Photo by Lauren Listor of Laurel Creative
ADVISORY: According to Christina is exactly that—the world according to me. That said, this blog reflects my personal opinions and nothing more. All statements are my own, and reviews are 100% honest. Posts are not sponsored or endorsed unless noted (and in which case are still 100% honest and my own). Although some posts may contain anecdotes of parenthood, that doesn’t mean they are child-friendly thanks to my potty mouth. The posts on this page may contain expletives, unintentional diverted story telling, musings, pointless captions, run-on sentences, and well…. you get the point hopefully. Also, mostly anything written by me reads best with a dry, slightly sarcastic undertone. And here…. we…. go!
Hi there! I’m Christina, and welcome to my little world on the internet: According To Christina. I was born, raised and currently still living on Long Island, NY. Although stressful in every way, it’s difficult to picture myself anywhere else. I married my husband Dan in November of 2015 after dating for 8 years. Together we have our daughter Harper Rey, who was born in September of 2017. And of course, no outline of our family is complete without mentioning our firstborn, Lucy—our Chiweenie—who was born in August of 2016 and became a Limmer 2 months later. Sit down and get comfortable as you get to know me. I tend to ramble, so fair warning: the following may be pretty wordy! (Seriously though, grab a drink and your next 3 meals. You may be here for a while!)
If you’ve known me for more than a minute, you know that this blog has taken me FOREVER to launch. Literally. I’ve been talking about it for an exhausting amount of time. But I believe in things happening for a reason, and I do believe the reason it took me so long is that I needed certain people to come into my life. In the last couple of years I’ve had the privilege of meeting some of the most amazing bloggers and influencers from all over, in addition to those I had already known. All of these ladies have inspired me, helped me, supported me, and given me the confidence that I needed to launch—each in their own way. They’ve become my biggest fans, my hype-women, and my cheerleaders. They wouldn’t take no for an answer, and have made me realize that I am enough. I didn’t have to hide behind an alias or an alter ego. They helped me to realize that there will be someone out there who will appreciate the world According To Christina. I love each and every one of them for it, and if they’re reading this, they know who they are. 💛
Enough mushy stuff! So why should you keep reading and invest your time in this blog? Well, here you’ll find some of my favorite outfits (everything from the practical day-to-day to the highly impractical for a fun night out), my go-to beauty + skin products, some lifestyle rants, and an honest take on mom life. Maybe too honest sometimes. But I’m all about being real, and I don’t like to sugar-coat shit. My goal is to be as candid and transparent as I can possibly be with anyone reading this, and with myself. Sure, most of my pictures make me appear put-together and made up, but make no mistake: more often than not, my hair is in some sort of disheveled bun or covered by a beanie, my glasses are on, my nails aren’t manicured and I’m in some form of loungewear.
As far as my style, I would best describe myself as a flower child with a rock + roll soul. I love mixing fun floral pieces with edgy accessories, and making a beautiful boho dress a little punk rock with some fun boots. I love mixing classic with quirky. Carrie Bradshaw has pretty much been my style idol since Sex and the City first came out. But don’t get me wrong—this girl also loves a good pair of sweatpants! Suffice it to say, you’ll find a lot of variety over here and will see that I’m inspired by literally everything.
Photo by Lauren Listor of Laurel Creative
Anyway, some basic facts about me include:
—I quite often experience JOMO (Joy Of Missing Out) and eight times out of ten I’ll take a night in over going out to do almost anything. #sorrynotsorry
—I’m not even 5′ tall. I stand proud at a menacing 4’10”.
—I’ll choose E! News and pop culture podcasts over the “real” news any day of the week. I’m sorry, but the real world out there is SCARY and sometimes you need something less heavy to allow you to sleep at night. I’m also a proud lover of reality TV and 96% of my DVR consists of any given Bravo show, Big Brother/Survivor (depending on the time of year), all things Kardashian, and some true crime thrown in there for educational purposes.
—I eat my Skittles according to color. I start with my least favorite (purple) and save all the orange ones—my favorite—for last. 😋
—I always do two things before going to a movie: 1: Look up how long it is. I need to know my snack and bathroom situation in advance. 2: Look up as many spoilers as I can, so I know exactly what to expect.
—I am fascinated by true crime. I likely know more about Ted Bundy, Charles Manson and the Menendez Brothers than I do my great grandparents. I’ve always been interested/borderline obsessed/okay way beyond borderline but proudly obsessed with it. Not necessarily the actual murder aspect of it, but the methods and thought patterns involved. Fucked up people are really FASCINATING!
—Condiments: if I had to pick just one, I’d be perfectly fine with only BBQ sauce for the rest of my life. It’s good on chicken, hot dogs, mozzarella sticks, you name it! Mayo: don’t trust the stuff. Ketchup: gross, especially if you look at it for too long. Only permissible when accompanied by a grilled cheese sandwich or taquitos.
—I was almost entirely deaf in my right ear due to a condition known as otosclerosis. Long and short of it: my ear drum wasn’t functioning properly. I had a surgery known as a stapedectomy, and pretty much have supersonic hearing now! (Except for the occasional random hearing loss that occurs due the otosclerosis progressing).
—I can speak fluently in movie quotes and song lyrics. Ask me about the time I lost a bet because I couldn’t go one night without quoting a movie. Well, never mind. There it is. That’s the story.
—I’m obsessed with all things organization. From my closet to the pantry to my daughter’s pajama drawer, I’m a monster. I’m also the most unorganized organized person ever. I call it organized chaos. There could be a pile of “stuff” and I’ll know exactly what’s in it and where everything is supposed to be. 😉 I’m a Type A Virgo to the max.
—I’m either the best person to text or the literal worst. I reply in 5-15 seconds or 7-10 business days, and there’s no in between.
—I love Harry Potter and Star Wars. If you told me 10 years ago that I would love either of these things the way I do, I would never have believed you. Yet here I am, having spelled my daughter’s middle name Rey instead of Ray.
—At this point, I don’t know how many tattoos I have, so let’s skip that question. It’s more than 20 and enough that I lost count, so there’s that.
—Full House is one of the best shows of all time. You won’t convince me otherwise. That show taught me many a life lesson, and Stephanie Tanner was my childhood style idol.
—I started getting gray hairs in my early 20’s.
—My most recent TV binges include: Schitt’s Creek in its entirety, The Office in its entirety (I know…. I had slept on these shows for so long and was totally missing out and now I pray for episodes of them to be on TV if I’m flipping through channels!), Cobra Kai, Jack Ryan, and The Mandalorian and WandaVision.
—I love all things Andy Warhol/Edie Sedgwick/The Factory. In fact, my husband proposed to me at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh in the Silver Cloud exhibit. Yup, he did very well on that one!
—I have this thing for gift wrapping and I take it very seriously. Like to the point that every Christmas in the midst of wrapping, I declare that I’m going to start a gift wrapping service.
—Shameless plug: my Instagram looks way better on the white screen. Not a fan of dark mode, Apple. Not sorry. 😆
Photo by Michelle Russo
I know I’ve barely scratched the surface here, and most of that really doesn’t pertain to what you’ll find here. But those are a few of the little quirks that make me ME. If by any chance there’s something else that you want to know or you think I should share, please feel free to hit that contact button and drop me a line!
Lastly—I know, I know, I’ve been going on forever, but seriously, bye-bye after this—I can’t publish this site without thanking a few people. I know this isn’t the Oscars, but seriously, without the support of the aforementioned bloggers I’ve gotten to befriend, along with my family and friends, I never would’ve taken the dive and actually publish this blog. I need to thank them for the constructive criticism, (sometimes) unsolicited opinions, and feedback. I want to thank them for standing on the sidelines and cheering me on. I also can’t not thank my friend Michelle Russo, without whom this literally never would’ve happened. She’s seriously a gem. From her designing my logo and website, to shooting pictures with me and answering every absolutely ridiculous question I had about WordPress/publishing a blog. There aren’t enough thank you’s in the world for not only simplifying this entire thing for me, but above all, for your unwavering friendship.