Interview with Kathleen of Carrie Bradshaw Lied – Episode 57: PaleOMG Uncensored Podcast

Today on the podcast, I’m talking to one of my favorite people to follow on instagram. Kathleen of Carrie Bradshaw Lied is hilarious, beautiful, intelligent and one badass B. She works hard to produce amazing content on her website every single week and she’s sharing her story with me! From what she did before she started blogging to how she ended up with a three legged cat to how she balances life with an MD husband. She’s seriously the best and was so fun to talk to. Don’t forget to follow Kathleen on her blog and on instagram and all her other social media channels!

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Episode 57 Transcription!

Well hey there darlin face. Welcome to another episode of PaleOMG Uncensored. Before I get started with today’s very lovely guest, I’ve got to tell you what happened on the blog this week; in case you missed any of it. Of course you didn’t. You went to www.PaleOMG.com every single day, right? No? Ok cool. Well, let’s do a little review. Because I think it was a fun time this week.

Monday morning, I shared my weekly workouts. Where I talk about not playing the victim. Because you know how all of us were like; I always have this going on, I can’t work out. I have this going on. And we just put ourselves in the victim place. Does that make sense? No? Just go read. I talk about it there.

Then I have two new recipes for you guys. I have pumpkin spice baked granola bars, and I have Mexican pumpkin soup. So I’m obviously a little obsessed with pumpkin. Because I have another pumpkin recipe coming next week. A little annoying, but it’s ok, ok? Because it’s really delicious. Pumpkin spice granola bars are delish, but the Mexican pumpkin soup you need to go make right now. And don’t use canned pumpkin. Don’t. I’m telling you, don’t do it. Use a real roasted pumpkin. I promise you, it is worth the extra effort. And it’s really no effort; you cut the pumpkin in half and you bake it. It’s literally the easiest thing ever.

And then I have a beauty and makeup products post. I’m talking about my recent skincare routine. I’m talking about my favorite products. And I have a video. Which, videos make everything more fun, right? Right.

And then I’m talking about New Years’ Eve. I know it’s super early, but wait. Just, hear me out. I’m not super excited about Thanksgiving. Because I’ve already made all the Thanksgiving food for you guys. So I’m not that excited about it. Christmas this year, we are not really celebrating because we’re going to go to Mexico for New Years’. Ok, so I’m not really even caring about Thanksgiving and Christmas. They’re not on my radar. So I’m just thinking about New Years’ at this point. And so, I’m sharing a New Years’ Eve look in the blog.

I get it. It’s too early. Believe me, I was in a miniskirt in 30-degree weather, so yeah I get it. It’s too early. But just look at the outfit. Try it on for size. And I’m sharing a discount too, for that outfit. $25 off your $100 order. Discounts galore!

And wait. Before I let you go, and before I introduce our guest, I have something extremely special coming to the blog on Tuesday. I created my own product, and I am so incredibly excited, and I’m starting to sweat thinking about it because I’m very nervous. But it’s coming to the blog on Tuesday. It’s 7:30 in the morning. It’s coming to the blog Tuesday, and I want you guys to check it out. So all you have to do is go to www.PaleOMG.com on Tuesday, and there will be something very special. Ok? Ok.

Now, before we get started, let me introduce our guest. Today, I have Kathleen from Carrie Bradshaw Lied on the podcast. She is the sweetest. She has this southern accent. She is a fashion blogger, and you can find her at www.carriebradshawlied.com and on her Instagram. And she has some of the most beautiful outfits. And she’s just an all around hilarious person to follow. So I don’t just follow her for her amazing outfits, I follow her because she is so funny. I love to watch her Instagram stories every day, and I wanted to hear her story. So I hope you guys enjoy! Have a great day. Bye-bye for now.

This is Juli Bauer from PaleOMG and you are listening to PaleOMG Uncensored.

Juli Bauer: Hey everybody! Welcome to another episode of PaleOMG Uncensored. Today is a very special day, because I have an amazing guest. Her name is Kathleen, and she runs the blog www.CarrieBradshawLied.com. So Kathleen, I always want to call you Carrie. Do people want to call you Carrie because of that?

Kathleen: Everyone calls me Carrie.

Juli Bauer: {laughs}

Kathleen: I usually just roll with it, you know? Why?

Juli Bauer: Yeah. Just bob your head.

Kathleen: Why correct people? Just roll with it. Totally.

Juli Bauer: That’s true. Well Kathleen, thank you so much. I’ve followed you for; I don’t know. Maybe a couple of years now. I think I just found you on the explore page of Instagram and just fell in love and wanted to follow your every move. And you are so fun to listen to on Instagram stories. So when I was thinking about people I wanted to interview, you’re just hilarious so I automatically thought of you. So thank you so much for being on!

Kathleen: You’re awesome. It is a privilege. I likewise have been following you for years. And I remember us chatting briefly on social media back when I still had a full-time job in addition to the blog. So I feel like we kind of go way back.

Juli Bauer: Totally! {laughs} I was like, you need to quit your job! Go fulltime! {laughs}

Kathleen: Honestly, I’ll never forget it. I remember the advice you gave me, even though it was a short little pearl of wisdom. But honestly, no big surprise, you were exactly right.

Juli Bauer: Aww! That is so, so cool. Well tell everyone; kind of give a background if people don’t know who you are. Who you are, just a little synopsis of yourself. Then kind of talk about CarrieBradshawLied.com.

Kathleen: Yeah. So I was born and raised in the south; a mix of Tennessee and Mississippi. I want to college in the south, which is where I met my now husband. And my career dream has always been to work at a magazine. That was my life goal. So I curated my entire; my college degree, my internships, everything around trying to get a job at a magazine. So my first job was at Southern Living Magazine in the marketing and PR department; which was a total dream. And six months in, half of my floor got laid off.

Juli Bauer: Oh my gosh.

Kathleen: {laughs} So, I quickly was realizing, I don’t know what the longevity. I’m just starting my career, and this is what I’ve always wanted to do, but I don’t know how much growth potential there is for me being young and new. Like, one of the first ones they get rid of. So I kind of have to use my skillset and my interests and maybe go a different way.

Which was a real bummer, but it’s just life, you know. Sometimes there are forks in the road. Sometimes you have to figure out what makes sense. So from there I kind of continued to pursue marketing and social media and corporate jobs, which is where I always kind of saw myself in more of a corporate setting. All the while kind of doing my blog on the side just for fun. Which was mostly because in college I would style my friends, so they would say; “What should I wear tonight?” So I would put together outfits for them.

So flashforward to after college. I’m trying to work and build a career and they’re still texting me. “What do I wear with this? Do I wear a belt? What color?” So I was like, I’m going to start a blog and that way you guys will understand why I buy some things from Target, and some things from Saks, you know?

So all the while I just kind of kept that going on the side until I kind of finally hit a place in my career where I knew I had to go one way or the other. It wasn’t really working to manage both anymore. And that was in 2015. And I’ve been doing the blog fulltime for about 2 years. And I think towards the end of that is when you and I were chatting. And you were like; honestly, once you decide to go full force, you’ll never look back. And I remember you telling me that, and encouraging me, and I just kind of took the leap of faith. And honestly, I haven’t regretted it a day. It’s been such an enormous blessing.

So it’s been a really interesting turn. 10 years ago if you had told me I’d be doing this, I would just laugh. There would be no way.

Juli Bauer: And so when did you start your blog? What year was it?

Kathleen: I want to say it was in February of 2011-ish? It may have been 2010. But it was just this big sack of garbage; hot garbage for about 3 years at least. I would just hash out previous Real Housewives episodes. Talk about special collections coming to Target. Pretty much throwing something up once a week to see if it stuck. And not really thinking much about it past that. But this was back; you know. And you’ve been blogging for quite a while. Back in those early days of blogging. Nobody really knew what the potential was. You know? It was just kind of like, whatever.

Juli Bauer: Yeah, you could have a piece of garbage and people would still read it, because that’s how every single website looked. And it was fine.

Kathleen: Totally. I was putting garbage on the internet weekly, feeling great about it.

Juli Bauer: {laughs} Totally.

Kathleen: And to be honest, I always try to stick to that. I’m like; remember why you started this blog in the first place. You can have fun with it. Because when it starts feeling less fun, and more like a deadline, deadline, deadline; you’ve got to take a step back. You know?

Juli Bauer: That’s so true.

Kathleen: It’s not why we started doing this.

Juli Bauer: I totally have to check myself with that kind of stuff. Because I feel the exact same way.

Kathleen: Yeah.

Juli Bauer: How did you come up with the name, Carrie Bradshaw Lied?

Kathleen: Everyone asks this. I do have a little frequently asked questions tab on my blog, only because certain questions are asked frequently. Totally valid question. Essentially, I couldn’t wait to get out of college and start working. Again, I had this huge vision for myself. I minored in journalism. I’ve always loved to write, similar to a la the fictional Carrie Bradshaw. So I just thought that my life was going to be so fabulous. Once I started working, I was going to be going to get drinks, meeting new friends. Killing it at my job. Dressing so great. And then I realized I was getting paid nothing. I was like; I can pay my rent and maybe go out to eat. Or buy one thing. But I can’t shop, work, pay my rent, and go out with friends.

And, all my college friends were dispersed throughout the United States. It wasn’t like I was living somewhere with friends. I was starting completely fresh. And I was like, this actually sucks, and is really hard. And I thought it was just going to be so effortlessly; like an upgrade. It was really not an upgrade! And I was like, this is not at all what I thought it would be!

Juli Bauer: {laughing}

Kathleen: But what’s amazing is most people; it’s interesting because when I meet readers, I know what age bracket they’re in. Because some of them don’t even know who Carrie Bradshaw is. They’re like; what is that?

Juli Bauer: No! No! {laughs} That’s devastating. I just saw something on the Today show about how they were going to do a third movie, and Kim Cattrall won’t say yes because they won’t do something that she wants. So they’re not making a third movie, and I’m devastated!

Kathleen: What a bummer.

Juli Bauer: Yeah, come on Kim Cattrall. I wonder what she’s demanding?

Kathleen: I just love everything about that groups dynamic. And I think it is fun because those of us that have grown up watching this show, everyone kind of connects to at least one of the girls, if not multiple of them. So it’s one of those things; I really truly still love the show as much as I did back in college. So it’s been kind of fun.

Juli Bauer: Yeah. It’s just like Friends; it never gets old to watch any of the episodes, no matter how many times you’ve seen it.

Kathleen: 100%.

Juli Bauer: So, how often nowadays do you post on your site? And how do you come up with new content on a regular basis?

Kathleen: I aim to post three to five times a week. It kind of depends on whether I’m traveling or whatnot. Because I would really rather put more thoughtful copy and whatnot on there versus just throwing something up because I’m busy. So I try to post three to five times a week depending on the work flow.

And then as far as inspiration, I feel like I’m inspired everywhere. I’ve always loved clothes. My mom tells stories of when I was a toddler trying to wear her shoes around the house. I liked the way the heels sounded when I walked. Like, it goes way back.

Juli Bauer: Yeah. {laughs}

Kathleen: So I’ve always loved clothes. And I would dress my mom for events and stuff when I was in elementary school. So I’ve always loved it. And I’m inspired by things I see on TV. By just; we live close to a college campus, so there are young kids all over town with cool style. And I’m southern, living out in California, so I do have some of that southern style. But I’m so inspired by kind of that west coast, laid back, cool girl style.

I’m always joking that I’m trying to dress more cool. Because these kids are so cool out here! So I kind of feel like a little bit of everything. But I have a hard time when someone says, “Describe your style.” I have a hard time coming up with adjectives that describe. Because I feel like, similar to Carrie Bradshaw, I kind of dress however I feel that day. Some days it’s tom boy, and other days it’s super girly. It just kind of depends on my mood, you know?

Juli Bauer: Yeah. I feel like you have a very vast array of different looks. Whenever I look at your Instagram, you always have something new and something that someone can identify with. Maybe they’re like; ok. I could never wear a crop top. But then you have this amazing bell sleeved top. You always have different kinds of looks, so it’s really cool to see what you’re constantly coming up with. I love your outfits.

And who; I know your husband takes your photos sometimes and then you have a photographer as well?

Kathleen: Yeah. So we started out, Christian actually probably wants to kick himself. Because doing more fashion-y photography was actually his idea three or four years ago. He was like; you should really kind of elevate this and maybe stop putting up garbage and maybe take it seriously.

Juli Bauer: {laughs}

Kathleen: See what happens. And I was like, oh, alright. How would I do that? And he was like, I’ll take your photos. So we got a camera, and he and I shot together. Especially when I was working fulltime, we had to shoot on the weekends. And he has two weekends off a month with his schedule, so he would help me out. I did promise him; I was like, if I take this fulltime. Because you’re like; hey, I’m going to leave my steady job that I also love with benefits and a 401K to just see what happens with the internet. Cross my fingers, you know?

Juli Bauer: {laughs} Mm-hmm.

Kathleen: So I was like; I promise, if I do this fulltime, I will find a photographer and take some of that off your plate. So that’s actually been a huge blessing. I found a photographer here in Orange County who is fabulous, and he helps me out during the week. So Christian will help me out in a pinch and when we travel, but Vincent does help me create the majority of my content now. Which has been a real blessing.

Juli Bauer: Yeah. He does great photography. Your photos have looked awesome. And I love hearing this from different fashion bloggers out there. When I went to the Reward Style conference, and just hearing how they take their photos. How do you do yours? Because I’m guessing you pack kind of multiple outfits in your car. Do you change in your car? That’s what I do. I usually shoot five or six looks, and my clothes are all over the back of the car. It’s just a complete nightmare. So how do you shoot yours, and get them all done within a certain timeframe?

Kathleen: Yeah, so one reason I do love shooting with Christian is because when he and I would shoot together; or even still sometimes when we do, it’s a much more, “Hey let’s go to dinner tonight. Can you shoot my outfit?” 20 minutes before, which is so nice because it does feel like; that’s what I originally did years ago. It more like; this is actually what I wore two nights ago. But of course now it’s different. And it makes much more sense to just crank it out every other week. So I do try to schedule; I’ll schedule some time with Vincent, put together some looks and change in my car. Which does not have tinted windows.

Juli Bauer: {laughs}

Kathleen: So he’ll hold up a reflector and lean against the window while I’m changing. And he’s like, “Girl! I think this whole town has seen what you look like without your clothes on!” And I’m like, tragically it’s probably true. I need to tint these windows immediately. So, I apologize to anyone in Oldtown Orange, where I live, if I have offended you by potentially flashing you from the backseat of my car.

Juli Bauer: {laughing} I’m sure they weren’t unhappy about it.

Kathleen: You know, what’s crazy is I used to be so modest. And now I laugh because I’m like; forget that. I’m literally like; hey can someone hold up a blanket so I can change real quick? Like, who do I think I am? That is insane.

Juli Bauer: {laughing} I know. I change in my car too. Thankfully my back windows have tint on them, but I’ve just stopped caring. I tried to lean over before and kind of hide it. And I’m just like, I don’t care. I need to get these damn photos done. I don’t care!

Kathleen: Right. And I’m always like; guess what? I look the same without clothes on as the next girl. We all look the same. It’s fine. You’ve seen it before. It’s fine.

Juli Bauer: It’s so true. So true. So, with all the different outfits that you take photos with, how often do you try to post on social media? I’m guessing like Instagram is probably your main go-to. Everybody has; you’ll forward it onto Twitter or Facebook. But how many times a day are you trying to post on social media? And, social media sucks because now they have the algorithm, and nobody sees sh*t anymore! I’m so sad when I go to your profile and I haven’t seen like most of your looks on there. It’s so frustrating.

Kathleen: I know. I’ve actually done the same thing. I do the same thing to the accounts I love. I did that to yours the other day. I went, and I was like; oh my gosh! I haven’t seen half of these recipes or outfits.

Juli Bauer: I know.

Kathleen: So I’m just liking like crazy. But I try to post once or twice a day. It kind of depends, again, how much content I have. How much stuff is going on. You know, that’s the thing with Instagram. Similar to blogging, we all started Instagram really kind of sharing our life as it happens. And it’s really taken more of a Pinterest-y turn, you know?

Juli Bauer: Yeah. Yeah.

Kathleen: Which I guess is just called adapting and evolving with the internet as it continues to grow. But sometimes I’m just like; wow, I feel like a real hypocrite. Because I actually haven’t put on makeup in three days, but I’m acting like I’m in New York in stilettos!

Juli Bauer: {laughing} I know. It’s so true.

Kathleen: Sometimes it just kind of depends on my mood. If I’m like; the truth is I’m still in yesterday’s sweatpants. I think I’m going to skip posting today. It just kind of depends on what’s going on. But I do try to post twice a day. That’s the goal.

Juli Bauer: Yeah. And have you had to deal with many trolls of your many years on the internet and on social media?

Kathleen: Yeah. I think; it kind of comes in waves. Sometimes I feel like there’s a nice stretch of time where it’s all good vibes and positive. And sometimes I’m just kind of like; oh snap! People be coming at me!

Juli Bauer: Yeah. How do you deal with them?

Kathleen: Everyone has an opinion, which is fine. That’s just the way it’s always been. And I think, sometimes there is constructive criticism, which actually can be really helpful. But I think when you put yourself out there, negativity is just kind of par for the course. And I’m always like; well, what’s the alternative? I could not put myself out there, not have this job, and then no one would care. But I want to take risks, because with risks come reward. And you kind of just has to take it as it comes. And my thoughts are; I’m always like, the fact that anyone really cares enough to talk sh*t about me is kind of flattering.

Juli Bauer: {laughs} So true. That is such a good way to look at it.

Kathleen: It’s like, all the people you admire have people that don’t like them.

Juli Bauer: Mm-hmm.

Kathleen: So as your audience grows, it’s kind of impossible to please everyone. So I just kind of feel like it’s unavoidable.

Juli Bauer: Yeah. That’s very true. I like that. I need to remember that.

Kathleen: Yeah. I think it’s just learning not to let it, you know; do you think Lady Gaga cares if I don’t like her? Which I actually love her. But you know what I’m saying?

Juli Bauer: {laughs} Yeah.

Kathleen: She doesn’t care. And I’m not saying that I’m Lady Gaga, by any means.

Juli Bauer: {laughing}

Kathleen: It’s like; the people you admire, they don’t care that much if people are talking about them. So why should I let it affect me. Unless it’s constructive, of course. And you can take something from it, which is valid.

Juli Bauer: I loved the other day when you did your Instagram stories of all your favorite Lady Gaga looks.

Kathleen: Oh, man.

Juli Bauer: You were going back through time.

Kathleen: Oh my gosh. My mom’s an artist. And since I was tiny, she would just say; dare to be different. Dare to be different. She was all about not doing what everyone else was doing. I always have remembered that. Because you know; we all think that people are thinking about us and what we’re up to. Guess what; no one is, ok? Everyone is too busy thinking about themselves.

Juli Bauer: Mm-hmm! {laughs}

Kathleen: So do what you want to do; you know?

Juli Bauer: So true!

Kathleen: Lady Gaga is like that. She’s like; don’t care. I’m going to do me. And I love it!

Juli Bauer: The best. She’s the best.

Kathleen: She’s great.

Juli Bauer: So what are; kind of still staying on the blog stuff; what are some of the favorite brands that you’ve had the opportunity to work with? And just some of the brands that you love to wear yourself? Hopefully get to work with as well {laughs} because that’s always awesome.

Kathleen: You know, I think what’s really cool and challenging about blogging. Which I’m sure you understand completely. Is brands and businesses are starting to kind of understand the power of digital influencers and social media people and whatnot. So they’re starting to catch on and kind of add that budget into their campaign for future released products and whatnot. But with that means sometimes they get hiring a model and hiring an influencer confused.

For example; I think it’s hard as a blogger, because what we do is we share our honest opinion, and we put our spin on something that will resonate with our audience. But they sometimes want to control it a little bit. And it ends up stunting your creative freedom to kind of do what you do. So I think that push-pull has kind of been a new challenge I’ve really noticed this year with more of; no, no, no, you can’t tell me what to say. I get to say things how I want to say them.

Juli Bauer: Yeah. Absolutely.

Kathleen: And I think they’re learning, but it’s become a little bit more of a challenge this year. But it’s cool because it means that brands really are recognizing the power of using some of these influencer-truth tellers. Which is a really cool turn. And with that, favorite brands that maybe I’ve worked with before that trust me that allow me; they just will say, “Hey, we want you to do what you do and style this dress. But do it however you want; just please make sure to include that it’s available at this website and use this hashtag.” And I’m like, that’s my favorite. Because then I can really get inspired and do something that I think really reflects not only my personal style, but something that I think my readers can resonate with and put together themselves.

So I really love, living out west I really love You-Me Kim.

Juli Bauer: Ok.

Kathleen: She does a lot of really beautiful maxi dresses and prints and kind of flowy, feminine pieces. I really love Parker New York. They have a little bit more polished, maybe East Coast style. But very cool and beautiful pieces. Who else do I really love right now? I’ve just discovered Agolde, I hope I’m saying that correctly; their denim. Which is a Los Angeles denim brand. Apparently LA is like the denim capital of the US. Probably not the world. But it’s like, tons of denim brands are based in LA. Which is pretty cool. And denim is such a huge thing out west. I feel like we wear jeans every day. To work, to church; everything.

Juli Bauer: Yeah. Yeah.

Kathleen: I love their jeans. I really love consignment finds, and Etsy finds. Kind of finding those unique pieces. I feel like I don’t shop vintage as much as I used to, because it kind of pisses off my readers. Which is valid. Because I’m like; “A one of a kind skirt!” And they’re like, well I can’t find that anywhere. Why would you show that?

Juli Bauer: Totally!

Kathleen: You know. I’m like; dang it, they’re so right. But I would wear a lot more consignment and vintage pieces if I wasn’t blogging, for sure.

Juli Bauer: I had a reader once complain about that. They were like; I wish you talked more about second hand stores or local stores. I’m like, I totally get that. But then nobody else can buy it, or it’s a very, very limited population in Denver. So that’s not fun for the reader. So it’s hard to kind of find that balance. I really love the company Thread Up, and have their consignment stuff online. It’s just such a huge database for everybody.

Kathleen: Totally. And I have gotten some really cool nice pieces at a major discount at consignment stores. So I really encourage that. I remember when I wasn’t really blogging to the degree that I am now, I would shop those kinds of places all the time and have pieces that I still really hold onto and value that I got a major deal on.

Juli Bauer: Same. I’m totally with you.

Kathleen: If you’re in Orange County, all the Corona Del Mar consignment shops are bomb. Just saying.

Juli Bauer: So you are moving soon. How soon are you moving?

Kathleen: I am moving; so basically, Christian, my husband, is doing his medical fellowship in ear, nose, and throat and head and neck surgery. So it’s a 5-year program after med school. And you interview for your fellowship if you want to do one in your fourth year. It’s like a school year. So we found out this summer that we would be moving to San Francisco while he pursues facial, plastic, and reconstructive surgery. But it’s based on a school year, so we won’t really move until May or June. But I announced it, because I shared he was interviewing. But I, just in turn, have confused everyone. Because everyone’s like; you’re moving next month, right? Because I announced it in the summer. So I really kind of screwed myself there. But we don’t move until summer. So we’ve got to finish out the school year.

Juli Bauer: Yeah. I cannot imagine. So I want to talk about San Francisco, because I had a reader ask about that. But what has it been like being married; I’m guessing you’ve been with your husband throughout this entire process, since you guys met in college. So what has it been like to be married to a medical student, now a doctor, having to move and change where you’re living based on that. What has that been like?

Kathleen: So, what’s interesting is I feel like I kind of have a biased viewpoint. My dad is a gastroenterologist; my brother-in-law is a pediatrician; my brother is a radiation oncologist, and my husband is in head and neck surgery. So I kind of have a lot of family members in the medical field. My sister is a dietician. So I feel like I grew up kind of knowing; you know, my dad’s patients came first. You know? My ballet recital was never going to come first. {laughs} Which, now I’m like, that’s fine. But I think it’s kind of something that I grew up with. It was the norm for me.

I think that some of these resident and med school wives and girlfriends that I’ve spoken with that reach out to me with questions and whatnot; they probably grew up with a dad who worked at a bank or something and was home for dinner every night. Which is great. You know? But I think that I am probably a little bit more understanding, only because I grew up with my dad being on call every other weekend. And my mom trying to keep us upstairs on Christmas day until noon, because my dad was getting a chicken bone out of someone’s throat, you know?

Juli Bauer: {laughs}

Kathleen: That was the norm for us. Just stay, 20 more minutes! So Christian and I, we met in college. I knew he wanted to go to medical school then, and secretly hoping he would change his mind just because I knew how long that road would be. But we dated all through med school and then got married. And moved to California about four or five months later for his fellowship.

And I think that, again, I did a blog post about advice for those with kind of husbands that work a lot, or boyfriends, or whatnot. And I think that for me, the one thing that helps me stay patient through this extremely long road. I think, it’s 4 years of college, 4 years of med school, 5 years of residency, and then a year long fellowship. So I’m like; my poor husband is going to be like 33 before he has his first job, you know? It’s crazy.

But I just remind myself that 9 times out of 10, the patient needs him more than I need him. You know? My car doesn’t crank in a parking lot. Well, AAA can help me. Because whoever is in the hospital, because they have shattered bones in their face, kind of needs his help more right now. And he has such a gift to be able to help other people in that way, and especially in emergency type scenarios. I feel like I’m constantly telling myself, that person needs him more than I do. And it helps to be a little more understanding.

Because sure there are times. I can’t even tell you how many couples things I show up to alone. I actually; my friends out in Orange County thought I was catfishing them that I was even married. Because one of my best friends here didn’t even meet him until she and I had been friends for about a year and a half.

Juli Bauer: Yeah. Yeah. I can completely relate to that. My husband works Monday through Saturday. And I go to almost all of our friend events alone. And people think that maybe I don’t like my husband or I don’t want to bring him around or something. But he is just always gone.

But I think having a blog, and always having some kind of project to work on, is pretty helpful. Because if you only worked till 4 or 5 and then you come home, and then you’re sitting around because you’re not working on any other work. I think it can get more upsetting than it needs to. I think the blog has been really helpful. At least for me for that.

Kathleen: I totally agree. And my friends who blog who have husbands that have more flexible schedules, I find that sometimes they’re like; oh my gosh, how did you get all that done? And I’m like, because you got to go have drinks and dinner with your cute boyfriend or husband. Christian doesn’t even get home till 9:30 on a Friday. So I just keep working.

Juli Bauer: Exactly.

Kathleen: I found that that’s helped me business-wise, just because I work a lot. Because you always have something to work on. So I completely agree with you. And it’s been nice that both of us have kind of ended up being workaholics.

Juli Bauer: I know. I know. And especially when you’re younger in life and you still can do that and you don’t have as many responsibilities with children. You might as well just kick some ass at work. And so maybe you can even retire earlier. That’s what I always try to tell myself.

Kathleen: I like that mindset. I’m going to adopt that. Thank you.

Juli Bauer: {laughs} So what are some of the things you’re most looking forward to about San Francisco?

Kathleen: Christian is so excited. He interviewed, I think it ended up being like 13 places all over the US. And so, we really could have been anywhere between San Francisco and New York. And all these places in between. He is so excited; we’re both really excited to be able to stay in California a little bit longer, and kind of explore northern California, which is so beautiful. I love the weather up there, just crisp, cool.

I think we’re most excited about walking places. The walkability of the city. Just something; LA, Orange County, there are little neighborhoods that are walkable, but it’s not really that walkable like a lot of these East Coast cities are. So I think we’re really excited about just being able to walk and grab dinner, have a drink, and not worry about having to catch an Uber. You can just stroll on home.

Juli Bauer: Totally. And really good exercise, since you’re constantly just going up and down hills.

Kathleen: That is very true. That’s a very good point.

Juli Bauer: You don’t even need a gym membership. {laughs}

Kathleen: I have a studio here that I love a lot that I’ll be sad to miss. But I’m really excited. It’s always fun. Christian and I have been married for about 5 years. We’ve been together 10. So it’s always fun to explore something new with your partner, you know? It’s just fun.

Juli Bauer: Yeah. Has it been pretty easy; how long have you lived in Orange?

Kathleen: This is our fifth year in Orange County.

Juli Bauer: Was it pretty easy to make friends in Orange, or is it kind of a younger town since you have college there. How was it, making friends there?

Kathleen: I feel like, honestly. When I first moved here, I really hit the jackpot, and I know not everyone can do this. But I worked in events and social media for Urban Decay cosmetics headquarters, which is here at Newport Beach. And there are so many young, awesome girls that worked there. So I just instantly made friends at work, which was amazing. And a lot of them were girls that grew up in the area, so they had tons of advice and recommendations.

And so I found it pretty easy. Everyone’s like; oh you came from Mississippi, the hospitality state, to California. How is that transition? My brother is in LA with his family. And I think for them, they can speak much more to Southern to West Coast transition. But for us in Orange County, it’s a bunch of beach towns so people are pretty mellow. Pretty chill. Pretty happy. And I feel like you kind of get what you put out, you know? So if you’re friendly and warm, 9 times out of 10 people are friendly and warm right back.

So I think because the transition has actually been shockingly pretty great. Easy. But I think Christian and I both are; not only independent but pretty open minded and adventurous living different places. So we were just excited. And we were both from Mississippi, went to college there. So even if we had matched anywhere; I mean, North Dakota. We would have been excited to go up to North Dakota, see what it’s about. We kind of were just game for an adventure.

Juli Bauer: That’s awesome. That’s so exciting. We always talk about moving somewhere else, and it’s so fun to just think about starting in a whole new place and having new restaurants and new studios and new people to see. That will be so much fun.

Kathleen: Yeah, but Denver rules!

Juli Bauer: It does. That’s why we haven’t moved away anywhere yet. Because I really love Denver.

Kathleen: Are you from Colorado, as well?

Juli Bauer: I am, yeah. Born and raised.

Kathleen: So lucky!

Juli Bauer: I know. The only other place we would really want to move is Austin so we could be on a lake. And Denver has pretty much everything other than a lake.

Kathleen: Yeah. Because you guys are all sportsy and good at those water sports and things aren’t you.

Juli Bauer: I am not. My husband is very good at them. He was a wakeboarder growing up. So he loves that sh*t, and I just act like I do so I can hang out with him. {laughs}

Kathleen: That’s so cute. I love it.

Juli Bauer: So I met some awesome San Francisco bloggers. That blogging scene there, they are super tight and all hang out. So then you’ll have instant friends when you move there of that little scene.

Kathleen: Yeah, I was in New York recently and met a few Bay area/San Francisco girls. And they’re so nice! They are so fun and nice. So I’m really excited. Again, they’re like, we can’t wait to have you up here! I just feel so lucky that they’re willing to embrace me.

Juli Bauer: Totally.

Kathleen: They’re all super cool.

Juli Bauer: When I went to the conference, I knew no one. And I had nobody to hang out with, and was the awkward turtle at all the parties, just standing with a cocktail by myself. And those girls, the last night, just took me under their wing. They’re like; this poor girl. Let’s just hold her hand through this. They are all so, so nice. You will love them.

Kathleen: I am so impressed you went alone. Going to blogger things alone can feel; it’s like going to junior high. The first day of junior high all over again.

Juli Bauer: 100%. It’s like; all beautiful girls who have amazing outfits who, it’s almost this competitive feeling in a way because you’re all doing that same job. But they all have friends, so it’s not competitive. It’s just if you don’t have a friend in that community you feel like such an outsider. Oh my gosh, I was so intimidated the whole time.

Kathleen: Good for you for going, though! That shows how, what a boss to just show up and figure it out.

Juli Bauer: I know. I was so sad you weren’t there when I saw, I’m forgetting her name, but it’s Hot off the Rack.

Kathleen: Oh I love her. Jen. She’s the best.

Juli Bauer: Yes! I met her and she was so friendly, so nice. And so when I saw her, I was like, oh maybe you’ll be there. Because you’ve been on many trips with these girls.

Kathleen: Yeah. What’s cool is that I have kind of found a little group of girls, and we all jive very well. We’re all around the same age. We’ve all been blogging for about the same amount of time. So we’ve all become real friends, not just work friends. It’s like; we get together and sometimes don’t talk about blogging at all. We talk about life and our husbands and pets and whatever. So I managed to really make some solid friendships, and I kind of stick with that crew just because there’s a huge trust and just easiness.

We all travel really well together, so we tend to kind of rope each other into travel opportunities and collaborations. Just because, not only do we have a lot of fun together, it’s really natural and easy. But even physically, we have different styles. And we’re all different heights, and different skin tones, and different hair colors. So even when we’re together, I feel like there’s something for everyone. We appeal to different types of people.

Juli Bauer: Absolutely. How did you guys; did you guys just start talking over the internet? Kind of how you and I did?

Kathleen: Yeah. So one of the gals lives here in Orange County, Nicky. Her blog is My Style Diaries.

Juli Bauer: Oh, yeah.

Kathleen: She is from Louisiana. So we met out in Orange County, and we were like; obviously we need to be friends. Because she is a riot. She’s hysterical. Because she’s from Louisiana, she kind of knew these two Louisiana girls, Crystal and Jen. And so we were in New York back in 2014, I think, and all ended up having dinner together one night. And I think; you know when you make those friends and you’ve hung out for a couple of minutes, and you’re like; well this is obviously going to be a friendship. You know? This is a thing.

Juli Bauer: Yeah.

Kathleen: So it was kind of like a match made in heaven. And since then, we’ve slowly started planning things together. And now it’s like a no brainer. We just have so much fun together. It’s really been; those were relationships in any job are some of the most valuable things you take from any job you have, you know.

Juli Bauer: Yeah, absolutely. And that’s so cool when you can find them when you’re not just working with them in the same office every single day. When you can still find them over the internet and create that friendship. Especially when you guys aren’t living in the same city, and you still make those trips happen. That’s awesome.

Kathleen: Yeah. It’s been fun. And that’s definitely something I do miss a lot about my corporate jobs. Just coworkers, that comradery. When you have an idea, and you can kind of build off of it because they make your idea better with their input. So being alone, and I’m sure you can relate to this. When you work alone all the time, it’s like you end up looking at your dog, and you’re like; this is a cool idea, right?

Juli Bauer: {laughs} Totally. Oh my gosh, 100%.

Kathleen: There’s feedback. Yeah.

Juli Bauer: So what is one of the most fun or coolest places you’ve traveled? And it can be with that group of girls, or just on your own that you’ve blogged about?

Kathleen: Oh wow. I think one of my favorite trips so far out here is probably Christian and I went to Hawaii. And we’ve been to Maui, and then we went to Kauai. I really want to go to the big island, but I don’t know if we’ll make it back. But we went to Kauai, and I was just so overwhelmed with the majestic beauty of that island. It’s so incredible. It was like walking in Jurassic Park. It was so lush, and I just felt so small. Like a small, small piece of this world. But it was such an overwhelming beauty. I knew it was going to be beautiful, but it really kind of took me by surprise. And I still, I have moments from that trip that I still remember just feeling overwhelmed with how gorgeous it was.

Juli Bauer: That’s on my list of places to go. I was thinking of doing that for my 30th birthday, maybe. Somewhere in Hawaii. Whether it’s Kauai or Maui. Because I’ve heard amazing things about both.

Kathleen: I would recommend it. You go there and you’re like; how on earth is this a part of the United States? It’s just, it blows your mind.

Juli Bauer: A whole other world.

Kathleen: It’s so gorgeous.

Juli Bauer: How do you feel when you’re on these trips and you want to get any swimsuit photos? How do you feel; do you find a place where nobody is so you feel less embarrassed, or are you just pretty comfortable at it at this point?

Kathleen: You know, what embarrasses me most is that people think that I think I’m a model.

Juli Bauer: {laughs} Yes!

Kathleen: You know what I mean; like I think I’m going to be submitting these. You know what I’m saying? I’m just going to carry a sign that says, “I’m an amateur, and I’m aware.” You know?

Juli Bauer: {laughing}

Kathleen: So the embarrassment never quits. Especially when I’m shooting with Vincent, my photographer here who is such a blast, he’s just a lot of fun in general so we have a lot of fun with it. When I shoot with Christian; Christian is not taking photos of me because he is eager to do it and loves it. He’s doing it because he loves me and I’m asking him to do it. You know what I mean?

Juli Bauer: Totally. Yeah.

Kathleen: I appreciate him, regardless. But he also is embarrassed that he’s having to lay down on the sand while I pretend that I’m something special you know?

Juli Bauer: {laughing} Well that’s awesome he would lay down on the sand. Because my husband would be like, are you f*cking serious? Get out of here. No. No! {laughs}

Kathleen: Well, what he and I typically do on trips. And sometimes we take trips and I’m not working with the hotel, I’m just going and paying like I would to go anywhere. We won’t work, because there’s no point in working. I don’t have to work, so I won’t. But other times when you work in collaboration with a hotel, or a travel company, and there’s an expectation to deliver content. He and I will choose; alright, we’re going to be at this place for four or five days. What’s our shoot day? And we’ll pick a day and then we’re both on the same page that this is a work day, and we’re just going to get content and power through. So then we can take the next day to just chill by the pool or actually have vacation. Because it’s life.

Juli Bauer: I love that. That’s such a good idea.

Kathleen: Yeah. Well a lot of these places we would never have the opportunity to go if it wasn’t a work opportunity. So you have to work. But I find that if you dedicate a block of time like that, you’re both on the same page. Then you don’t complain, you just power through. And you can chill together after. But I typically try to get the work stuff done in the beginning of a trip. Just go, get it done. And then you can enjoy kind of the last leg of it. Which is what we try to do and it typically works well for us.

Juli Bauer: That’s so smart. I’m going to definitely remember that moving forward. So I was on your site just checking it out, seeing what kind of new stuff you had and I read your recent post about self-esteem. And that’s something I talk about on my blog all the time and on my podcast constantly, because I think as women, especially in a social media world now, we have a huge issue with comparison and self-doubt, and talking down to ourselves. And for me, I’m very much in the fitness world. So my explore page is females working out in underwear, pretty much. And it’s all ass to face video. It’s just too much. So the more I see that, the more I start questioning my own self and I have to kind of check myself, and say; ok, you are more than what is just on the internet. You have more self-worth than that.

Can you kind of talk about why you put out this post about self-esteem and why you put yourself out there in that way, and just talk about what that post is about for anybody who hasn’t seen it.

Kathleen: Yeah. I totally agree with you. I think that the internet is both a beautiful and terrible thing. And it’s all about perspective and how; we control the way we think. We control the way we think about ourselves, we control the kind of content we consume. It’s all in our control. And it’s not like one day you wake up and say; I love myself, and I now love myself forever. It’s like a constant reminder. I feel like it’s something you have to constantly check in on and keep up on in order to have a healthy balance, with self-love and self-esteem and just awareness of who you are to your core.

And I think I went to fashion week this year. It was my, I don’t know, fourth or fifth time to go. And truthfully, I didn’t even want to go. My friend kind of talked me into it. Because I was like, I don’t know. I don’t feel inspired or motivated to go. I’ve just been doing a huge website redesign, which ended up being a much larger project than I anticipated. Which kind of zapped a lot of my creativity this summer. So I was like, I’m just not feeling it.

But she convinced me to go, and I love her, so I was like alright, fine I’ll go. So I kind of went with this; you know. You’re here, slap on a smile, make it worth your time. And I think because I just, in my heart, didn’t really want to be there, I kind of, it was like I’d always seen the world of blogging and whatnot with rose tinted glasses. And it was like, all of a sudden on this trip the glasses, I didn’t have them anymore {laughs}. So I just was like; I just don’t know if this is me anymore. I don’t know. It doesn’t mean the same thing. I don’t know.

As this industry continues to grow and evolve, it’s causing me to stop and really think; what am I doing this for? In my mind, I just am always trying to get more readers, more followers, more, more, more, versus stopping to appreciate and value the readers and followers I have. I need to stop chasing what I don’t have and learn to just appreciate and tend to the beautiful group of people that actually spend their time to connect with me. What a gift. To value that instead of always chasing down what I currently don’t have.

So it just kind of caused me to step back and kind of see things from a different perspective and really evaluate; I think that we all create. The purpose of the blog is to give value to people. That’s the whole purpose to blogging, is to provide a value to whoever chooses to read it. And I just want to always make sure that my audience, or whoever chooses to read Carrie Bradshaw Lied understands that I am just like everyone else. You know? You might see pictures of me in a swimsuit on a beach, but you don’t know the backstory of that. The fact that I had to try three different angles, because there was cellulite on my thigh.

Juli Bauer: Mm-hmm.

Kathleen: You know what I mean? That’s the truth. And I think sometimes we don’t share the truth enough. And it’s not necessarily about being self-deprecating all the time. But really creating a healthy space. Where it’s like, I’m just trying to do the best with what I have. I’m not perfect. I’ve never claimed to be perfect. But I’m really just trying to stop and not only appreciate who I am and what I have, but appreciate you guys that you take the time to read this, and hopefully take something from it.

And it was just such a beautiful unexpected connection to so many women that are in all different phases of life and live all different places who have kind of have those moments of self-doubt. And you know, I think that you constantly have to check yourself. And sometimes, I can go 9 months, a year feeling like a hot tamale. And other times, I’m just like; I don’t want to get out of bed today. You know?

Juli Bauer: Yeah.

Kathleen: And I think we all feel that way. So just kind of humanizing it, and just connecting with other women in that way was actually a really freaking cool thing. And it reminded me; that is actually the power of blogging that we all have that sometimes we forget to share. And I think the fact that you share your story with body image and food and that relationship, and you’ve shared that on your podcast. I’ve listened to it. It’s an amazing story and journey. And how much you’ve grown from that place. Your entire viewpoint has changed completely since you were in high school.

Juli Bauer: Yeah. And that’s, I think, what helped me grow my blog in the first place. Was sharing that insecurity that I had at one point way back in the day. And seeing how many people connected with it, when I was sharing all these other posts and no one was really talking back. And then you share that insecurity and that “ugly” thing about you, just saying I have doubts. And then all these other people come forward. And you’re like; ok. People are real out in the world other than just my friends. It’s amazing what just showing your true personality can really bring into your own space.

And what I love about you; you share these beautiful photos, and such amazing content. But then on your Instagram stories, you’re exactly who you are in your daily life. And you’re talking about the things that you’re going through. And you’re talking about; what did you have to do with your house?

Kathleen: Oh my gosh. Even right now, as we speak, they’re hammering. I hope you can’t hear them. Hammering on the walls outside.

Juli Bauer: Because you had to fumigate, right?

Kathleen: Yeah. We were kicked out of our house for three days. And I have all these freaking animals! I’ve got a parking lot cat, a 90-pound dog. I’m trying to find somewhere for us to live. So stupid. Just a bunch of stupid stuff.

Juli Bauer: Such a nightmare.

Kathleen: There’s such a fine balance between being relatable and also not complaining.

Juli Bauer: Yeah. Exactly.

Kathleen: I don’t want people to think I’m ungrateful, but I also feel it’s really important to humanize some of these feelings and times that we all have. So I think that’s a fine balance. I don’t even know that I’ve necessarily found it. But I’m always trying to be a truth teller, but not a complainer. Which is really difficult. {laughs}

Juli Bauer: Well I think that is the fine balance in everything. It’s like; you’re not trying to pull compliments in. You’re just sharing your experience because you know others go through that. But it’s definitely that fine balance.

But I wanted to ask you a couple of questions before we kind of summed it up. Every time I see you on social media, I’m always like; Damn. Her legs are so beautiful! And I had somebody on my social media ask, what do you do for exercise? How do you stay in shape?

Kathleen: Oh my gosh. First of all, you’re super nice. I’m so self-conscious about my legs.

Juli Bauer: I am too! {laughs}

Kathleen: I’m always trying to slim them up, because I have these basketball player legs from high school.

Juli Bauer: That’s the best. It’s in, you know.

Kathleen: You know what, they are what they are. They’re here to stay.

Juli Bauer: Yes. Exactly!

Kathleen: So I might as well get used to them. But I have become, I think when I was out of college, a couple of years out of college, I discovered reformer Pilates and fell in love. Because I think everyone’s body is different, and everyone is looking for something different when they exercise. And I used to do a lot of aerobics classes. I forget the name. I’ve tried TRX, and Pure Bar, yoga and all these different things. Kickboxing. Spinning. And I really love them all. I like mixing it up. But something about Pilates; I kind of have a bad back from 6 years of cheerleading, and I get knots in my back. And I just felt like I was exercising, I was stretching. And I would leave Pilates feeling better than I do after a massage.

Juli Bauer: Wow.

Kathleen: I just love the way it made me feel. It made me feel slender, strong, relaxed. And so I’ve actually started doing Pilates plus; which is Pilates 2.0. it’s a little bit more; instead of just stretching on the machine, you’re actually doing lunges and squats on the machine. So it’s a little bit more of a pickup from just regular Pilates. And I really love it, because I feel like it makes me challenge those muscles that I don’t necessarily use all the time. I feel like Pilates is kind of home base for me. But I still love a spin class, or just a jog with the dog. I try to mix it up. But I do find myself always going back to Pilates.

Juli Bauer: And how often do you try to go?

Kathleen: I try to go two or three times a week. It usually just depends on my travel schedule. So it’s like, there have been months where I’m there two or three times a week consistently. And then I’ll try to sprinkle in walks with my dog, or 20 minutes of arm exercises via YouTube. Some YouTube workouts and stuff. I try to go two or three times a week. But sometimes when I’m traveling, I’m like; oh my gosh, I haven’t been to Pilates in two weeks. When I go it’s going to be so painful.

Juli Bauer: And I know you just said walking your dog; that’s the main thing I do to get out of the house. So how do you stay. When you’re working from home, how do you stay motivated during the day? Especially when your husband is maybe working until 9 at night when you didn’t plan that to happen. How do you stay motivated, and make sure you brush your teeth {laughs}? Because some days I’m like; sh*t, it’s 3 p.m. and I haven’t brushed my teeth yet. But how do you make sure you kind of stay on schedule? What do you do to keep yourself in a timely manner that the days don’t blend together completely?

Kathleen: Yeah. I do feel working in an office for so many years before blogging full time really kind of helped me create a strong discipline and kind of like structure. I’m a pretty disciplined person. However, I kind of found with blogging or with working from home what tends to be most effective for me is I wake up, I start working immediately. I’m tackling emails; normally I’m doing more like email type work in the morning. And then I’ll have lunch, and I’ll run any errands. That’s my time where I’m like; I am blessed. I get to go to the grocery store before everyone leaves the office at 5. So I should go now, when it’s not full of these former Kathleen’s trying to go to the grocery after work.

So I’ll use that time to kind of run errands. And then in the afternoon, I try to leave my email down, not check emails, and work on content. Whether that’s editing photos, writing blog posts, that kind of a thing. Email, break, create content, and then I’ll start cooking dinner. Which I love your website, because I’m always trying to kind of; I did Whole30 years ago. So I love kind of staying with that vegetables, high protein type diet. So you have so many amazing recipes.

Juli Bauer: Oh that’s so cool! You have recipes on your website as well, don’t you?

Kathleen: I do. I don’t do as much as I’d like to. I should do more. Because I cook all the time. Because really, as you clearly know. If you’re trying to know what you’re eating and be healthy, you’ve got to make it yourself.

Juli Bauer: Yeah. For sure.

Kathleen: It’s just really hard to be like; I really want to commit to eating healthy, but I don’t want to cook. That’s really, really hard to do. So I’ve kind of learned how to cook over the years. And Christian very much appreciates it. You know, I’m from the south, so food is love.

Juli Bauer: Totally. Totally. That’s how I show my affection for my husband, is cooking for him.

Kathleen: Yeah. I know. How lucky are they?

Juli Bauer: Right? Oh my gosh. I have to remind him at times. I’m like; dude, when was the last time you cooked? Do you even remember? I don’t think he knows how to go grocery shopping anymore. {laughs}

Kathleen: You were like a bomb cook before you guys got married, so he knew exactly how lucky he is.

Juli Bauer: {laughs}

Kathleen: I can’t cook like you do, but I can try to copy you. And that’s what I do.

Juli Bauer: No, I love seeing when you’re cooking up recipes. And you share that on your Instagram stories sometimes, when you’re cooking.

Kathleen: Yeah, I try to. I really do try to. Because everyone; I’m interested to see what everyone else is eating. I think when you cook, you always want to know what everybody else is cooking.

Juli Bauer: Yeah.

Kathleen: So I do try to share what I’m cooking. Right now I’m trying to eat low carb, because I traveled so much in August, and I was like pizza, pasta, hit me up.

Juli Bauer: Totally.

Kathleen: So I’m trying to reverse some of that, and your site is so good for fulfilling yummy food but not carb heavy. Which I really appreciate.

Juli Bauer: Yes. Traveling; I’m traveling soon, and it’s so easy to go balls deep on carbs whenever you’re anywhere.

Kathleen: Well, who wants to go to some epic restaurant and get a salad? No one. You know? I want to get what they’re known for. So, I have such, I have a 10-pound range. Whenever I’m at the lower end of the 10 pounds, I haven’t traveled in like 6 weeks. And then whenever I’m traveling constantly. But it’s because I just YOLO too hard.

Juli Bauer: I know. It’s just so fun to when you’re in different places and traveling. It’s just; food is the best.

Kathleen: It’s so fun. And the problem is, my husband loves to eat. He’s 6’3”, and slim naturally. So he can chow down with no consequences. It really sucks for me. It’s really hard.

Juli Bauer: I know. I feel like that is the main story of most women out there that I hear. {laughs} Whenever I get emails, they’re like; my husband can eat whatever he wants and I hate him so much for it! I’m like, that is going to be the rest of your life.

Kathleen: Totally. It’s hard to be like; you go ahead and eat a whole pan of brownies. I’m just going to sit here and sip on my hot water with lemon. It’s so lame!

Juli Bauer: I know. We just had brownies yesterday. He ate so many. I was like, ok, cut yourself off Juli! You have to cut yourself off! They’re just the best.

Kathleen: Regret.

Juli Bauer: Ok. Last two questions. So someone asked, what are your favorite budget stores to shop at?

Kathleen: Yeah. I love some ZARA.

Juli Bauer: I wish we had ZARA out here! We don’t have it.

Kathleen: Yeah. And I do find their online site, I think, is a little challenging. Because it doesn’t; I find their site not as easily shoppable, however. If you can ever get into a store, they’re pretty great. But if you don’t have a ZARA, I love a good TJ Max. You never know what you can find in there. And sometimes, you go to your TJ Max, they’ve got designer things and I’ve gotten so many great things from TJ Max. All the name brand stuff that you would buy at a big retailer, but you get serious markdowns. So I’m a big fan of TJ Max and Marshalls, those type stores.

I do love an occasional Forever 21 visit.

Juli Bauer: Yeah.

Kathleen: Forever 21. However.

Juli Bauer: If you’re ready to dig through everything, then it’s good to go.

Kathleen: Yeah, I agree. To pop in there from time to time and get a few fun things that you’re like; I may only wear this for a year, but it’s $30 and whatever. So I do love Forever 21, TJ Max, ZARA. Let me think, what else, what else. I feel like when I worked in office, I bought a lot of things from the GAP. Like, they have some really great, it’s almost like they’re not necessarily a pant, and they’re not necessarily a legging. They’re almost like a jegging, but they’re pants that you can actually wear to the office. I had 4 pair of them. And they’re stretchy, so comfortable. I feel like I would always shop at the GAP for great basics that I could kind of mix and match with my other stuff when I worked in an office. That was pretty great.

Banana Republic also was a great kind of a work friendly type thing. Those are some of my favorite stores for that. Again, I really can’t say enough consignment stores can be where it’s at.

Juli Bauer: Seriously.

Kathleen: I mean, really great things. So if you have any good consignment shopping in your area, I really would recommend you just spend a Saturday morning hopping in to see what they have.

Juli Bauer: And I feel like I remember you doing a post pretty recently. Didn’t you do a post about when you should splurge and when you should save on certain items? Did you do kind of a closet overhaul type of thing like that?

Kathleen: I did like five areas where I liked to splurge for designer. And with the exception of outerwear, like a great trench coat or a jacket that you can wear season after season, it’s usually in the accessories. Because, you know, shirts and pants get worn down after time. But a great watch, a great pair of earrings. Those don’t really wear down, you know what I mean? You can have them forever as long as you take care of them. A great handbag.

So there have been times; my photographer is so silly and funny. But he’s like; I’ll show up in an outfit, and he’s like, oh yes. You’re like, where Walmart meets Chanel.

Juli Bauer: {laughing}

Kathleen: I’m like, honestly that should probably offend me but it doesn’t. Because I literally have some things that probably came from Walmart, and I also have Chanel bags. I literally will wear Walmart with Chanel. Because it’s not even about where it came from, it’s how it makes you feel. And I think with the right accessories, it can take literally any outfit and elevate it to a more chic, luxe looking outfit.

Juli Bauer: that’s awesome. I love that. And I have looked at your items. You always have kind of a mixture in there of something maybe really expensive that you splurged on in an outfit. And then something that’s totally affordable. You always have a big range of that.

Kathleen: Oh, I know where else I like to shop. I’m not even joking, freaking Amazon. Amazon has really cute stuff. I recently was perusing, I ended up buying all these dresses. Free shipping, free returns, gets to you in two days. I was just like; who knew Amazon has a lot of great stuff. And usually it’s under $30, which is pretty amazing.

Juli Bauer: That’s awesome. I’ll need to check that out, because I need to make an Amazon order today anyways.

Kathleen: There you go.

Juli Bauer: Ok, last question. Who do you like to follow on social media the most? And it can be whoever. It could be someone famous. It could be a blogger. It could be a food blog. Anything.

Kathleen: So, my absolute favorite {laughs} Instagram account is probably not what you would think, is Best Vines.

Juli Bauer: Oh, I saw you post about that the other day. I’m writing that down right now. {laughs}

Kathleen: All it is just hilarious short videos. My husband and I have this routine where we will get in bed, it’s almost lights out, and I’m like; oh wait, I haven’t checked best vines today. And we’ll pull it up, and we’ll watch the four new videos of the day, and just laugh so hard. I actually have a whole saved collection that’s categorized on Instagram that just says LOL. And it’s videos, and just memes that I’ve saved that always make me laugh.

Juli Bauer: That’s awesome.

Kathleen: So that’s one of my favorite accounts. And I love the Dodo. And one of my readers told me about the account, Animals Doing Things.

Juli Bauer: Oh, ok. Writing that one down too.

Kathleen: And it’s just like, you know, they’re really cute animals or just stories about animals. I have a cat that I got from a parking lot years ago that now has three legs. And I’m obsessed with her. And it’s like; or either humans doing nice things for animals.

Juli Bauer: Yes!

Kathleen: The world is a good place, you know?

Juli Bauer: Those are the best.

Kathleen: I feel like people would think I would list fashion accounts. Of which I love. I love blog accounts, and I follow blog food, home décor, I love some gardening accounts which, what am I, 70 years old? But I love those too. But animal accounts and the funny videos and memes. Like, my therapist says. That’s another good meme account.

Juli Bauer: Oh, ok. Writing it down.

Kathleen: I guess I basically like to laugh and look at animals.

Juli Bauer: Yeah. Animals are the best. And you have an adorable dog, and a cat with three legs, right? I think it’s a good thing to end on how adorable your animals are.

Kathleen: Well Jackson is so cute too!

Juli Bauer: Oh thanks! He’s lying right here next to me. {laughs}

Kathleen: He has a pretty yummy face.

Juli Bauer: He’s so great.

Kathleen: Yeah. Bailey is 10. She’s our 10-year-old lab. Which I had been dating Christian for like 2 months. And he wanted me to help him pick out his puppy. So I helped him pick her out, having no idea that I was picking out my dog.

Juli Bauer: Aww!

Kathleen: Because we never broke up. And we then we got married, and now she lives with us, obviously. So I’m like, I had no idea that day that I really was picking out my dog.

Juli Bauer: Yeah.

Kathleen: She’s 10, which is kind of cute. Because whenever she turns a year older, she kind of symbolizes how long we’ve been together. Because we’d been dating for a few months. So with every birthday, I’m like; oh my gosh I guess that means we’ve been together 10 years!

Juli Bauer: Yeah.

Kathleen: She’s getting kind of; she’s a yellow lab so she’s getting, I call them highlights, but it’s really just white hair on her face.

Juli Bauer: Oh, I know! It’s so sad.

Kathleen: She’s getting some highlights. But I’m like, this dog, we literally bought her in the middle of a farm in Mississippi, and she’s now lived at the beach. She’s going to San Francisco. I’m like, you know, we’re just living it up.

Juli Bauer: Living the live.

Kathleen: I love this dog. And then I had too many margaritas with a friend of mine, and saw this black cat in a parking lot. And I was like, come here kitty, kitty! And she came right to me. And I didn’t even really like cats. But I was like, well this cat needs a home. And I found out she was a stray that had been living there. I don’t think she was someone’s cat, but she had been living in this parking lot getting leftovers from people from time to time. And it just broke my heart. She was a solid black cat, at the time she had four legs so she didn’t have any unique markings. It was near Thanksgiving, so it was going to be getting cold. So I just snatched her up and ended up falling in love with her. She’s since had a tumor, so we had to amputate one of her legs, but she’s still kicking it. She’s doing so good. So, yeah, give me a margarita and I’ll take home a stray pet.

Juli Bauer: Oh my gosh! That is so sad, but so cute at the same time.

Kathleen: She was an adult when I found her, and I’ve had such a positive experience adopting an adult pet. My mom adopted an adult pet now because she loves my cat so much.

Juli Bauer: Aww!

Kathleen: I’ve had the best experience. And I really kind of think in the future that’s the route I’ll take. Because when you meet an adult pet, you can kind of make sure your energy vibes with each other.

Juli Bauer: Yeah.

Kathleen: You know exactly what you’re getting, you know.

Juli Bauer: Yeah, puppies are a sh*t show, that’s for sure.

Kathleen: and they’re all adorable, but how do you know they’re not going to be a turd when they grow up.

Juli Bauer: I know! A couple of my friends have dogs that are pretty big turds. We got so lucky that he is such a chill, cool dog. Except if foods around, then he’s a psycho. But, when people have dogs that are crazy for life, I’m like, how do you deal with that? In a house, and the dog is bounding on top of the table?

Kathleen: Yeah. I feel like all Frenchies are so good, though.

Juli Bauer: Yeah, he’s a good one for sure. They’re pretty cool dogs. He just sleeps on my chest most of the day.

Kathleen: So cute. The best coworker you could ask for!

Juli Bauer: It is so true. That’s why my husband bought me him. Because he was like, she is going crazy home by herself all day every day. And I would just want to talk his face off when he got home. So he bought me a dog. {laughs}

Kathleen: I honestly can’t; when I worked at Urban Decay, I could bring my dog to work, which was pretty awesome.

Juli Bauer: That’s amazing.

Kathleen: She was pretty sad. Because she would much rather be working in an office that she can go hang out with other dogs. Now, she’s like; it’s just you and me? This sucks.

Juli Bauer: Totally. {laughs} Well thank you so much for being on, Kathleen. Tell everybody where they can find you on social media, on your website, anything out there.

Kathleen: Yeah. So my website is CarrieBradshawLied.com. And then all my social media handles; Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, all Carrie Bradshaw Lied. And I think Twitter is CB Lied, but I’m normally just hashing out my feelings of Real Housewives on Twitter. So it’s not really that hot of a spot.

Juli Bauer: Oh, I think that’s hot. Do you do Snapchat still, or do you do mostly Instagram stories?

Kathleen: I believe on Snapchat I’m CB Lied, as well. I now mostly do instastories. Even though I loved Snapchat, I actually like Snapchat better. But it’s really hard to do both.

Juli Bauer: It is. That’s why I stopped doing Snapchat all together. Because I was like I can’t; how do I put unique content on both of them?

Kathleen: Because it’s like, we’re already on our phones enough as it is.

Juli Bauer: Yes.

Kathleen: I was just like, that’s one more thing for me to be staring at my phone. I’ve got to look up sometimes, you know?

Juli Bauer: {laughs} I know. Exactly. Well everybody, go check out Carrie Bradshaw Lied. Go check out Kathleen, especially her Instagram stories. She is absolutely hilarious. Especially if you watch Housewives, because you’ll talk about the Housewives and what has been going on in that. And I don’t even watch the Housewives, and I love watching your Instagram stories about it. So go check her out. And thank you so much for being on today!

Kathleen: Thank you. What a treat. Honestly, I really appreciate it. I love your podcast; I love everything you’re doing; such a great job.

Juli Bauer: You are the best! Stay on the line, I’m going to end this here. Thank you guys so much for listening. Don’t forget to rate, review, and subscribe. And I will talk to you next week.