Spotlight: Julia Dzafic

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Today, I’m excited to feature yet another one of my favorite bloggers, Julia Dzafic of Lemon Stripes.  What I love about Julia’s blog (and you will too) is that you feel as though you’re hanging out with a good friend when you read one of her posts.  Julia’s writing style is eloquent, witty and refreshingly honest.  Her unique style, sunny disposition and her approach to living a healthy life are just a few reasons why I tune into Julia’s blog everyday.  Oh, and last but certainly not least…she’s super sweet and incredibly gracious!  So, let’s get to know Julia a little better..

1. What was the inspiration behind your blog? 

My friends and family were constantly coming to me for style advice so I figured I must be doing something right fashion-wise. I started the blog as a creative outlet to share my thoughts with them and it somehow blossomed into a money-making highly trafficked website. I never thought in a million years that I’d have thousands of followers looking to me for fashion and lifestyle advice. Sometimes I have to pinch myself

2. How do you balance it all…a full time job and blogging?

If I had a good answer for this, I’d probably feel a lot less exhausted right now! It’s a constant struggle to balance my many projects. I am beginning to realize that I have too many pots on the stove and I need to pull back somewhere. In the meantime, I am hyper-organized and try to make a schedule for every day down to the quarter hour (no joke!).  Turning off and relaxing is probably the most important thing that I do for myself. Even though it’s rare, it makes me much more productive in the long run. Exercise and date nights are like gold for me too. Without those two things, I would for sure lose my mind!

3. How would you describe your personal style?

Clean, preppy, and full of patterns! I love stripes, I love plaid- and I love to mix them.

4. Name three beauty products you cannot live without…

Burt’s Bees lip balm (I’m an addict), SW Basics toner (only 5 ingredients!), Benefit Boi-ing conealer

5. You’ve recently made the move to the suburbs…what is the biggest
difference between style in the burbs versus style in the city?

It’s definitely preppier in Connecticut. A lot less black, less heels, more colorful! And there are no hipsters out here which is refreshing.

6. What do you miss most about life in the city?

Being able to see my sister more regularly. We are incredibly close and being so far from her has been really tough! Also, being able to easily order in… I definitely miss that!

7. What are you enjoying most about life in the burbs?

All the space. My apartment feels palatial compared to our tiny space in the city. And I certainly don’t miss taking the subway every day. 

8. Describe an ideal weekend…
Brunch with my sister, Soul Cycle, some shopping on Greenwich Ave, cocktails with girlfriends and dinner and a movie with my husband.

9. What has been the most rewarding thing about blogging?

I bet no blogger ever says this but they’re all thinking it: Getting free clothes is amazing. You have no idea how many boxes of amazing things I get every week. It’s awesome. On a less superficial level, I’ve met incredible people with similar interests and creativity. The women I’ve met in the blogging world have become some of my closest friends.  I also love having a space where I can just be me and no one else can dictate how I do that. I post what I want when I want and it feels good to have that control over a project.

10. What advice do you have for aspiring bloggers?

My advice to new bloggers is boring and obvious but BE AUTHENTIC. There are so many bloggers out there now and I find half of them copying each other’s styles, designs, and even writing. People will want to look at your blog for you so own that.  The biggest challenge in blogging for me has been to find my voice. At first I tried to do everything that Emily (Cupcakes & Cashmere) was doing, then I found myself trying to emulate the styles of other top bloggers. It just looked ridiculous. Now I’m 100% me all the time and people really resonate with that!