 My name is Sonali, welcome to Vlogmas Day 22. I am gonna be doing a Q&A today because it was a work day, didn't really have much to film and I thought it would just be a good day to answer some questions. So I'm gonna try not to ramble too much. I'm gonna keep it short and sweet, so let's get started. First question is, what's the hardest part about moving away from your family as a post-grad adult? I would say the hardest part is just growing up. Like you immediately are a full grown adult. I don't know how to really explain it, but I feel like when you live in the same state or like the same city as your parents, you can go over to their house, you can ask them for help on, you know, X, Y, Z. And obviously they still help me like with, you know, random adult shit, like I'll always call them and they always pick up. But other than that, like it's just different being in the same state and being able to drive over and ask for help. Does that make sense? I feel like I'm just not a baby anymore. And they treat me like an adult. And at first it was just weird to get used to, like, I mean, yeah, I'm 24, I am an adult, but it's honestly really hard to explain. Next question is, how do you score a job like yours? Where should I be looking after I graduate? You guys don't know, I am a content creator for a student housing company for their corporate social media brands. And then I also help with all of their properties in their portfolio. The short answer to getting that job is networking. One of my sorority sisters that was older than me worked for them at the time and I actually did a couple of freelance video gigs with that company. So they kind of already knew me and I got to meet a lot of other people in the company. So they gave me referrals. Honestly, just network and meet as many people as you can because you never know who could put in a good word for you. Next question is, favorite part about living in Austin? I'm gonna cry, I miss this so much. Like, I'm so ready to go home and I don't wanna like wish away the holidays and like, you know, wish away this time being spent with family, but at the same time I'm just so ready to get back to my apartment and organize and clean. Ryan thought I was like crazy for saying all this that I like wanted to clean, but it's just something that I'm like feeling like ready to do. That definitely did not answer the question. My favorite part about Austin, whenever Ryan says like, oh, what's so great about Austin? Why don't you wanna move back to Atlanta? I always say bodies of water and we joke about that a lot because I always say that but there are so many beautiful lakes, obviously. There's the huge one, Lady Bird Lake, the Colorado River or whatever. There's like Travis. There's a Barton Springs pool. Barton Springs Creek thingy, my bobber. What is that, spillway? And I just like love being surrounded by water, especially because we're not super close to the beach. Next favorite is the food, obviously. Like, it's insanely good, but I've realized being home that it's actually really expensive and I didn't realize that moving there, but now coming back here, I got like an avocado toast sandwich and a matcha and it was like under 20 bucks and I was like, is this right? I feel like that in Austin would be like, you know, not under 20 bucks. So it's definitely gonna be a little bit pricier, especially if you wanna eat good. Next question is, do your parents approve of Ryan slash dating in general? I was just talking to my dad about this other day and we both agreed that I don't think there's any other guy that could put up with my shit and just like, I don't know, be my boyfriend. Both of my parents really, really like Ryan and they know that he treats me so good. I honestly think I hit the jackpot and I'm really so lucky to have him and I'm really lucky that my parents do approve of him because I know, you know, especially in our Indian culture, it's not as common to date outside of your color, but I feel like now it's 2020, it's definitely more common than it was, but you know, it's still kind of a weird thing in some people's eyes, but luckily not my parents. This question asks, if you could only choose five brands to wear for the rest of your life, what would you choose? Okay, first of all, set active. I literally love their sets so much, they are so worth the hype and they just suck me in, their colors are amazing. I want them to come out with so many more colors. So the set active would be one brand. Oh, Abercrombie and Fitch, that's like my newest obsession. Let's see, let's see, what else do I wear a lot? Maybe misguided because they have a lot to choose from, like trendy items, you know, what else? I feel like I'm missing something. Hmm, let me go through my Instagram and see. I don't have a lot from Zara, but I feel like that would definitely be on my list and then I don't know. I can't think of anything else, but I love that question, it's so fun. Someone asked me if I have any tips for finding a good wedding photographer. One of my sorority friends actually just got engaged and it's funny because she sent me like the people that she was looking at and I was like, yes, they're good, like you should definitely go with them. But yeah, I definitely have some tips. So first off, like look at their editing style and think about what you would wanna see in like five or 10 years. Personally, I don't really love that orange or yellowy warmer toned edit because I feel like if I, let's say, have my wedding today and I hired a photographer that did that kind of edit, I would look back like 15 years down the road and be like, why am I so orange or why is this so freaking warm? You know what I mean? So I feel like for wedding photos, especially, you should definitely try to find a photographer that edits true to color. And basically that means just, you know, your actual skin tone and what the colors actually look like, but they still look like they're kind of like touched up and edited. And the second tip that I'll give you guys is that obviously when you're looking through photographers, they might wanna set up a call, which is great because you can kind of feel out the personality. And I recommend just like kind of going through a couple of those interview kind of phone calls just to get a feel for, you know, who you might vibe with the best because they are gonna be around you for a lot of your wedding day. And obviously you want someone that'll hype you up and that's fun and, you know, just a good person to be around. Next question is, how long do you think you and Ryan will stay in Austin? No freaking clue. Really wish I knew because our lease ends in June. So if we are moving in June, I want to have the six months to just take everything in and just enjoy it as much as possible and do whatever I can. And obviously I guess I can still live like that even if I'm not moving. But I just need like a warning, like a six month warning, okay? Like I need to know today, but I don't know. Everything's up in the air. I'm honestly down to move anywhere else, but Georgia for now, because I know it's inevitable that we come back to Georgia and like settle down here. But I think we're just so young that I'm wanting to explore other cities too. I would love to stay in Austin for another two years at least if that was my choice. But yeah, we'll see. The next question is, are you scared to get COVID? I actually already had it. And a little story time, I guess. Me and Ryan actually both got COVID during March. It was right when quarantine started and we didn't really know everything about the virus and like every single symptom of the virus. And so it wasn't horrible for me. Ryan had a little bit of a harder time because he already has kind of like asthma and just like a heart issue, I think. So he did have it a little bit worse than me, but luckily today we are okay. I actually found out that I had COVID two weeks later after I had it because I saw a tweet that said that they lost their sense of taste and smell. I was like, yep, I had it, that was it. Like I had COVID and I didn't get the antibody test right then and there, but when I came home, I got a COVID test, it was negative. And then I actually got the antibody test here and I still have the antibodies. So that was in March and I got the antibody test in November. So that was like nine months after I had it and I still had the antibodies, which I'm really thankful for because I know there was a lot of articles saying that antibodies were only good for like three months. So we were kind of worried about that. But to this day, my taste buds are fine. Feel like they could be, you know, a little bit more there if that makes sense. But unfortunately my smell isn't really all the way back yet. And I'm like praying that it will be. That was honestly like the worst part for me was not being able to smell anything or taste anything. I remember we got Thai food and I couldn't taste the pad thai and I was so pissed I paid for it. I was like, what the frick? Like it's just nothing in my mouth. Like it sucks. Like I said, my smell is not all the way back yet, which really stinks when, you know, my parents are cooking and I want to smell the garlic or like even baking cookies. I really can't like smell it as I used to be able to, if that makes sense. Like I can smell a little bit if I stick my nose right next to a candle, I can smell it. And you know, when I walk into a room that had a candle in it, I can smell it. I feel like I have like selective smelling, you know, like selective hearing. I don't know if that's a thing. I'm feeling very optimistic for the new year with the vaccine coming and everything. Unfortunately, I do think that COVID probably has some long-term effects on us. Even Ryan says he can't really focus as well and just has like a foggy brain a lot of the time. So that's kind of scary. But at least I'm feeling optimistic for the new year with the vaccines coming and everything. The next question is, how was it growing up Indian? Do you have close ties with your culture? I love being Indian. I honestly think about it a lot. How grateful I am to have this culture. Unfortunately, I feel like I'm not that into my culture as I used to be as a child because my parents were there, you know, taking me to the Bali functions and Garba and obviously cooking me Indian food. I feel like I never had Indian friends in my schools or at least that many to make like an impact on me. Or if I did have the Indian friends, it would just be as American as me. This new year, I'm gonna try to watch at least one Bollywood movie a month and just kind of slowly get back into my culture because I know once I have a kid, I'll want them to have the same experiences that I did. But you know, if I'm not starting now, then I feel like that's gonna be extremely difficult. So I definitely wanna try to cook Indian food at home and just like, you know, get back into the culture slowly. But yeah, I'm really sad. I wish I like spoke the language and I wish I did Bollywood dance a lot longer. I think I did it like what, two years or like two Bollywoods, it wasn't even like a whole year. It was just for like the function. But I wish I got more into it because I always like am jealous of people who can dance. And I feel like if I did that, I would be able to dance, you know? Last question asked for a weight loss journey update and I am taking a pause on that while I'm home because it's kind of hard because I'm not really the one cooking. I'm at my dad's and then I'm at my mom's and both of them honestly eat really healthy. But it's just me being bored and snacking and then wanting dessert and you know, all of this. And I feel like once I'm back in my apartment, I can really be strict with my routine and you know, like not tempting myself of what's in my apartment. So I do want to try to get back on the low carb diet. We'll see when the new year rolls around, but that's the plan. And then I obviously want to get back into working out. I've been working out a little while I'm at my dad's because he has a gym in the basement. So I'm trying to take advantage of that. But I did recently get those ball of angle wrist weight things and I really like those. I'm really excited to just like tone my arms and I've been doing a lot of that, which isn't like too much cardio that's gonna make me lose weight. But my arms are definitely a big insecurity in mind so I'm gonna work on toning those. But yeah, that is the update. Not really an update because nothing really changed. I hope you guys enjoyed this Q and A. Definitely go follow me on Instagram so you guys can participate in the next one. Just at so underscore and early without the G. And I will see y'all in tomorrow's vlog. Bye.