Julie, The Effortless Girl, is from a small (teeny tiny) community in the Appalachian Mountains of western North Carolina. The Effortless Girl was born out of a desire to challenge herself to find accessible, unique lifestyle ideas with cost savings in mind. LEARN MORE >
Exquisite Christmas Gifts for under Five Dollars – Mmmm Apples
The holiday season is upon us. Thanksgiving is two weeks away and that makes Christmas just around the corner. It is the most wonderful time of the year, but it also can be very stressful. Gifts become expensive as lists grow between children, friends, and work while cortisol levels rise thinking about what’s left to do. Effortless and Exquisite’s holiday gift series gives ideas to help alleviate some of…
My Exquisite Day on the Bethenny Frankel Show
This is not your average Effortless and Exquisite post because the day I’m going to describe is not your average day. Certain ones we remember our entire lives. This was one of those days. It is still extremely surreal and I feel very blessed. I will give you some of the background details and then the story. The Background: I am…
Ronald McDonald House of New York City: The House that Love Built
Life is sometimes difficult. I want my blog to be a helpful, witty read for everyone who visits. I also want to talk about things in life that are substantive and even hard to write about. Fourteen years ago my brother Robby had brain cancer at age 11. Our family stayed at the Ronald McDonald House in New York City during his operation and his…
Call Me Ishmael
Call me Ishmael. I’m using the opening line from Moby Dick to begin my blog because I wasn’t sure how or where to start and it worked really well for Herman Melville. I had the idea for a blog several years ago but life, work, relationships, etc. take time and I procrastinated. Several years ago I saved a quote…




















