Blogging

A Day in a blogger’s life: Expectations vs. Reality

Oh, the Internet! That little funny place where you can be whoever you want and share it with anyone, anywhere. Isn’t that magical? It’s 2019 now and we have got used to living online, almost 24/7. Pre-Instagram existence seems only a dream and sometimes, we can’t figure out how life was twenty, even ten years ago. This is how much our lives have changed.

Despite it all, there is a good dose of misunderstanding when it comes to the internet persona. Online identity is frequently misinterpreted. Hence, criticism turns out to be an unavoidable consequence.

When speaking about bloggers, the resulting reactions are quite obvious – the internet is packed with sceptical comments judging any kind of content creator, and even with hate forums (yes, I am looking at you, GOMIBLOG). But what are the origins of such a prejudice palette? Well, on the one hand, it could be argued that it is a brand new industry which has been out there for a relatively short period of time. Many people are naturally suspicious of non-traditional business, which makes blogging an obvious target. On the other hand, the editing work most creators put into their projects to make their content appealing can be seen as counterproductive. Some people misjudge it and think it is an accurate description of reality, sometimes based on the massive success of a little number of exceptional influencers.

Even before I started blogging, I was quite conscious about the intimidating number of comments you can hear and read out there. Bloggers, YouTubers, Instagrammers… they are all frequently accused of living according to privileged standards. Sometimes, on a total paradox, they are also called fake.

Well, this is the thing – many people will never understand online publications are no different from printed magazines or TV shows. We are talking about a marketing job. And marketing requires continuous edition.

With that said, it should be a no-brainer to understand that the common blogger living standards are just the same as everyone else. And even so, I stumble upon unrealistic misconceptions every week. Since I am a bit of a clown, I thought it could be fun to post a day in a bloggers routine, only focused on people beliefs compared to real life. So here you go…

A Day in a blogger’s life: Expectations vs. Reality
(Disclaimer: I am not responsible for bursting your bubble, sorry…)

Expectations: Monday, 9:00 AM (Paris, France)

The morning sunlight wakes me up in the room at the Shangri-La my kind sponsors have paid for. The first thing I see is the magnificent tour Eiffel silhouette greeting me on my first day in Paris.

Reality: Monday, 7.00 AM (My apartment)

My phone alarm rings a bit too early. It is still dark and I am sleepy. The first thing I see is a ghost. WHAT?! Why is there a sinister human shape in our bedroom corner?! I turn the lights on in panic, my heart about to explode. Oh… it was just the clean laundry pile on a chair, waiting for us to fold it. Holy crap. I need my coffee.

Expectations: 9:30 AM (A room terrace in the Shangri-La)

I just had the greatest hydro therapy morning shower. By the time I sit down in the sunny private terrace, the room service has already served a feast made of delicious butter croissants, pain au chocolat, strawberries, and coffee. They also brought me some fresh peonies. I take some quick Instagram snaps that require no filter. #awesome

Reality: 07.30 AM (Still, my apartment)

I leave the morning shower just to discover we forgot to buy real coffee. Again. Decaf will have to do. Such a lovely Monday start.

Expectations: 10:00 AM (Again in the hotel room)

While the very nice hairdresser finishes her work, I send a couple of agreement emails confirming my participation in a bloggers event tomorrow evening. My personal assistant will take care of all the details. Now, is this Oscar de la Renta skirt too dressy for a casual walk?

Reality: 07.45 AM

Where did I place the hair straightener? And my dress? Decaf is lukewarm now but at least I managed to click the “schedule post” button, so it goes live at ten o’clock. Should I re-check the spelling once again? OK, don‘t panic. I will be on time to the commute.

Expectations: 10.30 AM (Pont Alexandre III)

My car picks me up and drops me to Pont Alexandre III for the professional photo shoot. The photographer I always hire in Paris is very patient and knows my angles. It will be a relaxing fun morning.

Reality: 08:30 AM (Commute)

I am late, I am late, I am LATE. Did I really hit the schedule button this morning? I will quickly check on the phone. Why is there no reception now? Please, tell me I scheduled the post correctly… I would kill for real coffee, really.

Expectations: 12:30 PM (Café De Flore)

My fellow blogger babes gang welcomes me when I first arrive in Café De Flore. We are catching up a bit before moving to our favourite boutiques for a shopping spree. Our group picture hits 20,000 views on Instagram stories in about two minutes time. Isn’t this the best day EVER?

Reality: 09:00 AM (The office)

Well, it was scheduled correctly, after all. I will have to check the comments in the break and pray there are no typo mistakes in between. At least, I could drink a proper cup of coffee… Not the worst Monday ever.

Expectations: 13.30 PM (Avenue Montagne)

We are SO lucky there were special sales on Céline! I will make an unboxing as soon as I get back to the hotel. My Insta-stories will be on fire!

Reality: 14.30 PM (The office, lunch break)

Oh goodness! Do I need to update all the new post reminders manually on my lunch break? Didn’t the app do its thing? But WHY? Hello darkness, my old friend…

Expectations: 16:00 PM (31 Rue Cambon, Coco Chanel apartment)

The girls and I are having such a great time today! We enjoy our sponsored private tour while drinking some champagne. Once it is finished, we will take some more pictures for Instagram. Super productive Monday!

Reality: 18.30 PM (Back home)

Back home, finally! I make myself a cup of tea and and get ready to start the whole admin tasks on my pending list: comments, edition, pre-scheduling social media content for tomorrow etc. Sometimes, I feel as if 24 hours in a day aren’t enough to do all the things I want to do.

Expectations: 18:30 PM (Back to the Shangri-La hotel)

The room service brings me a tea cup so I can start writing a draft for my Paris city guide. No stress, though – my assistant already took care of all the heavy admin stuff, so I can simply focus on the creative part.

Reality (20:00 PM)

Done for today! Are those hunger pangs? I totally forgot to eat dinner (or drink any liquids, for the matter), thanks God Sebastian comes to my rescue with a quick spaghetti dish. Maybe I can quickly draft something for next week too?

Expectations: 20:30 PM (Kong restaurant)

The girls and I are having the most delicious dinner ever. Such a perfect end for a perfect day. We will leave the place early tonight, so we can all rest and meet again in the morning for the first day of Paris Fashion Week. #BLESSED

Reality (21:30 PM)

I suddenly wake up from a nap in the couch. When did I even fall asleep? Maybe, I should leave the laptop now and have an early night. Why is there a sinister human shape in our bedroom corner?! That laundry pile AGAIN. I really need to fold those clothes now. Oh, well… Let’s call it just an ordinary Monday. #DEAD

March 11, 2019March 11, 2019

Allegra Caro22 Comments

When blogging goes wrong

I am going to tell you something about nice sunny Winter days – they might be delightful and a great opportunity to be out and about, but in terms of taking outfit photos, they totally suck. (Yes, #firstworldproblems, I know.)

Like, can you see that slightly awkward expression in my eyes? It is all due to that ~~lovely~~ low sun we enjoy in the coldest months (hooray!)

In normal circumstances, I would have quickly returned to our apartment in order to pick up my sunglasses, but that was a bit inconvenient since we were about 500 kilometres away on a holiday weekend. Consequently, I spent most of our trip looking like a suspicious character from the Maltese Falcon (just for your information, my code name is Red Socks from now on. Remember that in case you need to contact me).

Even so, I could not really complain. I mean, I moaned all Winter long about the awful weather and the sun felt like a blessing after all. It was snowing for two months non-stop. And I am sorry but even after five years, I am not used to it. At ALL. (My usual hibernation strategy consists in hiding in a corner for the whole Winter feeling pity for myself and repeating “but it is SO unfair” on a loop. *Cries in Spanish*.)

So quite obviously at this point, it feels like a luxury to be able to have a long walk and not to freeze. As they say, it is all about the small things.

The day before these photos were taken, it was -5 °C and then Saturday was all shiny and reasonably warm. Hello, global warming! How are you doing?

Given the nice temperatures, we wandered around the Philharmonic House neighbourhood for a while and decided to go for afternoon tea afterwards.

Grand Hotel Continental is another Bucharest location which holds a special place in our hearts since it was where we stayed during our wedding weekend.

Everyday from 3 to 6 they serve a delicious afternoon tea complete with a lovely variety of delicious sandwiches and sweets. Unfortunately, at that point I was SO hungry I completely forgot grabbing the camera. And can you guess? I only came to realize once most of our refreshment was already gone (I can be a terrible blogger when it comes to food, folks). But OH MY WORD, it was absolutely delicious.

After that, the sun was mostly gone and the few attempts we made to take more pictures were pointless. In the end, I completely gave up and simply admitted the Internet would have to accept my awkward spy-face expression. Also, I slowly came to terms with a simple fact – sometimes blogging goes wrong.

You can do your best, surely: pick up an outfit you like, choose a nice location, shoot in the optimal daytime… And even so, Murphy’s law will be there to mess up with you.

If you are a perfectionist, there is a big chance you will lose your temper or resent your luck. But believe me, at the end of the day it is not worth it.

And hey, there are days in which is better to let go (and just have a spontaneous margaritas date with your husband). Did I mention how nice are cocktails when on a holiday?

Silver linings, people. Silver linings.

Jumper: Zara / Skirt: Chicwish / Bag: Chanel

February 26, 2019April 4, 2019

Allegra Caro15 Comments

No Carrie Bradshaw here

Fashionable, sophisticated, politically correct.

These were the three golden rules for a successful blogger an acquaintance provided me with during casual brunch a few weeks ago. The aforementioned girl — a blooming online talent with much of a potential to become an influencer in no time — passed this piece of advice to me, convinced it could turn any blogging pumpkin into a first-class carriage for the internet royalty overnight. I, on the other hand, could only look at my salmon bagel doubtfully, while wondering what were the chances the crystal pumps would hit a pebble on the road and send me straight to the emergency room.

If you have read until this point, maybe you are thinking how the hell did I found myself having that conversation…

I should probably start by explaining that, for most of my lifetime, I have enjoyed telling stories (and more specifically, writing them). Fables, tales, articles — you name it. Another passion of mine was always style. Many years ago, when the internet was all fields, I briefly hosted an online diary, which reflected a lot of my personal impressions and my younger-self embarrassing fashion choices. It is gone now (and for the better!), but after transitioning to adulthood and going through a lot of freelance copywriting, the good-old blogging bug stung me again.

With all of this in mind I picked up the phone and asked my generous friend to share some pro-tips in exchange for a nice Sunday brunch.

However, the allegedly golden rules seemed inadequate to me (if not completely unfit). Yes, I have got plenty of experience on writing. And yes, I was expecting to create a moderately successful site. I could not avoid a bit of hesitation, though.

Be fashionable, she said.

This, for sure, sounded like reasonable advice for someone aspiring to post on clothes regularly. The only problem is I am not a fashionable person. I DO love fashion, don’t get me wrong, and Haute Couture is undeniably an art whose power of attraction frequently mesmerizes me. BUT I cannot, for my life, consider myself as a trendy individual. Stylish? Maybe.

To be honest, I am not very interested in high street trends, or the Fast Fashion phenomenon. Hence, first rule was probably… well, not fitted to me, to say the least.

Be sophisticated.

This was the one which made me feel truly insecure. Sophisticated. Who? Me? The girl writing this post on a Budapest train with no air conditioning during the most glorious heat-wave August afternoon, and who totally gave up on looking presentable (or even a human being)?

When I think about sophistication, Carrie Bradshaw (Sex in the City heroine) always comes to my mind.

I can see her stopping a cab in Valentino. Would she be in this train, she would not even sweat, and she’d be telling amusing stories with a cosmo in her hand, seducing everyone in the process. As for me? Well, I’ve mostly run out of lukewarm still water, and I am far too concerned the passenger next to me will think I am some kind of terminal-touristy case.

At least, I can hear you say, you could try being politically correct. And I could… if I was planning to post outfits only. The thing is I am kind of chatty (you would not guest, based on these 500 words of nonsense, would you?), and chatty people can go controversial.

There is also one more thing: I am not planning on posting outfits only.

The main reason I follow blogs is because I enjoy reading other people, putting myself in their shoes. And so, I would like to find a personal balance by analyzing the link between fashion and culture. I’d dare to be honest. To write on things I really care about.

And I might be controversial, sometimes.

The truth is, there are little chances I manage to be fashionable, sophisticated, or politically correct. Probably, I will never be Carrie Bradshaw. I hope you will excuse me, though.

November 12, 2018March 14, 2019

Allegra Caro24 Comments