5 Things That Made a Difference to Jami

This week's blogger participating in the series "5 Things That Made a Difference" is Jami of Imagine. Jami is a fabulous emerging interior designer with her own design business. Jami and I are both from the LA area so I've had the pleasure of meeting her in person. It's funny because when we first met we kinda felt like on some level we knew each other from our reading each other's blogs so it was so easy to form an instant friendship :-) I'm sure many of you have experienced that when meeting fellow bloggers offline who you have a shared interest with.

Read on to find out what five things have positively influenced Jami's life:

1. Heading West. Leaving the frozen tundra (a.k.a Minnesota) where I was born and raised and moving to Southern California 6 years ago. The California sunshine has done me good. I always knew ever since I was a young girl that I was born in the wrong state and that it was only a matter of time that I'd go in search of the heat and sunshine.

2. Building my own interior design company. I didn't necessarily think that I was going to be a designer when I grew up, but I always knew that I was not going to be cut out for the regular 9-5 career. I'm thankful everyday that I can wake up and say that I love what I do (and get paid for it!).

3. Going back to school. I received my Bachelor's degree in Sociology a "few" years back, continued to bar tend after spending a good chunk of change on that Bachelor's degree that I never ended making good use of and decided after moving to California it was time again to hit the books...or drafting table! Design school and earning my Interior Design degree has completely transformed my life and the way I see design. I would never, ever have had the courage or support (teachers, mentors, and fellow students) to start my own design company if I didn't have the comfort of knowing that I was formally trained and educated in design.

4. Blogging. This is a huge one. Blogging has tremendously changed my life. Not only have I met some of my best friends and like-minded individuals through the blogging world, it has been THE best creative outlet for me. I could honestly spend hours creating blog posts, scrolling through my blog roll and pinning pictures all. day. long.!!

5. Yoga. This is my release. Tuesday and Thursday nights and Saturday mornings. I've been practicing yoga 7 years and I honestly can't imagine not going one week without a session. I have learned that it is important for me to "turn off" and let the breathing take over.