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some of my favorite posts

what I’ve been wearing…

by Kaylah Stroup January 16, 2018

pin / cardigan / overalls / slippers (similar)

One of the bad things about working from home is how easy it is to just stay in pajamas all day long. I know it’s cute to joke about how great it is but honestly, after a while it starts to wear on you. Actually getting dressed, and putting some effort into my appearance does wonders for my productivity, and of course, my self-esteem. Plus I really do enjoy putting together cute outfits. I’ve been pushing myself to get dressed as often as possible lately instead of just keeping on my warm jammies when I head to my computer each morning. It’s been great. I feel like in the last half of a month I’ve been more productive than I was all of November and December combined.

Toward the end of last year I got really into taking, and sharing outfit photos again here on the blog. It was the first time in years that I actually felt motivated to do it! Back in 2012-13 I was sharing two or three outfit posts per week. Sadly, I fell out of the habit. Looking back through those photos makes me so mad that I ever stopped. I truly do love taking them, and being able to look back on my own personal style evolution is a blast.

The weather here in Ohio has been far too cold to hang out outside with the sole purpose of taking cutesy photos but luckily my apartment makes a pretty great backdrop. I’d rather be outside but honestly, I’m just happy to be taking outfit photos again! I definitely plan on heading back out for full outfit posts as soon as the weather breaks but for now you can count on these ‘what I’ve been wearing’ round ups to be a regular feature on the blog!

Sugarhill Boutique sweater

sweater / skirt / shoes

All the animal prints!

shirt / jeans (similar) / shoes

One year ago I’d have probably considered this shirt out of my comfort zone. It’s not a typical fit I’d choose but I am seriously just obsessed with this whole outfit. Can’t wait until it’s warm enough to wear it out of the house without putting forty nine layers over top.

sweater (similar) / dress / shoes

Another style I might typically not go for. This tight bodycon dress is a bit out of my comfort zone alone but paired with an oversized cardigan it’s perfect! It feels sexy yet still cozy.

alien sweatshirt, amazon fashion, green hair, ootd, cleveland fashion blog

sweatshirt / jeans (similar) / shoes

Pink is my new favorite color. Could you tell? Also, I think Professor might be an alien from Saturn. More on that here.

grace karin dress, green hair, punky colours, dainty squid

dress / shoes (similar)

This dress could seriously not fit better. I absolutely love the length and the three quarter sleeves. If only it came in stripes…

cardigan / dress / belt was a gift / shoes

Back of the closet find of the year goes to this dress! I don’t know why I haven’t been wearing this thing constantly. Such a flattering cut and fit.

If you’d like to keep up with my OOTD posts before they’re shared here, you can follow me on instagram!

10 favorite photos of 2017 from abandoned places

by Kaylah Stroup January 10, 2018

We’re already ten days into the new year but someone’s super smart brain just remembered a few end of the year round ups they forgot to do. For the past few years, along with the thousand other round ups I do, I share my favorite 10 abandoned spots of the year. You can find all those linked at the bottom of thi post! This year was probably my least active exploring year but I still took more than a handful of photos I’m really stoked about. Since I didn’t share full blog posts on all of these places, I thought it might be fun to make a list of my favorite ten photos from abandoned places taken in 2017.

This shot is definitely one of a couple that inspired me to write this post. I’ve shared many photos of the abandoned trailer park on The Dainty Squid over the past few years but this is easily my favorite shot! That is just such an intense cobweb. It looks like something straight out of a movie set. I really hope no one disturbs it and it only continues to get creepier.

ohio, the dainty squid

An abandoned train car Jeff and I stumbled upon while out driving around one day. This was such a fun find. We parked the car at a random park, hiked through the woods, hopped over a stream, and crossed a huge field before finally reaching it. There wasn’t much to see but I think the journey was worth it for this photo.

An abandoned mill in Utah. The views this spot offered were incredible! I’m pretty pleased with all my photos from here but I’m especially fond of this one. Having Jeff in the shot just helps show how massive these ruins really were.

A local spot that I only managed to get a few photos I liked of during our short visit. Seeing this shot again though makes me wish I had shared the rest instead of just burying them on my harddrive. Maybe I should just revisit…

Such an epic find! While the church itself was fairly empty just being able to see something so grand in this state was truly a wild experience! More photos from this little adventure can be found here.

It was hard to choose a favorite from the abandoned china factory. I took a lot of photos there that I truly enjoy but this one really sticks out to me. Such a waste. I can’t believe the amount of stuff left behind here.

The abandoned rubber factory – yet another spot I had lots of photos from that I really loved. Yet this time, choosing a favorite was easy. I don’t know what it is but I am always drawn to collections of things. I’m also super intriqued by the number of shoes found in abandoned buildings. This photo shows off both those things.

A random shot of Jeff in one of Cleveland’s most popular abandoned buildings. It’s easy to get into and there isn’t much left but boy, do I love this shot!

This abanonded hospital, where I shot haphazardly, never once setting up my tripod, yielded a ton of great photos. I feel like I really captured just how grimpy, damp, and sort of creepy this spot was. Nothing beats a spooky staircase!

Drum roll please! My favorite of the year is obviously this video from Cisco! As if you didn’t see that one coming, right?

Favorite 10 abandoned spots –

2014, 2015 + 2016

You can find the rest of my posts on abandoned places under the “abandoned” tag.

2018 bulletin board

by Kaylah Stroup January 8, 2018

Since 2012 I’ve been sharing photos of my bulletin board here on the blog at the beginning of each year. Along with making a whole heap of goals, taking everything off my bulletin board and starting over is one of my little rituals to help start the year off right. A fresh start is always fun!

This post also includes a few random pictures from around my office because surprise, surprise I rearranged again. I know that I’ve never been great at sharing full room views since I tend to concentrate on details more than anything so it’s kind of hard to picture what’s so different about this room since the last time I shared photos of it. But trust me, it’s different and it’s wonderful!

A couple days into 2018 I got the itch to start scooting furniture and ended up switching which wall my desk was on. Out of the four other places I’ve had my desk in this tiny room in the last year, this is the one that makes the most sense. It stops the sunshine from attacking my face every single day around noon (I hated having to close the blinds to be able to see my computer!) It gives me the largest wall to display plants, my shelf of favorite things, and large prints. Perhaps best of all, with my desk placed against the shortest wall in the room, I feel like I have a cozy little nook to work in. I’ll probably end up moving my desk another handful of times before moving out of this apartment but for now, this set up feels spectaular!

I’m a firm believer that it’s super important to cultivate a space that makes you happy and this certainly does just that. Anyway, I think a 2018 bulletin board refresh paired with rearranged furniture definitely calls for photos!

sources –

cat print / moon print / give me coffee or give me death / face planters / instax photo albums / ‘total babe’ lapel pin / tooth print by Brendan Megannety / snake phone print / most every thing else has been picked up secondhand but feel free to ask, just in case!

A peek at past year’s bulletin boards –

2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 + 2017.

cat doorknocker, a family heirloom.

haha! no, but it was on the bathroom door when I was a kid and my dad gave it to me when I bought my first home. Looking forward to being a homeowner again and proudly displaying this stupid thing on the door.

wedding talk

by Kaylah Stroup January 4, 2018

Since getting engaged at the beginning of November wedding thoughts have consumed my mind, when I’m awake and even while sleeping. I’ve literally had nightmares about forgetting important stuff like hiring a photographer. I didn’t really expect my brain to be completely overrun with wedding things. To be honest, I never really thought much about a wedding before this.

I’ve definitely wanted to marry Jeff for a while. I specifically remember walking around Target with my mom about a month after starting to date Jeff and exclaiming “I’d marry him today if he asked!” I’ve thought a lot about what marriage means to me, and how important it is to me commit myself to him but I’ve never really thought about what our wedding would look like. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve definitely made comments in passing like “Oh my gosh, what if we got married here?!” But I guess I never pictured the actual wedding. Does that make sense? What I’m saying is that I’m not the type of person who has fantasized about their wedding since they were a kid, and I most certainly do not have a wedding pinterest board. I am not dazzled by the wedding industry. It feels very much like a huge money grab and there are so many other ways I’d rather spend my money.

All of that to say – Holy smokes, I am overwhelmed. Wedding planning is not fun.

Things we have figured out –

▴ The date! June 2018!!! It’s coming up SO fast. We orginally wanted to do it right after tax season (since Jeff works in the tax department) but there were a few hang ups so the date we chose is the soonest possible. There are less than 160 days! Really sweet side note here, essentially right after we got back in the car the evening Jeff proposed he was like “so I was thinking May sometime?” I was so emotional I couldn’t even talk about setting a date yet. I sobbed so hard every time he’d try to talk about a date.

▴ The ceremony site. Part of me just wants to keep this a secret until after the whole shebang and the other part of me wants to scream it from the top of mountains. I’ll give you some hints though – It’s not in Ohio. It’s somewhere we discovered on one of our road trips and fell madly in love with. Perhaps best of all, it’s free… because we’re planning on just showing up, exchanging vows, and leaving shortly after! It’s very much exactly what you’d expect from the two of us. Definitely not a traditional wedding in any sense!

Things that aren’t 100% in place yet but mostly figured out and only stressing me out a bit –

▴ Post ceremony food + party. After the very short ceremony we’ll be heading to one of our other favorite spots we discovered while roadtripping around the west! This is really special because it’s somewhere, just like the ceremony site, that I had mentioned to Jeff would be a really rad spot to have a wedding. Now we get to share this place with all our favorite people. Literally just thinking about everyone being there makes me tear up.

▴ The reception! Since we’re having a destination wedding we’ll also be throwing a reception back at home to celebrate with everyone who couldn’t make it out of state. My parents gratiously offered to convert their annual fourth of July party into our reception which is perfect because that’s already one of my favorite weekends of the year. Food, fun, fireworks, and hammocking! I am SUPER stoked. I would really like to decorate, and of course, pick up a cute casual but kinda fancy dress for that day but honestly planning for all of that is completely overshadowed by planning for the actual wedding.

▴ Honeymoon! We have nothing set in stone yet but we do have a general idea of where we’d like to go. We’re looking to do an all-inclusive trip somewhere tropical. We usually take super hectic trips, which I absolutely love, but I’m very much looking forward to taking a trip where we do nothing but eat, lounge, swim, and relax! If you have any suggestions I’d love to hear them! Bonus points if there are animals!

Things that are still freaking me the heck out –

▴ The dress! I’m torn here… It is very important to me that I don’t waste a ton of money on a dress I will literally only be in for like half a day. It’s also important to me that I look amazing, duh. Right now I’m still thinking I want a long white dress preferably something with lots of volume in the skirt but I could change my mind completely. I’ve been spending lots of time browsing websites that have wedding sections but aren’t necessarily wedding sites, like Modcloth, ASOS, and Lulus. (If you have any other suggestions, I’m all ears!) I have wasted so much time scrolling through dresses! I’m so ready to just find ~the one~ and call it a day! I think my next step is to actually head to some bridal boutiques and at least try on some things to get a better sense of what I like the best on my body.

▴ Our photographer. This was like the first question all our family asked. Who is gonna shoot your wedding?! Jeff is a wedding photographer and I consider myself fairly knowledgeable so we have really high standards. Photos are a huge deal to us, perhaps one of the most important puzzle pieces to this whole thing. We found a couple people to reach out to but we have nothing set in stone yet. There’s so much back and forth, it’s driving me nuts. I’m ready to just sign a contract and pay a deposit.

▴ Hair and make up. This would be scary enough if I were looking for someone local but trying to find someone in another state makes it even worse since I can’t meet them and do a trial run before hand. Luckily I happened to discover WeddingWire! In general I had been avoiding wedding websites since we aren’t going to traditional route and I find that most sites are overwhelming but WeddingWire is really rad because you can search for whatever service you need by area. Clearly a function that is coming in very handy for someone trying to book things in a different state. They have lots of other great planning tools too but I can’t get over how convenient being able to browse vendors has been.

▴ Um… everything? I sat and stared at this list with just three items on it for a while and realized I was having a really hard time figuring out what was stressing me out because I can really only think of those few things. I’m not sure what else is stressing me out. Because of the route we’re going – just kinda showing up, saying I do, and then vacationing with everyone, we have SO much less to plan than other folks. Still, we’re both feeling overwhelmed by the idea of planning. I’m sure even after everything is ‘figured out’ I’ll still be nervous but whatever happens or doesn’t happen is cool because I’ll still be marrying Jeff and hanging out with all my favorite people.

Look at those colors! Gah!

We were both a little nervous about having a destination wedding because we didn’t want to put any one in an awkward position financially but our familes have been so supportive. I’m so excited to have all our closest friends and family members together at two of our favorite places in the world. I’m obviously super stoked about the wedding but also just about what an awesome vacation it will be for everyone. Not many people take family vacations as adults, and here we are doing it with both of our families.

I’ll be SO much happier as soon as we get a few more details ironed out but y’all I cannot wait to marry my best friend. We’re planning a really unique wedding, one that could not be more ~us~ and I am beyond excited!
xoxo

This post is sponsored by WeddingWire, an incredible online resource for couples planning their wedding. All opinions are my own, obviously. I mean who else would plan a wacky wedding like this one… Heh! Thanks for supporting the companies that help make The Dainty Squid possible. Also, if you are engaged, it should be noted that WeddingWire is giving away $10k to put your dream wedding. Share your #JustSaidYes engagement moment to enter. For more details, read here.

Mill Fork Cemetery

by Kaylah Stroup January 3, 2018

utah, cemetery

Throwing it back to November’s road trip again! (Scroll on down to the bottom of this post for a complete list of posts about this trip in order)

The last full day of our trip was all about making our way, slowly but surely, back into Colorado so that we find a hotel close to the airport for our flight the next morning. We didn’t really have many things mapped out and we’d be covering a lot of ground that we had already gone over a few days earlier. Roadtrips are weird because they’re equal parts rushing, and just sightseeing at our leisure. Like, it’s totally fine to spend all day wandering around somewhere that wasn’t exactly planned but the last thing we want to do is drive around looking for one specific thing. Some Google research told us there was lots to explore but there were also lots of mixed reviews on how accessible said spots were. We decided to just wing it and drive. If we found something worth photographing that’d be great. If we didn’t that just meant we’d get to the hotel sooner to try and sleep off our colds!

While cruising down the highway we spotted an interesting looking sign in just enough time to slam on the brakes and pull in. The sign read Mill Fork Cemetery. I had nooo idea what to expect but I was excited because I had said earlier in the day “I just want to check out like one more cemetery before we go home.” As we crept slowly up the rough driveway I spotted a rickety wooden bridge off to the left. The only thing visible past that was a fence. I could not jump out of the car fast enough. I darted to the bridge, tip toed over it and excitedly opened the gate. Initially I was a bit underwhelmed. There were only a traditional headstones, there rest were small plaques. Inside the big fenced in area was a few other fenced in areas. The more I looked around though, the more I realized what incredible find this was!

Mill Fork Cemetery is super small, FindAGrave lists a mere forty-six memorials, but this place sure packs a punch. Maybe it’s the surrounding landscape? Or the fact that it’s so well maintained? I mean, how many cemeteries have you been to that have a guestbook!? While not the prettiest or easiest to photograph, the small fenced off areas inside the larger fence felt so intimate. The pristine grounds made it clear someone cared very very much about this place. The guestbook, which was housed in a small house shaped box, made you feel welcome. Visiting here didn’t feel like you were invading someone’s personal space. Instead I felt like I had been invited to be apart of something really special.

By the end of our short visit at Mill Fork Cemetery I had already declared that it ranked among my top five favorite cemeteries! If you’re out cruising around Utah, you need to put this spot on your itinerary.

If you’re interested in reading more about Mill Fork Cemetery, I recommend checking out this article from the local newspaper. It seems as though many buried in this incredibly peaceful place died tragically.

This year I…

by Kaylah Stroup December 27, 2017

moved into the ca-yooootest apartment with my best friend.
tour here!

got my earlobes reconstructed + subsequently spent more time looking at my ears in the mirror than ever before!
read more on that here!

spent way too much time taking dumb photos of Professor and laughing my butt off.
follow his Instagram for alllll the best photos!

geocached, and geocached, and geocached some more!

loved the desert so much that I had to make two trips out there.

got hired as an extra for a photoshoot for the newly remodeled Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!

above photo by BRC Imagination Arts.

finally drove the Extraterrestrial Highway!

made lots of colorful arrangements from found items.

left green hair… very, very briefly…

started a fun new photo series – #ghostkaylah

crossed St. Louis Cemetery No. 2 off my bucket list and fell madly in love with New Orleans.

mastered the art of the breakfast sandwich and realized how much I LOVE goat cheese.

while we’re on the subject, I also found a new favorite food…

spent lots of time cruising the city on my bike with friends.

discovered just how magical rainbows make everything…
here’s a post with all the details!

oh, and, ya know, had my best friend ask me to spend the rest of my life with him…
find that story here.

Plus oh so much more!
xoxo

For the past few years I’ve been doing a “This year I…” post. See 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 + 2015 + 2016.
If you do a “This year I…” post, leave a link in the comments. I’d love to check it out.

eight things I started using in 2017 that rule!

by Kaylah Stroup December 21, 2017

1. Paper Mate InkJoy pens. I have found THE pen of all pens. To be honest, I only bought one of these because I went into a store and felt dumb leaving without buying something (please, tell me I’m not the only person who does this!) Turns out these pens are amazing so for once my anxiety worked in my favor. They write so smooth! I’m hooked.

2. Smart home devices. This year we acquired both an Echo Dot and a Google Home Mini. I like both of them. We have one in the kitchen (Echo), and one in the living room (Google Home). I think if I had to choose a favorite I’d lean toward the Google Home Mini simply because we have it hooked up to the televsion via Chromecast and being able to say “Hey Google, turn on ~whatever show~” is the bee’s knees! Definitely one of those things you don’t need but once you have one you kind of wonder what in the world you did without it.

3. iDevices Switch. My brothers got us one of these for Christmas last year and it was basically the start of us going nuts about smart home things. You plug it into the wall, plug a lamp or whatever into that and then you’re able to control it from your phone. It’s also compatible with the smart devices listed above so you can say “Alexa, lamps on!” and boom! There are the lights! We currently have two of these (one for the living room lamps, and another in the bedroom.) I probably won’t be satisfied until I have one in every plug! It’s super nice to be able to turn on everything you want with just the tap of a button or a single command.

4. Thayers witch hazel. First of all, holy smokes, this smells amazing. Basically I bought witch hazel because I read multiple places that tea tree oil shouldn’t be used by itself on your skin since its so strong. I could have chosen any number of products to use it with but witch hazel was definitely the right choice. Its known to be calming, help tighten pores, and smooth all without drying. Every night I squirt a little witch hazel on a cotton pad, add a few drops of tea tree oil and run that over my face and neck. My skin feels so amazing afterward.

5. Stash. Stash is an investment app that aims to make finding and selecting investments easy and approachable for beginners. Prior to this year I had zero investments, and quite honestly, no interest whatsoever in investing. Jeff bugged me for a while before I finally signed up and now I’m way into it! I never thought I’d be someone who enjoyed watching the market but here I am!

It’s just a minium of five dollars to start investing, and if you sign up before Christmas through the link in this post, you get your first year free (only $1 per month after that for accounts under $5k) Seriously, even with zero previous knowledge of the stock market Stash makes it easy to grasp everything thats going on. Love watching my money grow!

6. Bissell 1940 PowerFresh Steam Mop. At the beginning of the year I moved into an apartment with a big, open kitchen with gorgeous white and gray faux marble flooring. For the first five months we cleaned it on hands and knees. I got sick of doing that and hated how infrequently I did it because I hated it so much so I finally bit the bullet and ordered a steam mop. HOLY SMOKES. If you don’t already own one, go buy this bad boy now. It gets up everything and leaves the whole room feeling so much cleaner. I actually enjoy using it so much that I look forward to cleaning the floor! The water tank is big enough I can do both the kitchen and bathroom without refilling it too! I honestly have nothing but good things to say! $90 well spent! A steam mop changes everything!

7. Aveda Damage Remedy. I have already found my holy grail hair product (hask placenta!) but I still like to test out other hair products. Aveda Damage Remedy quickly became my second favorite hair product! It repairs damage, protects from heat styling, and detangles. I’m normally not a fan of leave in products like this since they tend to leave my hair greasy but suprisingly this one doesn’t! It makes my hair feel so soft, and look so shiny.

8. MagicLight Bluetooth Smart Light Bulbs. Last smart thing, I swear. We have two of these in the living room, one on each side of the couch and I could not love them more. Controlled from an easy to use app, we’re able to change the color of the lights, the brightness, and even set up silly things like syncing it to the music that is playing.

At around 30 dollars per bulb they’re not exactly cheap but they do seem to be the best option if you’re looking for smart bulbs, especially since they don’t require you to purchase a hub. You just need the bulb, and the app (which is free.)

PS. If you’re into fun lighting – I recommend checking out this post from earlier in the year. You knooow your bathroom would be so much cooler with a toilet light!

Did you find any products this year that are off the hook? I wanna hear all about them.
xoxo

Check out six things I started in using 2016 that rule here.

ghost town – Frisco, UT

by Kaylah Stroup December 12, 2017

ghost town, travel blog, offbeat travel blog

Unlike Silver City, we had the ghost town of Frisco on our radar before even leaving Ohio. I was super stoked to visit. The photos I had found online looked rad, and the cemetery sounded right up my alley. Sadly, we arrived a biiiit too late in the day to see everything. While the sun was still in the sky when the navigation announced we had arrived, it was setting fast. Frisco isn’t located right in view of the road, and is kind of hard to see especially that time of the day. If you weren’t looking for it, you very well might cruise right on past.

We turned down an unmarked street… perhaps it’d be better to call it a ‘path’ though. It was dirt, it was rough, and it was a bit much for our tiny rental car. We also weren’t sure we were heading the right way. So, we tossed it in reverse and headed toward a second dirt path which seemed to be in even worse condition but did have a few ruins visible off in the distance. We pulled over as much as possible, not that being in anyone’s way would ever be a problem there, grabbed our camera bags, and ran to the ruins hoping to catch the last of the day’s light.

We stayed until the light had completely left the sky, which wasn’t very long after we arrived. Jeff seemed excited about his photos, so that made me excited, but I wasn’t expecting much from what I had shot.

ghost town, offbeat travel, utah, sunset in the desert Frisco ghost town, the dainty squid, utah, travel blog,

Fast forward to last week when I finally got around to sorting the photos from this stop, I LOVE THEM!! Like love love loooove them.

I know, I know, I talk about how special these trips are all the time. In nearly every roadtrip post I moon over how they’re always the best weeks of my life… and they are! I love being out on the open road with Jeff. There’s no place I’d rather be. We have so much fun, and see so many incredible things. It’s not all peaches and cream though. Sometimes we forget to eat and run out of energy before finishing exploring a location. Sometimes our rental car is a piece of crap. Aaaand sometimes we don’t plan well enough and show up to a location too late to really shoot it to it’s fullest potential. But maybe that’s what makes these places so great. I love our hectic vacationing style. I love cramming a million sights into one trip. It forces you to appreciate what’s in front of you that second. There’s no sense in fretting about what could have been or how great it’d have been if only this or that happened.

Being able to see Frisco with those gorgeous colors in the sky was just a dream! We didn’t have long, and it was incredibly cold but it was perfect. I love that we left feeling like it was this magical place that held so many secrets.

30 gift ideas for your ~weird~ friend

by Kaylah Stroup December 6, 2017

tooth, dental, bones, oddities, gift guide

brain specimen coasters.
standard typodont.
skull lapel pin.
skeleton oven mitt.
denture shaped ice mold.
PyroPet candle.
beetle dress. Confirmed as the cutest darn dress – see it on me here!
chatterbox pouch.
molar vase. Perfect for small plants – see!
mini human body model.
brain mug.
didactic human skull.
denture soap.
spine model.
human eye model.
brain in a jar lapel pin.
skeleton toe socks. Own them & love them!
wind up teeth socks.
tooth magnets.
tooth zipper pouch. Made from a photo I took!
anatomy coloring book.
typodont with braces.
visible man.
curiosities shirt. I own the sweatshirt version – see it worn here!
eyeball lunch bag.
skeletoucan lapel pin.
skull lapel pin.
tiny skull ring.
human foot model.
bone pens.

The Dainty Squid’s version of a gift guide! Did you expect anything different? I had this idea toward the beginning of the year and have been anxiously awaiting the moment I could finally start the post. Included in this post are 30 items perfect for your friend with weird tastes or to send your relative who has no idea what in the world to get you!

Happy Holidays!
xoxo

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If you’d like to keep up with my OOTD posts before they’re shared here, you can follow me on instagram!