You know what I miss? Five on Friday (or 5 Finds Friday, depending on who you link up with). I used to participate several times a month, but it’s been a really long time since I jumped in. On the one hand, I can’t decide how I feel about allotting one of my three weekly posts for a link-up, but I do love the idea of sharing little things that might not otherwise make the blog. I’m not making any promises, but I thought it might be a fun way to “micro-blog” over the summer. What do you think?
001 | The Hashtag Hack
I cannot be the only one who gets really tired of typing in countless hashtags on Instagram, right? I know that so many people think overusing tags is stupid and annoying, but it is such a great way to connect with other ‘grammers and to find posts that are right up your alley. If, like me, you have multiple Instagram accounts, the autofill option almost always clears when I switch accounts. I would find myself manually typing them all out and hoping that I didn’t miss a letter. I’m pretty sure I’ve heard people say there are apps for that, but my first thought was just to type out multiple hashtag groups in the notes app and copy/paste them into my Instagram caption. First world problem alert: that wasn’t any more fun than manually typing them out.
I was randomly scrolling the web a few weeks ago and saw a post about this life hack and I promptly texted all of my favorite girls. I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of this myself (since I have various other shortcuts set up on my phone already), but making this one simple change in my phone is saving me minutes a day when it comes to Instagram. In the keyboard settings on your iPhone, you can set up shortcuts under “text replacement” and have it autofill your hashtags. I set several up for different kinds of posts (blog, bible, health, books, fitness, etc.), making sure the shortcuts were easy to remember, but not a single word I might need to type in the normal course of life. I dare you not to love this little trick.
002 | Snapchat
Do you even Snapchat? Am I too old for this? I don’t know the answer to that, but I do know that I am having way too much fun over there. We often discuss how Instagram can be so glossy and curated, right? Well, Snapchat is like Instagram’s messier, younger brother. You can be slightly more irreverent and overshare to your heart’s content without worrying about loads of unfollowers. I’ve learned to redirect my oversharing of dance pictures (and shameless selfies) and our sophisticated friends on Instagram never have to know.
Are you on Snapchat? If so, leave your username in the comments so I can follow along (or tell me your favorite follow ever). If not, what are you waiting for? Follow me at tazandbelly for all sorts of things you didn’t really need to know.
Edited to add: I had no idea that my profile wasn’t “public” and you guys weren’t even seeing my posts. What in the fresh heck? I got schooled on this topic yesterday, so all is finally well in the world of Snapchat.
003 | Books
We leave for the beach in just under three weeks and I’m already working on what to read. Since I often listen to audiobooks and read digital copies on my Kindle app, I’m hoping to focus my efforts on actual, physical books I can hold in my hand. For one, I don’t want to wear headphones my entire vacation, nor do I want to carry my phone to the beach every day. Beyond that, I’m challenging myself to a bit of a “no spend summer,” so I’d love to take books I already own, books I borrow from the library or those I can steal from friends.
Do you have anything you’re looking to get rid of? Something you’d recommend me grabbing from the library? I’ve already made a pre-summer trip to 2nd & Charles (my first trip!) and dutifully shopped our bookcases for a few overlooked items, but I could use another two or ten to add to my bag.
Two other book-related items you might need to know about? 1. Anne Bogel, otherwise known as The Modern Mrs. Darcy, released her summer reading guide earlier this week and it is fabulous. I spent yesterday morning devouring the entire thing and making a list of my own. I doubt I’ll pick any of them up before our big trip, but there will be plenty more poolside reading once we return. 2. Have you joined Book of the Month yet? They are offering a promo through Tuesday, May 31 for 50% off a three-month subscription. Just use the code SUMMER50 when checking out!
004 | Junk Food
This one might seem weird, but I’m fighting a battle with junk food right now. I’ve been doing really well with my whole food challenge and I’m not telling you that I’ve fallen off the wagon, because I haven’t. The problem is that I’ve had a lifelong love of disgusting food and a few months of doing the right thing can’t immediately erase that. This might seem like an excuse, but sometimes I simply forget. I’ll find myself in a drive-through without seriously considering why that’s a problem. I’ll agree to Chipotle for lunch and instead of ordering the salad, I have to scrape out the insides of my tacos.
you donut eat junk | step away from the pizza | sweets are not your friend
Josh laughed at me earlier this week when I added a few reminders in some much needed places. I wrote a little note and taped it to my credit card and left another one on the back of my phone case where my debit card lives. I think having a visual reminder in a few of those places will help remind me that I don’t eat junk food. I thought you might need that reminder, too (or just think it’s funny), so I’m sharing three of my favorites just for you.
005 | Tech Candy
Have you heard of this ingenious local company? It just so happens that Cherie, the co-founder, is a fellow dance mom who I love entirely too much. She is hilarious and witty and has great hair (wink, wink) and I am so lucky to have her in my life. In case you aren’t familiar, her company designs and sells the coolest of iphone accessories that I promise you won’t want to live without. Phone cases, cords, iPad covers — you name it and she has an even better looking option than the one you already have. She asked me several weeks ago if I would showcase a product (or two) every few months and give you a chance to win a little goody. How awesome does that sound?
This month, it’s the Criss Cross Caddy. Although it was designed to hold whatever you can contain under all those stretchy cords, the backside is outfitted to carry your iPad or other e-reader of choice. Josh and I hated (nay, loathed) our iPad case, so when I added this to the rotation, I promise you that we heard angels singing. The back is a grippy, non-slip surface and all of the elastic straps have loads of grippy spots, too. It comes in several colors and I had a really hard deciding which one I wanted to keep (in exchange for this mini review). The coolest part? I have TWO to give away to you!! Comment on this post and tell me your favorite Tech Candy product (so we can feature it later this year) and subscribe to a few things in the widget below for another chance to win. I’ll choose one random winner from each.
Happy weekend, friends! How excited are you about a holiday weekend? I am so excited to spend a few days with my people around the pool trying not to eat allthethings. I’ll meet you back here next week and dish all about Sophie’s sixth birthday celebration. xoxo
