Hi! It's me, Ashlee! (a Re-Introduction!)

A (re) introduction. All about me, Here for This, and Cobalt Chronicles!

Hi! It’s been a while since I shared a little “about me” post! As the person behind the screen (literally and figuratively), I often times feel like I’m repeating the same things over and over and all of you know everything there is to know about me, which I intellectually know is not true at all. So, hi! Whether you’ve been around since I launched Cobalt Chronicles in 2015 or if you recently started following along via Instagram or Substack, I’m so happy to have you here!

About Me

I grew up in Shreveport, Louisiana, attended college at Ole Miss (Hotty Toddy!) and law school at Cumberland School of Law at Samford University. I lived in Birmingham, Alabama for six years (for law school + post-graduation) where I met my now husband, Michael. In 2014, we moved to Washington, DC and loved every minute of the five years we spent in the city! After a brief stint in Houston, Texas, we moved to New Orleans, Louisiana in 2021 where we currently reside with our four year old little boy. We love living in New Orleans. It’s one of the most colorful and lively cities in the world, and I feel so lucky to call NOLA home!

Cobalt Chronicles

I launched Cobalt Chronicles, a lifestyle website, in 2015. While my content has certainly evolved over the last ten years, I still write about all the things that bring me joy. I celebrate everyday style, attainable travels, our colorful life in New Orleans, and clean living.

I hope to inspire you to get dressed (almost) everyday with my everyday outfits (I share them in real time on Instagram + link them in my LTK shop). I share a weekly round up of my outfits in my Recent Real Life Outfits posts here on Substack.

Recent Real Life Outfits.

Michael and I both love to travel. I love sharing our family travels with you! I hope to inspire you and other families to travel more with kids. We travel a lot with our son - we spent an entire month in Europe last summer and are currently planning another month away for 2025! I have highlights saved from each city on my Instagram page if you’re interested in checking out our travels.

New Orleans is a city unlike any other. I receive so many messages asking for recommendations on where to stay, where to eat, and what to do in our city. I love sharing all of my NOLA recs with you! I have a big New Orleans post here that I try to update often. I also share more of a locals look into our weekends in Tuesday’s Here for This newsletter, Tuesday Tidbits, so be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss out on those posts!

Tuesday Tidbits

Where I’m at with Cobalt Chronicles Now

Towards the end of 2024, I started making a conscious decision to step back a bit from Instagram and focus more on what I love, writing. I plan to publish a separate post on this topic so stay tuned! I’m almost a month into making this intentional shift, and I have to say, it’s been great! I still post on Instagram and love chatting with you all via DM, I just decided to let go of the “pressure” to post daily, to post what Instagram tells us to post, to constantly document things throughout my day for the sake of posting … what a relief it has been. With that said, I’m so happy you’re here, on Substack!

Here for This

What is Here for This? Here for This is the new name for my newsletter or my Substack, depending on how you subscribe and receive these posts. Substack is an online platform that allows writers to publish newsletters and build subscription-based communities. Substack hosts my newsletters - you may have subscribed to my newsletter long before I shifted to Substack. If that’s the case, you likely haven’t even noticed anything different.

Each Here for This post is accessible three ways: 1) via email; 2) via web; and 3) via the Substack app on mobile. So no matter how you like to consume content, you’re covered! You can subscribe here. You’ll automatically be sent all of my posts/newsletters to your email address and you can browse my posts anytime on the website here and on the Substack mobile app.

Here for This includes several weekly posts/newsletters. There’s always a Tuesday Tidbits post on, you guessed it, Tuesdays, and a Recent Real Life Outfits post on Thursdays. Both of these posts are free to all subscribers and are delivered straight to your inbox and available on Substack.

If you opt to be a paid subscriber, you have access to my entire archive of posts plus access to paid subscriber-only posts (like this one), which I publish at least once a month (sometimes more). The paid subscriber feature is new-ish - thank you to those of you who are already paid subscribers! The subscription is $5/month or you opt to subscribe at the annual rate for a little discount. For less than the cost of a latte, your subscription supports not only my writing here, but also the free content I create on Cobalt Chronicles and on Instagram too! I’m so thankful for your support. I’m also working on some fun upcoming giveaways for paid subscribers, stay tuned!

Contracts for Creatives

In addition to Cobalt Chronicles and the Here for This offshoot, I put my law degree to work running Contracts for Creatives. After graduating from law school in 2011, I worked at a large, national law firm for a few years before transitioning into the corporate world where I worked as a legal editor at Bloomberg News.

While working as a legal editor, to scratch my own creative itch, I launched Cobalt Chronicles. As I dove deeper into the blogging world (yes, it was called blogging at the time) and began to meet creatives in different fields (photographers, graphic designers, event planners etc.), I realized there was a hole in a lot of my peers’ businesses – they weren’t utilizing contracts to protect themselves and their businesses.

With my background in the blogging world and my legal expertise, I launched Contracts for Creatives. I help creative business owners with their contract needs. I provide custom contract drafting services, contract review and revision services, and consulting services. I also have downloadable contract templates available for immediate purchase on my website.

I love working with all of my amazingly creative clients, 98% of which happen to be female! Such a treat.

10 Fast Facts About Me