Just some rambling and things.

Hello friends and welcome back to my blog! This post is a little catch up to let you know what has been going on in my life the past month or so. It’s a Sunday at 11am and I am in my pajamas, drinking some coffee, and chillin’.

Wow wowie wow. Life is gotten BUSY & I have missed blogging so much. Lately, I’ve been thinking about where this blog is going and to be honest I hope it’s a platform that I can use as my creative outlet and not be so serious. I get so caught up in a “brand” mindset that I really limit myself. But hey, let’s just be chill, talk, create cool things, and life experiences. Honestly, those are my best and most enjoyable blogs to write. I have enough jobs in my life where I’m serious. Let’s just have fun!

Here is what my August has looked like…

First of all — I don’t like August and never have but this month has gone particularly well despite having a couple of breakdowns here and there lol but moving on.

I’m legally GREEN! My last name has been officially changed, I have a new California license, and everything. I’m in the process now of changing my photography branding from Mariah Baumgartle Art & Photography to Mariah Green Photography. I will be focusing on food and restaurant photography moving forward. Do you think I should add a fork to my logo?

Not only do I still manage Love Your Bath and Body but I have also accepted a position where I am now teaching art and dance/gymnastics for a local after-school tutoring program. I love this company, the educators, and the kids! I started teaching 1 art class a week during the summer but starting in September my schedule will be 2 art classes and 2 dance classes a week. The biggest part of my job is that the art and dance program is brand new so they have asked me to help build the program and curriculum! It has been so much work but also extremely rewarding.

My husband and I have also been pretty busy with our new online boutique. Matthew and I launched an online boutique back in April/May called Brandi Alexander Boutique. However, our first run didn’t go as well as we had hoped so we took a break from it for awhile and rebranded. We knew we really wanted to sell lingerie so we took the plunge, headed to the fashion district, and purchased our products. The products sat in our storage closet for a couple of months but at the end of July I had the idea to maybe sell our products on Poshmark, an app/website where you can sell pre-loved thrifted items but you can also have a boutique where you sell wholesale/new items which is what we really wanted. I already had an account and an open closet with some personal items I was selling anyway. The end of July we decided to pause our website and post all of our products on Poshmark. To our surprise, it has gone extremely well so far and to be honest it is so much fun! This is why you DO NOT GIVE UP!

You can check out our Poshmark Closet Here. We sell lingerie, plus size lingerie, panties, bras, really fun choker necklaces and other accessories. We will also be adding some really cool artwork as well!

I have what I would like to call “The Curse of the Busy Bee Bug.” This means that the busier I am, the more wild my mind is and I feel like I CANNOT BE STOPPED. I’m feel like a mad scientist or when Frankensien was born “IT’S ALIVEEEE!!” When my schedule is slammed that’s when my mind is like “Hey Mariah, let’s do THIS NOW!” I get a bug to start doing embroidery again, watercolor, blogging, photography, maybe let’s launch another boutique, should I start a youtube channel or podcast? It doesn’t end! Whenever I stop and take some time to myself I feel so much guilt because I know I should be spending my time doing something else or working on a new project. It’s a curse but I feel so blessed for these opportunities lately and that my creative spirit is back in full swing!

Next Sunday will be the beginning of the 4 best months of the year and I am PUMPED. September is going to be amazing (it’s ma birthday month, ya know!) We still have a week left of August and I’m wondering what I can accomplish in that time. I still need to read a book. SOS I need book requests!

I’ll see you in September!

XOXO

Here’s what I think about the Instagram Like Count ban.

Instagram is currently in the process of expanding the test to many countries of hiding the “like” count for your posts. Although the little heart will not be disappearing completely and you can still double tap your little soul away — you just won’t be able to see the count of the likes on other’s content and they cannot see your like count either.

Now that we have been caught up let me tell you what I think of it. 

Likes are meaningless.

Social media was meant to be just that….social.  However, in many ways it has also made us unsocial. When it comes to the like count, that’s all we are doing is mindlessly scrolling through our Instagram feed and liking images that you are more than likely going to forget about in 5 minutes & the worst part is PEOPLE VALUE THEMSELVES FROM MEANINGLESS LIKES.

I do not measure my success on Instagram or social media by likes but instead by comments, shares, and gained followers. When you receive comments on your content it actually spoke to someone to say something which takes more effort than just liking an image.

If you get 100 likes on something with 0 comments vs. 50 likes with 10 comments…there’s much more value to that. 

As a creative I want to creative art, products, and content that makes people stop and start a conversation about it instead of silently saying “okay, cute *double tap and keeps scrolling*”

I’m not saying I don’t mindlessly scroll through my Instagram and like images myself because I 100% do just like everyone else and it’s not a healthy habit! 

You’re going to find more creative freedom

How many times have you posted something you love but deleted it soon after because the like count was not where you wanted it it to be? Did you delete that content because you were worried about the like count or because you knew others would see how low the like count was? 

If you are not focused on what’s going to get the most Instagram likes, you can now focus on what really speaks to you has a creative. What do you find interesting, fun, and cool?

Focus on your Instagram Stories

I remember when the feature first came out people were so skeptical … “BuT tHaT’s FoR sNaPcHaT!” & now everyone loves a good solid golden nugget of an Instagram story. You can be super creative with them too. You can be silly. You can be a little more of yourself which is why I think people love the story feature so much.

We can explore other social media platforms

Okay I’m a nerd but this is so fun to me because I love learning new things and tools to use (am I always good at utilizing them? lol no but I still like to learn) Do you know how many social media platforms there are? You have Youtube, Twitter, Podcasts, Facebook, Snapchat, LinkedIn, and there’s so many others platforms that we still need to discover! Social media has already come so far in the past 10 years that I cannot believe where it is going to go in the next 10 years. Plus let’s be honest — The Instagram algorithm is really shit right now anyway.

As strong as my opinions are on this subject I would love to hear what you have to say! How do you think this will effect the Instagram culture? Do you think this will be a positive or negative change?

Mariah silently chanting in the background “F*CK LIKES! F*CK LIKES! F*CK LIKES!”

Photo by: Prateek Katyal

Flippin’ frittata.

This is a story of rejection.

I had an interview to be a food photographer. For this interview I had to make some food or just purchase some food to photograph. It was the day after our trip to Portland, my car was dead, and I had almost no food so I called my friend Chef Gordon Ramsay and asked what I could make. Gordon said “You need to make a f*ckin’ frittata but don’t f*ck it up you panini head” (half of this is a lie but could you imagine?!)

So I quickly whipped up all of the 8 eggs we had, with the last bit of our spinach, the last bit of cheese, and garlic and poured that baby in my cast iron skillet. I felt amazing to present this frittata.

They seemed impressed and then I had an hour to photograph, edit and send the images. I was so thrilled when I got a call back for a second interview and felt so confident afterwards.

I didn’t get the job.

Rejection is hard and especially if it’s something you want so bad. I have had my fair share of rejection. You can take your moment to cry, be upset, but then you have to move on and keep pushing. Rejection doesn’t just feel bad but if you hold onto it long enough you still start to feel a great amount of low self-worth and when your self-worth is so low, it is difficult to manifest those amazing opportunities back into your life.

Each rejection means you tried

Did you put in 10 applications and only walk away with 1 interview? Put in 20 more applications and get 2 more interviews. Go out and do something for yourself that will make you feel whole and happy. Go make another frittata. Go do something fun that has nothing to do with work. Leave and come back with a fresh mind, focus, and spirit.

Please enjoy my frittata.

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Why the heck it is so important to be authentically you!

I’m going to share a little secret with you. I’ve had such a lack of motivation with this blog and I’ll tell you why

I wasn’t being authentically me.

I have a passion for blogging but when I started this project/new blog I decided “Okay. I’m going to be super professional!” and although that’s a great thing to be I got a little lost in my own voice and why I loved blogging in the first place.

I made this entire “concept” of things I should post and I just never really felt like writing those things. Which hellloooooo… what’s the point of a creative blog if I feel creatively restricted?! *face palm!*

In reality I’m a little awkward, laugh at my own stupid jokes, probably very annoying on snapchat, and the sound of my own voice makes me cringe which is why I avoid vlogging. However, that’s me and who I am. I’m silly, a little sassy, love to laugh, and make other’s laugh too!

When it comes to your creative career you need to find that sweet balance of being professional and attracting an audience but you also need to be YOU in your content.

Here are 3 reasons why it’s so important to be authentically you — even in your creative career.

Gaining motivation from something you actually love

Listen — If you are trying to sell something that you do not fully believe in then nobody is going to buy into it and your motivation will be sinking. However, if you are building something around what you really love and believe in then it is 10x easier to be motivated and excited about your work. When you are truly passionate and motivated about something then other’s will also also notice and believe it.

Example Story: You decide you need to earn a little more extra cash and maybe learn some new skills. You decide to sell Mary Kay. I have been to parties before, probably about 5 and I have only bought from one consultant. The one consultant I bought from was because I truly believed that she loved the makeup and cared about me and what I needed without faking the rest just to get a buck. It seemed like an actual passion she had.

So, what is your motive? Is it to just get the buck or is it something that you actually love and enjoy?

Find your people.

If you are trying to be authentically you but you are not getting the attraction you need — maybe you are in the wrong place! The world and internet is a big place but in all honesty, you have to find them. Once you find your people that have the same interests and style that you do it makes it much easier. You need to find your demographic and clients — they will not find you in the beginning.

Example Story: When I was in school our instructors always told us to go where we fit. Find our people and find our clients. If you are trying to be a food photographer in Utah — it’s not really going to work out as well for you because food kinda sucks in Utah and you cannot get mad that your demographic is not where you are. (this is me. I am the example.) If you are a lovable family photographer though — heck yeah Utah is your place and that’s so cool because you have found your people and there is a huge demographic for that!

Maybe your people are in another place, another social media platform, the dark depths of Craigslist (not recommended)… you can find those people you just have to put yourself out there and try.

You’re gaining inspiration from the wrong influencers

“Oh I can’t do this. I don’t look like that. I don’t have their same style or personality. Their work is so much better than mine will ever be” AH! It’s things like this that hurts my heart for my fellow creatives who just crave to get their work and passions out in the world! Do me a huge favor and stop following that instagram influencer that is intimidating you to do what you want right now. Instead, follow people who are like YOU with a similar style, personality, and will give you more motivation and less intimidation.

Example Story: Your instagram is full of influencers with 50K+ followers, they are creating bright and lovely content of their perfectly pinterest decorated home, with their children who are so clean and have amazing outfits, they go on lavish vacations because they make all of this money from social media. You are such a rockstar but your motivation and self-worth is so low because you cannot picture yourself ever being like those influencers you follow. Honey, you need to find new people to inspire you. There’s other influencers in the world who don’t have crazy lavish lifestyles that you can relate to and also find motivation from.

Being authentically you + knowing your self-worth = amazing and successful creative motivation!

I promise you I’ll be more authentically me if you promise me you’ll be more authentically you.

XOXO // Mariah Cassandra

Listen to your creative muse.

Everyday I have been pushing myself with multiple projects going on at once. I have so much going on that I sometimes don’t listen to what my creative muse is trying to tell me. I pay attention to structure and often forget the other aspect of unplanned creativity. After work the other day I had a list of to-do’s in my head but instead my mind said “Go to the beach and take photos!”

My creative muse wasn’t trying to tell me about this great masterpiece I was going to create but instead guided me to creative healing. I almost forgot how much I love to just explore a new location with my camera and shoot just to shoot. It is so good for my soul!

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It was beautiful, sunny and warm outside and it was exactly what I needed. This was the first time I’ve been to the beach since we moved here 6 months ago and it’s 8 minutes away from our home!

When I got home to edit my images I decided to edit them a little differently than I was used to and I seriously love how they turned out. Playing around with something you are not familiar with is extremely beneficial.

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When was the last time you listened to your creative muse?

Self-doubt in creativity and how to overcome it

I’m in the current stages of recovering from a serious creative block.

Last year my life was a whirlwind of really big and amazing life changing events. Between everything that was going on I found very little room for creative outlets such as blogging, photography, and embroidery. Instead of stressing about it I simply just accepted that it was a time in my life to be mentally present for and to take some time away.

One of my most dreaded questions during this time was “Do you still do photography?” I always felt a great amount of guilt and embarrassment when I had to say “No, not right now. I’m just taking a little break” & this guilt then turned into self-doubt & then of course I thought “Well, maybe I wasn’t very good anyway so why should I even go back?”

There may be a series of questions you ask yourself when starting a big creative project, business, or anything that requires you stepping out of your comfort zone.

How will I make this work?

Will people even want to see or listen?

Wow I’m so stupid for wanting to do this.

It’s a waste of time. I’m not good enough.

There are many factors to creative blocks and we can identify them as motivation, procrastination and self-doubt. Self-doubt factor of creative block because when you have it, it’s really difficult to get started and move forward in the first place.

Doubt is actually a huge part of the creative process but it’s up to you how you’re going to work with it.

Stop comparing yourself to social media influencers

Social media influencers are great for a lot of things but they should be something to avoid if you are in the process of overcoming self-doubt. Influencers can be great inspiration for us because there’s nothing wrong with reaching for the stars and setting goals but please do not compare yourself to them.

You have to accept that not everyone is going to love what you do.

This is OKAY. Not everyone has to like you and what you do. If you think about pleasing other’s all the time, you’re not going to go far in what you really want. Instead of focusing your attention of those who don’t care focus your attention on the one’s you are going to inspire and bring light to!

Think about how cool you are to even be doing this!

Seriously, whatever you are wanting to do I’m 101.5% positive I cannot do that thing! Even if it is something that someone else can do you are still different people and you’re going to put your own amazing and creative twist on it. Remember, everyone’s creative journey is different.

I hope that these tips will help you in your creative journey!

xoxo // Mariah Cassandra

What IS creativity and why do we need it?

I’m going to tell you a BIG secret.

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Creativity applies to YOU and your life in one way or another, even if you are not an artistic individual! Creativity is imagination, innovation and originality.

Creativity is often and unfortunately pushed to the side as something that is not the most important skill to have in our daily lives, education, and careers. Creativity has become the green beans of the Thanksgiving meal when it should be seen as the turkey (although I really do love green beans) Creativity is much more than playing with colors and crayons. Creativity is the motivation to innovation! Creativity helps us question, solve problems, and create.

Creativity is a vital skill to have on your resume and for good reason. Creativity is not only an important skill for employees but also enhances the environment you are working in. A creative environment for employees has become a foundation for successful companies today such as Pixar, Apple, Google, and Zappos.

Creativity is not only important in our careers and professional lives but our daily lives as well. Creativity makes life exciting and fulfilling.

“Creativity is experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun”
– Mary Lou Cook

“But I’m not a creative person!” you say. Did you know that creativity is something that is not just a natural-born trait passed down by our DNA but a trait that we can actually learn, build, and grow?

One of the best ways to help build your creativity is to open your mind and spirit to the world that is out of your normal comfort zone and environment. If you allow yourself to be stuck in one environment you will not have the room to grow your mind and gather new thoughts and ideas from other people, environments, cultures, or even religions.

My challenge to you is to try something new. Go somewhere new. Talk to someone new. Cook something new. Step out of your daily environment and routine. You might find a new passion or discover a new talent. You might come up with a groundbreaking idea and become a millionaire in the near future.

You might fall, you might fail, you might not even enjoy the outcome. Let me say this loud for everyone to hear in the back. FAILING IS OKAY. We are meant to fail and fall because this is how we broaden and grow our mind, thoughts, and nurture our creativity.

You CAN be creative and I am so excited to help you reach your highest creative potential!

xoxo // Mariah Cassandra

How we knew so soon

I never thought I would be engaged after dating and knowing someone for a short 2 months. If you told me last Christmas I would meet my husband in the new year and be married by next Christmas I would have thought you were insane.

Our first date was January 25th, 2018. We said “I love you” February 7th. We told our families we were getting very serious a few weeks into our relationship and he proposed when I got home from Paris on March 26th, 2018.

Please understand before reading this post that everyone in life follows a different journey and path. Our relationship will not be the same as the next and all relationships filled with true love and companionship are beautiful.

I believe this is the part where I should say “when you know, you know.” I never understood what that meant or how that was supposed to feel until I felt a deeper connection with Matthew than I’ve felt before. This goes way beyond butterflies in your stomach. During the first couple of weeks of getting very serious I prayed just asking “please guide me and take us in the direction we are supposed to go.” We have shared some very strong spiritual connections that still give me goosebumps.

Our communication level is very strong.  You can know someone for just a few weeks and know more about them than someone you’ve known for many months based on how well you communicate with one another. The good, the bad and the ugly. Not just about our past but our everyday communication as well. How we are feeling, why we are feeling that way and we don’t judge each other for those feelings. It’s only acceptance, guidance, patience and love between the two of us. We also just speak the same language so it makes it very easy for us to talk to each other.

We are totally comfortable with each other. I heard a great podcast saying how silly it is when people say you’re no longer free once you get married when you should feel the MOST free once you’re married because you are free to finally be yourself! We love and admire each other’s quirks and mannerisms.

We have both been through life. We have both gone through serious life experiences which have brought growth into our lives. We’re both old enough to know and understand what we needed in life and a partner to help us grow and to be our best self. When we found each other it was a sudden “wow, here you are!”

Our families and love ones knew too. We are SO extremely blessed by the love and support we have received from our family and friends on our big life decision. Not only did our families see the glow in our faces but they just felt as though it was right and we really were meant to be together. They could see that we are our best self when we are with each other.

At the beginning of our relationship we felt a deeper connection than being a long-term relationship. We felt a connection as life partners and we knew we were meant to be husband and wife.

Here are some beautiful wedding quotes that really inspire me from theweddingforward.com I can’t wait to place these beautiful words around at our wedding and our home someday.

“So it’s not gonna be easy. It’s going to be really hard; we’re gonna have to work at this everyday, but I want to do that because I want you. I want all of you, forever, everyday. You and me… everyday.” Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook. Side note. Matthew and I watched The Notebook together and he may or may not have gotten a little teary eyed

“What I love most about my home is who I share it with.” Tad Carpenter 
This quote would be so cute on a wood sign hanging in our future home!

“What greater thing is there for two human souls than to feel that they are joined for life to strengthen each other in all labor, to rest on each other in all sorrow, to minister to each other in all pain, to be one with each other in silent, unspeakable memories at the moment of the last parting.” George Eliot

The Ring

When we decided to we wanted to get married we began looking into engagement rings and what would best suit my personality and style. There’s so much you have to consider in a ring such as the stone, style, cut or maybe even the price. Ohsoperfectproposal.com offers so many amazing engagement ring inspirations. There are many different articles that can help you make all of these important decisions. I knew I wanted something with a colored gemstone or vintage. We knew we wanted something unique but also simple.

We decided that an emerald stone would be the best choice for me due to a couple of reasons. One, I’m going to be Mrs. Green and also the meaning behind it is so beautiful and very suiting for Matthew and I. The emerald stands for unconditional love, compassion, and growth.

The story of the stone on my engagement ring is very special. When I mentioned to my Grandmother that we were looking for an emerald ring and she told me about an emerald ring that was going to be passed down to me in the future! The emerald stone was given to my Grandma from my Grandpa. He bought the emerald stone when he was in Colombia! The reason why the stone color is a light green is because it is a real and true emerald stone instead of a synthetic green saturated stone. They had the stone set into a ring which is what they gave to Matthew and I to do what we wanted with it. I remember seeing the look on Matthew’s face when he saw the ring. We knew it was right for us.

We went together to pick out the ring and design in Las Vegas the day before I flew to Paris in March. I get a lot of questions asking if that just ruins the overall surprise of the proposal. To be honest, it may have left out the “surprise” factor but it was such an amazing experience to share together and a extra special step. Matthew and I decided awhile ago that we want big moments in our lives to be shared together.

We went into the jeweler with the ring and told them what we were looking for and the first option that was presented to us was the one! The stone is now set on a rose gold band with diamonds. If you know me, you know I’m a sucker for rose gold so this just takes my breath away. We also went ahead and got the wedding ring to go with the engagement ring. The wedding band is a simple row of diamonds in a rose gold set. The style is simple yet adds a little bit of contrast to the engagement ring. I can’t wait to wear it as a complete set!

Walking out of the jewelry store was a wild emotion of excitement and shock that we actually made a huge step to beginning our lives together.

Life is beautiful and now I’m engaged to the love of my life.

Within the past year my mind was wrapped up in being a single and independent woman running wild and free and building a life on my own. I had lost trust and hope that there would be someone for me to build a life with. January 20, 2018 I met the love of my life and it turned my life around in the most positive and beautiful way I could ever imagine.

The last time I wrote on the blog, I felt incomplete and lost in life. I was feeling sorry for myself one evening and downloaded Tinder as a good source of entertainment.

Swipe left. Swipe left. Everyone sucks. Swipe left.

…..OH…..Hi….hello….you’re…wow wow wow….Swipe right.

I cannot tell you how giddy I was the moment we matched. I knew right away I had to steal his heart and by that I told him I make some bomb chocolate chip cookies.

We went on our first date which started with desserts and ended with poetry and two months later we are engaged to be married this fall!

Everything in between our first date and the night he proposed is what I had dreamt of my entire life. Strong communication, kindness, never ending laughter and the pure comfort of being my true self. I’ll never forget the time Matthew told me “I don’t just have a girlfriend. I have a partner” The connection we have is what I pray everyone else can experience in their life. I was always told “When you know, you know” and nothing is more true than the love that Matthew and I share.

Matthew makes my heart completely melt and because of him I want to be a better person everyday.

We are incredibly blessed. Blessed to have found each other and for all of the love and support of our big decision to spend and build a life together.

Xoxo,

Future Mrs. Green.