Answering Frequently Asked Questions
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I love this community of mine and appreciate so much that people trust me enough to ask my opinion on things and for thoughts on products/services I use! I thought it would be nice to try and round up a few of my most frequently asked questions, all in one place, to make things easier for you to find. I’ll try to keep these updated as things change or get added!
If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I’m pretty much an open book. I love the community I’ve built there, and on social media in general, because it gives me so many opportunities to interact with followers like you and be as helpful as I can! Whether it’s questions about our home, thrifting, the clothes I’m loving, or even what I eat, I appreciate being a resource for you.
I’m hoping that by answering some of these questions all in one place, I’ll be even more helpful to you, since you can always come here to find the things that you’re looking for. If you don’t see something here you’ve wondered about, please don’t hesitate to ask!
As always, I like to preface the information I’m going to share by saying that I’m not an expert, but I have experience with a lot of things, and am happy to share those things with you!
I get asked about paint often and for good reason! Considering that I’m always doing things to our home and working on DIY projects, it’s natural that you’re going to be curious about the paints that I like using.
Whole House Color:
All of the walls in our home (with the exception of some wallpaper and a mural in my office) are painted with Sherwin Williams Greek Villa. It’s a warmer white, which definitely brightened every room, but doesn’t feel too stark. Honestly, I have been wanting to repaint our bathrooms, since they don’t have any natural light, Greek Villa looks more yellow in there. Everywhere else, though, it is the perfect shade!
Paint for Cabinets and Furniture:
Our island is painted in Benjamin Moore Dark Harbor. It’s a really pretty color that looks more green or blue, depending on the light in the room. I love that it helps to anchor the space and also breaks up all the wood in the room, including wood cabinets and flooring. You can read more about how I’ve transformed our home using paint here.
I have also painted several cabinets and pieces of furniture in our home. For those projects, I’ve used Velvet Finishes paint. I have been pleased with how the paint goes, looks, and wears so far. Like anything, the more you practice and do projects like this, you’ll learn how to do them better and more efficiently!
Our fireplace was painted as well after we moved in, unfortunately, the painters who did it used a custom blend for that project, so I can’t necessarily give you a name for the paint. You can find more information on that project here, including a good substitute color for the paint.
LTK:
One of the great things about social media is that we get first-hand reviews of thousands of products from people that we feel like we know and have built a trust with. I love seeing what the accounts that I follow on Instagram are buying and loving, especially since I don’t have to spend the money to find out I don’t like something—when I can ask a friend on social media their opinion!
One of the ways you can see the clothes, home decor, and lifestyle products that I purchase and love is to follow me on the LTK app. I try to share as much there as I can, so that you can search my account and hopefully find what you are looking for. It’s also nice because if you see me share something on Instagram, but need to find the link later, you can go to LTK, as I’ve more than likely shared it there. Although, always feel free to message me and ask!
“All the things” link:
Such a great name I know, but I don’t know what else to call this link. If you follow me on Instagram (if you don’t yet, I’d love to have you), you can always access the link in my bio there for just about anything you could be looking for. Once you click the link, an entire drop down menu appears with more links! Included in them is one for my affiliate links and any discount codes I have to share with you, one to shop my Instagram, and one that goes directly to what I share on LTK, among lots of other goodies and freebies!
Teeth Whitener:
I get asked often about what teeth whitener I use and I always love answering that I don’t! I started using doTerra OnGuard Natural Whitening Toothpaste several years ago and it really does work! It makes me feel good that it doesn’t have any added chemicals and is safe for my teeth and my body. *You can order through the link above without becoming a member of any kind, but I’m always happy to help you become a wholesale member if you are interested. You won’t have any kind of requirement to sell or minimum purchase that you have to make, but it will allow you to save every time you order!
Lash Serum:
I’ve been using LiLash Lash Growth Serum for about a year now and love it! It doesn’t make my eyes red like others that I’ve used. You can save 20% off your first order with code: HILARY20 at checkout!
I’ve been working out regularly for the last 15 years, give or take, but it hasn’t always been paired with eating right. I’ve had several health issues come up in the last few years, both related and unrelated to my weight. Struggling with weight has been something I’ve dealt with my entire life. I’m currently on a mission to lose 100 pounds and am about 54 pounds down as I write this! It’s so exciting and I feel a lot better, but I know that in order to make it stick, everything I do has to be a lifestyle choice…not a diet.
Since starting to lose weight, I get asked a lot what my “secret” is. Well, unfortunately, there is no secret. The only thing I can tell you for sure is that you will only be successful when you make the decision to do it. No one else can make you do it or give you all the “magic” answers. You have to decide that you want to lose the weight and get healthy and that you’re willing to put the time in.
I’m planning to share more about my journey within the next few months, but for now, I’ll share a few of the things that have helped me so far.
Working Out:
As I mentioned above, I’ve been working out for years. Sometimes it’s been more intense and others, it’s just getting steps in. Right now, it’s a mix of both. Jason and I enjoy walking together and are looking forward to the temps getting warmer outside so we can do more of it! At least five days a week, I do some sort of walking. In the warmer weather, including walking our corgi Cooper, I walk between five to six miles. In the colder temps, my daily walks might total three miles. We have a treadmill, which I’m very thankful for, but it’s also boring, so I don’t necessarily get a ton of mileage in when using it. I normally walk a total of 37 minutes, including a five minute cooldown.
In addition to walking, I try to mix it up a few days a week. I’ll start out with a warmup walk on the treadmill, if I’m walking inside, and then switch to free weights or spend some time on the rowing machine. I don’t follow any specific workouts for any of these things, but will say that the internet is full of free workouts! There are Instagram accounts that share daily workouts, YouTube is full of FREE workouts you can do, and everyone seems to be obsessed with the Peloton app. You don’t need to have the bike, they have tons of workouts online that you can do!
Mostly, I would say, not to overthink it. Moving your body at all is a great thing! Try standing every hour, if you have a sit-down job, park further away from the stores you’re going into, find a friend who wants to walk and talk a few times a week, or even just do a deep clean in your house!
Eating:
This is such a broad topic, I’ve struggled to even begin to know what to share. I do plan to start some highlights on Instagram of what I eat on a daily basis, as some sort of a help for you. I’m not a dietician and I’m far from being a health nut. I try the best that I can, make edits, and try again. What I’ve been doing most recently to lose weight is cutting out most simple sugars (think the good stuff…bread, pasta, sweets) and eating smaller portions.
I had been struggling with high blood pressure and dangerously high cholesterol as well. The BP is well under control now, but I may always struggle with cholesterol. I don’t want to continue to be on medication for it, but that’s something I’m working with my doctor on. Again…I’m not an expert, but am trying to learn as I go and do the best that I can.
When I’m eating well, it looks like eggs a couple times a week for dinner, incorporating fish at least one night a week, and limiting the red meat that we eat. There is a lot of research that I’ve been doing, though, that claims red meat isn’t the culprit for cholesterol, it’s actually how our body responds to sugar that is to blame. So…I’m working on learning more about that and continuing to limit my sugar intake.
I have found that keeping food simple is what works best for me. I can’t think that I’m going to have gourmet food for every meal. I’ve been doing intermittent fasting recently to jump-start my weight loss again and have really liked it (more on that in a bit), but before that, both my breakfast and lunch would consist of fruit (usually apple with peanut butter, mandarin orange, or a few grapes. I eat Chomps beef sticks (they’re Whole 30 approved), and a few cashews. Oh yeah…and some cottage cheese. I had to take a break from that for a while because I was feeling burned out on it. It’s tasting good again, though!
The other thing that I enjoy for lunch once in a while, is a low-carb wrap toasted in the oven with some Laughing Cow Cheese (I use the Aldi brand). I’ve been using Cut Da Carb flat breads recently and love them! You can save 10% off your first order of 24 with them, when you use the code: 10OFF24. You get a big wrap for only 80 calories and 14 carbs. The net carbs are lower, but I don’t count mine that way—I count the full number of carbs per item. Sometimes I will add some pizza sauce to these as well.
I have been sharing a few healthier recipes on the blog lately that you might want to check out:
For dinner, we eat pretty much anything, I just eat a smaller portion. The only thing we haven’t had since I started this health journey last summer is pasta. I could technically have it, but I want to eat it totally as a treat, not incorporate it into what we eat normally. I don’t eat a lot of bread either, but if I choose to have it, I stick to once piece.
I’m sure all of this has been clear as mud, but like I mentioned before, I’m going to try and share more on Instagram and will just save to highlights to so they will stick around longer than 24 hours. I’ll share the links here when I get them going.
Oh yeah…and drink more water!!
I love thrifting and if you’ve followed me for any length of time at all…you know that! I have lots of dreams and schemes for how I can share more thrifting with you, but for now, this will have to do.
Thrifting Inspiration:
One of the big things that gets in the way of people thrifting is not knowing what to do with the stuff. I have a lot of people send me questions about how they should use or repurpose certain items. I try and show tons of inspiration from my own home on Instagram, but I also have a blog post that I update weekly with thrifting trips filled with inspiration for the items I find!
I also share all of my thrift hauls with my TikTok audience first. I’m not a big TikTok’er and know that not everyone is on there (don’t worry…I eventually share the hauls on Instagram too), but I do like to tell people you can always see my fun finds first there!
Where I Like to Thrift:
I have some big plans for this that I need to start talking about, but for now, I’m really limited to sharing the places I like to thrift locally here in Central Iowa (the Des Moines Metro Area). I have a list of a few of my faves that you can grab for FREE by signing up to be a part of my email community!
Thrifting to Resell:
I love thrifting, but without an outlet for all the “stuff,” you can quickly border on being a hoarder. I’ve been reselling to some degree for about 15 years and love it! I know that I don’t love to sell online, though, so I stick to mostly local sales. I’ve done pop-up sales (you can read more about that here), some selling on Facebook Marketplace (I have a couple of posts where you can read more about FBM success here and here), and I have a booth at a local antique mall.
If you’re local, my booth is at The Brass Armadillo in Des Moines, IA (Booth 168-Virginia Avenue). I’ve had it just over a year now and it’s done fine. I tell people that it’s more of a fun outlet for me, a way for me to control my hoard, and also a place to take things I no longer want personally. I am charged a twice-monthly booth rental fee (the rate just went up, so I’m rethinking if I want to stay there), I pay 10% of all my sales, and there are some nominal insurance, etc. fees.
The booth is not a way for me to get rich, by any means, however, I do think that it has more potential. At this point, it’s not my main money maker, but I do think I could make more money with a few adjustments. I took the booth over from another vendor and bought her shelves. I learned that all the shelving didn’t really lend to the kind of space I wanted to have or allow me to have bigger pieces at all. We’ve taken one set of shelves out, but I’d really like to remove one (if not both) of the others. In their place, I could hang some smaller shelves, allowing space for art to hang and for some bigger pieces of furniture.
I also never made the booth my own. I would like to paint the space, add lighting, and really need to get a sign with my social media info on it! I could at least get a few new followers from the foot traffic there, right?
So, I’m still working on my booth presence. For me, it’s fun and for the little amount of time I put into it, I’ve only had to pay my booth rent out of pocket twice (for a total of like $60), so that’s not bad.
Now the juicy stuff…hahaha! But seriously, we’re all like family here, right? Might as well answer some of these questions too!
Kids:
Easy enough…we don’t have any! It’s hard for people to believe that an adult married couple wouldn’t have kids, but we’re happy with our little family as is. That’s not to say that we wouldn’t be open to an opportunity if something came up, but physically, I can’t have a baby at this point, after having a hysterectomy three years ago. We would have to adopt in order to have kids now.
Home:
We had lived in our starter home up until 2018 when the real estate market was white hot and we decided to list. Our home at that time was probably more of what we actually need, compared to our current home, but it was a two-level home (we wanted a ranch), it was going to need a lot of major updates sooner rather than later, and the neighborhood was really going down hill—it was just time to move.
Our home sold in a day and we needed to find a place. We knew we wanted a ranch, but didn’t really care what town it was in, as long as it was in the general Des Moines area. Our current home was the nicest option and checked the most boxes for us. We bought it as turnkey, but since I love home design and want everything to look nice, there are so many things I want to do here. We bought the home at the top of our budget, though, so there isn’t a lot of money left over for bigger projects.
We also have the goal of living further out in the country, ideally on water, so spending so much money on our monthly mortgage (double our old one) makes it hard to reach that goal in a timely manner.
This is a lot of house and yard to keep up with for just two people. We really like the neighborhood we’re in and our neighbors, but we also know that none of this is permanent, so we can’t bank our staying here on that. We stayed in our “starter home” way longer than intended—I don’t want to do the same thing here.
All this to say, this isn’t our forever home. They are building a neighborhood in what was an empty field behind us (another reason to leave), plus adding two schools near us. We think this will be a really great resale opportunity for us and give us the chance to hopefully make a nice profit on our home! I could see us move from here in the next 3-5 years. I’m hoping our next move will be to our forever home or at least the in-between home that will help us get there. If the latter is the case, I want it to cost less money and be less upkeep for us.
I hope post has been helpful in answering some of your questions! I plan to update it regularly, so check back often to stay in the loop. Want to stay up to date with everything I share? Join my email community! Another great resource is to follow me on Instagram at @hilaryprall — I share tons over there too!
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