Spreading Some Blog Love...

I know what you are thinking..."that isn't Shana" nope...it's the lovely Sonia Garaha (Nav) from Navlandandstyle. About 3 weeks ago Sonia contacted me and wanted to feature me on her blog series. I was definitely excited and humbled to be asked. She often tells me that I inspire her which boggles my mind seeing as I never thought anyone would be inspired by ME?? She later sent me some great questions to be answered. If you wanna check out my answers and meet Miss Nav herself you can check it out HERE.

She also answered the questions below! Everyone meet Sonia! We have quite a few things in common, and I am always telling her to go with her heart, remember that her parents and family love her and that things WILL be ok..She has an inspirational love story for those who are faced with negativity from family and friends...so it is a must read...Love this girl...so read below, get to know her, and then go and check her out!
1.) When and why did you start your blog?

If you look at my very first post it was about positive things that happened in my day - or things I am grateful for. I was going through a really tough phase in my life at the time - (Well I still am). Here is a bit of background story - just bare with me it will all make sense after this paragraph.

As some of you might know, I am East Indian trying to get married to a Canadian guy (it is shunned in my family to marry outside of the culture and especially more if you are a girl - sad I know!). Ryan and I were going to college together and started as friends for a year. At the time, I got dumped by a East-Indian boyfriend who cheated on me with my best friend. That was hard! Long story short, Ryan supported me through such a hard time and he asked me out. I said no at first thinking my parents would never accept it. But my gut was saying to say yes because he was the right thing for me!

Three years later, Ryan and his family came home to ask for my hand in marriage (that's how it is done traditionally in India) and it didn't go too well. Dad didn't say no but didn't say yes either. I knew I COULD NOT live without this guy. But I respect my parents too and I was going crazy trying to handle everything in my little head. As I was going through such hard time at home, I started blogging as an online journal, jotting down things I am grateful for everyday. One day, one style blogger commented on my posts and I visited her blog and one thing led to another.

The NavlandStyle blog was born and now I LOVE BLOGGING about my outfit posts and discovering my own personal style and life in general. It has brought awesome changes in my life and I am not stopping anytime soon. I hope to bring you what is new in my life for as long as I can.

2.) Where do you get a lot of your fashion inspiration from?

I get fashion inspiration from my culture mostly. East-Indian culture, we wear lots of colors (I am sure you notice that in our weddings).

I wear color-blocking traditional outfits every Sunday as I visit temple. I also like to read InStyle magazine lately, Harper's bazaar books, love to get inspired from nature and OF COURSE, Other style bloggers like Shana (from Color Blind), I love her outfit posts and the commitment she shows to her blog is applaud-worthy :) So glad to know you girl! :)

3.) What does a typical Sunday afternoon look like for you?

Typical Sunday - every Sunday is different for me. But most of the time, you can find me at home - cleaning my room, grocery shopping, cooking and packing lunches for the next week, planning my Monday outfit, catching up on my magazines and BLOGGING. Some Sundays when I am not at home - I am visiting friends, catching a movie or meeting someone over coffee.

4.) Do you find blogging challenging? How do you organize your time to find time to post outfit posts every day?

Blogging is a stress-reliever for me. I make time time for it, because it makes me feel good about myself. I don't post my outfit posts the day I wear them- call it cheating if you will, but it works for me. I am also trying to create some guest bloggers posting if I am away for a certain period of time now.

 
5.) What are your goals for 2011, bloggy or otherwise?

Personal Goals: 1) Upgrade to a higher-level job in following my passion to work with multicultural groups.

 2) Get married - get started on planning both Indian and Canadian wedding - keeping both parties (his fam and my family) interests balanced
 3) Help Ryan get started on his career.
 Bloggy Goals: 1) Keep doing what I love and hopefully inspire few people along the way.
 2) To share with the world few things that I know and learn lots from other bloggers!
 3) I also want to grow more readership.
 4) I want to start a "Wedding Planning Series" and a "Cooking series"
 5) I also want to create my blog more user-friendly and visually appealing. I am still trying to learn how to make buttons. If anyone knows any great IT bloggers, please pass their web address to me. I would LOVE you forever!

Love, Nav

http://navlandstyle.blogspot.com/

Go and show Nav some Love and check out my answers to these questions!!