INTERVIEW THEN AND NOW

A while back when I first started this blog I did an interview with my dear friend Yashi for her her blog Fearlessly Created. She had chosen creators she admired and decided to ask them a few questions. I had shared the blog post then, but I thought it would be fun to share my responses from then and now! Kind of like those interviews Billie Eilish has done where she just does the same interview over the years and compares her answers, how she’s changed and how she may be the same. Hope you guys enjoy. 

Q1: Please tell us a little about yourself (any info you’d like to provide).

Then: Hello everyone! For anyone who doesn’t know me, my name is Nadeshka but everyone knows me as Nashi. I am almost 25 years old and I have lived my entire life in Puerto Rico. I have a B.A. in Journalism and a MFA in Creative Writing. I like to consider myself an old soul. I don’t like or act like many other people my age, which can be part of my unique charm. I like to write and read which is what led me to seek a career in creative writing and content creation. I am a life loving, book junky, makeup obsessed, and foodie individual. I think that would describe me well! 

Now: Hey everyone. My name is Nadeshka, but my friends call me Nashi. I am almost 28 years old and I still live in Puerto Rico. I use my B.A. in journalism, minor in English Lit and masters in creative writing in my job as a copywriter at an ad agency. On the side, I still love to create and write about what I love even when I don’t have the same time I used to. I still consider myself an old soul and somewhat directionally challenged. Every day is an opportunity to learn something new and grow as a person. I still have much to learn about myself, but I know that right now I like to write, read and create content. I am a life loving, book junky, makeup obsessed, and food is still one of my favorite things in the world. 

Q2: For readers who haven’t had a chance to check out your Love, Nashi blog, could you tell us a little about it?

Then: Love, Nashi was born to be a reflection of myself. You will find posts about life, books, food, and beauty. Everything that I put on there will be my opinions and based on my life experiences. What I look with it is share with other what I love (and sometimes don’t like) and my life experiences. Make it a safe place in which we can all come together and it becomes a collaboration between my readers and me. Obviously, this is still a baby project and I have a long way to go and grow. 

Now: Love, Nashi was always meant to be an outlet where I could express myself, reflect on topics I found important and a place to share the things I love with whoever wanted to read what I had to say. Everything I have published is a piece of me and I feel proud of it. And overall, it is my opinion and my opinion only. Everything I express in my writing is based on my life experiences. All I’ve ever looks for is for a safe place in which I can share and others can share as well. That is the same for this blog and with my podcast Obsessed Millennials. 

Q3: How have you found planning posts?

Then: Planning posts is my Achilles heel. I am horrible at keeping up with a schedule, which is what has made me fail at blogging years ago. This time around I decided I would beat this. I bought a planner where I write down all my blog post ideas as well as the ones that are ready to go and when they will go up. I still struggle and miss my publishing dates every few weeks, but I know if I put in the work I will succeed. 

Now: Planning and time management continue to be my Achilles heels. I have a million ideas of things I want to share and I always try to make time, but I guess I am just not good at prioritizing. I don’t want to think that I’ve failed at blogging this time around. Love, Nashi is still there for when I need it to be and that is all I ever wanted of it. I’ll share when it seems fit and when I have something that means something to me. Hopefully over time, I will be more consistent. In the meantime, I always do small updates and share things here and there on my Instagram page @love_nashi. 

Q4: Do you have a particular subject matter that you especially love writing about?

Then: If you asked me, my favorite topic to write about are my recipe posts because I get to eat them afterwards. They are really fun and even though they take the longest and cost money to make, I really like being able to share some fun recipes with people. Cooking is one of my favorite hobbies, and I am completely self-taught so I love to show other people that it is easy to be able to cook and be creative in the kitchen. 

Now: Right now? My favorite posts to write are the ones that feel the most personal ones. When I wrote about my faith, Hurricane Maria and even the Coronavirus. Those posts practically wrote themselves. I just sat down and my feelings and words just poured right out of me. And even though I love everything else I’ve written about, those just hold a special place in my heart because I know others can relate to what I felt. 

Q5: What's the one wardrobe essential you can't live without? 

Then: I am horrible at keeping up with trends. I buy and wear what I like, and I don’t consider myself to be very fashionable, which is why I am not a fashion blog! But I do like accessories. I love to keep my nails painted; I like using a lot of fake earrings and also chocker’s. So if I had to have any essentials, it would have to be my accessories and makeup. I could live without them, but I choose not to! 

Now: I am still terrible at keeping up with trends. I buy and wear what I like even if it may not be fashionable or flattering on me. I'm sorry! Right now I am loving big tees and rompers. They are sooo comfortable. Also, earrings are still my jam. I have SO many of them. Basically the only bit of jewelry I wear. 

Q6: What have been your 3 favorite books to review since you started?

Then: I think my favorite thing is that now I can say that I read because of research! My 3 favorite books that I have reviewed are: Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen, Perfect Chemistry Series (because I got to interview Simone Elkeles), and Username Series by Joe Sugg. 

Now: I haven’t reviewed books in so long! I also haven’t read as much as I used to. Yet, I can safely say that Sarah Dessen is still a favorite. I actually downloaded a few of her books in audiobooks so I can enjoy them again as I work or multitask. That is a new favorite of mine, being able to listen to audiobooks while I do all of my daily tasks. 

Q7: What do you enjoy the most about making these delicious food post? (The Strawberries and Cream Layer cake post was life!!)

Then: My favorite recipe has been the quesitos. I have made those a few times and different variations of them. Also, they are so quick and delicious! It is definitely my favorite recipe. 

Now: There are so many! Right now I am actually only publishing recipes on my Instagram and that has been fun. I am keeping a notebook with all the recipes I’ve tweaked and made my own. My goal is to collect recipes from everyone in my family and turn it into our own cook book. That should be fun!

Q8: What are you looking forward to most in the next few months?

Then: I’m looking forward to continue to grow my audience and be able to share more posts with the interwebz! I also look forward to be able to get sponsors and ads, because they will provide me with more opportunities to be able to blog for a living, which is my ultimate goal because writing and being able to create the content I want is a dream. I also hope to one day be able to collaborate with some amazing creators I know. 

Now: Oh wow! This one will be deep… Right now we are all self-quarantining and practicing social distancing due to a global pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus. In the next few months I hope that this is all over. I want to see my family and friends again. I actually really want to get back to work. We’re all making the most of right now, but we desperately want to go outside and visit a beach maybe. 

Q8: Last but not the least, what advise would you give someone who wants to start a blog?

Then: The best advice I can give is that if you want to blog, start doing it. Don’t make up excuses. I know I did for years and I regret it now. So you can’t fail or succeed at it if you do not start one. Stop worrying about the perfect name or the perfect brand development. That is something you can work on slowly. Take the leap and start. It will surprise you, I promise! 

Now: I don’t have a different advice. I still think that if you want to do something you have to go for it. Just start one thing at a time and see where it goes. Trust me and past Nashi on this! 

Love, Nashi