Everyday with Madi Rae turns 1!! Celebrating my first year of blogging anniversary of my lifestyle blog, Everyday with Madi Rae. Including a Q&A series!
It’s my first blogging anniversary!!! I wanted to start this blog for SO long! Flash back to last year, I remember being so nervous because putting yourself out there is definitely not easy at first! Plus building a functioning website, finding & creating a site layout & the additional behind the scenes work that no one even sees, with absolutely NO website/coding/blogging experience wasn’t a walk in the park either! I was so focused on getting everything perfect before I launched, that it ended up being MONTHS after I initially announced that I was starting a blog.
Looking back, I just wish I would have just started sooner, mainly, because I love it so much haha! Yes, my website looks totally different from when I first launched this time last year, & even now, a year in, there are still changes I want to make, but that’s the perfectionist in me talking right now LOL! They say the first few years blogging are the hardest & that most new bloggers quit during that time period because, down right, it’s hard. Way harder than it seems. Which is another thing I have learned since my launch.
Like anything in life, if you want to be good at something, you have to practice & you have to be consistent. I’m so fortunate that I’m able to spend so much time working & creating content for this blog. Over the past year, I have envisioned so many goals that I have for myself personally & for Everyday with Madi Rae as a brand. I’m so happy to be taking you all on this journey to empowerment through cultivating a lifestyle that fuels both the body & mind.
With that said, since it’s been 1 year of blogging in the books, I wanted to put together a little Q&A for you all in order to get to know me a little better personally. I narrowed the questions I got on my IG stories down to 20!! Also, scroll down to the bottom of this page to check out my top 10 posts from this year! Here we go!!
Q & A
Q: What is your workout routine?
My workout routine has changed drastically over the years. I will have a whole post dedicated to this topic but basically I do not do ANY heavy lifting & very little cardio. I currently stick to low impact home workouts, pilates, & yoga, of course.
Q: Have you always been into healthy eating?
Pretty much yes. I grew up eating a pretty clean diet. I did indulge during my Freshman & Sophomore year of college & that messed me up quite a bit LOL! But now, I’m very passionate about clean eating & being aware of what I fuel my body with, so it doesn’t seem like a chore.
Q: Favorite bloggers to follow?
My #1 is Lee from America. I find myself heavily influenced by her! I also love Lilsipper, Sivan Ayla, Payton Sartain, Barefoot Blonde, Damsel in Dior, Downshiftology, RACHLmansfield, Wu Haus, Balanced Blonde, & a new blog I started reading is NotJessFashion. All wonderful!
Q: Where do you find the inspiration for your recipes?
I find inspiration for my recipes all over Instagram & Pinterest, but more specifically Lee from America, Lilsipper, Downshiftology, RACHLmansfield, Wu Haus, KaleJunkie, Balanced Blonde, Rachael Devaux, & Blonde Gone Clean.
Q: Do you get your breakfast bowl recipes from a recipe book?
No! This is where I love to be creative by mixing different textures & flavors. I always start with a base of either a smoothie, oats, chia seed pudding, or coconut yogurt & add toppings such as nuts, seeds, gluten free granola, honey, a nut butter, chia seeds, flax seeds & I sneak in Vital Proteins whenever I can. Over this next year of blogging, it’s my goal to bring more recipes to the blog, since it’s one of my passions!
Q: How did you learn to cook?
It was a long & painful process. I could not cook a lick when I met Devin. The first time I cooked a whole chicken for us, I didn’t even know you had to take out the bag of gizzards inside. Cooked it all together & was horrified when I found the remains! My advice to anyone would be practice!! It takes time & patience. I was thrilled when I fried my first egg & made my first batch of quinoa. Celebrate the small victories!
Q: What is your current diet?
Currently, I am stictly gluten free due to being Celiac, I have also been dairy free since June. Being dairy free is a permanent change for me. I’ve been experimenting with a plant based diet, which is a goal of mine for the new year. I also am very cautious about what foods I put into my body, which means avoiding quite a few things which I will explain further in a dedicated post.
Q: How do you stick to your diet & find good substitutes that you like?
I almost never feel tempted to cheat on my diet because I see it more as a lifestyle rather a diet. If I eat gluten, I will get very sick. If I eat diary, I will get sick & feel like crap since I am intolerant to that as well. Again, it’s all about trial & error. Since I don’t like to consume packaged/processed foods, I would rather experiment & make a cashew cheese sauce before I buy Daiya vegan shredded cheese. Finding good substitutions won’t happen over night. It took a while for me to finally give up dairy, but once I did, it forced me to be more creative & find substitutions that worked for me!
Q: Where are you from?
I grew up outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania & lived there until I left for college.
Q: When did you graduate from college?
May 2017! I graduated from Southern New Hampshire University with a major in Communication & a minor in Public Relations.
Q: How did you & Devin meet / how long have you been together?
After I transferred to SNHU, about two months into the school year, Devin & I met at a Halloween party & haven’t spent a day apart after that. We’ve been together for over 3 years & engaged for 1 year on Christmas…I can’t believe it!! If you want to see pictures from the night he proposed, check out my Christmas in Denmark post!
Q: What is your guilty pleasure?
Reality TV 100%.
Q: Biggest pet peeve?
I actually have quite a few, but I think being late is my #1. Even thinking about being late drives me UP THE WALL.
Q: How did you get into yoga?
I first started taking yoga seriously after I was done playing basketball in college. My body was begging to slow down, so I started taking classes & I literally fell in love. I talk more about how I got started in my Yoga Video Guide post, but if you have an interest, use YouTube to the best of your advantage!! Yoga with Adriene is the best & such a fantastic resource!!
Q: Do you take the blog photos for Everyday with Madi Rae?
I take about 95% of the pictures on this blog. I had zero camera experience prior, so I’m definitely still learning. Devin occasionally helps out when I need him, as well as, my little brother Mylan. Mylan is wonderful & will appreciate this shout out, LOL! He’s actually really great & is such a great hype man…”sis, this is a great angle”. He took the photos for this post!!
Q: Favorite beauty product at the moment?
Anything Lawless!! Definitely my favorite clean beauty brand/products that I’ve found this year!
Q: What is your #1 skincare secret/product that you swear by/can’t live without?
My #1 skincare secret is washing my face twice a day with raw African Black Soap. My mom starting making me this soap after I suffered horribly with my skin. The soap definitely helped clear, calm, & take away the scarring that was left behind. I plan on sharing my entire skincare journey including all of the details regarding this soap in a whole post! Another secret of mine is that I use Almond Oil to remove my makeup. I have never used or been a fan of makeup wipes. Almond Oil is a great way to melt the makeup off your face while still holding the moisture in, it’s also very soothing!
Q: How do you stay positive in your day to day life?
I would say that I’m a pretty positive person & there’s quite a few things that I attribute that too. When I look back on my life & things that have happened, I have confidence that I’ve always been exactly where I’ve needed to be. So having that in the back of my mind helps keep my thoughts very calm & my mindset positive.
Q: What is your #1 goal for Everyday with Madi Rae
Such a great question…thanks Micayla! 🙂 I have so many goals for Everyday with Madi Rae but other than being able to bring in a consistent full-time income (which is everyone’s goal LOL), I see myself collaborating with my favorite brands, writing e-books, & eventually launching a yoga-based workout subscription once I get my teacher certification! Those would be my top long-term goals at the moment, plus about 10 more haha!
Everyday with Madi Rae Top 10 Posts of the Year
- Veggimins CBD Review
- Natural Deodorant & Why You Should Make The Switch
- Christmas in Denmark
- Yoga Video Guide – 10 Videos To Follow
- Ruffled Sweaters & Mom Jeans
- How to Set Daily Intentions
- Everything You Need to Know About Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides
- Why You Should Start Dry Brushing Today
- 6 Benefits of Consuming Liquid Chlorophyll
- Coconut Flour Pancakes
Thank you again for all of your amazing support, shares, views, & comments over the past year. I have loved every second of sharing my life & experiences with you all. There are so many more exciting posts & topics that I can’t wait to share with you all! I hope you are enjoying Everyday with Madi Rae as much as I love creating for you!
Here’s to year 2!!!
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