Creative Crush // Amanda Risius
A couple months ago, I saw this amazing apartment tour on The Everygirl, and I fell in love with this girls style, and then I got to virtually meet her and gush all over again! Lindsay McLaughlin tagged today's guest, Amanda Risius as her Creative Crush, and I'm totally on board! I'd like Amanda's haircut, her style, and for her to come style my house! 
WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS : I love the freedom of making my own schedule as well as working from home. It's also rewarding seeing all of the handwork you put into something pay off. And it's nice that I'm so passionate about what I do!FAVORITE CANDY/TREAT : Ice cream hands down! It's been my favorite ever since I was a kid. Cookies and cream and mint chip are a couple of my all-time favorite flavors.WHAT'S A RECENT FAVORITE FIND : For my job at Powder Room, I'm watching tons of makeup tutorials on YouTube. My recent beauty obsession are the NYX Chunky Dunk Hydrating Lippie. The colors have great pigment and are only $6! The colors are gorgeous, but berry mojito is my favorite.TELL US HOW YOU GOT STARTED WITH YOUR BLOG : A year and a half ago I was living in a new city away from my friends during college doing a full-time internship. Pretty quick into the internship I realized it wasn't something I wanted to do in the future. Aside from that, I also was living in a house that didn't feel like home and as much as I wanted to decorate it, I couldn't. I really missed using my creativity to decorate, make a project, or just chat about fashion with my friends. One night I was trolling Pinterest and landed on some amazing blogs and I couldn't stop reading. I wish I remembered the very first blog or article I came across that really inspired me. It was so amazing reading these blogs and finding that many of them were once in my position: hated their corporate job and needed a creative outlet. I finally found something that resonated with me. So I set up a Blogger account and did some DIY web design and made my first post. I remember I was stuck for a long time on naming my bog and deciding on a niche. After debating about it for a month I finally just decided on one and went for it. The hardest part is the first step. After that, everything sort of just evolves. You don't have to have all of the details ironed out right away! It's so embarrassing looking back on my old posts, but it's also cool to see how much I have (hopefully) improved. When I started blogging I did it for myself. It was my way of using creative skills and talking about my passions so I wasn't worried about traffic or comments. It was almost like my journal where I could just write, reflect, and figure things out.WHY DO YOU BLOG : My purpose for blogging hasn't changed. It's my creative outlet and my passion so I just love sharing my tips and advice with others. I think the reason I stuck with blogging and never quit is because of the strong sense of community I have with other bloggers. I'm always in awe of how friendly and open other bloggers are when I meet them at conferences or even just in e-mail. Everyone is so supportive, it's just a really great environment to surround yourself with. Being able to bond and talk about blogging and the challenges has been really nice.