FamousAshleyGrant

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you likely have already seen the posts that are offering $50 off Food Wine Conference Tickets with code FamousAshley. This is because for the second year in a row I’ve been one of the lucky bloggers chosen to be a brand ambassador for the exciting Food Wine Conference held annually at Rosen Shingle Creek in Orlando.

About the Conference: This conference is a gathering place for bloggers, people in the food and wine industries, small business owners, media and so much more. By bringing everyone together in one place we can all jam on food and wine and boost each others success by forming relationships to get more eyeballs on our blogs, more recognition on hot brands, and to get the word out about the latest foodie and wino news.

Why you should attend: If you are a blogger, working in the media or a public relations professional this is your chance to connect face-to-face with people related to the food and wine industry.  If nothing else you will get to try some amazing foods, enjoy some delicious drinks and walk away with at least one or two new friends.

Why I’m going: The truth is I might not need some of the classes that are being taught at this event. After many years as a blogger, I’ve learned a lot, but the funny thing about going to live events like this is that even though I know so much, I always learn something new and make at least one or two fabulous connections. In fact, last year I made a friend that will be my roomie for this year’s conference and I couldn’t be more excited to have a couple of nights of adult slumber parties to just goof off.

The most important thing I’ve learned about attending live events like the Food Wine Conference is that each conference is what you make of it. If you go in expecting a crappy time, you’ll have a crappy time. If you go in with a plan, you’ll likely come out having accomplished something.

Moment of truth: It’s going to be one kickASH party and you should join us at the 2016 Food Wine Conference. And, don’t forget you can score $50 off w/ code FamousAshley at http://foodandwineconference.com! ‪

I’ve been doing a lot of soul searching lately. A LOT! I’ve been trying to figure out what I want in life and then how to achieve it. The truth is I followed a path of things I thought I was “supposed to do” for a long time. A path I’m sure many of you have been on. It looks like this:

1. Go to school and get good grades to get into a decent college and possibly a scholarship
2. Get said scholarship and get into the college and get a degree
3. Get married and get a job
4. Work hard every day
5. Have a baby, keep working hard and then retire.

Well, as you may already know after item 3 I came to a cross roads. I quickly discovered about 8 years ago that I didn’t want to have a job. I wanted to work for myself. When I began deviating from the plan my whole life turned upside down. I got lots of work doing freelance writing and photography. Then it all stopped. I got a nine to five and then suddenly had a re-surge of freelance writing and photography gigs and was able to go to Thailand and quit the nine to five job again.

The trouble is when I went to Thailand it was fulfilling a lifelong dream to travel somewhere new outside of the United States and potentially kick off a decade of traveling around the world, working anywhere with a Wi-Fi connection. Unfortunately, when I got to Thailand I realized that what I thought would be a fun and thrilling experience actually wasn’t everything I expected. I felt lost and troubled because all I ever wanted to do was travel and now the opportunity was here and I still wasn’t happy.

When I got back home from Thailand I began to feel those feelings of depression I had when I had no freelance work and was struggling to make ends meet. Even though I had the chance to have many clients I suddenly found myself not wanting to work for anyone. Unsure of life, unsure of my new path. Unsure of everything.

In 2015 I found myself practically begging for work. I managed to get enough clients to get me through the year, but I spent most of the year frustrated and unhappy. Finally in March of this year all of this frustration and internal debating came to a head and I let go of one client with hopes for something amazing, promptly lost another and suddenly here I am again at a crossroads.

I know how much debt I have, I know how much money I need to make, but until now I didn’t care enough to do anything about anything because I’ve been so unhappy. Realizing that doing nothing will get me no where I opened an email that had the log in details for a program I bought last year that was supposed to save me. I went through some of the videos and didn’t really feel it so I let it sit. Then, last week I lost it and thought- what the hell? The course creator is giving away free 45 minute one on one sessions – maybe that will help.

Needless to say, Tuesday, March 29, 2016 I had my one on one and it lit me up for the first time in a while. By nightfall I found myself buying her premium program. So empowered, I also bought a workout program because if I’m going to change my mind and emotional state, might as well work on my physical state too, right? Which brings me to today…I’m trying something new. I’m trying the Kick Ass at Life Bootcamp and the Beachbody on Demand workout programs. I’m hopeful that I will finally get out of my own head and start Kicking Ass at Life.

I’ve already set the intention that I WILL do every video in the Bootcamp and that at least twice a week I’ll do a Beachbody on Demand video. I am not sure where this new path will take me, but I do know that I feel excited and I’m ready for some change. I plan to blog about this as time goes on. For now, I’m just putting it all there publicly. I’m not completely sharing it with the world mind you, you kind of have to be following this blog religiously to even know I’ve put this out into the ether, but at least I’m sharing it. So, whoever is out there seeing this, stay tuned, I’ll post more eventually…

A note on paying attention to the signs in your life regarding your online businesses. Are you paying attention to the signs from the Universe and what they are telling you?

Not to toot my own horn or anything, but when a potential client asked me for advice this morning I was pretty excited at how confident I was in offering my responses. The funny thing is my advice would be somewhat self-serving in that it would translate to a WHOLE bunch of work for me, but that wasn’t even in my thought process as I was uttering my thoughts to her.

I was just giving REAL advice that she could actually use to be successful and then it dawned on me just how much I LOVE helping people in my business. My goal in #ghostwriting for my clients has always been to make them look amazing to their audiences. I want them to sound so good delivering their messages and sell the crap out of their products and services. It’s been heavy on my heart lately about how much I just want all of my clients to have everything they ever dreamed of!!!! I get all warm and fuzzy every time they have a big win because I feel like I was part of it.

Towards the middle of last year I was honestly doubting whether or not I wanted to continue on the ghost writing path and was letting my vanity get the better of me that I should release more things under my byline. I even considered abandoning my business nearly completely to develop a course and focus 90% on building and selling things with my name, but since releasing that thought into the universe I’ve been amazed at how EVERY. SINGLE. SIGN has been pointing me right back to what I’m already doing.

I’m supposed to be ghostwriting for now. This is my current purpose and mission. I’m here to give my clients the voice they don’t even realize they already have. I have been sent more clients in the past six months than I ever thought possible and it just has become abundantly clear to me that before I try to push too much on releasing things with my name I’ve got a lot more to do for others. I’ve also to do  a lot more growing, a lot more writing, a lot more learning.

I still want to release a course of my own some day, I want to write a bunch of books under my own name and do some fun stuff with Youtube, but for now I’m going to pay attention to the signs from the Universe. They have not steered me wrong yet, and when I really hone in on them I’m paid back in great success.

So, now that you have read all this I want you to seriously think about what signs are in your life. What is the Universe telling you about your business? Are you on the right path? Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Big love to all of you, my fellow webpreneurs. I hope that each of you have crazy, sexy, insane successes and more wins than you know what do with. Sending out all the feels and positive vibes to every single one of you. xoxo

Dear Universe,

I’m sorry I was letting my vanity getting the better of me and not paying attention to the signs you were sending me abouthow to be more successful. I’m listening now.

I’m ready to make more money and be happier than ever before.

I welcome abundance and success into my life. It’s my time and I’m ready for the next step. ‪#‎BringIt‬!

Love always,
Famous Ashley Grant

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I received an invitation from the Tampa Bay Bloggers and Hyde Park Village to skip Black Friday this year in favor of shopping small on Small Business Saturday on Saturday, November, 28, 2015. (Although they did offer me free mimosas and breakfast from Piquant, lunch at BarTaco and a gift card incentive for my promotional efforts, all the opinions in this post are my own.) Needless to say, the idea of getting up at the ASH crack of dawn to try and save money on, well, anything, doesn’t really appeal to me anymore- so, I jumped at the chance to come to skip the crowds and early morning doorbusters in favor of something local. Here’s a recap of how my shopping adventure went:

The day began innocently enough with yummy mimosas and bite-sized treats you see above at Piquant. For the record, their pumpkin French toast was amazing as it sounds like it would be. The mimosas were not just orange juice and champagne either. Oh no, Piquant is classier than that ya’ll! They had three options. Now, I’m going to screw it up but I’m pretty sure they were raspberry, mango and passion fruit. Whatever they were, they tasted great! Next, it was off to the stores. I had the pleasure of spending my day with the awesomeness that is Caitlyn Connolly of Live Sweat Sleep and Raffi Darrow of Runningbetty.com. These chicks, pictured below, are so kick ASH and I’m thrilled I got to hang with them for a day.

We went to soooooooooooo many stores, but my favorite stops were Don Me Now, Paper Source  and lululemon. Don Me Now had the coolest notecards of ever:

lululemon made me want to up my 2016 fitness goals:

Paper Source had the cutest all the things:

We also listened to some sweet local musack while I sipped on my first ever Buddy Brew coffee. Let me tell ya’ll, I’m not big on coffee, but that there Buddy Brew sure was slurp worthy- soooo yummy.

Finally, after more perusing of shops, Caitlyn and I finished the day at Bar Taco where I stuffed my face with a margarita and three itty bitty tacos and guacamole with the biggest tortilla chips I’ve ever seen. (Sorry you missed this deliciousness Raffi!!!) I had the baja fish, the pork belly and the sesame ribeye tacos. Of the three, my fave was the pork belly. nomnomnom!!! So good!!

Overall, the day was a smashing success. We shopped, we chatted, we listened to great music, we had a blast! Best part? No crazy crowds and we were able to stay very chill the entire day. Screw shopping stress!!! At the end of the day I only had a couple of purchases to my name, but definitely had lots of ideas for gifts that I want to give. It truly is better to shop local. I had so much fun and I think the day definitely proved that Small Biz Saturday > Black Friday!!! Oh, and a few days later – Hyde Park Village gave me the cutest ornament EVER to hang on my tree:

It’s a camera! They know me so well. I’m a writer too and it just so happens they also gave me some nice pens and a 2016 calendar!!! Huge thanks to the village for one of the best shopping experiences I’ve ever had and thanks to Tampa Bay Bloggers for the invite as well. When the opportunity for Small Biz Saturday comes up once more next year, I’ll definitely choose it again over that pesky outdated Black Friday!

This morning instead of jumping out of my comfy bed at some ungodly hour I stayed in it knowing full well that I would miss out on all the Black Friday fuss. That’s just fine by me though because rather than do all of my Christmas shopping at large corporations this year, I’m going to visit local shops and give my money to small business owners in my community! Won’t you join me in Hyde Park Village? Just a few things you have to look forward to are live music, giveaways and exciting in-store events. So, I hope to see all of you for a special edition of Small Business Saturday tomorrow, 11/28/15 in Hyde Park because when we shop local, we all win!

I was just reading some Yahoo! news stories like I do many days before I start working, and I came across a story about the highs and lows of the AMAs. I don’t really watch awards shows anymore, but I like to read the highlight reel in the aftermath. Anyway, number 2 on the list of highs and lows was “Macklemore Teamed With Leon Bridges for a Sobering New Song” and this got my attention because as I read about the song named “Kevin” I learned that it’s about prescription pill abuse- a subject that REALLY hit me hard because it’s a little too close to home. This prompted me to look up the lyrics and as I read them I became a bigger fan of Macklemore than I ever have been before. These lyrics…oh my goodness…these lyrics…. Read them below from Genius.com and if you too are dealing with prescription pill abuse or have a family member that is dealing with it – please find a way to stop using. There is help out there. Check them out below and tell me what you think in the comments. Photo above by Flickr.

Kevin Lyrics

[Verse 1]

I seen pain, I felt the losses
Attended funerals and seen coffins
21 years old, an angel was lost here
Wings clipped by the grip of 80 milligram sniffs of oxycontin
Everyday through the nostrils
Never went away, never does it stop there
Death a line or two away and a couple tall cans
Cause you never know when God is gonna call, man
Precious, what we all share
I said peace at 5:30, the next time that I saw him was in the hands of the pallbearer
What if I would’ve never gone and dropped him off there?
Blaming myself, in hysterics, screaming “It’s not fair!”
21 years old with a book of rhymes he was gonna recite to the globe
Only thing to numb the pain besides that shit in his nose
He was gonna quit tomorrow, we’re all gonna quit tomorrow
Just get us through the weekend, and then Monday follows
Then it’s Wednesday, then it’s “fuck it, I’m already feeling hollow”
Might as well go crack a pill, might as well go chug a bottle
Might as well go pop a pill and go and bathe in that problem
And escape this world, vacate this world
Cause I hate myself
No praying’s gonna cure this pain

[Hook: Leon Bridges]
Doctor, please, give me a dose of the American Dream
Put down the pen and look in my eyes
We’re in the waiting room and something ain’t right
All this is on you, we’re overprescribed

[Verse 2: Macklemore]
My man Kev
He went up in jail, institutions are dead
And with our lives, we play Russian Roulette
And try to find a life where we can be content
Cause for us, we’re just trying to minimize the fear of being alive
And now my little brother is in the sky
From a pill that a doctor prescribed
And a drug that a million dollar industry supplied
And the cops never go and profile at night
Yeah, the, the, the orange plastic with the white top they sell to you
Has us looking for the answers and not instead of you
Quick fix, whatever’ll do
We just gonna neglect the truth
Because a doctor with a license played God and said it’s cool
Played God and said it’s cool
But me? I don’t blame Kev or his mom freebasing while pregnant with him
I blame the pharmacy companies
And country that spends trillions fighting the war they supplying themselves
Politicians and business and jail
Public defenders and judges who fail
Look at Kevin, look at Kevin
Now he’s wrapped in plastic
First dealer was his mom’s medicine cabinet
Got anxiety, better go and give him a Xanax
Focus, give him Adderall, sleep, give him Ambien
‘Til he’s walking ’round the city looking like a mannequin
Ups and downs shooting up prescriptions you’re handing him
So America, is it really worth it? I’m asking you

[Hook: Leon Bridges]
Doctor, please, give me a dose of the American Dream
Put down the pen and look in my eyes
We’re in the waiting room and something ain’t right
All this is on you, we’re overprescribed

[Outro: Leon Bridges]
Doctor, your methods, any old methods
Can’t cure my disease without killing me
You’re killing me, you’re killing me
You’re killing me, you’re killing me
Doctor, your methods, any old methods
Can’t cure my disease without killing me
You’re killing me, you’re killing me
You’re killing me, you’re killing me

For those of you who don’t know, there is this nifty website that teaches not only how to save money, but awesome ways to make and grow your money too. It’s called The Penny Hoarder and if you haven’t visited yet, you simply MUST!!! They have so much awesome on their site just waiting for you to enjoy for free.

On Thursday, November, 19, 2015 they had an office warming party in St. Petersburg, Florida and since I live just 45 minutes away, you know I just HAD to attend. Their offices are so cool too. Exposed brick, open layout, collaboration rooms- it’s just the neatest place! I’m hoping I’ll get the chance to freelance for them, but in the meantime- they know how to throw a killer party! Check out more of my photos from their office warming below:

How awesome is this table completely decked out in…what else? PENNIES!!!! Because- art. Speaking of art….check this out:

Yep- the artwork on the walls is two big clear boxes filled with coupons. You can save hundreds on unique artwork by creating your own!

Cupcakes- They looked amazing, but I didn’t eat a single one. Shocking I know, but I was too obsessed with the pineapple wrapped in bacon. I may or may not have eaten eleventy billion of those little buggers!

Sweet coffee cups that the fearless leader Kyle Taylor, former USF Bull and overall amazing AF guy was drinking wine out of that night. He gets massive cool points with me for that! What was really nice though? He gave everyone who attended a swag bag that had one of those cups in them! I know what I’ll be drinking my hot cocoa with peppermint schnapps out of next month!Along with the comfiest of socks and the coffee cup I mentioned, the swag bags came with sunglasses. I’m totally going to re-purpose the bags as Christmas gift bags in true Penny Hoarder fashion!

I met a lot of the staff at the party too!!! This is me with Jamie Cattanach! To say I had a blast talking with this chick would be putting it mildly. So much win!!!

At the end of the party- I still kept chatting because I was having so much fun I didn’t want to leave. Finally, I did leave, but I can’t wait to see what else comes from Penny Hoarder. And, if I end up freelancing for them, you know I’ll totally put a shout out here on my site.

On Sunday November 8, 2015 my family of two became a family of four! My husband J and I, after years of wanting furbabies got not one, but TWO puppies. This came after visiting a friend who had adopted their havanese puppies, they were so cute and I loved seeing them. My husband and I decided right there to take the leap and start looking into getting our own furbabies, and not long after we found them! They are Chihuahua/ Pomeranian mixes, they are both boys and their names are Baileys (the tan one) and Kahlua (the white and brown one). We were initially going to just get one, but when we saw these little guys our hearts just melted. Getting two was the best thing for us too because they play together and keep each other entertained for hours while we work, do chores and do other things.

Baileys is rambunctious, exploratory, an instigator and the more troublesome of the two. LoL! And yet, when he sticks his little tongue out and smiles I just fall in love with him all over again. He initially was having the most trouble with potty training, but he is becoming the faster learner of the two. We’re training with puppy pads and each day he is having less and less misses and non-puppy pad eliminations as some puppy sites have called it.

Kahlua is the more affectionate one and definitely craves attention like no dog I’ve ever met. He started out as the one that caught on to the potty training quickly, but now we’re having more trouble with him than Baileys. Getting the training done for puppies can sometimes be so hard, especially with two! Still, they both are pretty smart and are enjoying toys, playing and running a lot.

Speaking of toys… I didn’t like that toys at Petsmart cost like $10 a piece so I made the boys this:

Best part? This one was FREE! I received a couple of free t-shirts at events and they didn’t fit me. So, I cut them into strips and macrame’d them together and the boys love playing tug of war with it and each other. You can grab the free instructions for how to do this simple knot here. They used string in the post, but I used strips of t-shirts to make it doggie appropriate 🙂 I’m thinking I’m going to make more of these for Christmas presents for the dog lovers in my life because I get a lot of free t-shirts from various events! Perhaps next time I’ll film how to make it and post it on this page!

I also made them ornaments with their pawprints, but they aren’t done yet. I still need to paint them! Needless to say, I’m loving my furbabies!!! I’ll post more about them as time goes on I’m sure, but for now I’ll leave you with this adorable pic I snapped of them with bandannas (they ripped them off not 30 seconds after this pic was taken):

Happy Friday the 13th my friends! Today, I’m thrilled to announce that I’ll be representing the Tampa Bay Bloggers at next weekend’s Bourbon & Brews Festival in Tampa!!! What’s even more exciting is not only do I get to go, you might get to go too because the fine folks at Big City Events that are putting on the fest have given me TWO general admission tickets to giveaway!! So, if you always buy bourbon online, know someone who would love a tour of a festival like this, or just want to would like to have a nice weekend out, read on to find out how to get the chance to win tickets to this fine event…

To enter to win all you have to do is comment below with your favorite bourbon cocktail recipe. That’s it! Then, a winner will be chosen at random next Wednesday. You have until Wednesday 11/18/15 at noon to enter and the winner will be notified Wednesday night.

Can’t wait to try and win and need tickets NOW? No problem! Visit the event’s website and purchase tickets today!

Here’s what you can expect with your general admission tickets:
General Admission to the Bourbon and Brew: The Grand Tasting will get you entry to the event to taste a grand selection of bourbon/whiskey. From mass produced to ultra premium to rare ones, make sure you get there early before the rare ones run out!

Enjoy UNLIMITED sample of any and all of the bourbon available. Click here For a complete list of bourbons available. New ones are added everyday, so check back often!

Also enjoy all the entertainment and amenities the event offers. Includes 1souvenir Bourbon and Brew Rocks Glass made of high quality glassware for you to use as you ship your bourbon at home!

Get your tickets today! This event WILL sell out!!

Wow, looking at the calendar I just realized that it’s officially been more than a year since I left the nine to five life for good! Last year about this time I was hustling hard and getting ready for my first vacation in almost five years because I not only made enough money to quit my nine to five for good in less than nine months, I made enough money to travel to Thailand for a much needed two week getaway!

Today, more than a year later my freelance writing business is busier than I ever could have imagined. In business as a freelance writer since 2007, blogging since 2009, brief stints at random nine to fives all the while, but then 2014 presented me with the most profitable opportunity I’ve had to date – ghost blogging! Because of it, this is the longest I’ve been without a nine to five and I don’t EVER want to go back! The best part? Thanks to the business redesign I’ve set up and the referral systems I have in place, I won’t ever have to!!!

I’ve still got a lot to learn, I’m still growing my client base and I’ve got a lot more work to do, but it’s awesome to know that how much I make each year, heck each day, is determined by my hustle instead of what some HR person determines I’m worth per hour.

Soon, I’ll be launching a course to teach how I went from begging for more work to having more clients than I sometimes know what to do with. I can’t wait to share everything I’ve learned and am still learning! More details coming!!! Stay tuned 🙂