Liebster Award

I'm so honored and excited to announce that I have been nominated for a Liebster Award from Lauren over at Lot 48!

The Liebster Award is an award given to bloggers by bloggers, all of whom have under a certain number of followers. 
It's meant to help give props to bloggers while also helping them gain new followers and have readers discover new blogs! 
Cool, right? 
The way it works is, I answer a list of questions provided to me by my nominee (Thanks again, Lauren!), and then I nominate my own group of bloggers to keep it going! 

Here we go! 

//What is the one thing that can cheer you up no matter what?
I know it sounds cliché, but my sweetheart Jake can pretty much always cheer me up.
He has such wonderful insight and seems to always know what to say (Or when to pick up Ice Cream).

//What makes you the most crabby, no sleep, no food or it being too hot/cold?
Hmmmmm, I think being around too much negativity puts me in the worst mood. 
Negative energy is so contagious, and I can tend to get in a bad mood about other people being in a bad mood and it's a dangerous cycle. That, and not having had my coffee yet. 

//If you had to pick one thing on your bucket list to do, what would it be?
Drink Champagne in Champagne, France. 

//Whats your guilty pleasure?
Vegging out. 
I feel guilty when I'm not getting something done or being productive enough, but I love just laying on the couch for hours at a time and binging on TV shows. 

//Is there any fad that you just don’t understand?? (ie. whole30, kale, chevron prints, etc)
Cross Fit. 
It sounds like paying to be tortured.
(And that is why I will never look like Jessica Biel Timberlake.)

//What is your favorite thing about blogging?
I love that I have a platform for my voice that I'm in complete control of. Working in theatre, you rely on a lot of other people to make your work happen, but with blogging, you only need yourself. I love being able to write pieces or make something or film a video and have an immediate outlet for it. 
It's very exciting. 
I also think there's so much opportunity online that every day can lead to a new opportunity, a new friend, anything is possible! 

//If you could meet any celebrity, who would it be?
Amy Poehler. 
I think she's an incredible woman, comedian, business woman, and role model. She seems like she'd be both insightful and a total blast to hang out with. It'd be a dream to grab dinner with her. 

//What is something you dislike about blogging?
While I love blogging most of the time, it can be both very lonely and discouraging. Sometimes you spend hours working all alone on a post/video/article and you put it out there, only to receive limited views or feedback of any kind. It can make you question why you keep doing it and spending so much time and energy on something that doesn't always have positive (or even noticeable) rewards. But that's when you go back to basics and remind yourself that you need to do it for yourself and remember all the things that make you happy about blogging. (And then pour yourself a cocktail.)

//Whats your favorite season?
Probably Spring. 
The weather is beautiful, I always seem to find myself traveling or going on some new adventure, and there seems to be a stronger sense of inspiration and energy in the air. 

//What do you do to recharge your batteries?
I do something just for me. Get a massage, go shopping solo, treat myself to some bubbles. I also find that travel really helps me recharge and reboot - I'm always inspired and renewed when I get back from a trip. 


For my nominees I chose:


Ellie from This is Definitely A Good Idea
Sara from Bumblings of Miss Button
Caroline from Sparkles and Crumbs
Xandra from Fashionably Light 
Stephanie from Happiness in Hollywood

Here are my questions for you ladies: 

//What inspired you to begin blogging?

//What's your favorite thing about blogging?

//What's the best piece of advice you've ever received?

//What famous person has your dream wardrobe? 

//What 3 songs can you not stop listening to right now? 

//Who are your favorite characters currently on TV? 

//What food could you eat every day?

//If you could take a trip to anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?

//If you could magically be incredibly good at any skill overnight, what would it be?

//What's your favorite quote?

Thanks so much for nominating me and following this fun experience!

Interview on the Daily Tay!

Hey Guys!

I'm excited to share that today I have an interview on one of my new favorite blogs, The Daily Tay!

Taylor is a blogger, writer and stand-up comedian (!) living in Chicago. We connected via a comment of mine on one of her posts, and I decided to be a part of her Saturday Takeover series! 

So hop on over to her site and check out the interview HERE. 

Happy Weekending!

Two Year Blogiversary!

Guys. 
It's here!

I am SO excited today to be celebrating Tarreyn Land's Two year anniversary!

Wahooooooooooo!

So.

I'm sitting here and trying to remember how the whole idea of this blog thing came about. 
It's hard to remember life before it, but considering it's only been 2 years I should be able to remember. (I know I've killed a lot of brain cells since then, but it couldn't be that many. ... right?)

I'd been a college graduate for about 6 months and the shiny excitement of the whole world-is-my-oyster phase was starting to wear off.

(Look at how sparkly my grad cap was!)

I needed a project. 

And to be honest, I'm pretty sure the whole idea was hatched from my parents because not only are they geniuses (genii (?) ) but have copious amounts of experience dealing with Tarreyn-Needs-A-Project-Syndrome. (But instead of being 2 and needing a new toy on an airplane, I was now 24 and needed some semblance of a sense of purpose.) 

And thank goodness they suggested it, because this has become such an incredibly cool, challenging and important part of my life. 

Looking back on it, I have a lot of posts and ideas from the last 2 years that I cringe at, and I have a lot of things I want to learn and work on, but there's still some stuff I'm pretty proud of, and a lot of it happened in year 2. 

Here are some exciting things that have happened over the past year:

- I was published on a few other websites including Hello Giggles and Quarter Life Conversations

- I gained a couple advertisers including being a ModCloth affiliate and started getting sponsored posts 

- I passed over 200 Facebook followers, and increased my viewership, including one month that reached 10,000 views! Wow! (I don't know who all of you people are, but I love you)

- I  learned a LOT by taking e-courses and reading how-to's and have started to learn a lot of new stuff, including how to re-write HTML code which is challenging but exciting

- I also started trying some new things like making videos and improving my photography

 

And I'd really like to thank all of my amazing readers (yes YOU) for your continued support and interest! 

Without all of you I'd just be spitting my bizarre thoughts into the universe to land on the internet's deaf ears. So thank you.

Thank you for your comments, for your page likes, for your sharing of articles. 

Thank you for letting me know when you like something (and for remaining pretty quiet when you don't.) 

You guys are the best.

And thanks to everyone who took my reader survey (it's not too late! You can still click that link!). It was interesting to hear your thoughts and comments, and helped me confirm some changes I've been planning on making! 

Here are some things to expect in the coming year:

Fewer Playlists that are Easier to Access:

I've received an overwhelming amount of feedback saying that the playlists are too difficult to access, and that they are too frequent, and I couldn't agree more! So that's changing! First off, there'll be fewer playlists (only 1, maybe 2 a month), so hopefully they'll be better, and secondly they will now be created through Grooveshark so anyone can stream them directly from the post at any time. I'm excited! (Mom you can listen to them now!)

More Videos:
Even though they take a little more work, I love making videos, and I was excited and overwhelmed to read that every person who took the survey wants more of them! Thanks guys! My goal is to produce at least one a month, hopefully more! 

More Photos & Personal Posts:
This year I started delving into sharing more of my personal life with you in articles about things like my travels and adventures, and I also started sharing more photos with you. And a lot of you liked it! This coming year I plan to expand on this by taking and sharing more photos, as well as keep you in the loop of more aspects of my adventures and experiences! 

New Recurring Columns:

This year I'm gonna create some new recurring columns that I hope you guys like! Not sure what they'll all be yet, but some things you can expect: a monthly cocktail recipe, some style posts, more anecdotes and *hopefully* stronger content all around! 

Thank you all much for sharing my little corner of the internet with me for a second year. 
I'm excited to see what year three brings!

Tarreyn Land on QLC!

Hey Readers!
I'm super excited to announce an that today an article of mine was published on the website Quarter Life Conversations! 

I started following this site a couple months ago, and they always have a lot of fun stuff to say to quarter-lifers! They cover everything from dating to deadlines, music to meltdowns, and today my voice has entered the conversation! 

Check it out:

Adult Ennui

Hope you're having a great week!

Tarreyn Land on Sparkles and Crumbs!

Guys! 
Guess what?!
Today I am featured in an interview with the lovely Caroline Gellatly over at the fabulous blog Sparkles and Crumbs!

Caroline and I recently became internet friends through Twitter, and as we talked, it came to our mutual realization that I might be a good candidate for her recurring interview series, Champagne Tea! 

I had a blast answering her fun & in-depth questions and am so excited to share this interview with you all! Check it out in the link below!!

Tarreyn's Interview on Sparkles and Crumbs!

Thanks to Caroline, and thanks to all of you for checking it out!

Tarreyn Land on Hello Giggles!

Hey Readers!
I'm excited to announce today that an article of mine was published on the site Hello Giggles!! Below is the link to check it out!

Unexpected Love Lessons on Hello Giggles

Thanks to my readers and the lovely ladies at Hello Giggles! 

Yaaay! 

Home Sweet Home

Hey Readers!
Well, after almost a month-long hiatus! (Holy Cow!) I am back in blogging-action!
First off, I had an incredible time in Europe and will share more on that later, but secondly, thank you for your patience and continued support in my absence! While I was gone I expected viewership to drop way down, instead you guys kept checking and my number of views passed 103,000! WOW! Thank you thank you thank you! 
I'm in the process of formulating a lot of new goals, and semi-redesigning the sight and format. I'm hoping to do one video a week, keep up the heart lists, and have a handful of articles in between. We shall see what happens! But keep checking in and there should be some fun stuff in the near future! (Fingers Crossed!) 
For now, I thought I'd give you a little sneak peek of all the places in Europe I slapped up some Tarreyn Land Stickers! 
Check it out!

Dublin, Ireland

Kilmainham Jail, Dublin

Frankfurt, Germany

The Grand Canal, Venice

Venice, Italy

Florence, Italy

Piazza Michelangelo, Florence

The Duomo, Florence

The Colosseum, Rome

Rome, Italy

London, England

Big Ben, London

Thanks Again! Happy to be Home! 

Happy Blogiversary!

Well, gang - it's here!

Pop the champagne, break out the cupcakes, put on something sparkly!

Today marks Tarreyn Land's ONE YEAR anniversary! 

Woooooo Hoooooo!!!!

Thank you all so so much. Without a steadily increasing interest from my readers, I'm not sure I would have as successfully accomplished my goal of blogging every day for an entire year. And because of that steadily increasing interest from you guys, you've given me the enthusiasm to keep going!

I know that certain changes will happen in Tarreyn Land in this new year, but I'm not totally positive what they should or will be yet. To start figuring things out, I want YOU GUYS to answer a survey I've created!

TAKE THE SURVEY!

(pllllleeeeeaaaassseeee!)

In this I ask you things you like, things you don't like, changes you think would be effective. It's only nine simple questions and really won't take you very long, so please fill it out, I'd really appreciate it! 

Thanks again so much! 

Xoxoxo

Birdcage Veil Guest Blog!

Hi Readers!

Today, an article I wrote was published on a great website called Wedding Voices. They asked me to write about a project for them that was wedding related! The result was a DIY birdcage veil and headpiece. I had a lot of fun making the veil and writing the article, and I hope people have fun reading it! I thought I'd share it with you guys too so you can check it out! 

You can see the article HERE!

Half A Year!

Hey Readers!

I just wanted to give you all a big thanks and shout out!

Today marks the completion of my 26th week of daily posts! 

That's half a year! WOW!

You're all wonderful to be a part of this fun journey I've embarked on. I'm so happy so many of you enjoy visiting. You ROCK.

Thank you all SO much for your interest and support, let's keep going! 

-And Growing! Tell your friends! Tell your family! Tell strangers on the street!
Also don't forget to "like" my Facebook page and follow me on Twitter!

 Thanks again SO much, I'm excited to continue! 

Xoxoxoxo

Tarreyn

I Love You Guys!

**Welcome to Tarreyn Land**

Hello! Welcome To Tarreyn Land!

            My name is Tarreyn, and I couldn’t be happier you’ve joined me! I am a recent college graduate currently living in the Southwest, and this blog is an exciting new adventure for me!

            A self-proclaimed life-enthusiast, I love loving things. I believe in turning any occasion into a special one, making any object more fantastic, and appreciating all the incredible things the world has to offer. My entire life I have been crafty, kooky, cheerful and full of energy, and this blog is my attempt to channel all these things into a project that is super fun for me and others! Here I hope to appreciate and dive in to all kinds of ideas and hobbies covering a vast span of interests!

            Tarreyn Land is a term created by a good friend of mine that referred to the place in my head where I imagine and create things. The name snowballed, and became part of the vernacular among most of my friends and family. When it came time to come up with a name for this blog, this seemed to be the obvious choice. Thus, Tarreyn Land was registered.

            My goal is to post seven days a week, with each day focusing on a different wonderful topic! The basic breakdown will be as follows:

~ Music Monday: Kick off your week every Monday in audible style with a new playlist of some music I’m loving right now. Every week will have a collection of song recommendations covering a wide variety of styles and artists. Playlists will be posted here as well as on Spotify, where you can listen to them!

~ Buzz Day: Tuesday is “Buzz” day, with entertainment recommendations, reviews, discussions and articles. It will discuss books, events, movies, music, web, articles, and beyond!

~ Wednesday is “Musings”: What’s on my mind – reflections, contemplations, daydreams and observations covering everything from life quandaries, to a love of cupcakes to why Neil Diamond is a musical mastermind.

~ Thursday is for crafts: Being somewhat arts and crafts obsessed, each week I will have some new ideas and directions on crafts to make and enjoy! Beautify your environment and feed your itching inner artist with fun (and fairly inexpensive) arts and crafts ideas!

~ How-To…: Each Friday, expect a new instructional how-to post! Recipes, making things, constructing, creating, fashioning, producing! Impress your friends by knowing how to cook a mad stir-fry, edit in photoshop, tie a tie, or make a paper-mâché bust of a giraffe!

~ Saturday is free day! This day can be anything from a photo, to a quote, to an essay, to nothing at all (everybody needs a break sometimes).

~ Heart-List: I’m a list-maniac, and Sunday is list-crazy about all the things I’m into this week! A place to shine light on the often under-appreciated beauty of things like Entenmann's donuts, photo booths, or coffee table books.

            That about does it! Please enjoy your exploration of Tarreyn Land! Check in each morning for a new post, and I encourage everyone to become a member!