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Alli Santmyer

Things I'm Loving Right Now

My Bachelorette Finale REACTION: Hannah’s Season

August 6, 2019

Ohhhhhhh man. What a season! This season was different in general but it also was the first season that I didn’t look up who the winner was beforehand. Ever since Sean’s season, I’ve looked up who wins because I felt like they barely showed Catherine so when she won, I didn’t know much about her and how her and Sean interacted together. So now I always make sure to read the spoilers on Reality Steve after the first night so I can keep track of the winner throughout the season. But this time I didn’t so it was a total surprise when we got to the end!

So… Hannah and Luke. Every week, I (along with all of Bachelor Nation) was waiting and begging for Luke to go home. Everything he did, I was like okay, this has to be it. And then it wasn’t! He was horrible and I was so glad when he finally went home. I do think he deserved a little bit better treatment on the Men Tell All, though – they were super super hard on him. This whole process has to be difficult, especially when you’re getting nation-wide hate and I just hope he can grow and move on with his life now that the show isn’t airing anymore.

Next up… Tyler. Tyler was my front runner from the beginning. Towards the end, Peter briefly moved into my number one spot but Tyler was the one I was rooting for most consistently. He’s such a catch and, in my opinion, the perfect match for Hannah’s personality. Typically, I’ll have two different people that I’m rooting for in the season… my favorite and then the one who I think fits the best with Hannah and in this season, Tyler was my favorite AND the one who I thought fit best with her. How perfect! I hear they’re getting drinks together soon so I’ll be staying tuned for an update from them!

Last up is Jed. Ugh! I didn’t like him from the beginning – I don’t think anyone did – and then when he admitted he was just there for his career, I don’t think anyone was surprised. But I was surprised he lasted so long and ended up being the winner! Nothing he said seemed genuine and I don’t think they had any chemistry. I’m soooo glad Hannah ended things with him after the cheating information came out but I do hope he meant what he said about being sorry and wanting to be more intentional in the future.

Who do I think should be the next Bachelor? My top picks would be Peter or Mike. I think Hannah had a great group of guys so I hope they pick someone from this season. Who do you think they’ll choose?

Well, that’s it for my recap of this season of the Bachelorette – I hope you liked it! I’d say this was the best season of the Bachelor or the Bachelorette that I’ve ever watched so hopefully it just keeps getting better and better. Thank you for reading and I’ll see you soon with another post!

Things I'm Loving Right Now

Q&A

May 14, 2019

Hey gals! It’s been soooo long since I’ve posted, I’m so sorry! Since it’s been a bit since I’ve been on here, I thought I’d come back with a little Q&A. Let’s get started!

How did you get the courage to start a blog? Long story short, I started my blog during my sophomore year in college. I was looking for a creative outlet and a blog fit what I was looking for perfectly! So, I started my site and began writing. I kept it a secret for about 6 months or so so I could find my writing style and to make sure that I liked it enough to make it my “thing”. Once I was comfortable and felt like I had enough content posted, I announced it to my Instagram following and that was that! I wouldn’t say it took a lot of courage because back then, blogs and social media influencing hadn’t really taken off yet so I didn’t feel like I was entering into the huge community that it is today. My best advice for finding the courage within yourself to start one now is to start connecting with other bloggers who you look up to! Once you begin creating those friendships, you’ll see that the community is so loving and uplifting and you’ll have all the support you need to move forward.

Are you a full time blogger? No! I actually get this question a lot so I’m happy to finally answer it on here. My full time job is at a marketing agency – I’m an Account Manager. Basically, that means I’m the liaison between our clients and our in-house creatives such as copywriters, graphic designers, etc. Blogging is an incredibly fun side hustle but I really, really love what I do and I enjoy working in the marketing industry on the agency side.

What’s your favorite store to buy accessories from? Hmmm this is a tricky one! I think I have a few answers. For hair accessories, I’d say Urban Outfitters. For jewelry, I’d say Mejuri. For shoes, I’d say all over! But I think Steve Madden is my favorite shoe brand overall.

What’s your favorite place you’ve traveled to and where do you hope to travel next? My favorite place I’ve traveled to is definitely Arizona! For the last few years, I’ve been going once a year and it’s my favorite place in the whole world. As for future travels, I’m definitely wanting to go to Boston and Charleston soon. They’ve been on my travel bucket list for years!

How do you edit your photos? I use Lightroom! I had a creative major in college and I learned how to use the Adobe creative suite and never looked back. I use Photoshop sometimes but I’m a huge Lightroom fan. It’s the best and so easy to use!

What is your hair care routine? My hair care routine changes allll the time but right now, I’m using the Pantene Rose Water shampoo and conditioner and once a week, I switch out my shampoo for the Matrix So Silver purple shampoo to keep my hair super bright and white. After I get out of the shower, I put in two pumps of the Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Relaxing Balm to prevent frizz. Once in a while, I’ll use a hair mask if I feel like my hair is getting dry!

Where did you go to college? I went to James Madison University! My major was Media Arts & Design with a concentration in Integrated Advertising and Corporate Communications and I loved it. That major/concentration really prepared me to have a job at a marketing agency or at an in-house marketing department and it couldn’t have been more perfect for what I wanted to do. I would definitely recommend!

That’s all for this week, thank you so much for reading! I’m thinking of switching my posting schedule to be once every other week… what do you think? Let me know in the comments. Have a great week!

Travel

The Hotel of My Millennial Dreams

April 2, 2019

Hey hey hey gals, I hope your Spring is going well so far! I recently took a short weekend trip to Washington, DC and I’m excited to tell you all about it. Let’s get started!

Other than the weather finally getting warmer, one of the main reasons I wanted to head to DC for a weekend getaway was because I’ve been dying to stay at Hotel Hive. Hotel Hive is a small, boutique hotel in a great location. It’s within walking distance to the monuments and museums, Georgetown… so many fun, touristy places! The rooms are smaller than normal hotel rooms but they’re so cute. Hotel Hive also has a rooftop that you can go up on when the weather is nice! We arrived in the city on a Friday morning and immediately checked in. We had a room on the top floor and the bed was so cozy!

Since we had a whole day ahead of us, we decided to rent bikes. I’ve been to DC many, many times but I’ve always done everything by foot. Renting bikes was such a game changer! It was $8 to rent them for the whole day so that’s what we opted to do. We rode all around the Mall and went over to the Jefferson Memorial, which I’d never been to. It’s a little bit out of the way so getting there by bike was super nice and quick!

By the time we headed back to the hotel at the end of the day, we were so tired. We decided to get food delivered instead of going out so we used DoorDash for the first time. Living in a small town, I’ve never used Postmates or anything like it and it was so cool and convenient! We got Cheesecake Factory and had dinner and dessert in bed. Amazing!

We ended our little weekend getaway with a morning of walking around Georgetown. It was so fun! Even though DC is close enough for us to do in a day, sometimes it’s nice to be a tourist in your own backyard. Let me know in the comments if you’ve ever been to DC… Have a great week!

Healthy Living

Stupid Things I’ve Spent My Money On

February 19, 2019

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post! I’m trying something a little different this week and writing about a few stupid things I’ve purchased in the last few years. I saw this going around on YouTube so I thought I’d do my own take on it. Let’s get into it!

My first purchase that I regret is my iPad. After I graduated high school, I purchased an iPad and, to this day, I think I’ve only used it about 5 times. I already had a laptop and an iPhone so I just didn’t need it. When I bought it, I believe the price was around $500 so it’s definitely something I wish I didn’t spend money on.

The next thing I wish I hadn’t bought is my couch. When I moved into my apartment, I had just graduated from college and was moving out on my own. I was trying to furnish my apartment very inexpensively so I purchased a very cute, small couch from Wayfair and that was that. Although it is very cute and I love the way it looks, it’s not the most comfortable couch to sit or lay on. It’s not terrible and would definitely work for an office couch or somewhere that doesn’t get used a ton but for a living room couch that gets used everyday, it’s not very good at all. I wish I’d actually gone to an furniture store and seen it in person before spending hundreds of dollars on one that isn’t good.

The last thing I wish I hadn’t spent so much money on is clothing that I never wore. I had (and still have) so many clothing items from high school and early college that I bought and never wore. In most cases, it was because I bought something very specific that can only be worn in certain situations and then ended up not needing it or not wanting to wear it. Now, my wardrobe is filled with lots of basics that I can mix and match so I definitely learned my lesson but I wish it hadn’t taken me so long (and so much money) to realize.

That’s all for this week’s post, I hope you enjoyed it! What’s one purchase that you’ve made that you regret? Let me know in the comments below. Have a great week!

Beauty

My Winter Skin Care Routine

February 12, 2019

Hey hey hey cuties and welcome to this week’s beauty post! Since it’s been so cold this winter, I’ve really had to switch up my skin care routine so I thought I’d share what I’ve been doing to keep my skin happy and healthy this season. Let’s get started!

Starting with my in-shower skin care secrets, I always wash my face twice-over with Dove bar soap to remove all my makeup and to cleanse. I use makeup wipes to remove my eye makeup prior to showering but I leave my face makeup removal for Dove. I also exfoliate my face one to two times a week with my Aveeno Positively Radiant Skin Brightening Daily Scrub. I’ve used this exfoliant for years and it works wonders! You’ll see a lot of the products I use are Aveeno – they’re one of my favorites!

Once I’m out of the shower, I put a small amount of the Aveeno Positively Radiant Targeted Tone Corrector on my cheeks, forehead, and chin and let that sink in for a few minutes. After that, I follow up by applying the Aveeno Positively Radiant Sheer Daily Moisturizer all over my face and neck. This moisturizer is one I’ve been using since high school and it’s the best! It has SPF 30 and it’s light enough that it won’t clog your pores. Next, I apply a pea-sized drop of Neutrogena’s Healthy Skin Eye Cream under each eye and up onto the area just below my eyebrow. This cream helps to decrease puffiness and prevent fine lines in the eye area.

After that, if I have any breakouts, I’ll apply my Mario Badescu Drying Lotion to each spot and I leave it on overnight. I love this stuff! When I wake up in the morning, my spots are considerably smaller and less red. And if any of the lotion remains in the morning, you can just wipe it off with water.

One thing that I’ll do in the winter when my face is especially dry is use the Origins High-Potency Night-A-Mins Renewal Cream. This cream is very thick and very moisturizing. I’d say I use it about one to two times a week and it helps so much with dry, flaky skin! Another thing I do about once or twice a week is a face mask. Lately, my favorite one has been the Formula 10.0.6 Deep Down Detox Ultra-Cleansing Mud Mask. I’ve had this mask for about six months or so and it’s incredible! My skin always feels so soft after I use it and I’ve really noticed a difference in my skin. It’s less than $10 and it smells great, too!

That’s all for my winter skin care routine. One product I’ve been dying to try is the Dr. Jart+ Cicapair Tiger Grass Color Correcting Treatment… have any of you tried it? If so, let me know your thoughts in the comments section. Have a great week!

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How To

How To: Find the Best Job for You

February 5, 2019

Hey everyone, welcome to this week’s post! A few months ago, I wrote about my post-grad job application process (click here to read) and since then, I’ve had a few requests to talk about how to find the right job for you. Let’s get started!

I mentioned this in my previous post but I want to reiterate that it’s pretty hard to find a job in the field you want, especially if it’s your first job. Almost every position requires “1-3 years of experience” but how are you supposed to gain experience if you can’t get a job without it? Because of this, internships are so important. Even if it’s unpaid or you have to do it after you graduate, it’s an invaluable experience. When I was in college, I had three marketing internships. I started out as the design intern because I thought I wanted to get into graphic design and it was through that internship that I realized I definitely did not want to be a graphic designer. I loved taking design classes and I still love that aspect of marketing but without that internship, I wouldn’t have realized that it wasn’t what I wanted to do until much later.

Another tip for finding the right position for you is to talk to people who currently have positions you think you might like to be in. Even if you don’t know anyone personally, make LinkedIn your best friend and find connections on there! Those “on the inside” will be able to tell you the things they do like about what they do and the things they don’t like. It’s helpful to hear the negatives before you commit to a job title. You may also be able to shadow them for a day or two to see what it’s really like in their day-to-day.

My last tip is to think about the culture you’re looking for in your workplace. Although the right job title is important, the culture of the company you work for is important as well. Do you want coworkers who are all the same age as you? Do you want the option to work from home? Do you want to travel to your clients every week? What benefits are you looking for? By defining your expectations, you can have a clear mindset when going into interviews.

That’s all for this week’s post – I hope you enjoyed it! Finding the right job for you can take a long time but once you find it, it’s definitely worth it. You spend a huge percentage of your life at work so it’s important to find somewhere that you can be happy at. If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments below. See you next Tuesday!

College

Things I Wish I Knew in College

January 29, 2019

Hi everyone! Welcome back to another college-related post. Today, I’m talking all about the things I wish I knew during my years in college that would’ve made it a heck of a lot more fun. Let’s get into it!

The first topic I’ll touch on is friends. A big part of college is meeting new people! When you head off to school as a freshman, you’re thrust into a new place where you know no one so a lot of the first year is spent finding your place. And once you do find your place, it’s awesome! But then when you graduate, it’s the opposite where one day you’re surrounded by all your friends, all living within a mile of each other, and then the next day, you’re whisked off to your new city with your new job and there you are again – knowing no one. I was in a few different organizations in school where I was surrounded by a lot of really wonderful women and I wish I had appreciated it more. Chances are you’ll never be living as close to all your college friends as you do when you’re actually in college so cherish it!

The second silly thing that I wish I appreciated more while I was in school is sleeping in. In college, I really hated the fact that your schedule is constantly changing. Each semester, your classes and meetings are at different times so I could hardly wait to graduate and finally have a daily routine. Well… that daily routine consists of waking up at 6:30am every day and, although I do love having my schedule, sometimes I think it’d be nice to go back to the mornings when I didn’t have to be anywhere until noon. Who’s with me on this?

The last thing I’ll talk about today (and probably the biggest thing I’ve realized in the last year or so) is that you shouldn’t put getting perfect grades above bettering the person you are. In college, I spent so much time stressing over my how well I was doing academically. Which makes sense because I’m the type of person who really puts a lot of my worth in my work. But since I graduated, I haven’t had a single person ask me what my GPA or class rank was. They didn’t even ask in my job interviews. Of course, you should always try to do as well as you can but I wish I spent more of those crucial college years growing and bettering myself personally.

Those are just a few of the things I wish I’d done differently or cherished more while I was at JMU. Do you have anything you regret about your time in college? Leave it in the comments below – I’d love to hear! Have a great week!

Beauty

How I Style My Hair

January 22, 2019

Hey hey hey babes, happy Tuesday! Before the holidays, I asked you what posts you would like to see from me in the new year and so many of you asked me to tell you how I style my hair so I thought I’d write about it right away… let’s get started!

My first secret to success is to shower at night. If I try to shower, blow dry, and then style my hair all at once, not only does it take forever but my hair always gets too frizzy and won’t hold a curl. I find it’s best to shower at night, let it air dry, and then style in the morning. After I get out of the shower, I use it’s a 10 Potion 10 Miracle Styling Potion (click here). I put a quarter-sized drop on my palm and then work it through the ends of my hair. I’m careful not to let it touch my scalp because it can make my roots greasy overnight. This product helps to control frizz and hold the curl once I style!

The curling iron I use to style my hair is the Conair Hot Sticks Instant Heat curling iron and it can be picked up at your local drugstore. I actually have two (they’re SO inexpensive) because, depending on the length of my hair, I prefer a different barrel size. I use a 3/4 inch barrel when my hair is shoulder length.

My technique has changed a bit over the years but I’ve found I get the best outcome when I only wrap my hair once around the barrel. This means the curl starts a few inches down from my root and then there’s about two inches left out at the bottom. Leaving those couple inches out of the curl creates a beachy look and gives a bit of a looser feel. I also curl in different directions – forwards and backwards. I don’t necessarily alternate but I make sure to switch up the direction every few curls and I ALWAYS curl the hair around my face backwards. After I’ve finished curling, I spray my roots with some dry shampoo for texture and I run my fingers through all the waves to break them up. This is my favorite part because it really brings the look together!

That’s all for my hair routine – I hope you’ll try it! I really love curling my hair like this – especially with the length that it’s at right now. If you have any styling tips, please leave them in the comments below. I’d love to hear them!

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Healthy Living

Tips for Living By Yourself

January 15, 2019

Hi cuties, welcome to another apartment related post! If you’ve been keeping up with me, you might know that I’ve been living by myself for the past year so I thought I’d share some tips on how I do it. Let’s get into it!

My first tip is to be very “on top of” your bills. If you live by yourself, you’re the only one who will know when the bills come in. Whether they’re emailed to you or sent in the mail, you’re the only one who will receive it so you need to make sure they get paid because you won’t get any reminders from anyone. This is a big one!

My second tip is to get door and window stops. I always make sure my doors and windows are locked but having stops gives me a lot of comfort, especially because I’m living alone. It’s just one extra layer to deter people from trying to get in.

Another tip is to learn how to cook for one. This is something I’m still trying to get the hang of. Cooking for one is hard! However, if you do make a little bit extra, it is nice to have the leftovers…

My fourth tip is to make sure you get out of the house. Living by yourself, it’s really easy to get trapped in a lonely routine of going to work and coming home for the night. Once you come home, you don’t see anyone, so it’s important to get out and go to the gym or out with friends or just somewhere you’ll have interaction with others!

My last tip is to be prepared for the expense. Living alone is very expensive. Most times, you’re living in the same size place you’d be able to share with a significant other (therefore, splitting the expense) but you’re having to pay for it all by yourself. It is nice to have the space to yourself but paying for everything can be a lot (especially when it comes to furnishings).

Those are all my tips for today, I hope it helped you out! I absolutely love living by myself but it has come with it’s challenges. If you have any other tips, please leave them in the comments below. Have a great week!

Travel

My Week in Arizona

January 8, 2019

Hi cuties, welcome back to another post on the Allison in Wonderland blog! Over the holidays, I spent a week in Arizona so I wanted to share a little bit about what I was up to when I was there. Let’s get started!

As soon as we got there, all I wanted to do was explore around the area we were staying in so we decided to take a walk around the neighborhood because the weather was SO NICE. Coming from 30 degree east coast weather, I think anything warmer would’ve felt nice but it was around 70 degrees and perfect. Throughout our trip, we took a lot of little walks and it was nice to get outside and feel the sunshine!

One of my favorite things we did while we were out there was go to a place called Bowlero. It’s a bowling alley but also a restaurant, arcade, and an all-around great time. They have huge screens at the end of each alley showing different movies, TV shows, and sporting events. It was awesome! I’ll definitely be going back next time I’m in Arizona.

After bowling, we headed to the Phoenix Zoo to see their Christmas light exhibit. It was PACKED when we got there and had to stand in a line that was about a mile long to get in. Surprisingly, it didn’t take too long to get through and once we got in, we had a great time! There were tons of different light setups and shows and it was super fun!

The next day was Christmas Eve so we headed to a church service at Christ’s Church of the Valley (CCV). They have a few different locations around the Phoenix area and it was absolutely incredible! They have quite the set up – it’s just like a college campus. They even have a coffee shop inside the church! If I lived in the area, I’d definitely be going there every week. After the service, we headed to Christmas Eve dinner at a restaurant called Roy’s and it was delicious.

The next few days were a little bit jam packed. We celebrated Christmas, got Thai massages, and I had a couple fun photoshoots! Recently when I travel, I’ve tried scheduling a shoot or two so I have the chance to work with other creatives that I wouldn’t have access to at home. It’s so nice to connect with people who are doing the same thing as you, just in a different place!

I had such a fun and relaxing week in Arizona and I can’t wait to visit again. I’ll be back next week with a post full of tips for living on your own so make sure to check back for that. Thank you for reading!