When I first started my website, it was a fashion blog. I called it A Life in the Fashion Lane, and that’s what many of you know me by. When I decided to change the name of the website, I planned to move away from fashion because I don’t see a calling for me in fashion ever again. Having lived in Connecticut, Boston, New York and LA over the past 20 years, you could consider me being at the forefront of so many different trends and patterns from East to West Coast. I’ll never forget the days I used to go to New York Fashion Week, sitting front row, feeling so starstruck and inspired by the trends walking down the runway.

Fashion has changed so much over the past 5 years. Body trends have too: Instagram has made unattainable bodies (kind of like the Kardashians) the standard, which leaves many young girls feeling worthless if they can’t achieve that body type. Kiddos, just so you know: I don’t have that body type either, and I don’t want it. I’m happy just the way I am, and you should be too. When you scroll through Instagram and see someone with a body type you wish you had, remember that people have ways and means offline to look certain ways, and you’ll never know what those people are doing to look that way unless you ask them. So stop wishing for something else and start being content with your beautiful self!

I was working with a stylist in LA for a while and I recently decided that I didn’t think we were on the same page when it came to the aesthetic I’m going for, so I have been shopping around with different stylists. If you see me when I’m not working, I’m probably in workout pants and Supergas, or sweatpants: I stopped caring about being stylish or what people think of me earlier this year (when Gabe moved back to Connecticut). Around that time, when I was debating if I wanted to move back to LA after going back East for 1 month, I told myself that if I was going to come back to this city, I had to stop giving a s*** about what people thought about me. 7 months ago, I felt like I had to get dressed up for every event. I felt like I needed to be wearing makeup and heels because I didn’t know who I would meet in public that might view me differently if I looked how I usually do.

I’m 21 in October, and I go to brunches in LA, NY or Boston now in yoga pants if I want and heels if I want. When I’m working, I have a stylist I work with who makes me look just a little better than I would if I had sweats on. But that doesn’t mean I care either way about what I look like when the outfit gets returned and the makeup comes off. I’d rather have someone judge my mind than my outfit. That’s what is going to matter when Instagram closes down one day.

So you know what I looked like when I started A Life in the Fashion Lane. Nerds are cool. Don’t try and change yourself, ever.