend to disappear into the archives without any trace. I don't have many ways for readers to find popular posts or to sort by subject. I intend to work on those problems in the near future, but for now I thought I'd gather a collection of posts that I think represent this blog, and myself, in the best possible way.

Past posts, left to right: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6

Outfits | Remixing |

Frocktober | Style Crushes |

Novel Dress

This blog began in January of 2013. I had been blogging for a few years over at Once Upon a Wife Life, which I started when my husband and I moved to Virginia in 2011 for him to attend law school. The posts over there were very long and photo heavy, like diary entries for our close family and friends to follow along with while we were gone. While I enjoyed documenting our years in Virginia, the long posts began to feel very laborious. I wanted a blog space that was light, natural, and could accommodate a larger readership. 

I predominantly began by posting outfits, which eventually led to my development of the Frocktober Sisterhood. (I'd love for you to join me this year!). Every October I wear a dress every single day, to spark inspiration and challenge my creativity. I really enjoy remixing my clothes and finding new innovative ways to wear them.

I very recently began to create Style Crush posts, where I feature someone (typically a celebrity) whose style I admire. Those posts have included Lily James, Emma Watson, and of course the Pixie Cut. I want one, but will probably never get one - I have The Fear.

My most recent style-inspired series has been very bookish. I call it Novel Dress. I take some of my all-time favorite books and pair them with matching dresses from one of my favorite online boutiques, Ruche. They're incredibly fun posts just designed to delight and inspire. I love them. 

Istanbul, Turkey

Travel

A natural progression of this blog was to begin posting about our travels. I started posting weekly Wanderlust Wednesday posts to highlight some of my favorite places.

My husband and I traveled a lot during law school. (We were actually engaged on a family trip in Ireland, which is perhaps where our wanderlust began). We were able to take advantage of his spring breaks and summers by booking great deals and using airbnb.com to find inexpensive places to stay. It was such an incredible part of our early marriage.

Being from Arizona, we also really enjoyed the historic day trips that were suddenly at our disposal. We went to Washington D.C. often, and loved going to North Carolina along with friends whose families lived there. We especially enjoyed the N.C. State Fair. We were even able to make longer trips to New York, Georgia, and Charleston, S.C. to eat incredible Southern food and tour around our (my) favorite film spots in The Notebook.

A very lofty goal of mine would be to travel blog full time, being sent across the world to document and review various locations. Sigh. That's the dream.

Personal Interests

I love cats. I am an introvert. (Perhaps those are one and the same). I am the absolute worst at talking on the telephone. I'm a big fan of watching TV, which occasionally comes in the form of guilty pleasure shows like Reign on The CW. My Reign posts accidentally became my most popular posts on this blog. I also love movies, and my favorite movie of all time is definitely Ever After. Sometimes I watch it multiple times a day.

I am an avid reader. I think that reading is one of the most worthy pursuits a human can have. I often post about book clubs, my favorite books, and Harry Potter. (My favorite Harry Potter character is Sirius Black). I recently commenced The Harry Potter Book Club as well! You should join us!

I also enjoy writing, and most of that works itself into this blog and my more personal posts. I hope to write a book someday, which is a very scary but incredibly exciting endeavor. It's a big part of my 26-before-27 to do list!

Important Posts

I suppose my blog is a little bit of all over the place. I love to laugh and occasionally attempt to encourage laughter in others. My silliest blog entries have been about encountering snobbiness, wearing overalls, going camping, suffering through long distance best friendship, and my ever-burning hatred of love triangles.

I also blog about more serious matters. Some of them are lighthearted but important, like my desire to stop biting my nails and start living healthier. Or the concept of having a "soulhome", the joys of being an aunt, and the wistful experience of growing up without a sister. I've written about my insecurities and the incredible power of female friendships. I've also written about why moving is the worst, how proud I was of my husband through our law school journey, and of life's blessings and scars.

My most vulnerable post was earlier this year, when my husband and I found out we were pregnant. We shared that joy for one glorious week. I lost our baby at just 5 weeks. It is still a very tender heartbreak, and I struggle daily with what should have been. But we move forward, as always, together.

All of these things are such important pieces to who I am as a person and as a writer. It's one of my favorite things about blogging - having these testimonies to life, these short entries of thoughts and experiences to share with others and to remind myself of who I was and who I want to be.

While I am always humbled (and incredibly excited) when people read and interact with my blog, I always remind myself that writing is personal, creative, stimulating, and developmental. It's incredibly worthwhile, even if I am the only one to read it in the end. If you've made it this far, I heartily thank you for being here. Sharing my stories with you is a joy.