Goal for 2016: #KeepItReal

As you might have noticed (or maybe you haven't) Lizzy's Luggage got a bit of a makeover recently, and the facelift is influencing my brand as well.  The basic overview of it? Lizzy's Luggage is all about Keepin' It Real.

When I think about blogs I enjoy reading, the author is usually open and honest about their lives (See Kenzie at Life According to Kenz. #bloggoals).  I don't plan to enter T.M.I territory, but I'm going to be extra careful I'm always 110% ELIZABETH on my little corner of the Internet.

So what can you expect?  Not a lot on your end is going to change...

There will still be awesome photos like this one:

But there's also going to be very real photos that'll still show you how awesome I am, but also how human I am...

No, that's not a grape in my cheek: that's a wicked infection.

It's time the Internet has a little more 'real', and Lizzy's Luggage is up for the challenge. From Twitter to Instagram to here, I'm going to get rid of that blogger filter making our lives seem a little too perfect and a little too right.

You might have already noticed my change in tone in yesterday's Instagram post. What seemed like the perfect shot of my #ootd was actually completely staged. As mentioned in my caption, I had finished the coffee nearly an hour before and kept the cup with the sole purpose of taking a photo with it. To add to that, I was only wearing the beautiful blue scarf in the hopes to cover up an ink stain I'd made while writing a checklist that morning.

Such a poser...

Yes, I love to dress up and I love coffee; but I'm also very scatterbrained and stressed most of the time.  I'm a twenty-something trying to graduate from college and work three jobs at the same time, while also blogging with an obvious 'comma problem'.  I turn away from blogging when I'm stressed because I think no one wants to hear about my troubles; they want a level-headed blogger who can give amazing advice and take gorgeous photos.  If that's what you're looking for, you're not going to find it here.

Any advice posts are going to be about things I need to work on myself.

Any fashion photos on Instagram are going to be authentic and real. I don't have a photographer or a gorgeous garden to pose in front of, and there are days where I will stay in my PJ's and watch Netflix all day.

My promise to you is that Lizzy's Luggage will be vulnerably human from here on out, and I'll always #KeepItReal.  If I've learned anything from blogging it's that stories have the power to make someone laugh, push a person to tears, and change a life.  The world needs more stories.

Get ready, Internet... 2016 is going to be awesome.