I realized that I haven’t done a get to know me post since I started this blog, so I am going to tackle that today! I asked my followers on Instagram to “Ask Me Anything” and got some really great questions and wanted to share some of them here as well!
Q: What did you do before shifting to IG/Blogging full time?
A: Before this, I worked in marketing (more specifically paid media/advertising) for about 10 years. I worked for companies like Digitas, Lyft and WordPress.com. I learned A LOT and met so many amazing and smart people that I still keep in touch with today!
Q: How did you meet your husband?
A: This is always a fun one 🙂 We met in college! Nick sent me a Facebook message asking me if I’d want to hang out sometime (the actual details of this message are actually quite funny, but I’ll save that for another time). We chatted back and forth a few times before actually meeting in person and from there, I just couldn’t get him out of my head. I have SOOO much more to share on this topic, but will save that for another day…
Q: What school did you go to, and what was your major?
A: I went to the University of Illinois (Go ILLINI!), majored in Advertising and minored in Communication.
Q: Do you have any siblings? If so, how many?
A: I have 2 siblings, a brother (Bill) who is 5 years older and a sister (Maria) who is 7 years older!
Q: Do you ever think about what you will do when you finish all the updates to your home?
A: I DO think about this a lot! Honestly, I don’t think a house is ever truly “finished”, and I think there will always be little things I’ll want to do. We don’t plan to be in this house forever though, so I think we will probably move before we get to everything we want to update!
Q: Do you have any tips for first time DIYers? Any advice on how to just get going!?
A: I LOVE this question so dang much. Honestly, the best advice is to just get out of your head and DO IT!
A really good place to start is with paint because if you hate it, you can just paint it again! Another great place to start is just hanging things on your walls! This gives you some good practice with some basic tools like a hammer, tape measure, stud finder, levels and also drills! A drill is a really good power tool to start with. You can get a good feel of how a power tool feels in your hand and build some confidence. If you screw up (pun intended), you can always fill the hole (another great DIY to learn!).
When it comes to some of the “scarier” power tools like a jig saw or circular saw, it really comes down to educating yourself and making sure you have the right safety equipment (glasses, masks, etc) at the ready. YouTube will be your best friend! You can find really great tutorials on how to use different tools the right way. Once you feel like you know how to do it, JUST DO IT! It might be scary at first, but you WILL be able to do it. In the beginning, you might need to buy extra materials/wood in case you mess up. I’d also recommend practicing on a scrap piece of wood before doing the real thing. Mistakes happen, and that is part of the fun!
You are capable of SO much more than you think!
Q: Do you see yourself living in Naperville (Illinois) long term?
A: I think so! We really love it here and it’s the perfect middle ground between my parents, Nick’s parents and the city (Chicago). Before we moved here, so many people recommended Naperville for it’s great downtown and excellent schools, and we have been really happy here so far. In a perfect world, we would move both of our families outside of Illinois (probably somewhere with nicer weather), but that’s not likely to happen so we will likely stay put! Never say never though!
Q: Do you miss anything about San Francisco?
A: I got this question from one of my dear friends that I made while we lived in San Francisco. Nick and I moved there shortly after we got engaged and spent about 2.5 years there before moving back to Chicago to be closer to family again. We moved there for an opportunity that his job proposed, and we liked the idea of living somewhere else for a while, even though we knew we would come back eventually.
San Francisco is such a fun city, with so much to do. I think what I miss most is all the outdoor things we used to do from hiking with our pup to wine tastings in Napa and Sonoma and skiing in Lake Tahoe!
Q: Lou Malnati’s or Giordano’s?
A: This is a HOT topic in Chicago, people are very particular about their pizza! Nick and I would both choose Lou Malnati’s!
Q: Cubs or White Sox?
A: We are a house divided! Nick grew up a Sox fan, and I grew up a Cubs fan. Jury is still out on who our kids will root for!
