YOU do you. Unapologetically!

Hi everyone and welcome to my first tag post for 2022. Tag posts are my favourite posts to do because you really get a sense of who the person behind the blogger is. Today's post is all about fangirling. The dictionary describes fangirling as "a female fan behaving in  an obsessive of overexcited ". To be frank, I have always thought of fangirling as a negative thing. Being a little unhinged if you will. But, this post is quite the opposite in fact.

I was recently tagged by K Rashell from Diary of an Unbreakable Soul to do this  post and I was delighted. Let me tell you a little about the tag first.  In this case a fangirl approach to life is about purposely sharing the things that bring you joy in life and being unapologetic about it. The Be Unapologetically You movement, created by fellow blogger Izzy Matias, aims to celebrate the things that make you inexplicably cheerful. Without reason and without question. It's literally about being your own biggest fan and bettering yourself. There are seven questions in this tag ,but before I get into that let me explain the rules.

1. Use the Be Unapologetically You banner in your post. It can be the  feaured image or not. That part is up to you.
2. Include the link to this blogging tag (https://www.izzymatias.com/be-unapologetically-you )  in your post .
3. Answer the 7 questions in the tag.
4. Nominate 5-10 bloggers, link to their blogs and tag them on social media to notify them.
5. Have fun!

Let's get into the questions.

• Introduce yourself and your blog while sharing one trivia about you that not many people know. My name is Lauren Vogel and I have been blogging over here at Cool Kids Only Blog for a few years now. My blog is basically anything that comes to mind but I do keep up with books, fashion and beauty quite a bit. One thing people might not know about me is that love singing and I think I am pretty decent at it. 

• What topics do you love geeking out about that you would say are topics that give you bliss?Do you blog about them? Why or why not? If not, would you like to blog about them one time? Fashion and beauty are definitely my favourite things to geek out about. I have loved fashion magazines ever since I was a child and whenever I get to read or blog about it I am at my happiest. My blog covers both fashion and beauty apart from the lifestyle posts. 

• Would you say you are living life by being unapologetically you? Why or why not? If not, what would your life look like if you were unafraid to share more about the things that make you happy? I haven't always been unapologetically myself, but lately I have been intentional about living my truth. If I was unafraid to share the things that make me happy I would be a full time blogger with a quaint little book shop. I would spend my days creating the content I love and sharing it without reservation. 

• Permission to geek out and be unapologetically you: share with us one thing you fangirl over and how you became a fan of it. It can be anything. Your love for soy candles, a band or an underrated film. Like I mentioned before, I am the biggest fan of fashion. From streetstyle to haute couture. I used to make these fashion scrap books when I was younger where I would cut out pictures from magazines and paste them. As an adult I'm still inspired by this. However, now it's evolved to my social media as well. So I would say I still completely fangirl over those fashion scrap books. 

• What do you love most about being a fan?  Just the sense of belonging somewhere or  having a bond with someone because of a common interest. This is how we make most friends and enjoying the same things keep those bonds strong.

• Share a fun or unforgettable fan experience. The closest I have come to an unforgettable fan experience is a celeb interacting with me on social media. I haven't met anyone famous yet, but there is still lots of time. 

I really hope you enjoyed this post as much as I did. It is always so much fun to share a glimpse of who I am on a day to day basis. With that being said the bloggers I nominate are as follows :

Nabeelah from The Fabulosity Diary

Tasneem from City Girl Vibe

Desle from Diva Desle

Megan from Meghan Silva

Kim from A Very Sweet Blog

TILL LATER, LAUREN! 

Take a minute...

 Over the last two years I have heard the word "self love" more than I count. I saw it on every blog, in every tweet and as countless hashtags. Even television jumped on the bandwagon trying to convince us to buy products in the name of self love. I have to admit, at first, I associated the term with luxury and opulence. Shopping sprees to mend the heart or a vacation on a yacht to ease the mind. However, while I do like nice things, I found that self love showed up in a different form for me. And the same goes for everyone. Some might find a lavish bath and a glass of wine a form of self care while for others it simply means switching off their phones. 

It took me a long time to figure out where my peace actually comes from. Self love is not always grand. I've come to realise that for me the smallest things can make a difference. These are a few things I do when I start to feel overwhelmed.

* I read a book. Even just a few pages allow me to focus on something else for a bit. More often than not I get so lost in the book that it feels like my brain had a little vacation. There are few things I enjoy as much as a good thriller.

*I re-watch a series that I liked. If I know a series  put me in a good mood before I watch it again to experience that same feeling. It might seem silly but, knowing what is going to happen puts my mind at ease.

*I take care of my hair. My favourite thing to do is wash and braid my hair. The tedious process requires a lot of time and I always feel like I have accomplished something big when I am done. When lockdown started and I couldn't visit my hairdresser I had to learn how to braid my own hair using YouTube videos and I love that I managed to get it right.

* I paint my nails. Now this might seem like a really small thing but, for me it isn't. Painting my nails and waiting for it to dry requires me to sit and do nothing for a few minutes whether I want to or not. Doing nothing does not come easy to me because I always feel guilty. When I am painting my nails, however, I have no choice.

*I work on my blog. I started my blog while I was at varsity as part of a project and after that I just kind of neglected it. These last two years my blog really became an escape for me. I stopped focusing on the numbers started zoning in on the feeling that publishing a post gave me. Again, it felt like I had really accomplished something big every time I hit that "publish" button.

*I pray. My religion is a crucial part of how I survived this year. It brought me a sense of comfort and hope and it was a feeling that I couldn't get from anywhere or anyone else. I have started to make reading the bible and praying an essential part of my self care routine.

*I talk to my son. I put this point last because it is definitely the most important. If you know me personally, you know that my almost 11 year old son is my world. He is kind, funny and wise beyond his years. Whenever I am in a bad mood or I feel myself slipping into that dark hole of depression, I talk to him. He never fails to put life into perspective for me and, whenever I am in his company, I realize just how blessed I am.

Self care might look different to all of us but, I urge you to find your own groove and really think about what brings you peace of mind. The media will always try to sell us on a certain 'type' of self love but, it is important to remember that it is about you and only YOU. I hope you take the time to figure out what self love means to you and when you discover exactly what you need, I hope you have the guts to stick to it without apologies.

TILL LATER, LAUREN!