Hashtag This...

Happy September everyone! It's the unofficial official month of decorating for autumn! I know we are only 11 days into it, but my decorations are up, my fall scented Yankee Candle tarts are burning, and I'm checking out new recipes on Pinterest that you KNOW will taste amazing during this cool and crisp season...If only the weather would get crisp and stay crisp! Right now we are on day 3, (actually day 4 but the first day was rainy) of cooler temps and all the autumn feels. I hate saying this, but it seems typical of this area lately to go straight from one season into another with no warning. Earlier this year our area went from winter to summer and spring was just a thought. All I know is our A/C has been on since the beginning of May and we are going on 5 months if this weather doesn't stay cool. Yes, I'm so done with it as I'm sure a majority of the world is feeling the 2018 oddest summer ever.

So what have I been doing to keep from feeling oppressed this humid summer? Well, how else does one stay inspired? Social Network of course! How else?! I'm going to be honest and say I'm still not "up to par" with all the different social network sites out there and all the lingo that goes with them, but what I do know and have used, I really REALLY enjoy. Many of you don't know, but years ago, back when telephones were connected to the wall and cords were 37 1/2 feet long, I was an AVID magazine subscriber. I even remember changing our mailbox in our first house to a bigger one just so we could have one big enough one for all the magazines! There was even a point a few years later where my daughter won a contest for selling the most magazine subscriptions...because her mother bought all of them! (that was strategy on my part though as I knew every year one of the kids would be selling magazines!) From recipe magazines to home decorating to crafts and yes to even hunting (can't leave Bill out) I was subscribing to them all. Some people looked to magazines for 'updated Hollywood news', some for latest fashion and/or beauty trends, however, I wanted inspiration for my home and kitchen. Obviously, I couldn't have enough inspiration lol. These magazines are where I learned most of my cooking skills and baking knowledge as well as sponge painting walls (remember that!) or using crackle paint on furniture (which has come back but with 'different terminology' btw). And gardening magazines? Oh Lord I wanted the yards of every photo there was! I soon found that my collection of subscriptions were getting too pricy to keep and had to find other resources to use. (I mean, most of us really only looked at the pictures anyway!) I then found a big resource of inspiration... the library. Again, from gardening, to decorating, to cooking, and crafting I was coming home with monstrous sized books by the dozens. Creators of magic from all over the world wanted to share their talents and I was a one man decorator armed with a paint brush and brownie pan who couldn't get enough.

And today, 2018, magazines and books are almost a thing of the past. (I hope they never will be) For me, Pinterest has taken place of everything. I could spend hours (and have) ruining my eyes by scrolling through recipes, gardens and garden ideas, solutions to problems be it medical or something else, and even ideas I didn't know I needed to know lol. What Pinterest has provided is what I live for...inspiration. But, something else that I personally have found to be just as fun and incredibly inspiring is Instagram. Again, it's been out and running for quiet some time now (8 years to be exact), but being the slow poke that I am, I just created my account last summer 2017. As with most social networking sites, one normally follows a friend and they normally follow you. Being the facebook junkie that I am, I decided to take a brake and browse Instagram and try to 'learn' it. And OH MY LORD! Now, before you all go and laugh, I just want you to know that I'm just being honest here and we all have to learn somewhere, okay?...

So, I'm pretty sure you all have heard the term "hashtag". Well, for some of us who have heard it, but didn't and don't know what the hashtag is, it's the sign we all grew up knowing as the 'pound sign' (#). For years I would hear people say something then follow it up with "hashtag" this or "hashtag" that. I'd see it written after a facebook post as well. Little did I know what that all truly meant. As I was instagramming, I hit the search button and typed in a word such as 'cottage'. A list came up and all of them started with a # followed by cottage like this: #cottage #cottageliving #cottagedecor, etc. So I clicked on the first one and BOOM! MY LIFE WAS CHANGED! I had no idea that hashtag, in layman terms, basically means "file". Every picture that anyone had taken and then added the hashtag "cottage" to it came up in this file! With that being said, imagine my happiness, my excitement, my failing eye sight because the screen is too small! I can't get enough. People all over the world are hash tagging and sharing their pictures and I don't have enough time in a day to take it all in! Inspiration overload!

What I've also learned is that if you can think of a word or phrase, there's UNDOUBTEDLY a hashtag out there...just to give you an example, I typed in the word "burp". Just under the #burp alone there are 433,073 posts! Now, that doesn't mean there are 433K pictures of someone burping lol, that just means that there are 433K pictures or videos that people have hash tagged the word burp for some reason such as pictures of food, videos of people talking and accidentally burping, etc. You get the picture. By the way, #cottage has over 2.6 million posts!!! And that's just one word in the many words of inspiration... And when you post a picture, you can use more than one hashtag. For instance the picture above; I put it on instagram and used #autumn #scarf #hurricanevase...and more. If anyone were to ever search out any of those hashtags, that picture will show up! #inspired

So while facebook has always been a fun way for me to connect to those I don't get to talk to on a day to day basis, Instagram has taken over my inspiration venue and draining my phone battery on what seems like a daily basis. I have also made some acquaintances by following (or they following me) those who have the same interests I have. Like facebook, following people allows you to see their feed instead of having to hashtag something. And, you can have several instagram accounts if you like. I have a couple and even our puppy Kimber has one! The different accounts allows me to follow separate interests. If you have an instagram, I invite you to come follow me at I Am Anarita (also titled French Country Brocante Home). Of course, our puppy's instagram is Kimber the White German Shepherd. And if you don't have one and are looking for some inspiration of sorts, check it out! It's all pictures and videos! And one more perk...no politics lol. It's wonderful and inspiring and for me, politics, anger, and negativity free! ❤️

And to continue my mode of inspiration, I am so excited to be going to Columbus, Ohio this weekend for the #Countrylivingfair hosted by Country Living Magazine. Bill and I went a few years ago and really enjoyed it. It's been a couple of years so it will be fun to see what's new out there! (I like to take pics for future inspiration 😜) The weather is suppose to be nice and a little warm, but I get to spend the day with Bill! 💕 I think we are also hitting up a little town festival here in Kentucky as well. We live for a little getaway! It's either that or work on crown molding and window trim all weekend...and a particular someone doesn't want to do that at the moment 😂 Fingers crossed I find a few things I just can't live without and the same particular someone is okay with giving them a new home! 🤞🏼

#autumn #hashtag #countrylivingmagazine #fair #decorating #inspiration #instagram