Introducing Anita from The Average Girl Chronicles.
1. What made you decide to start blogging?
I am an average girl from an average town and that became very clear to me while sifting through many charming but un-relatable blogs. After looking at a style/fashion blog I came across, for example, I couldn’t afford ANY of the stuff they were blogging about. I mean…a pair of $500 jeans? A $200 scarf? It was too far fetched for an average girl like me. I wanted to read blogs written by young women that I could actually identify with, who were in similar places in life experiencing the same things as me. The truth is, I couldn’t find a blog that I felt I could truly relate to.
When relaying this disenchantment to my twin sister, she suggested the idea of writing a blog for the average young woman, the real young woman, not the fantasy woman but one that actually exists. I wanted to write a blog that could reach the girls who fall in the cracks of social stigmas, including myself. I felt there needed to be a blog that embraced all of the “flaws” of being different from the idyllic societal standards; that celebrated the real, the rudimentary, the average. Someone had to do it! Why not me?
2. Are you doing anything special for Valentines Day?
Being that I work two jobs (one as a waitress) it is extremely difficult to celebrate Valentine’s Day on the actual day. My valentine and I have been together for five years, and each year finding something to do is becoming more and more difficult. Of course, everyone wants that wonderful, whimsical, romantic Valentine’s Day, but being an average girl means I can’t always have it all.
So although we cannot celebrate on Valentine’s Day, the following Monday my boyfriend, Jake, and I are going to try out one of those paint and wine nights that are becoming so popular (at least in my neck of the woods). If you ask me, wine with anything is a good time. Jake is attempting to be romantic and surprise me with dinner reservations, which is commendable because surprising me is VERY difficult. I always ruin surprises so this year, our sixth Valentine’s together, I am letting him plan it. To be honest, I might have an idea of where we are going. DAMMIT ANITA…this is why we can’t have nice things!
3. How is life in Rhode Island?
Cold. Bitterly cold. So cold it hurts. I am talking nearly three feet of snow with another blizzard expected on Sunday! But that is just the winter. In every other season (in Rhody we have all four), there is nothing better than living in the Ocean State. Going to college in the Ocean State is even better! Who wouldn’t like to do homework on a beach? (or skip class and go to the beach). The endless coast-line with an unlimited supply of insanely fresh seafood is just some of the perks of living in Rhode Island. The best thing about Rhode Island is that it’s so versatile. If you want to have a night in the city, by the water, up in the woods with the rugged boys, no problem! It only takes 45 minutes to drive from one end of the state to another, but realistically if travel takes more than 15 minutes that is considered a lifetime. Being a small state is especially beneficial to my work as a news reporter. Everyone knows everyone…and I mean that. No matter who you meet at any given point, they will know your cousin-in-law, twice removed, sister’s ex-boyfriend’s mother and voila…a new resource, a new story, a new connection. In Rhody, it’s not what you know, it’s who you know.
4. How would you describe your blog in three words?
Honest, homegrown, relatable
5. What is a favorite post you’ve recently written?
I am new to the blogosphere, so any post I get a lot of views on makes me happier than a college girl on ladies night! I recently did a post titled “50 Things a University of Rhode Island Alum Might Miss” and it went viral…well locally. Okay, maybe not viral but I got nearly 7,000 views! Holy cannoli, am I right?! I probably got so many views because the majority of college students in Rhode Island go to URI, or went there. So every Rhody Alum who shared the post probably knew 5 others that shared or viewed it too (again not what you know but who you know). The post was something that I knew the average Rhody girl could relate to, which is exactly what I hope the AGC does; relate to the average girl whether or not she went to school at URI, or can’t figure out what to do with herself during a snowstorm.
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