Married..Woman in Architecture?!: Blogger Updates – Part 2 and Lunch

Please welcome my Mondesday post.  I'm posting on a Wednesday, with a Monday feel.

I guess you can see Botanical Reflections 2.0 got a face lift.  After I finished the minor updates on Thursday, I didn’t feel comfortable.  Just looking at my original site design, I felt like BR 2.0 wasn’t being marketed the way I wanted it to.  The text on the banner and clicking on the “About me” tab made it obvious, but I wanted the site design to speak for itself when the website was opened.  I wanted something simple but personalized by me, so I decided to redesign the banner and make additional changes to the blog.  When it was time for a presentation in Architectural school, my professors always said “the drawings need to speak for themselves.”  The design and the line weight of the drawing needed to pop out on the wall, so that’s the first place you look.  I finally understood it after working for a firm and having a blog.  And that's how I tied this post to Architecture, go me!

Change One - Banner
I used images that were close to my heart and described Botanical Reflections 2.0.  I had a tough decision to make with the photo to describe the “Mr. and Mrs.” portion of the banner.  But after using the Polaroids, all I could think about was our photo booth from our wedding and our Nintendo Wii Miis we used. 

I’ve updated my Mii since the wedding, so I incorporated that in the new banner and wah-lah!  I've also included a matching welcome picture and signature. 

Change Two - Pinterest

Next, I’ve been dying to get a Pinterest pin in each of my posts.  All the codes I have used did not work with my template,  On Saturday I found a code!  All you have to do is hover over my image and click on the red Pinterest symbol to link a post to Pinterest.  Test it out:

Change Three - New Tab
Finally, I noticed my 5 top posts either had to do with Pinterest, DIY, Recipes or Natural Hair.  Each section has its own individual Tab except for natural hair.  Because of this, decided to create one!  The new tab contains my Natural hair journey, tips and a photo gallery.  Check out the new Natural Hair Tab!

Here is an awesome website that helped me over the weekend and it's completely free:

Pixlr - Since PicMonkey had started charging for some of their features, I have been trying to find a website that edits like Photoshop, but is totally free.  After Googling a couple of sites, I found Pixlr!  Their Advanced Editor is exactly like Photoshop and it even opens PSD files.  I think I found my new best friend when I'm home editing photos.  The only downside are the basic fonts.

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Outside of the updates being done over the weekend, Brian and I went to lunch at a restaurant called Giovanna’s Italian Restaurant.  My co-worker recommended it a couple of weeks ago, and I fell in love. 

Source: http://www.giovannasitaliankitchen.com/

Giovanna’s has the taste of Olive Garden and Carrabba’s, without the high prices and the crowded spaces.  It wasn’t too crowded on an early Saturday afternoon and the service was amazing:

Brian fell in love and now Giovanna’s is a part of our restaurant rotation.

(Isn't my new signature pretty?)