I constantly hear people calling me and others names or judging based on false stereotypes. I am so tired of hearing them and I am here to tell you the truth. Here is a list of names/stereotypes that I want to correct:

"Materialistic vs. Wanting Nice Things"

I have always had a passion for clothing and fashion, with that comes a love for name brand and nice things. I have invested in purses and clothing items that are expensive and can be seen as materialistic. But, I have also had a job since I was 16 and have worked my butt off to buy these things. I see nothing wrong with wanting nice things, I work and appreciate the fact that every once in a while I can treat myself to them. I also have no problem wearing and buying items that aren't name brand. I am very good at buying items from cheaper stores and putting my own twist on them. Most people are blown away by the fact that a lot of my clothes are finds from second hand or thrift stores. My grandma always taught me that if you buy cheaper clothes that just means you will have money for more clothes. I cringe when people say the word materialistic, I don't think working hard and wanting nice things should be attached to a word that has such a negative connotation.

"Conceited vs. Confident"

I am confident, but I didn't just wake up one day and decide to be confident. It has taken a lot of work and a lot of really bad days to make me this way. I also have such a long way to go as well. Confidence should be something that is always a work in progress. Being conceited is so negative and implies some really bad characteristics. Being confident will open so many windows for you and allow to have really great experiences. I think everyone should be confident in themselves--if you're not who else is going to be? Being called or referred to as conceited comes from a place of ignorance I think, knowing when someone is confident should be a positive not a negative. The next time you go to call someone conceited think about how much courage and confidence someone had to build up to do what they are doing. You never know, you could be name calling someone who has been working ridiculously hard to get to where they are.

"Rude vs. Shy"

If I had a nickel for every time someone told me "I thought you were so rude until I got to know you." When I was younger I was so painfully shy, I couldn't make eye contact with anyone and had the hardest time talking to people. I still am shy but have worked so hard to smile and make eye contact with everyone. People interpret that quietness with being rude or being standoffish. Some people really just don't understand that being shy is really hard, you want to talk to people so badly but it can sometimes just so be painful.I also have a really bad case of RBF which can make people think that I am angry or mean.

These are just a few of the things that I hear regularly. I could go on forever because people are so quick to judge on little things. It makes my heart so sad because I just want to love and be friends with everyone but those dang stereotypes get in the way. People really need to learn to get to know a person and learn to love them based on their good characteristics then judge them based on their superficial made up opinions.

P.S. I chose this cover photo because I got so much hate for posting it (I ended up taking it down so fast). People thought I trying to brag about my little shopping spree. What they didn't know was that the bags had mine, my mom's, sisters and grandmas stuff in them and got everything on mega sale. I was really trying to show off the tan I had been working on all summer...but you know it all comes back to not judging a book by its cover or in this scenario an Instagram picture by its shopping bags.