101 in 1001 Update

Last August, as I was gearing up to leave New York, I wrote a list of 101 things I wanted do in 1001 days. Listing everything from going sky diving to graduating to rocking red lipstick, I've been determined to do as many of these as I can!

1001 days are up in April 2017, so I still have quite a while, but I've been trying my best to do what I can so far. I've crossed quite a bit off since August, and figured I'd share what I've done so far.

// NUMBER THREE: 
I really wanted to get a little of my own, because of how much I looked up to and loved my own big, and in November 2014 I got my first little, Lia, the little blonde angel on the right there. My sorority decided to do informal recruitment in the Spring, and they needed girls to volunteer to take littles, so I stepped up to get another little because more love. Alyssa (on the left) and I hit it off from our first lunch date, but this one night, we went for Sangria at a Mexican restaurant and it was me, her and her roommates who was also a new member, and I spent the entire dinner wondering if they knew that I wanted Alyssa and not Amy, and I was so awkward, and I guess she loved my awkwardness. I also tricked the hell out of her, but that's another story for another day..

// NUMBER 27 - VISIT MY BROTHER IN MIAMI: 
I spent half of my Thanksgiving break in Miami with my brother. He lived in the UK for a long time, so I knew once he moved to the US that I would want to visit him. He actually came up with the idea that you'll read about a little later, and I was so grateful that he helped me out.

// NUMBER 31 - BE IN TWO PLACES AT THE SAME TIME: 
My cousin Shannon spent a weekend with me in New Hampshire visiting my sister over Spring Break, and I had the perfect excuse to do all the touristy things I've wanted to do, including standing at the spot that separates New Hampshire from Vermont, and not without taking some pictures obviously.

// NUMBER 40 - BE SOMEONE'S MAID OF HONOR: 

You all know this by now, but I'm my sister's maid of honor. She called me as soon as he proposed and said "HIIII MOH".. so I knew since December, but she made these cute little gifts for all of her bridesmaids asking, and I wasn't in the country so I gave her so much crap for not asking me officially, until Sunday when I went into my room and there was an envelope and a flower on my bed. Needless to say, I said 'yes' officially, but that list is making me re-consider....... (jk).

// NUMBER 50 - REALLY LEARN TO SKI: 

I never thought I'd cross this one off the list, but thanks to a fantastic teacher (#Nancy) and two days on the slopes over Spring Break, and I'm finally comfortable skiing. I'm no pro yet, but I'll get there! 

// NUMBER 53 - ATTEND A LIVE TAPING OF A SHOW: 
So I left New York with my bucket list incomplete because I never managed to get tickets to see Jimmy Fallon, but somehow in October I got super lucky and ended up with 4 tickets for me and my best friends. It was such a great day, and I'm definitely going back!

// NUMBER 59 - ICE SKATE AT ROCKEFELLER CENTER: 
It took a ton of convincing from my cousin to get me on the ice, but I'm so glad I did. I did hold onto the railings for a good portion though.. Whatttt, it's hard!

// NUMBER 67 - DONATE BLOOD AGAIN: 
This one didn't end too well though, I ended up in the health center throwing up after passing out on the sidewalk on my way back to my room. Let's just say I probably shouldn't do that again..

// NUMBER 83 - PAY FOR A STRANGER'S MEAL AT A RESTAURANT: 
It was Christmastime, and the giving spirit was all around me.. why not?!

// NUMBER 85 - SURPRISE MY PARENTS AND FLY HOME: 
This happened over Thanksgiving - the second part of my trip. So when I booked to visit my brother, I knew that he was spending actual Thanksgiving weekend at home because his friend was getting married that weekend. I convinced my mother that I'd spend the first half of break at my brother's, and once he left for Trinidad, I'd spend the other part at my cousin's house - which isn't an abnormal thing. The only people in on the surprise were my sister who lives in the US, my eldest brother Paul, and Matthew, the brother I was staying with. So when Matthew boarded the flight and sent his "taking off" message to our group chat, I made sure to act like I wasn't sitting right next to him on the flight, responding with "safe flight" and "thanks again for this week". We arrived after midnight, and drove home, surprising my father first and then waking my mother up. They both freaked out! (Excuse the video, my dad doesn't know how to work a camera apparently!)

These aren't all that I've completed: just the highlights. I really encourage doing a list of your own! It's so much fun.. I have such big plans for the year to complete so much more: including sky diving, zip lining, going on Spring Break, and going to a few concerts! Who knows what's in store for me!

Erin Condren Life Planners

I cannot tell you how excited I am writing this post. It's that time of year again: planner time, when I literally mark it down on my current planner to order another.

I started using Erin Condren planners two summers ago, and I cannot tell you how much I love them, it's crazy. The company is amazing! They have incredible customer service, Erin herself is an active social media user and is constantly reaching out to fans and users, and their team is just unreal. EC was actually one of the first companies to work with The Caro Diaries two years ago, so it's safe to say they hold a special place in my heart.

So when Erin announced her 2015-2016 life planners that are launching in less than a week (June 9th, everybody.. mark your calendars!), I was ecstatic because just thinking about it makes me giddy. Except then I saw her promotional video and I swear I almost cried. EC is absolutely amazing because they actually listen to what their clients want. See for yourself.

The life planners in the past have always been vertical, separated into three columns: morning, day and night. Now I never really minded, but I didn't use them as morning, day and night, but instead one for school stuff, one for reminders/appointments and one for my job stuff. I always wished we would be able to customize them, but she went one step further and created a whole new planner option: horizontal.. andddd she made the vertical planners with blank spaces for customization. God, I love this lady. 

A few months ago, during my blogging hiatus, the team over at Erin Condren sent me their health and wellness package - a cute little bundle that included a wellness journal, a budget book, a snap-in to-do list and meal planner and more. That's what I love about her products: they don't just help you plan your day-to-day routine, but your entire life, including tracking your food and exercise, your water intake, your bills schedule and your income, making grocery lists and to-do lists so you don't forget anything, AND doing it all in style. 

(wellness bundle c/o Erin Condren)

Now she's made all of these fun additions available to add onto your purchase this year, and they go hand in hand with your life planner (especially because this year you have the option to buy a carrying case too!). What better way to get your life in order than by having all the tools to help you. We'd be stupid to ignore it, right? 

Interested? Sign up now and get a $10 coupon code to use on your order (and trust me, every penny helps!) 

How To Solve Being A No-Reply Blogger

If you're reading this, there's a really great chance you're a no-reply blogger. I know, I know.. what the hell am I talking about?

A no-reply blogger refers to when your email isn't associated with your profile. So what?! Let me give you an example: you comment on someone's blog (like hey, mine!), and the blogger (aka me) goes to respond to your comment, because a) I want to interact with you and mostly b) because it's just damn rude to ignore it after you take your time to read and comment on my post.

BUT, if you're a no-reply blogger, it doesn't allow me to respond to your comment via email because your address isn't listed. So instead of responding to Jane Doe's comment and emailing her back personally at janedoe@gmail.com, when I hit reply it instead sends to this email address: noreply-comment@blogger.com, which just sucks for us all because you know I'm too lazy to actually respond on the blog post itself and then it looks like I'm ignoring you and no one wants to be ignored, right?

It's a sad truth: most bloggers are no-reply bloggers, and almost all of them don't even realize it. Even some big bloggers are no-reply, and I'm here to fix it once and for all cause I'm trying to help a sista out and it's super easy.

What's the problem? It's GOOGLE+ - the sad excuse for a social network that Google infiltrated on us, and let's be real Google+, you're never gonna be Facebook. Google, stop trying to make Google+ happen.. It's never gonna happen. 

// STEP ONE.. Are you a no-reply blogger? Let's find out! 
Click the little upside down triangle arrow thing on your blogger account, so it expands your picture and shows your email address. If you see the little orange B symbol, with the words Blogger profile next to this, then congratulations, you can stop reading because you're a comment blogger.

If you see anything other than that little orange B, then I'm sorry you're gonna need to keep your reading glasses on and learn how to fix that ish.. If you're a no-comment blogger, your screen will probably look a little more like this:

// STEP TWO: 

You're going to want to click on the gear/setting icons in your blogger account.. It looks a little something like this: 

Find the option that says "Revert to Blogger profile". Click that. CLICK IT. CLICK IT RIGHT NOW! Clicked it? Good! 

// STEP THREE: 

Switch to a limited blogger profile, aka all you really need to be a comment blogger. (You're going to want to click the orange button saying switch to a limited blogger profile..)

// STEP FOUR: 

Set up your profile, which is basically just writing what you want your name to show up as.. As you can see, when I comment it shows up as Caro @ The Caro Diaries. Click continue to Blogger.. 

// STEP FIVE: 

Probably the most important part of it all: when you're back on your home blogger screen, click the upside down triangle arrow thing again, and click on the words blogger profile. It'll take you to a screen where you click "Edit Profile", which is where you obviously edit your profile. 

Here, you check off this checkbox: show my email address. 

Don't forget to click "save profile", and that's it. You're officially a comment blogger!

Did it work? Leave a comment below and test it out! If you don't receive a response from me within 24 hours, then you may have missed a step!