Happy 1st Day of October! #lifeupdate

Hiiii Daisies! Happy Sunday and also happy late national COFFEE day! If I remember correctly I think my first post on here was on a national coffee day like 2 years ago! I was working the whole day friday so sadly I wasn’t able to go coffee shop hoping ): I hope you drank all the coffee for me!!!

Anyway here’s a hopefully short life update cause I don’t want you to be reading a chapter book. If you seen my Maui trip post then you know I finallllly finished school in March of 2017 and got my business degree. The reason I went into business wasn’t to find a job in the business industry but to reopen my massage business. I wanted to gain more knowledge on running a small business and learn how to market and advertise. I was running my own massage business years ago but ended up moving and closing the business. The town I moved to was sooo small (the biggest store was Wal*Mart and we had 2 stoplights in town) that the only thing to do was go back to school and thankfully they had a college! Last year I had to move back to Spokane WA in order to finish my business degree. When I graduated I got a job at a local spa massaging but I was constantly thinking about reopening my own business.

I started looking for a location for my business that I could afford. I wanted the location to be in the middle of town, free parking, and no parallel parking for my clients. After searching for a few months I signed a lease on August 1st 2017!

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I officially opened the doors to Belladona’s Massage August 14th! The process took some time because I had to get a business city license, add the landlord to my insurance, and get all my social media accounts started. As of right now I am operating as a sole proprietor but hopefully soon I can transfer to an LLC. I found an amazing lady that worked with me to create my logo which ended up exactly how I pictured it!

I’ve been having trouble with getting business cards printed so I’m still working on that. I have my gift certificates available and flyers all printed up! Now I’m trying to figure out what the best marketing platform is for massage services. I’ve reached out to a few company’s the see how much it costs to advertise through them so we’ll see. Decorating the room was pretty fun but also hard because I was going for a certain look so to find everything that I needed took a while. I did do a video tour on my facebook if you want to check it out and follow me 🙂

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Working on my business is a constant struggle and sometimes I wonder if this was my dream or God’s. I’ve been praying for wisdom and for Him to work through me because if this wasn’t His plan for me then I don’t want it. I know the only way to recognize His voice is to be in a relationship with Him so I’ve been working on that. I ended up deleting my personal instagram because I felt that I was letting it control me and I just wasn’t in a good state of mind and neglected my business page. I do have a business instagram page belladonas.massage, if you followed me on there I would appreciate it with all my heart!

I’m still working at the local spa three days a week and absolutely love working there! I’m going on 8 months since I’ve been there and I’ve been staying so busy!

So when I’m not working on my business or at the spa I’m out exploring coffee shops,,, duh lol! I’m trying to get into a connect group at my church that meet once a week but so far I’ve missed the first two because of work. I’m trying to get organized with a planner so I can write in everything I have to do and where I have to go. I’m going to Seattle for a friend’s wedding the third week in October so looking forward to explore Seattle! Add me on my insta at belladonas.massage to follow along on my adventure when I go to Seattle!

Now that I got my life update out the way I can post more content for YOU daisies! I am planning to do a thrifted fall lookbook for you guys in the next few weeks! Love you guys sooo much and comment below what you are looking forward this fall season cause danggg it’s here already! ❤

 

Thigh high boots for fall #OOTD

Hello Hello Hello my beautiful daisies ❤

Today I am bringing you guys my outfit of the day inspired by thatgirlArlene and her post titled Pairing for Fall: Knee High Boots & Red Coat. I promised her I’ll post today on how I style mine! Everything I am wearing was thrifted besides the fedora hat which I got at Target and the bomber jacket which I got at Marshalls when I was visiting San Diego 2 weeks ago. Make sure to check out my post on best places to eat in San Diego and my favorite beaches there!

Without further ado here is the way I styled my knee high boots today!

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Thank you for checking out my OOTD! I had so much shooting this even though it was freezing outside! If you want to see more OOTD posts feel free to let me know and comment below ❤ Thank you for all the support daisies ❤

Exploring Coeur d’Alene, ID

Happy Monday my beautiful daises! It’s been forever since my last post and I miss you guys so much! I’ve been checking up on your blogs 😉 But haven’t had any time to post. I’m so busy with school and homework and recently got a second job. I know it’s no excuse so I will try to post at least once a week!

Yesterday, after church, my best friend and I decided to hang out and do some exploring. Since we are only 10 minutes from the Idaho border we decided to go explore Coeur d’Alene and see if we could try some new places.

Our first stop was to get some food of course! With our love for sushi we decided to try Ugly Fish. Diana (my best friend) has been here once with her husband and recommended for me to try it. When we walked in the first thing I noticed was all the red decor! I loved it! It was so beautiful. There were cool light bulbs hanging down and our booth was so comfortable (sadly  I didn’t take a picture of the booth but I found a picture of them here on their website) they were red velour little mini couches. I ordered the Washington and Butterfly roll and Diana decided to try the Ugly Fish and Hawaii Roll. Honestly if I could eat sushi everyday, I would eat it here. Their rolls tasted very fresh, I was impressed! If you are in this area I would recommend stopping buy and trying these AHHHMAZING rolls! They also have tuna poke which I’ve noticed not a lot of places have!

Butterfly and Washington Roll

Ugly Fish and Hawaii Roll

Both of our rolls

After our delicious lunch, Diana googled a coffee shop and Grumpy Monkey came up! I love monkeys (they are my favorite animal) so of course we had to check it out!  Their coffee beans were sooo smooth! I got my usual caramel latte and wasn’t disappointed.

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I seriously had so much fun with Diana! It was exactly what I needed to forget about school for a little bit and think about nothing but enjoying my time with her. I made up a list of 6 fun things you can do with your bestie during the Fall season:

1. Explore Coffee Shops- I love exploring different coffee shops but there is something beautiful about doing it with your best friend. I know some of you are probably thinking coffee shops? That is sooo basic! But let me tell you what I love most about coffee dates. Yes there’s coffee, which you’ll know I am addicted too, and my best friend but the thing I love the most is the conversations that we have. I left the coffee shop feeling more free’er (is that a word?), less stressed about life, and feeling so relaxed. We talked about faith, God’s love towards us, and how sometimes we miss the small things in life. We encouraged each other and shared some testimonies where we seen God’s hand in our life. I am so blessed to have her as a best friend!

2. Go hiking- With fall season upon us it is the perfect time to go hiking or walk a trail. Those beautiful yellow, red, orange, and brown colors are all around us and in no time it will be winter so take the opportunity while you can and go try out a new hiking area or hike your favorite trail with your bestie!

3. Visit a Bookstore or Library- If you and your bestie are more staying inside and being nice and cozy during fall weather kind of people then go explore different bookstores! There is nothing better than being surrounded with books and your best friend. I can stay at the library all day copped up somewhere in the corner reading a book.

4. Go to a concert- I can still remember Diana’s and my first concert together. We went to the Rock & Worship Roadshow in January of 2014. We got to see Skillet which is one of our favorite bands. It was definitely a night to remember! We had so much fun! So if you can I would recommend going to a concert together! It’s an amazing experience.

5. Bake together- I don’t know about you but I love the smell of baking! Especially if it is something chocolaty 🙂 I remember Diana and I made brownies once and they were sooo delicious! Fall is the perfect time to stay inside and bake the day away together!

6. Go Ice Skating- Always go with your bestie that way if you fall while ice skating; they will be right there to pick you up. Ice skating honestly can be so fun. You can people watch if you get tired and need a break. But make sure to bundle up and stay warm!

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I know there are A TON more fun ideas so leave them in the comments below! I would love to hear your ideas that I can do with Diana next time ❤

Weekend Recap #Bonfire #Hiking

 

 

Hello my beautiful daises!

I made a 2 hour trip to visit my family this weekend and had the best time ever! It was exactly what I needed. I got home Sunday evening, swapped with homework that I neglected till last minute and I knew I was in trouble, but about that another time.

I ended up going to a bonfire Friday night with a few friends and it was so perfect! Bonfire’s with friends is defiantly on my fall bucket list! We ended up cooking hot dogs over the fire and making hot chocolate with marshmallows. It was so peaceful and beautiful being surrounded by million’s of stars!

 

Saturday my cousin and I decided to go on a hike. Which is another thing on my fall bucket list! We climbed Cliff Ridge at Little Pend Oreille National Wildlife Refuge. Last time we were here we drove as much as was possible and then walked so we had no idea how long of a hike it was going to be because this time we decided to hike it from the bottom. If we knew it was going to be a 5 mile hike I don’t know if we would have went since it gets dark now close to 6 and we started the hike at 3. I was hoping to see some fog across the mountain when we got to the top but as soon as we walked up to the cliff, we seen fog all around us! The picture below shows what I am talking about and where the cliff ends!

 

It was so breathtaking! We would look down and just see fog! We felt like we were moving! God’s beauty was soooo stunning! He is such a great artist! I really wish we could have enjoyed the view longer but we were fighting with it getting darker by the second and it was beginning to sprinkle. We decided to jog down the mountain as much as possible to beat the rain and the darkness that was closing in!…. We made it back to the car right before it started pouring!!! I had to literally crawl into bed that night because of how sore I was! It’s Monday and I am still so sore! I hobble everywhere, but it was worth it!

Thank you for reading daises ❤ Leave me a comment on what’s on your fall bucket list this year!

Happy Friday Daises <3

I can not believe it’s the last day of September! And it’s October tomorrow! I know the first day of fall was last week but for me it feels like real fall when October comes and 2016 is flying by so fast! It will be 2017 in NO TIME! Anyway, not only do I love fall but I love Fridays! Especially this quarter because I have no class or work on Fridays. So every week for me is a 3 day weekend and I LOVE it! I woke up this morning with this view outside my window,,, it just screamed fall with all those gorgeous colors!

Today I used my day off to catch up in my classes with some homework and took a test (in my pajamas, in bed, and with coffee!!!). I also had some time to catch up on my readings! I have so much books that I thrift all the time, but the hard thing is finding time to read them all! I am thinking of doing a thrifted books haul soon! So  look out for that! ❤

I also took advantage and planned out my next week in my new planner. Which I am obsessed with! I love staying organized and using my planner especially in those times when there is so much homework and tests always coming up.

I am not bold enough (yet) to wear the beautiful dark lip colors in the fall! I am hoping soon enough I will be? Maybe it’s cause I am so light skinned that it looks way too dark? I don’t know, but here are my favorite nude lip colors that I will still wear into fall!

Last thing I have planned for today is go grocery shopping and get some food into the house! You would think no one lived in our place with how empty our refrigerator is! I am thinking of making ricotta stuffed pasta shells for dinner tonight! I am so excited! I can’t remember the last time I actually made dinner instead of going out.

I hope you daises had a lovely Friday and enter October with a smile on your face and peace on your heart ❤ Thank you for reading ❤

 

Sunshine Blogger Award

Hello Daises! (I think I want to start out writing like that from now on?) (I ADORE daises)

Is this real? Am I actually writing a blogger award? How did this happen?! I actually cannot believe that I was  nominated! When I started my blog I literally thought I would have like 1 person reading my posts but you guys have been so wonderful to me! I am so blessed to have you guys in my life! I want to especially thank StyleAndStrike for nominating me and being so supportive!

I absolutely LOVE her blog and not surprised that she got nominated ! I love the way she styles all her fashion pieces together!

Here are the rules:

• Thank the person who nominated you in a blog post and link back to their blog
• Answer all the questions sent by the person who nominated you
• Nominate blogs to receive the award and write them new questions
• List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo in your post

Here are my answers to the questions!

1. Name one place you have always wanted to travel to? Well when I was younger I wanted to go visit Russia and see where I was born but now that I am older I would LOVE to travel to Santorini Greece! I just keep seeing pictures on how beautiful it is there and I want to go there so bad! Maybe to Russia after and visit the Black Sea.
2. How long have you been blogging? I posted my first blog exactly a year ago! SO weird! My first post was on National Coffee Day last year and today is that day! Hope you guys drank lots and lots of coffee to celebrate 😉 I SURE DID!!!
3. Favorite song? This is such a hard question! I have to pick just one? Okey here it is Believer by Capital Kings is my all time favorite. I can listen to it on repeat over and over!
4. If you could only take one thing with you, what would it be? Why? That’s easy! My bible! Because it is my daily bread! I cannot live without it!
5. Adventurous activities or sight-seeing? I think I am more of a sigh-seeker but if an adventure comes out of it then I am all for it! I love exploring new places, especially new coffee shops! Check out this amazing hipster”y” one I found recently!

My Nominees are:

• StyledbyMcKenz
• LexRayn
• Explore.Laugh.Dream
• NovemberFog

My Questions for the Nominees:

1. If you had all the time in the world, and nowhere to be, what would be the first thing you did?
2. What is one thing you do for relaxation?
3. What’s your favorite fall essentials?
4. What do you love to write about the most on your blog?
5. Would you rather be too cold or too hot?

Thank you so much once again you guys! I am seriously in awe of how wonderful everyone is! ❤ ❤ ❤

Chasing Sunsets During Fall

I know I know it’s been forever since I posted, but school finally started and with all the homework and work, I gotta learn how to balance everything! It’s not easy let me tell you that! I had my first accounting test today and this girl don’t  do numbers! I asked my boss if I could not come in to work today so I could have time to study some more before I take it. I am so glad I did! I went in to take the test so confident! I knew EVERY SINGLE question on the test! :0 Shocked? Yes I was too! Now I know some basics about income statements, balance sheets, and statement of retained earnings! (WHO AM I?)

Anyways, yesterday I had a chance to hang out with my cousin, since he was visiting, so we decided to go exploring downtown(ish) area. I was hoping to be able to wear tall boots and a cardigan but sadly it’s still in the 80’s here. Someone needs to notify the weather that it’s not summer anymore! I want to wear sweaters and beanies and boots EVERYDAY (no joke)!

Our first stop was Indaba Coffee. I had a free birthday drink I needed to use up so it was a perfect start to our adventure.

After getting some caffeine into our bodies we spent the rest of the day trying to catch the sunset. Sunsets are seriously my aesthetic! They are so breathtaking! So if I have time to sit down and enjoy it, that’s exactly what I do!

I bought the sweater at Macy’s and absolutely in love with how comfy and lightweight it is! The dress is thrifted but originally from Forever21. I got the lovely forest green fedora hat at Target and the booties are also from Macy’s! Thank you lovelies for reading ❤

Coffee Adventures & OOTD <3

If you were to ask me what I love doing during my free time I would say exploring new coffee shops! Before I moved last month, I lived in a small town that had only 3 coffee shops, and all 3 used the same coffee beans which I disliked. So you can imagine my happiness when I moved and there were coffee shops EVERYWHERE!

My cousin was visiting me this week and what better to do then go coffee shop exploring with him. I heard about Vessel Coffee Roasters last month from my sister and been wanting to go check it out. The coffee shop gave me a Portland hipster vibe. Lets talk about how big the sitting area is! One reason that keeps  me from doing homework at coffee shops is that most coffee places are small. I LOVED the spacious area! It’s going to be perfect for those days when I need to do homework and can get coffee here and wont have to worry about finding a spot to sit.

This is just one side of the coffee shop!

My handsome cousin ❤

I am wearing the softest and most comfortable shirt ever! I got it at Marshall’s last week in Portland and I’m in love with it! My jeans and boots are thrifted. The boots say that they are originally from Forever21 and I got my fedora style hat from Target.

My favorite season is Fall so I am so excited to style more fall pieces! Leave me a comment on what’s your favorite Fall essential pieces to wear ❤

Exploring Downtown

I ended up going to the big(er) city for the day to go shopping with two of my cousins since my town doesn’t have a mall or anything close to it. After an hr drive we were at our destination! We spent our time mostly downtown exploring the city. The city is so beautiful, especially in the fall.

Downtown Spokane, WA

And of course it wouldn’t have been a great day if we wouldn’t have had coffee. We decided to try a new coffee shop, I have been wanting to check out Indaba for a month now! It was so delicious!, I had a caramel latte, my usual of course. One of these days I need to expand my coffee selection and try something crazy!

My cousin, Sergi. You can find him on Instagram @SIR_G__

Since were on a roll on trying new places, we decided to try Steelhead Bar & Grille, which happened to be next door to Indaba Coffee. We made it just in time for happy hour and ordered bleu cheese fries and smoked steelhead artichoke dip. The food was to die for! The fries were perfect with just the right amount of cheese! The smoked steelhead artichoke dip was served hot with a touch of jalapeno and french bread an tortilla chips. The customer service surprised me. It was packed in there, literally people were waiting to get seats and our waiter was always checking up on us and refilling our drinks. The service was really good, I am defiantly planning to go back soon!

My cousin, Sergi and I. You can find him on Instagram @SIR_G__

Overall it was such a fun trip! I got a chance to get away from my little town and go shopping and explore new places and best of all I got to spend the day with some of my favorite people. More adventures to come!

Who is ready for flannels & apple cider?

With the days getting colder and colder, there is one thing I love almost as much as coffee, and that is apple cider! Not only does apple cider taste AHHMAZING but apples are super healthy for you. I am sure we are all familiar with the old Welsh proverb, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” After doing some research, I ran into a study that was done that shows that by drinking apple juice you could keep Alzheimer’s away and fight the effects of aging on the brain. 
I was able to pick up this adorable camping mug at Temple Coffee in Sacramento, California while visiting in the summer. 
Fall is the season that teaches us that change can be beautiful.

When fall comes upon us, flannels are my go to (sometimes I feel like I live in them). And what better way to wear a flannel then wrap it around your waist. Darker colors, like army green, is my favorite color to wear in the fall time, well besides maroon of course.