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Get ready for some groundbreaking confessions!

This may shock most none of you but I am a normal Midwestern girl. I’m also a ‘wannabe’ Fashion Blogger. Maybe this will resonate with some of you and maybe for others it won’t make much sense. Maybe you are a real Fashion Blogger and to that, I’m stoked for you & secretly a bit envious. I would absolutely love nothing more than to run out to Barney’s and snag this insanely gorgeous YSL bag that I’ve been coveting, but Kyle and I own a house, which means we have mortgage payments. And that bag, despite how perfect it is, takes 2nd {or 20th} priority because its costs is not one but TWO months worth of those said mortgage payments. So yeah, I have to choose having a roof over my head for July & August rather than rocking that beauty over my shoulder and instead I’m going to be content with a still pretty cute Loeffler Randall clutch. You bet your sweet butt I’d be thrilled to prance around in these freaking adorable hot pink Manolos, but Iowa State basically asked for our {not yet conceived} firstborn in the form of tuition. Student loans over Carrie Bradshaw-approved shoes: the travesty.

Gas in the cars, paid cell phone bills & trips to Whole Foods may not be pretty but they’re practical.

Now don’t get me wrong, Ky and I are not struggling by any means. Unless of course struggling means he still doesn’t have 100+ acres on a lake in northern Minnesota and I don’t drive a G-Wagon, because in that case we’re in really tough times! 😉 But for real, we’re normality at its finest. Sure I buy clothes unnecessarily, have an OrangeTheory membership and take occasional trips but I also work full-time to support my ‘habits;’ and not yet does that salary correlate with desire for a lot of the latest & greatest. That’s OK though because I love a challenge and I’ve become the queen of finding a good sale! I didn’t create this blog to disguise my real life behind a screen and I’m not here to be anything I’m not. Sure the UPS guy knows me by name, but so does the late-night Security team in our office from nights of staying past 6pm. We work hard, like everyone else, to pay our bills and save some for later. If you’ve been blessed with the opportunity to stay home & blog full-time, raise your littles, etc., props to you! If you have to work a few bartending shifts after your 8-5pm job to make ends meet, good for you for owning that! Each and every one of us are different and that is awesome. We were raised differently, educated differently, made different choices than one another and been through different ups & downs. Instead of looking at differences as a negative, I think they’re huge positives. Without differences, how boring would our world be? I have been trying to focus on where I’m at, blogging-wise, rather than comparing myself to everyone else. It’s hard not to strive to be like other, successful women but I can’t be them so why am I trying? I need to be the best version of ME and not a clone of someone else {even if I admire those other people immensely!}.

Genuine, Authentic, Real.

I hope this didn’t come off as a rant because that was so not my intention. With all that is going on in the world, I wanted to take a few minutes to embrace differences, social classes, experiences, backgrounds, etc. and say that it is MORE THAN OK to be you. Be true to yourself. If that means wearing $500 sunglasses {these, please!} great, but if that means wearing $15 sunglasses, great too! In all honesty, I like to be casual and comfortable so you’ll usually find me {in real life} wearing denim, a loose top & an easy sandal {these are on sale right now & I’m obsessed with them!}. I’m also addicted to Mexican food and putting hot sauce on errrrrrythang. The more the merrier. So the outfit in these photos is the epitome of Kristin: relaxed, easy going and normal. This Tacos + Hot Sauce tank is a dream. It’s soft and playful and gives those passing by a little glimpse about what I’m like. If you’re not familiar with Wake Me Up Goods I highly suggest checking their website out. The owner is absolutely AMAZING and she has the cutest selection on her website! I’m planning a fun little Facebook event with Wake Me Up so stayed tuned for more info on that! 🙂

I’ll do me, y’all do you and together we’ll all do amazing things! Happy Friday!

Shop the Look:

Tank / Denim (on sale!) / Converse / Sunglasses / Bag