What is an Easter Lily? The Easter lily (Lilium longiflorum) is a perennial bulb with large, white, trumpet-shaped flowers and wonderful fragrance. Often known as the trumpet lily among gardeners, this plant is called the Easter lily in its role as a traditional Easter-time treat. Roughly 95 percent of the 11.5 million Eater Lilies sold each year are grown by one of a handful of growers located along the border of California and Oregon, an area labeled the “Easter Lily Capital of the World.” – Marie Iannotti at The Spruce What do Easter Lillies look like? Easter lilies have beautiful white flowers that look like the speaker on an old crank tune record player or as most people see them trumpets. Some call these particular lilies, trumpet lilies. The insides of the Easter Lily are yellowish and their stamens are golden. Typically, the plants will have two to six of the flowers with…
It’s 2020 and despite what our parents think apps can be beneficial and helpful in reaching your personal finance goals. We are no longer living in the days of putting money in envelopes under our mattress but are focusing on ways to automate our personal financial growth. We are using things that make reviewing and adjusting our personal finances on the go easy as blinking your eyes. This new age approach to personal finance is the wave and I want to help you know what works best through personal experience. Top 5 Personal Finance Apps My absolute favorite app!!! Digit, you can read my post about it here. In one sentence, Digit has a dope algorythm to see’s how you spend, takes money you wont notice and places that money in a FDIC insured account. Get $5 on me when you sign up here. Many of…
Being in control of your life is a tough task and is not for the faint of heart. It takes facing hard truths and opening yourself up to criticism. A good place to start learning how to be better at being yourself is through reading and learning from other people. As you all may know, I am finishing my bachelor’s degree and in one of my classes this semester I was required to read a book called The Art of Possibility by Benjamin Zander & Rosamund Stone Zander. This book talked about a number of ways to change your approach to life but one that stuck out to me the most is “Being the Board.” The idea of “Being the Board” is what the Zanders called the hardest of the principles to learn but the most important. The Art of Possibility was written by Benjamin Zander who is a conductor…
Whether you have bad credit or no credit, having a credit card is a vital part of having good credit. For me, I am working on increasing my score and I need a credit card. I haven’t had a credit card in years and I do not have many things on my credit report. I need to diversify my credit report. If you are in my shoes where you need to beef up your credit report, responsibly using a credit card is the perfect way. Let’s talk about the facts. Secured Credit Card Unsecured Credit Card When you are building your credit a secured card is a great way to do it. It is not glamorous nor does it come with all the cute credit card perks but it will get you there. So what are my options? In this order: Discover It – Secured Credit Card Open Sky -…
We have all been in interviews and they can be awkward. Minimize your awkwardness by preparing for your interview by going through test questions with a friend so that you are sharp and ready. When interviewing there is always an area I struggled with, which is when the interviewer asks me if I have any questions for them and I quickly say no. I learned from several HR professionals that asking questions and researching the company prior to the interview will give you an advantage. Here are some questions you could ask the interviewer or panel at the end of the interview to show that you are serious about being hired. Based on my credentials & background, do you have any reservations about my candidacy? What are the next steps in the interview process? Can you tell me more about the day-to-day responsibilities of this job? What do you think…
At my age completing college can be challenging and even overwhelming at times. When you are a teenager who is freshly coming into college you are likely to have one main responsibility, college. As an adult student, I have to manage more than just college. I must manage all my responsibilities including college, work, my personal life, and my health. Paying for school without any additional financial help makes those responsibilities even more challenging than it is. Up against the odds, I know that I am diligent and strong enough to not let my responsibilities keep me from my goal. I completed three semesters at a community college with one semester off before being admitted into Belmont, so I am mostly still mentally prepared to be in school. I know I will have to make more adjustments this spring semester after having a semester off. Balance and sacrifice are the…
Save Money the Easy Way, Don’t Lift a Finger with Digit One of my all time favorite money apps is Digit. Digit has a dope algorithm that monitors your spending and takes money you wouldn’t notice and places it in a FDIC insured account. So basically, you are saving without actually having to save. HOW DOPE!! Additionally, Digit tells you exactly how much you have in your linked account everyday for me it’s around 9 a.m. You hardly ever have to log into the app as Digit can communicate to you thru text. Right now, I dont have the Digit app on my phone. You can sign up and communicate with Digit via text. You can simply send a text with key words or emojis. For instance, if you send the umbrella with raindrops emoji, it will tell you how much you have saved in your Digit account. I put…
I was born and raised in Oakland, CA but I left right after I turned 18 and haven’t looked back. My brother still lives there at one point he was considering moving in with me in Nashville, TN. So when talking to my dad about it he said, “If your brother is going to move there, make him sleep on the couch because if you make his life there too comfortable he will never move out.” Another time I was talking to him about work and I can’t remember the specifics but his response was basically, you have to be uncomfortable sometimes to get what you want. Sometimes he would even tell me that I had to eat crow, which is exceptionally difficult for me, a person who always feels like their best isn’t good enough. Dad always had these little gems that would ripple into a much louder message…
Budgeting Tips for Beginners Most of us want to budget but budgeting seems complicated and time consuming. I even found myself looking for apps to make it simple but could never find the perfect app. With most apps you have to link your bank account and put a lot of energy into categorizing purchases to find out how much you spend where to adjust your life in a particular area. That seemed to be more time consuming than just figuring it out on my own. I took some time out and said to myself how can i make this easy enough for me to actually want to do it but accurate. First thing I decided to do was to break my income into three accounts; bills, saving, and spending. Then I had to figure out how much I needed to put into each account. So boom, I needed to know…
The Me Too movement has opened up the conversation about sexual harassment, rape and rape culture. For centuries, women have been taken advantage of by men, but there is a group we never discuss and their contribution to rape culture and sexual harassment. Oftentimes, women forget that they too can be predatory and not solely the victim. As a lesbian, straight women have been predatory to me and I’ve witnessed them do it to other lesbians. My friend Mimi said, “They always become predators once they hear I am gay, from the touching to the rubbing and it’s always I’ve never kissed a girl before, they think it’s okay because they are also women but the shit is mighty uncomfortable. I’ve had women literally kiss me without my permission because it’s what girls do.” Straight women believe that it is harmless to push their fantasies on lesbian women but it…