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hey there! I'm monica 

I pride myself on making amazing style and design accessible for everyone, regardless of location, budget, or ability! My design philosophy is rooted in authenticity + attainability - If I can do it, you can too! My work has been featured in countless publications, but I take the most pride in homeowners that have been personally inspired by my DIY ideas and have tried something in their own homes!

learn more about ME + MY BIZ

It’s actually incredibly hard to believe that we are 2 years in to this whole blogging thing. Last year we celebrated our one year blogiversary with loads of talented guest posters, giveaways and fun facts about our crazy first year. This year, we have soooo much going on that we just couldn’t swing all that, but we still wanted to recognize some of the funny, ridiculous and amazing things that have happened to us over the past two years. But before that we want to thank YOU guys, whether you’re a brand new reader or have been here for the long haul, for your support and encouragement to us. We would be nothing without you guys!! So thank you. Now, for the fun part;

Three Posts We Wished We’d Never Written
We seriously laugh out loud sometimes about the posts we wrote when we first started. Let’s just say it took us awhile to figure out our niche. 😉 I’m sure there are tons of other lousy posts, but these are a few of the ones we love to hate.
1. In our second month of blogging we wrote a post entitled, For All You Tomboys Out There about how to braid your hair. Ha! As if we are experts about anything related to hair. Hilarious. (Our friend, Jen, did the braid, and she IS awesome at doing hair, but us? Not so much.)
2.  I threw an Angelina Ballerina-themed 3rd birthday party and posted about it way back when. The party was cute enough, but nothing over the top, and the pictures are pitifully bad. The funny part is that this is one of our most successful posts! I guess there aren’t too many people throwing Angelina birthday parties??
3. Monica shared her adventures in trying to DIY a belt out of fabric in this post. Even her daughter was like, “Ewww….Mom, don’t wear that.” Love that.
Blog Design for Beginners
We prided ourselves on doing everything by ourself- including our blog design. We did ok for novices, and actually have done everything related to the way our blog runs and looks ourselves until the last 6 months or so. Now, we happily turn our ideas over to Kim, at 733 Design, for our custom blog design. Anyway, take a look at the way things used to be…
Header 1… Designed at 12am the night we randomly decided to start a blog…
Header 2… About 3 months in…
Header 4… this one lasted about 2 minutes. We hated it!
Header 5… this one lasted for almost a year until we had to play the name swaparoo game…
Ahh…  How much we love Kim and her design expertise.  She “gets” us and did a great job on our logo and header!
Five Incredible Opportunities
We’ve Received as a result of this Blog
All that goofiness aside, we have been blessed to have some awesome experiences because of this little ol’ blog and we’re sure we’re on the verge of lots more.
1. The Nate Show: Last year we had the priviledge of being on four episodes of Nate’s 2011-2012 season and it was a blast. Nate is a sweetie, and we fell in love with live TV, for sure. This will forever remain as one of the highlights of our blogging careers.
2. Mexico: Thanks to our buddy, Nate, we won a trip for 6 days to Cancun, Mexico that totally rocked. We had such a blast with two other girlfriends and enjoyed loads of down time and really great food. Without this blog= no Mexico= sad girls.

 

 

3. HGTV Magazine and Ladies Home Journal
 

 

 
 

 

 
 

4. Feautred on Young House Love! I think every blogger wants to be featured by John and Sherry (if you’re living under a rock, they are THE biggest and most successful home bloggers out there) and we got our opportunity with the Guest Room Makeover we did for a friend. Check that off the bucket list. 🙂
 

 
 

 

 
 

 

5. Creating with the Stars. It’s crazy how things come full circle, isn’t it? We LOVED being a part of this contest, and are even more thrilled to be hosting it this year! Speaking of CWTS, TODAY is the last day to enter your projects! Over the next week, we (with the help of the 12 stars) will be poring over the submissions to choose the best contestants! Don’t forget- the contestants and their blog star partners will be announced next Friday, March 1st! Get excited, people, get very excited.
 

 
 

 

 
 

 

So, we’ve shared our highs and lows from the past two years, and again we want to say that we are so honored to have had you on this amazing journey with us.  2013 promises to be our BIGGEST year yet, so hold on tight, we’re all in for a crazy ride!  
 

 

In honor of 2 Rockin’ Years of Blogging, we’re gonna open the floor for a little Q and A…  Leave a comment asking us anything under the sun and we’ll respond.  It can be about blogging, life, our friendship, how to braid hair (haha!) or whatever you want to know.  We’ll comment back throughout the day!  So… what do you want to know??  
 

 

The comments +

  1. Happy bloggy birthday girls!!! Can’t wait to see more in the years to come!

  2. Erin says:

    Happy blogiversary! Found your blog recently and have enjoyed reading back through your posts. I also entered the contest and spread the word! So thanks for the opportunity!!

  3. Congrats on 2 years ladies! What a great ride so far.

    I’ll start getting the questions rolling.
    What is your favorite post? (even if it isn’t the fan favorite)

    • I have to say I love reading back over our Nate Show recap posts- those days were so much fun! That’s an awesome question, though. We’ll have to look back over and see which ones really jump out at us and let you know. 🙂

      J & M

  4. Michael says:

    Sounds like a fabulous 2 years!! I still can’t seem to get that braid thing, I need to look at your tutorial! The Nate Show is pretty awesome, what an experience! I’d love to hear more about how you two met and became friends.

    • Haha, the braid post is so silly, but hope it helps! We became friends in high school and have been close ever since. My mom was the admissions director of our small school, which meant that I had the job of taking the new kids around to all their classes. I was the first person Monica met when she came to PA from Massachusetts (you know I was the “cool kid” just helping out the new kid .:) That’s close to *ahem* 14 years of friendship! You can read more about our story here: https://eastcoastcreativeblog.com/p/meet-us.html

      Thanks for reading!
      Jess (& Monica)

  5. Oops, that last comment was me signed in with my husbands email…

  6. MoBlondeArt says:

    Happy blogiversity! I actually found you guys though an article in the newspaper- Bucks County Courier Times a while back. 🙂 anyways, my question to you is- what is your favorite place to get design items- certain stores, thrift shoppes, yard sales, etc?
    Thanks and have a great day!

    • Good question! We have a couple of go-to favs: Liberty Thrift in Quakertown, Architectural Antiques in Bedminster (it’s like a treasure hunt there!) and of course, we always take a peek at HomeGoods for fun, unique finds.

      Thanks for reading our blog!

      J & M

  7. Rita says:

    I’m new to your blog but have lived in blog land for a couple of years now. Oh and I entered your fabulous contest! My question to you is, if you had to do it all over again, what would you do differently? for example, I wish I could burn my blog and start fresh but who has the time haha. Thanks for the inspiration and the opportunity of the contest!

  8. Congrats! Found your blog through Creating With the Stars (fingers crossed!) and love it. ESPecially love this recap post. I’m 9 months into this amazing blogging venture and wondering when it started to feel ‘real’ for you? I.e. when did it feel like more than your mother and college roommate were reading? 🙂 I’ve had some wonderful press via Apt. Therapy and some other link parties and am hoping that it’s just a slow and steady type of a thing, but always so curious how the big fancy ‘real’ bloggers got to this point!
    Thanks!!
    Charlotte

  9. Jesse Bodine says:

    Congratulations ladies!!! You guys have accomplished SO MUCH in two years and I’m looking forward to many years to come! Much love to you!

  10. Jesse Bodine says:

    Oh, I need a question! What changes came along/when did realize that blogging was no longer a hobby, but a pretty awesome J-O-B!?
    Jesse @ Scout & Nimble

  11. I think you are both really amazing! I am a pretty new follower ever since I “discovered” you when you guest posted over at Shanty2Chic several weeks back, although I really had seen some of your projects around before then. I am so impressed with all that you have accomplished, and I am truly happy for your success! As far a question…How much time do you spend on blogging each week?

  12. Happy 2nd Blogiversary!! I’m so glad I found yalls fabulous blog! What HUGE and amazing accomplishments! xo Bridgett

  13. Lucy Auburn says:

    Congratulations ladies, reading your accompishments in just two years of blogging! I originally found your Creating with the Stars logo on pinterest and of course had to find out more and then start a blog and enter your contest all in a record time! Whew! Thank you for being that impetus that I needed to realize one of my dreams.! We almost have the same Blogiversary just two years apart :o) My question is what advice would you give a newbie to Blogworld as a result of your 2 years of experience. i.e. what worked for you and what didn’t? Hope that isn’t asking too much.

  14. Congrats! My question is, what was your turning point? At what point did you move from just another DIY blog to “Jess and Monica from The Real Housewives of Bucks County”? You know what I mean? How did you get the clout? Was it the Nate Show?

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