All Smiles with Sara Boo

Summer is in full swing – the sun is out, rooftop happy hours are neverending and fun weekend vacation trips are upon us. What’s there not to smile about?

Somewhere at the top of my list of things that make me happy is FASHION. I love learning (and collaborating with!) new boutiques that carry clothes embedding all of the latest trends. Sara Boo is the go-to for any fashionista ready to rock the seasons’ hottest looks! This matching top + shorts set is from Sara Boo,Â and I received so many compliments on it when I wore it. The feminine floral detailing on this outfit is my favorite, and the material is Grade A quality. This look gives me so much happiness and I’m seriously all smiles with the darling pieces this brand carries 🙂 Check out their lookbook and shop more of the collection here. Be sure to use code:Â LIV20 for 20% off your purchase!

On the topic of happiness… my girlfriends and I played a question game the other weekend called ‘Who’s Most Likely To’ where you vote on who’s the most likely to ____ out of all the friends playing. It’s a pretty entertaining game, as long as no one takes it too seriously 😉 Anyways, one of the superlatives that my girlfriends voted me was: ‘Most Likely to be Happy All The Time’ and that got me thinking. I feel like my whole life I’ve heard comments here and there about my happiness, bubbly personality and over-friendliness. Honestly, most of the time I’m really oblivious and legit confused how I come across like that to others, haha. After taking some time to reflect, I started to realize…I guess I am happy pretty much all the time! I was trying to compartmentalize the reasoning behind this, and wanted to share my thoughts on how I choose happiness.

Don’t take the small stuff seriously.Â This one is important. Let’s face it, there are SO many things that could go wrong on a daily basis. If you let every little thing that isn’t favorable in your day affect your happiness, it’s going to build up to become a BIG issue. I try to remind myself to look at the overall big picture whenever something bothers me and realize that things could be A LOT worse.
Learn how to deal.Â Personally, this is probably the toughest for me! My biggest pet peeve is when people treat others poorly with no instigation. For example, if a worker is rude to me for no reason (esp after all I showed them was kindness), it just makes my blood boil! Sometimes it’s just hard to understand the reasoning behind the actions of others. My freshman year college roomie is another example. I always felt like I could get along with pretty much everyone as long as they are nice. However, my roomie resented my personality because she accused me of being fake when I would be friendly to her, and said that ‘no one is that happy all the time’. I never had to deal with someone like that before, and it was a lesson to me that not everyone is going to like you…which is okay! I’m still working on conquering this one, but I’ve felt the best way to handle this is to try to ignore the negativity and focus on other positivity in your life. And what about breakups, fights, stresses at work? It’s all about understanding yourself and the best ways for you to deal with them. For me, it truly helps to talk to my parents and besties for life advice and stress relief. I’ll be upset about something and it’ll take up my mind for a little period of time, but then I hit a breaking point where I think – okay, it’s honestly not the end of the world, so I should just suck it up, deal with it, and move on (and yes, sometimes it’s good to be harsh on yourself IMO 😛 ).
Do what makes you happy.Â I’m all about doing things that make ME happy, regardless of anyone else thinks. What motivates you to wake up in the morning and get going? It makes me happy to go shopping (no surprise eh?). It makes me happy to go to the gym and work off those calories. It makes me happy to have a clean apt and get my room in order because I’m OCD. It makes me happy to be caught up on all my shows. It makes me happy to stuff my face with chocolate chip cookies. It makes me happy to get all dolled up for a night out. It makes me happy to write blog posts like these. I continuously keep myself busy by doing tasks that fulfill my happiness. And only you can know what truly makes YOU happy 🙂
Don’t compare yourself to others. Know your strengths and weaknesses.Â This one is obviously tough, especially in today’s day and age where EVERYTHING is a comparison game. Social media has taken over lives. I mean, I’m definitely guilty of this… sometimes I find myself caring way too much about how many likes, comments, and followers I have. Unrealistic ‘hot’ body types are plastered on every magazine or billboard. There is always going to be someone prettier, smarter, funnier, taller, shorter, or whatever it is than you. But the truth is, you are blessed to be who you are – and the amazing thing is…no one else is like you! So have confidence in what you have and what you’ve become through your own hard work – you can always strive for more if you aren’t satisfied with some part of yourself. But that statement leads me to talk about knowing your strengths and weaknesses, and being realistic about it. I’m not tall enough to be a supermodel (yet somehow my friends voted me most likely to become a supermodel…? LOL *dies of laughter*), not smart enough to become a doctor, not fast or coordinated enough to be good at any sports, haha! I’m better at some things, and mediocre at other things…but through it all, I have confidence and acceptance of who I am – and I’m content with simply that 🙂
Surround yourself with people that bring you up to the best that you can be.Â Although you are stuck with your fambam (hehe 🙂 ), you DO get to choose your friends and your significant other. Surround yourself with friends who love you for who you are, people that you can be your FULL self with (flaws and all!). I’m at the age where I can truly tell who is worth my time and who isn’t. Date someone that doesn’t put you down, but that helps you grow as a person and builds you up (everyone deserves to be complimented every now and then, right? 🙂 ). I’ve seen the importance of being with someone who I’ve felt has a POSITIVE influence on me and appreciates me for who I am (weirdness and all… 😛 )

What keeps YOU happy and going? Would love to hear!