Joanna, Author at jojotastic

A Day in the Life: How I Run My Blog

June 16, 2020June 15, 2020By JoannaPosted in creative business

Have you ever wondered what a typical day is like in my life? Today’s the day you’ll find out! I get asked a lot how I manage to run this blog, stay active on all of my social media channels, freelance, consult for brands and small businesses, shoot and edit photos, and a lot more as a team of one. I’m not going to say that it’s easy at all… but I am a very process-oriented person, so there are some tools and systems in place that definitely help me to be more productive. And they just might help you, too! Today I wanted to walk you through what a typical day looks like for me as a blogger and give you a glimpse of what happens behind the scenes.

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How to Store Produce So It Lasts Longer

June 15, 2020June 15, 2020By JoannaPosted in Recipes & Food, sustainability

Thanks to our burgeoning vegetable garden and my obsession with our local farmers market, we always have a lot of fresh produce on hand. If you’re like me or have a CSA sometimes it’s really hard to keep up with making sure everything is eaten before it spoils. I used to google ‘how to store X’ in order to find out the best way. At some point, it got really annoying, especially when Sean asked me how to do it. So I decided to make a list of what goes where (counter, pantry, fridge, etc). If you’ve ever wondered how to store produce so it lasts longer, this is the post for you!

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How to Have Difficult Conversations with Friends and Family

June 12, 2020June 11, 2020By JoannaPosted in wellness

Believe it or not, this is a blog post that I’ve been working on for a while… probably since last fall. But it never felt like the time was ‘right’ — that is until now. A large part of being consistently anti- racist is sitting down and talking. It isn’t enough to sit back and not ask questions of where your friends and family members stand on the topic of race. In my opinion, silence equals complicity. So today I wanted to talk about how to have difficult conversations with friends and family. Most of the tips here are actually not geared toward discussing race specifically. Rather, I tried to make sure the suggestions can help no matter what the topic of discussion is. I hope it helps you!

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Herbs and Spices That I Always Keep on Hand

June 11, 2020June 10, 2020By JoannaPosted in Recipes & Food

I was not prepared for how stoked you’d be on my post a few weeks ago about everything I keep in our pantry! But given how much we’ve all been cooking under quarantine (and how grounding it can feel to cook a really, really good meal), I really shouldn’t have been surprised. So building off of that post, today I am sharing the herbs and spices I always keep on hand to maintain a stocked kitchen. This is a list of pretty much everything in my spice drawer + notes on how I use them!

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Mini Table Lamps, My Newest Decor Crush

June 10, 2020June 10, 2020By JoannaPosted in home decor + interiors

If there is one home decor trend that I’m seeing more and more lately, it’s the mini table lamp trend. And I am so here for it! I’m definitely in the camp of people who love tiny things. There’s just so much personality in an object that’s more diminutive in size than expected. And that couldn’t be truer for mini table lamps. When I saw that my friend Cassandra from Coco + Kelley shared this painted lampshade DIY, I knew it was time to share a few gorgeous options for this trend. Even if you don’t end up going the DIY route, I hope this post inspires you to add a bit of personality to your home with these quirky and cute mini table lamps!

Photo credit: Coco + Kelley on Instagram, used with permission

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5 Things of Note | May 2020

June 9, 2020June 8, 2020By JoannaPosted in shopping + gift guides, book report

This post was originally slated to publish last week, but it didn’t feel right to talk about shopping. Don’t get me wrong: there is still a lot of work to be done to support equality. What I am saying is that you can support a movement, continue educating yourself, and speak your mind while also indulging in superfluous ‘fluff,’ like this post about 5 products I enjoyed last month. So let’s dig into May’s 5 things of note, including the True&Co. bralette that I am obsessed with.

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5 Self-Care Tips While Advocating for Change

June 8, 2020June 8, 2020By JoannaPosted in wellness

Hi friends. How are you doing? I know it’s a loaded question because so much is swirling in our world right now. It can get totally overwhelming. I say that from a place of privilege because I have not dealt with racism and exclusion on a daily basis the way Black people and other marginalized communities have. I am also here to say that it is not possible to be a strong support if you are not also taking care of yourself. Self-care looks like different things to different people. As I spent last week immersed in self-reflection, reading, news, research, Twitter, and more… I realized I wasn’t taking care of myself. I was getting caught up in the overwhelming, mixed up multitudes of feelings that come with doing the work to help make the world a better place. So I sat down and made a list of self-care tips to help me get to a better mental state — while still doing the work. Here it is and I would love if you shared what has been helping you, as well.

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