Hey there! Welcome to Styled by Sarah, a new lifestyle and fashion blog. First off, thank you so much for making it this far and taking the time to check out my new blog. Styled by Sarah will feature many style, beauty, travel, and health tips. I’m a sale/discount lover, an avid HGTV/Food Network fan, a positive vibes pusher, an obsessive organizer, and on-top of all that a type-a perfectionist. I decided to name my blog Styled by Sarah because I like to style everything in my life (sometimes it’s a little too over-the-top, but oh well) and honestly because I liked the way that “Styled by Sarah” sounds (you know when you just say something and you’re like YEAH that’s it!). I like to style (color-coded is a must) my closet, I like to style my sister, I like to style my boyfriend, and I even like to style random strangers (when someone asks my opinion in the dressing room it makes my day). My dream jobs growing up were to be a stylist, a personal shopper, a wedding/event planner, or an interior designer and I think my blog will reflect that.
So why start blogging now? Well, why not?! I’m not kidding when I say this idea has been in my head for about 4 years now. My roommate and I have always talked about starting a life & style blog. Sadly, I allowed life and school to get in the way and now I feel like the worst procrastinator because 4 years is 4 years too many. Finally, school has started to slow down (I’m a fifth-year Doctorate of Pharmacy student) and this semester I actually started to feel bored again. Side note: I hate feeling bored. I still contemplated putting off blogging until I graduated (May 2019) because I’m so not financially stable right now. My clothes, beauty, and travel budget is pretty much nonexistent. However, I’ve always been frugal and good at finding deals so you’ll definitely be seeing a lot of that.
So really, why now?! I’m very lucky to have so many supportive people in my life including one of my roommates who really pushed me within the last month. Sometimes all you need is that push (thanks Divyanka). Then, after asking for feedback from a few friends, I decided that it really was time (thanks Sam, Abby, Samm, Tori, Greg & Lea). So, I decided, really why not?!
Since I’ve been contemplating this endeavor for a while now, I think it’s important that I do it correctly. One thing that I’ve learned in my 22 years of life is no matter what you do make sure that you set goals to avoid letting yourself down. Therefore, I’ve decided that my main goal for this blog is to HAVE FUN. Pretty much that should be one of the main goals for most of the things that we do in life, right? But for real, at the end of the day, this blog will be a way for me to express myself, explore new adventures, and add some spark to my life.
I want to use this as a creative outlet to learn new skills, document my life, and grow as a person. Doing pharmacy school for the past 4 years (usually anywhere from 40 – 100 hours a week) has really encouraged the right side of my brain to just take a back seat. The most creative thing that I do right now is take and edit photos…and I love it! Therefore, you’ll notice that pictures will be a big part of this blog.
I also believe that blogging is a great way to share what you are doing as a person. Now that I’m in my early twenties, many of my friends live in different states and I have now been living away from my family for quite a few years. I think that blogging is a really cool way to let friends and family know what you’re up to on a day to day basis. Additionally, blogging is a great platform to learn from other people and to share what you have learned along the way. I honestly think that it would be so cool if everyone had a blog where they talked about what they’ve learned in life. Throughout life, we don’t learn from a textbook or a powerpoint presentation, we learn from those around us.
So here’s just a taste of what you can expect to see in upcoming posts: holiday-themed posts such as a gift guide, a review of beauty products, some styled looks from some of my favorite stores (cough Goodwill cough), must-have pieces for making it through winter, and inspirational posts highlighting successful individuals. Along with all of that, I’ve already created a What I’ve Been Listening to this Fall playlist post and I started to add to my travel pages so be sure to check that out here. I’m kind of obsessed with writing reviews about places not only for other people to read but also for myself so that I don’t forget what I do and don’t like. I will continue to add to the travel guides over the next month and each time that I try a new place!
Overall, I really do hope that you enjoy reading my post and please feel free to comment and reach out to me because I’d love to hear from all of you. Luckily, over the years, I have been following some great bloggers and Instagram influencers that have inspired me. Many of them are from New England and some are even from my home state, Maine (how cool is that!). Here’s just a short list of a few of my favorite bloggers: Hannah Rheaume from The Sunny Side of Things, Courtney Wyse from Mrs. Coco Wyse, Mackenzie Murphy from Brunch on Sunday, my wonderful roommate Divyanka at divyankagupta.com, Shreya Chaudhari from The Luxury Belle, Emily Gemma from The Sweetest Thing, Liz Joy from Pure Joy Home, my friend Sam Grant from Adventures Granted and my friend Tori Philips.
I truly apologize for this long post. If you made it to this point I feel like you deserve some kind of prize (use code sarahmhopkins20 at ilymix.com to get 20%)! If you didn’t already know, I don’t like to skimp on anything; I’m a go BIG or go home kind of girl.
But honestly, if you have any questions please reach out to me. I love hearing and learning from other people. If you want help with starting your own blog, contact me! If you’re an experienced blogger and have tips (and you have free time) I’d love to hear from you. And again, thank you thank you thank you for reading.
XOXO ~