Cityline Featured Blogger: Dani and Nads from Lifeovereasy

These two sisters share their love of decor and DIY projects in their fun and lively blog, and we love getting a peek into their friendship and sisterhood.

There are so many fabulous bloggers out there, and we want to highlight them on Cityline.ca. We’ll be profiling different lifestyle bloggers from month to month — they might write about food, fashion, beauty, décor, parenting, entertaining, gardening, you get the idea! For November 2013, we’re putting the spotlight on the fantastic sister blogging duo at Lifeovereasy. Run by Dani and Nads, these two sisters share their love of decor and DIY projects in their fun and lively blog, and we love getting a peek into their friendship and sisterhood. Here’s our Q&A with Dani and Nads:

lifeovereasyWhen did you start Lifeovereasy and what was your inspiration behind starting the blog? How did you come up with the blog’s name?

We started up Lifeovereasy 2 years ago because we always have way too much to say! We’re sisters, and we can yak away for hours on just about any topic. Want to whip up a rock star dessert on a sale flyer budget? Let Nads tell you about her almond brittle oreo-crusted ice cream cakes. Looking to score some love-points so your kids will think you’re the best thing since sliced bread? Dani’s got something to say about that. Wondering how to turn a boring drive to New York into a Crazy Awesome Sister Road Trip? We’ve got tons of ideas for that one.

We could really go on and on. And the internet is the perfect place for meeting other people who just might like to talk back!

Lifeovereasy was a name we came up with that captured that fun, easy feeling we like to incorporate into our day. We tried to create a place where we would want to hang out. One of our favourite things to do is just get together, have a glass of wine, and chat. That’s when life feels good, and that’s what Lifeovereasy is all about.

How did you two come to working together on this blog? What do you like about blogging with your sister? How do you share and schedule the workload?

We were both looking for a creative project, and we thought we’d give it a try for about 6 months, and if we weren’t famous by that time, we’d give it up. Unless we ran out of things to say sooner. HA! After 6 months of trying to figure out the blogging thing, we still hadn’t received our email from Oprah asking us to talk with her about how to live your best life, so we thought we’d better keep going. And apparently, our ability to come up with things to write about seems to be a bottomless pit.

We usually split the posting schedule equally, and we each write about whatever we’re into at the moment. Blogging with your sister is almost always the best thing in the world, and just a teensy bit the worse thing in the world. Because no one has been living with your flaws as long as your sister! Your sis had them memorized by the time she was 2, and can see them coming a mile away with a blindfold on.

She’s the one who’s going to call you on you stuff, sometimes pretty bluntly. The good news is this really helps us grow. We have learned so much as we’ve worked together. We both realized early on that together we’re a way better unit than the sum of the parts. And the real glue that holds us together is Nadia’s amazing food. You can be sure that there’s something fabulous to eat at any blogging meeting held at Nads’ house. And Dani thinks any food that she doesn’t have to prepare herself makes up for a whole lotta sister flaws!

dd269-your-pup-needs-a-doggy-bedroom2rsOn your blog, you both write a range of different posts, from DIYs and home decor projects to delicious recipe ideas and everything in between! What do you like about writing a variety of different posts, and what kind of posts do you prefer to write?

The important thing in blogging is being real. And the best way to be real is to write about what’s going on in your life. That’s why our posts vary, depending on what’s happening over at Casa Lifeovereasy. If we’re on a bit of a roll with the DIYs, then that’s what going to come up on the blog. It’s the same with food, or events, or just regular things we’re trying to figure out. We couldn’t possibly stick to just one subject. We can’t even do that when we talk. We usually have a minimum of 3 topics going on in each conversation. At the same time. With lots of hand gestures.

Our favourite posts are always the ones where we can put our own spin on something – that’s when we get really excited. Like this summer, when Dani wanted a new bed for her pooch Sky. After chatting a bit, we both decided, why settle for a doggy bed when you can get a whole Doggy Bedroom! And that became a really fun post. But don’t get us started on our dogs, because we’re both head over heels in love with them. And our dogs are brothers, too – of course!

We also love writing about our crazy Italian family. We’ve only just started to realize how much we have been defined by experiences like the over-the-top food feasting that goes on every Thanksgiving. And the nutritionally abysmal but incredibly delicious cookie breakfasts of our early years. These blog posts are about a fierce and quirky kind of love that readers can often recognize in their own lives. Because we all have our own brand of family craziness!

What do you hope your readers get from visiting your blog?

Our readers have full and busy lives, and are just trying to figure it all out like we are. We are truly grateful when they give us a few minutes of their time, and we hope that they can take a little something away with them each time they visit. Maybe a great dessert that will become the new family favourite, or a clever way to create something personal and unique for their homes, or maybe a new idea for connecting with their kids.

We think even little things can be powerful. Sometimes a new idea can help us turn an ordinary day into an extraordinary one, and isn’t that what life is all about?

dd311-cheap-flower-arrangements8rs

Tell us about a post (or two!) that you’re particularly proud of and want to share with Cityline.ca readers.

Our favourite posts are often cheap and always fun, and sometimes a little inspired. We just posted our secret for making 4 beautiful flower arrangements for less than $25 (hint:  it involves the 80/20 rule, and we show you how you can do it yourself). And our Birch Log Candleholders are a big hit, because why spend money to buy 1 or 2 trendy candleholders when you can make a dozen in no time?

But one of our most favourite posts was the special Naked Lounge Chair we designed for Rethink Breast Cancer, because of the incredible support we received from so many people. Cancer speaks loud and clear to people, and we hope our chair said something hopeful back.

What are some other blogs you love reading?

This is probably one of the toughest questions.  We love many, many blogs, and we’ve been lucky enough to meet some of these bloggers in person.  They’re often pretty great people, and so it’s hard to pick just a few that we love reading.

One we never miss is The Art Of Doing Stuff, for its dry humour and a tell-it-like-it-is attitude. We happened to meet Karen recently, and she is just as awesome in person. Another one we love is Lynne Knowlton from Design The Life You Want To Live, for her incredibly positive outlook and fun take on life. April at Moneypitlove has a great sense of humour and fab writing style as she talks about what’s going on in her life.  Shannon over at 8FootSix has a knack for beautiful photography and making even the simplest things very compelling. And we’ve just started to get to know Alex from NorthStory – her posts are always bright and creative.

It seems the trend here for us is “funny.”  ‘Cause who doesn’t need an extra laugh or two now and again?

dd211-diy-birch-candleholders2rs

What’s your top advice for other bloggers?

Be brave. This is the biggest piece of advice we’re trying to take ourselves these days. Blogging involves putting yourself out there, and that can be a scary thing. It brings out all your high school insecurities. And probably grade school ones, too!

But if you’re not taking risks, it gets a little boring – for you and for your readers. We figure that if people are giving us their precious time, then we have to give them something real in return. That’s only fair. This whole blogging thing has been a bit of a journey for us, and we’ve learned that when we’re unsure about hitting the publish button, we probably should. And if we’re scared to hit it, then we definitely should!

We want to hear from you! Do you know a blogger we should feature on Cityline.ca? Maybe it’s you! Email us at submissions@cityline.ca and include “Cityline Featured Blogger” in the subject line. And don’t forget to include a link to the blog! Look forward to hearing from you!