20 RANDOM FACTS ABOUT ME

You visit my blog, support me & share this journey with me here. So, I thought you may want to know a bit more about me on a personal level. Here are 20 Random Facts about myself.

1. Rae is actually my middle name. It wasn't until my twenties that I really started to embrace it.

2. I'm happiest when CREATING or PLANNING something. Especially party planning. 

3. I think handwritten 'Thank You' notes never go out of style. 

4. I'll admit, I'm a big Real Housewives fan. My favorite housewife is Bethenny Frankel. #RHONY

5. I am way more productive if I write out my to-do list. 

6. I'm a WINE kinda gal. Red, White, Rosé, Sparkling….I love it all.

7. I can recite all the words to 'JUICY' by The Notorious B.I.G.

8. Music is my love language. 

9. As a kid, my report cards always said “talkative in class”. Guess some things never change.

10. FALL is my favorite season. Pumpkin spice everything.

11. I’m an ONLY child. However, I also have a 1/2 brother and 1/2 sister (same Dad, different Mom’s) 

12. I've always wanted to get a tattoo, but I'm too scared to actually do it. 

13. I love accessories. Big gold hoops are my go-to. 

14. I own a ridiculous amount of lip glosses and lipsticks. I carry at least three with me at all times. Anyone else have this problem?!

15. My favorite movie of all time is 'Dirty Dancing'.

16. The word Y'all will always be in my vocabulary. Blame it on my Southern roots.

17. I'm naturally a Red head. (and yes, a hot temper comes with it)

18. Never thought I would actually move to NEW YORK. 

19. Turning 30 was a game changer for me.

20. Always on the hunt for the best Iced Coffee. Coffee is my VICE.

Tell me something about yourself!  Comment below. 

XO, dana Rae

WHY YOUR JOB SHOULDN'T DEFINE WHO YOU ARE

Lately, I dread the question "What do you do?"  It's often the first thing asked when meeting someone for the first time. And it's only natural to ask this question in effort to get to know someone, but it often comes with a reaction based on the answer given. I've never had hesitation of answering what my career is until now. I have always had a job and position in which I was excited to share and speak about. But now that I am not working, this question has made me almost cringe when asked. And I have yet to quite figure out how to answer this question given my current situation.

I made the sound decision to leave my corporate job. But I want people to know more about me and not just how I pay my bills. I don't want to just say, "Well, I quit my high paying job to stay home and write about my life". Doesn't sound so appealing, right? And honestly most people may not understand it. Especially new people that come into my life. I'm pretty sure my parents and friends are still trying to wrap their minds around it. I feel as if no matter how I answer the question, it sounds the same. And my career prior to now almost feels discredited because new people in my life don't know of my prior accomplishments and success.

Let's be honest, when you find out someone isn't working, usually the reaction is negative or envious. You might even make a comment like "Oh, must be nice." I'm sure I have been guilty of this myself. Regardless of the reason why, not having a defined job can have a negative connotation. Often we judge others based on what they do for a living. 

Especially living in New York, career is everything. Most people move here with the sole intention of taking their career to the next level. Don't get me wrong. I have zero regrets about quitting my job. Your job should be what you do, not who you are.

My job was my life. I barely allowed for anything else to take place because I was always putting work first. And most of the time I wasn't happy. 

There is more to me than what I do what for a living. I'm a creative, ambitious, loyal to a fault girl who will always want the most out of life. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared of failure but I want to know that I at least tried. And I am constantly evolving and growing into the person I want to become. Who I am today, is NOT who I was ten years ago or even 10 months ago for that matter. 

What are your thoughts on this topic? Do you feel like your career can sometimes define who you are?

XO, Dana Rae

TOPICS WOMEN HIDE FROM

As women, there are subjects that we tend to avoid being honest about. And sometimes try to avoid all together. Maybe it's for fear of being judged or looked at differently. However, I think often times it’s not until someone else is honest about their feelings, that we admit we feel the same way. Why are we so afraid of being honest with our selves and even more so with each other?

Getting pregnant is one of life's little miracles. Many women base their whole entire life on when they will become a mother. And when it does, they are overwhelmed with joy. Well maybe not for all women. Some women although very much wanting to carry a child do not feel it's the best experience. And not all women actually like being pregnant. YES, there I said it! I haven't been pregnant myself, but I have watched several friends go through two completely different experiences when it comes to pregnancy. And it's difficult to see the friends who did not have the greatest experience being pregnant feel shameful for feeling that way. Why can't a woman say that she dreads the part of gaining weight, feels like her body is disowning her, never had anything close to a "glow", admits to drinking more than the recommended coffee amounts, desperately wants to drink a glass of wine and has no urge to breastfeed PERIOD. Why is it so frowned upon for a women to speak her truth? You don't hear women who have great pregnancies shy away from telling everyone....and I mean everyone! But the moment a pregnant women even starts to say something that sounds like a negative remark about pregnancy, you can just see the looks of other women judging her. 

Getting married is something you often dream about since you were a little girl. You grow up playing house and even married off your Ken and Barbie dolls. Then as you get older, you date different guys and endure one too many heartbreaks. You see relationships for what they really are. Some great and some that you'd like to forget about. You begin to realize that maybe marriage is not what you want or believe in anymore. But your afraid to even say it out loud much less tell your closest friends and definitely not your Mother. If most of your friends are married or engaged, they would probably just tell you that you're going through a phase. Or tell you that you've just dated the wrong guys and not to worry, your future husband IS out there somewhere. But YOU know deep down that if marriage was somehow NOT in the cards for you, you would probably be okay with that. So, why do we feel this guilt for being brutally honest? And for fear of downplaying our friends marriages and relationships, we reluctantly agree that it's just a phase and tell yourself that you're probably just being a little bitter. 

Hold your head high and NEVER let them see you sweat. We are trained since an early age to have our life plan mapped out. College, Career, Marriage then Babies. But what about PLAN B? Or even better yet, PLAN C, D or even E?? Did anyone ever tell you what happens when plan A doesn't fall into place? I didn't think so. So why is that? It's almost as if plan A doesn't go accordingly, then somehow we must have failed in our life. And even worse we would have to admit that we failed if we tried to discuss it with someone else. Not everyone fits into plan A and that's OKAY. Life is often better lived off script. So what you didn't go to college or graduate. And maybe you're in your thirties just now figuring out what you want to do for a longterm career. And maybe being single is your plan for now, so you can travel first before getting married and having kids. What's SO wrong with that plan? Your life doesn't have to be like everyone else's or even in the same order. But we fear to admit to each other that we like our plan better and that life sometimes tastes better against the grain. 

You should never apologize for how you feel, who you are as a person or where you stand on certain topics. So often we seek approval from others. But being honest in how you feel may likely make others feel relieved. We also look to other women who are just like us. It's much more comforting and inspiring when you have those who are closest to you share in your same feelings. So, next time your faced with these topics, be true to YOU. Make no excuses and remember, you may not be alone. 

XO, Dana Rae