Hello readers of My So-Called Chaos! Today I have another wonderful blogger for you to meet, Cindy from Classic on the Sidewalk. This girl has beauty, brains, and organizational style like you can’t believe. I could definitely learn a trick or two from her, and I hope you guys find her just as interesting and helpful as I do. If you do enjoy meeting her, please head on over to her blog and follow along in her adventures.
Also, don’t forget, if you’d like to be featured in one of my Saturday Spotlight posts like this, I’ll give you your first one free! I’ve traditionally reserved it only for small bloggers, but at this point I’d like to open it up to bloggers of all sizes. Just fill out my form HERE and I’ll be in touch.
How did you get started blogging at Classic on the Sidewalk?
To talk about how I ended up blogging at Classic on the Sidewalk, I really have to explain a bit of my blogging history. I started blogging in 2008, and my blog at the time took me through college and helped me really define myself and build up my confidence. Once I graduated and moved on to the real world and my first real job, I struggled a lot to deal with the change in my life and continue to blog. For a couple years I only posted intermittently, and I felt really guilty about it.
Nearly two years later, I took a look at the stressors in my life and realized that blogging, an activity that used to be a fun and creative outlet, was anything but. I still loved blogging, but the me I had built on my old site didn’t fit the me that existed today, and I felt pressured to fit in on a blog that was actually meant to be about me. It was breaking down the self-confidence I had built and compounding the stress that it caused.
I decided to start fresh this year, and it’s been amazing how reassessing where I am now has allowed me to start rebuilding my confidence in myself. Classic on the Sidewalk has been an idea in my head since around the time I started blogging the first time, and it felt like a better fit to the person I had become since then. I’m glad to be back on the blogging scene and having fun with it again.
What is one fashion staple you couldn’t live without and why?
I’m going to pick a great straw hat for this one. I grew up in the desert and the summer is always more bearable under a good hat. I love the options out there these days. Stylish can meet functional and health conscious at the same time.
What inspired you to get a degree in Chemical Engineering?
Getting in to Chemical Engineering was a bit of a fluke. Sometimes following your gut leads to the best decisions of your life! I didn’t even know the field existed until college orientation. I thought I wanted to do chemistry, since I had a chemistry teacher in high school that made me really love the subject, but when I visited my university the summer before freshman year, we were asked to go to our department of choice’s presentation as well as one other. I went to the chemistry presentation and picked engineering as my second choice. It wasn’t until then that I heard the term chemical engineering, and I decided to switch majors at that moment, even though I didn’t really know what it meant. I basically just liked how organized the department was in its presentation and changed directions.
It was a pretty great choice. My program was fascinating, if incredibly challenging. I still can’t quite believe I actually made it through and got my degree. Hard work and perseverance gets you to pretty incredible places.
What is one of the best books you’ve read and why?
Ella Enchanted. It may be a children’s book, but it is, to this day, one of the best written books I’ve ever read. Never have I read a story less than two hundred pages in length with the ability to create a whole new world and a fabulous story that spans years of time within it. Every single word in Ella Enchanted has purpose, and I like to think about how great that makes it when my own writing becomes too wordy.
When you’re not blogging, what other hobbies do you enjoy?
I have more hobbies than I have time for! My current focus is on calligraphy and watercolor, but I also enjoy playing the flute, painting, dancing, jewelry making, and general crafting. (There’s probably more, but it’s hard to keep track of it all)
Why is planning important to you?
Planning kept me sane through college! With so much to keep track of, it was vital to have everything in one place. Back then, in the very early days of smartphones, it wasn’t so easy to keep track of everything digitally while on the go, so I kept a paper planner (mostly moleskines).
Not too long ago I was sorting through old journals, and I was amazed at how many memories were stored in them. Even though it was mostly boring stuff, my life was chronicled in those planners, and my google calendar just didn’t have the same feel when flipping back in time. I decided then to start up analogue journaling again, and it’s been as much a diary as a time keeper ever since.
What are your absolute planner essentials?
I started with a blank (dateless) planner. While there are many great options, I particularly love the design of the ones made in South Korea. I’ve ordered them through YesStyle, Etsy, and Ebay in the past, but always have my eyes open for new online storefronts. Once I have my planner of choice, a couple pens (I’m partial to uni-ball Signo pens from Japan that I get through JetPens), some stickers, and a little tape can take me a long way.
Where do you hope to see yourself in 5 years?
This is the most difficult question to answer. It may have been easier to answer at the start of the year, but I’ve since had a surprise job transfer to California. I think in the next five years I’d like to have moved to some place with actual seasons. Of course I have career plans and blog plans and everything, but ultimately I’d love to do the things I love with the people I love in a place that I love. (I’m just not sold on SoCal quite yet!)
Follow along with Cindy and her life:
Blog | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | Bloglovin
Cindy is giving one lucky winner a wonderful box with a planner and a bunch of planner supplies in it! Giveaway is open to residents in the USA and Canada and ends on 11/17/15 at 12AM. Entries will be validated. Entering below agrees to all the Terms and Conditions within.
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