Things I’m Loving Right Now – Alli Santmyer

iPhone 7 Plus Review

March 7, 2017

Hey everyone, welcome back to my blog! Today, I’m going to dive into the spectrum of tech reviews! I’ll be talking about all of the good and bad parts of my new iPhone 7 Plus; I hope you like it!

I got my new phone at the end of January, so I’ve had a little while to figure out if I like it or not and I love it! I had the iPhone 6S before, so I didn’t think I’d notice many differences, but I have. The screen is substantially bigger, so that provides a much better viewing experience for reading texts and emails. It’s also really nice for going on my favorite apps, like Instagram and Snapchat! Overall, the screen quality is just so nice that I can’t imagine going back to the smaller size.

Another major upgrade with this phone is the camera! Not only is the quality a million times better, but Apple introduced a new feature called Portrait mode. In this mode, the camera focuses on the subject and slightly blurs the background as if you were using a DSLR! This is the feature I’m the most excited about and I’ve been using it a ton!

One negative that I’ve noticed about the iPhone 7 Plus is that it takes about twice as long to charge as my old one did. That makes sense because of the size difference but it’s not something I thought about before purchasing the phone. Luckily, that’s the only negative thing I’ve found so far!

I hope you enjoyed my mini tech review! Leave a comment if you’re thinking about getting an iPhone 7 Plus and have any questions for me; I’d love to get back to you. Have a great week!

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A Year of Blogging

January 31, 2017

Hi everyone and welcome to this week’s very special, sentimental Allison in Wonderland blog post!

What makes this week’s post more special than usual is February marks the one year anniversary of this blog. I started this blog not really knowing how long I was going to keep up with it, or if I was even going to like it and it ended up turning into one of the best, most challenging adventures in my life and I’m so excited I get to share my favorite memories from this past year with you!

For the first six months that I had my blog, even though I was posting regularly, I didn’t tell anyone about it except for my family and my boyfriend. I wanted to make sure I was doing it for the right reasons and, looking back, I’m so glad I went about it in that way. It gave me time to figure out the direction I wanted to go with my blog and my style of writing before a lot of people I knew personally were reading it. Without that weight on my shoulders, I was able to write about the things that I was experiencing and get a feel for myself as a new blogger before putting it out there for the world!

In reflecting on the year, I think the most exciting thing to happen to my blog was my blog makeover that happened a few months ago! I was able to partner with a wonderful company who transformed my blog into a site that’s much more user friendly and professional. I can’t wait to carry that momentum into this year and post a lot of new, creative content for you!

Throughout the year, I grew a lot as a writer and a blogging personality and I’m so thankful to my readers, both those I know in person and those I don’t, for supporting me and reading my posts week to week. I’ve written about a variety of topics and I want to continue to write about those in the coming year, but I also want to incorporate other, newer topics that I’ve never covered before. If you have any ideas or specific posts you’d like to see, please comment below and let me know!

I’m so excited for the next year of Allison in Wonderland and I can’t wait to see where it takes us! Thanks for reading and, as always, see you next week!

Things I'm Loving Right Now

My Top 3 Spotify Playlists

January 24, 2017

Hi everyone and welcome to this week’s music-related post! I did a blog post like this about a year ago, so I thought it was time to do a little update on what I’ve been listening to so far this winter. I hope you enjoy!

1. Discover Weekly

Discover Weekly is a given (or at least it should be)! Recently, I’ve been on the hunt for new artists and songs and this playlist is perfect for finding your new sound. This playlist has all different genres, so you’re bound to find at least a couple songs you love! Give it a try next time you hop on Spotify – I promise you won’t be disappointed!

2. Evening Acoustic

This playlist has a lot of artists like Bon Iver, Hozier, and the Civil Wars so if you like any of those artists, this can be your new, go-to playlist! Lately, I’ve had it playing in the background whenever I’m just hanging out in my room, doing work or even just relaxing. If you’re having a night in, light a candle and turn the lights down; it makes it so cozy!

3. Your Favorite Coffeehouse

This playlist is a new find for me! I don’t know if they just added it or if I just came across it but I’m keeping this one for the long haul! It’s exactly like it sounds like it’d be, acoustics mixed with Indie classics and I’m obsessed. This playlist is what you imagine the soundtrack of your life to be and I can’t wait for my next road trip to be able to listen to it all the way through!

Those are my top 3 Spotify playlists of the moment – let me know if you have any favorites! See you next week!

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My Brand New Blog!

December 22, 2016

Hi everyone and welcome back to Allison in Wonderland! I hope you’re having a wonderful December and have some fun, holiday plans to look forward to in the next couple weeks! Today, I have a very special post about some changes that are coming to my blog so let’s get into it!

Over the past month or so, I’ve been working on a secret project and am now excited to announce that my blog is newly self-hosted! Basically that means that instead of being on WordPress.com, I’ve switched to WordPress.org which allows me to own my URL without the wordpress.com at the end. If you head over to allisantmyer.com, you’ll be able to see everything I’ve been working hard on! A company called Blogerize reached out to me and I just couldn’t pass up their wonderful design skills! My new blog has so many features that I’ve wanted to incorporate for a long time and I’m so excited to share it with you all! I hope you love it as much as I do.

Going along with that news, I also have to address the fact that I won’t be posting on my WordPress.com site anymore. All my content from allisonsantmyer.wordpress.com was transferred to allisantmyer.com, so everything I’ve written up until this point will still remain on both sites. The only catch is that all my new, weekly content will only be posted on allisantmyer.com. I’d love it if you would keep up with me on my new site through this transition and I can’t wait to see what you all think!

I’ll be posting again in a few days with a Christmas haul so be sure to check back to see some of the gifts I got from my friends and family! Thanks for reading!

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Shop Secrets ft. evy + ro

December 6, 2016

Hey cuties and welcome back to the blog! I hope you’re having a wonderful month so far; I can’t believe we’re so close to Christmas already! Today, I have an adorable, local shop to share with you and I can’t wait to see what you think! It’s the perfect addition to all that holiday shopping we’ve been up to recently. Keep reading to find out more!

The shop I’m featuring today is in Chesapeake City, Maryland and it’s called evy + ro. evy + ro is a shop that’s a jack-of-all-trades. They have clothing, they have home decor, they have jewelry… they have everything! I came across it when I was wandering around the shops in Chesapeake City and I’m so glad I did! Their style is very shabby chic and falls right in line with the trends that women are all about these days!

In talking with Lauren, the owner, I learned they’ve only been open for a little over a year but you’d never know it! They have so many fun, cute items in the store, it seems like they’ve been around for years. Lauren opened the shop after realizing she had an eye for decorating on a budget and she wanted to share that with the community; how cool! I’d say she’s done a great job because I wanted to take home everything I saw!

When I was in the store, I purchased a hanging white, paper star for my apartment (you can see a little bit of it in the top right corner of the second photo) and I also got a string of firefly lights to put inside it. It was extremely affordable and I’d never seen anything like it before! That’s how a lot of their items are, cute and unique!

Another section of the store I loved was their bath and body section! They had all sorts of sprays and lotions and soaps and they all smelled so good! I also had to include a photo because I was dying over the lightbulb covered with the wire basket. That’s so rustic and wonderful and I want to make one for myself!

Well, that about wraps it up for this week’s post. I hope you’ll check out evy + ro if you’re visiting the area because it’s definitely worth the trip! If you go, let me know in the comments and be sure to say hi to them for me! Talk to you next week! 🙂

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20 Years

September 14, 2016

Hi everyone and welcome to another blog post! This week’s post is a little bit more special than usual because I turned 20 today! That’s right, I have officially ended my teen years and entered into my twenties! Stick around to hear some of the most important things I’ve learned in my 20 years.

1. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there – whether it’s in a relationship or a work-related opportunity. I don’t regret many things I’ve done and actions I’ve taken in my life, but I do regret being so nervous of being bold in some situations. I think I’ve played my life rather safe, and that’s not a bad thing at all, but sometimes I wonder how my life would’ve been different had I taken a chance. Now that I realize that about myself and I have been putting myself out there more, I have been really, really pleased with the outcomes!

2. Don’t care too much about what others think of what you’re doing. Now, take this statement with a grain of salt because I take the thoughts of my loved ones very seriously. If someone that I trust is telling me not to do something or that it’s a bad idea, I’m going to take that to heart. What I mean is don’t take the opinions of those who you don’t even know too seriously. That’s something I’ve been learning in the past few years or so and it’s so, so freeing. I used to be very caught up in what others thought of how I looked, or what kind of house I lived in, and so on, that I couldn’t completely focus on bettering myself. I was in the mindset that if I looked a certain way, then I would be happier because people thought I was “cool” and I was so wrong. If you focus on being the best you that you can be, that’s what will attract the right kind of people.

3. Slow down. I think this is the most important lesson I’m learning right now. My whole life, I’ve rushed through everything because I’m so excited for the next step. It’s not bad that I’m super excited, but in doing this, it’s been hard for me to live in the moment and focus on being present. I have a life that I love and people that I love surrounding me and I need to fully appreciate that because I’m so grateful for the opportunities that I’ve been given!

That’s all the life advice I have for you right now, but let me know if you’d like me to do more posts like this in the future! Have a great day!

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What’s On My iPhone

August 30, 2016

Hi! Welcome back to Allison In Wonderland! I am so excited to be doing a “What’s On My iPhone” post, I think it’s gonna be fun and different than the posts I usually do! Let’s get started!

To begin, my lock screen is a photo that I’ve kept on there for a while. It’s a nice little reminder to be able to see whenever I go on my phone. It says, “May we look most like Jesus when the world needs Him most.” I came across this print on Pinterest so I’m sure you’d be able to find it on there if you did a little digging!

Moving on, I’m going to go through my favorite apps that I couldn’t live without! When I unlock my phone, the first page is full of all my social media. I love, love, love Instagram, Snapchat, and Pinterest and I also just discovered that WordPress has an app! It’s so convenient, I highly recommend getting it if you are a blog junkie like I am! 🙂

My second page is filled with the apps that come with your iPhone like the Calculator and Notes and such. This is also the place where I keep my school email app and my GroupMe app. GroupMe is an app that’s so great for college students! It allows you to have a huge group message but makes it a lot easier for those without iPhones because all the messages can be on one message thread. Another thing I store here is the one and only game I have on my iPhone! I’m not a huge fan of playing games on my phone, I never have been. But this summer, I found one that I just had to get; it’s called Panda Pop! Basically, you shoot colored bubbles up into the air to pop other bubbles, but there’s little panda babies in them that you have to save. It’s a very mindless game, but it’s nice for when you need a mental break! Since this is the only one I keep on my phone, I’m open to any and all suggestions of any others I should get!

The third page of my apps is where it finally gets interesting! This is where I keep all my photography editing apps. I have about 10 on here, but I’m going to go through my two favorites! The one I use to edit all my photos is VSCO. I’ve been using VSCO since I graduated high school and I will probably use it forever! No matter what look or Instagram theme you’re going for, VSCO can help you get there! I definitely recommend this photo editing app over all others I’ve come across. My second favorite app is called UNUM. I found this one about a month or two ago and it’s so, so convenient. All you have to do is log in using your Instagram log in info and it loads your feed into the UNUM grid. From there, they give you about 20 open slots above where your feed starts so you can lay out and plan your future posts! This makes it so much easier to create a feed that goes together and saves you from having to delete photos if they don’t look right next to each other.

That is the third and final page of the apps I have on my iPhone, I hope I was able to give you some fun ideas for new ones to try! Let me know in the comments if you have any apps that you love or think would be helpful! Have a great rest of your day and be sure to come back next Tuesday for a brand new fashion post!

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What’s On My TV: Summer 2016

July 5, 2016

Hello and happy Tuesday! Thanks for coming back to Allison in Wonderland! This week, I’m excited to chat about my favorite TV shows of the season! With being away at school, summer has become one of the only times I can watch particular shows on a weekly basis, so I can’t wait to share what I’ve been loving with you!

The first show I’ve been obsessed with for the last couple months is The Bachelorette. I know this show isn’t everyone’s cup of tea and I can admit that it’s a silly concept, but I just love it! It’s so nice to follow along week-to-week and take your guess at who’s going home! During previous seasons, I’ve gone on a website (RealitySteve) to see who the “winner” is because I just couldn’t help myself, but this season I’ve held out and it’s totally worth it. It gives it so much more suspense! Jojo (this season’s Bachelorette) has a really great (and cute!) group of guys and I can’t wait to see who she picks in the end! Let me know who your favorite guy is in the comments!

The second show I’ve been loving is Keeping Up with the Kardashians! I know, the shows I’m recommending are more fluff than anything, but it’s nice to just be able to relax and not feel like you’re missing out if you can’t watch for a couple weeks. The Kardashian’s always have things going on and it’s fun to, ya know, keep up! 🙂

The third show is Wheel of Fortune. No, I’m not kidding! It comes on at 7:30, right before The Bachelorette, and I’ve found myself starting to turn the TV on a little earlier to be able to watch! It’s not that long of a show and it’s always nice to have a little friendly competition with your friends or family who are watching with you. Give it a shot, you won’t regret it!

Thanks for reading today’s post and feel free to tell me what you’d like to read about next week in the comments! Have a great week!

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My Week in Review: May 17th – 24th

May 24, 2016

Hi everyone and welcome back to Allison In Wonderland! For today’s post, I had an idea that I thought would be kind of cool to do; a review of my week! My main reason for writing this blog is to be able to document what’s going on in my life so I can look back on it later, so I thought this would be a different and fun way to write – I hope you like it!

This past week was a very exciting week because I began my summer internship! This is my first internship/job in the field that I’m hoping to work in one day so I didn’t quite know what to expect right off the bat. I had toured the office twice before starting and loved the atmosphere and vibes of the office, but going for a tour and going for your first day of work felt a bit different! The place I’m working at is a marketing firm and, since I’m an advertising major, it’s very relevant to where I want to go with my career. So far, I’ve worked alongside the Creative Services team, which are the graphic designers and the copyeditor, and it’s been amazing! I feel very respected by everyone at the company and that’s something that a lot of interns wouldn’t be able to say, so I feel very grateful I’m working with these particular people. I’ve already been given the opportunity to actually design logos and invitations and such and I’ve only been there for one week! I’m very much looking forward to the rest of the summer and can’t wait to keep you guys updated! Let me know in the comment section if you have any ideas for other internship related blog post ideas!

The next exciting thing that happened this week was that I attended a wedding! I’ve only been to two weddings in my whole life (before this one) and I was very young when I went to both of them, so I don’t remember much. Because of that, I was really excited to go to this one! I went with my boyfriend, so I didn’t know the bride and groom and didn’t know too many people there, but I could still feel how much love the couple has for one another and the great group of people that they were able to bring together on their special day. I wish them the best in their marriage and can’t wait to see where this incredible journey takes them!

Overall, it was such a great week and I can’t wait to do more posts like this in the future – it’s going to be an exciting summer! Also, The Bachelorette started last night and I already have my final four in mind! Let me know if you’d like to see some Bachelorette posts on this site! Thanks for reading!

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My Favorite Music: Spring 2016

April 26, 2016

Hi everyone! I’m really excited about today’s post because I get to share some music I’ve been loving for the past couple of months! I love listening to music and spending time finding new artists and bands so keep reading to find out who I’ve been listening to!

The first artist I want to talk about it Halsey. Halsey is an electropop, American singer/songwriter and has been killing it, recently, at festivals and on tour. You’ve probably heard of some of her songs, they’re all over the radio! Her debut album, Badlands, was released in 2015 and is rightfully winning her crazy publicity. My favorites from the album are Colors, Gasoline, and Hurricane – they’re so, so good. Her sound is so unique and I love it! She’s touring from now until August in the US, Canada, and the UK so definitely check to see if she’s coming to a venue near you.

The second artist I want to talk about is the band MisterWives! I first heard about MisterWives when they performed at Madipalooza, a music festival James Madison University puts on every year. They were the headliners of the festival and put on such a great show! They perform with so much energy and heart that you can’t help but love them. Their first album Reflections came out in 2014 and is still so relevant. My favorite songs from that album are Hurricane, Queens, and Our Own House. The personalities of everyone in the band comes out through their music and their album art is amazing as well! Definitely check out their tour dates to see if you can go see them, they put on a show like no one else can!

The next thing I want to talk about is a Pandora station! Lately, I’ve had to drive all around and have needed a station that I can just put on and not have to worry about skipping/changing the songs. That has been the Dan + Shay Pandora station. I’ve had this station for a while, so I’ve kind of molded it into my personalized, ideal country music playlist, but honestly, it wasn’t that bad from the beginning. The artist they play are fantastic and it’s always up-to-date, so I definitely recommend checking this one out for long car rides or background music!

That’s all for today but I’m going to see Halsey perform at a festival in just a few weeks, so make sure you check back to see an upcoming post about my experience! Thanks for reading! 🙂

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