Looking back over my favorite outfits from this past year, I have to laugh because they are a combination of neutrals, stripes and red. Ha! Clearly I know what I like and wear it regularly. I’ve said before that there are positive and negatives aspects to having a blog but one of the positive things is having a visual diary of my life. I remember so much when looking at each of these photos from how I was feeling that day to how cold or hot it was. And I love seeing how my style has changed from year to year and even season to season. It’s also a great creative outlet for myself. I always had more of a business mind early in my career, but starting my blog has really allowed me to develop the right side of brain. While I do work with a professional photographer from time to time, Stan takes 90% of my photos and I couldn’t be prouder of how he has grown with me. He helps me with the blog in his spare time and I love the way he captures me and how he takes my pictures. Even when he takes pictures of Miles, he is wonderful at getting him at just the right moment and as a result we have a ton of amazing photos documenting his entire first year of life. I know someday Miles will look back at those photos and cherish them knowing his dad took them.
This year has definitely been a year of growth for me. Having Miles was one of the best and hardest things I’ve ever done. Struggling with an awful c-section recovery and a roller coaster of postpartum emotions, the year started off a bit tough. Trying to find balance with the blog, spending time with Miles, staying connected with Stan, dealing with regular life uncertainties and putting aside time for myself was a game of constantly trying to keep various plates spinning in the air as I’m sure most of you can relate to. I’m proud of how far I’ve come and while I don’t have it all together all of the time, I have managed to make strides in every aspect of my life at different times. From beginning this blog as a side hobby to turning it into my career has been one of the most rewarding. I remember what it felt like to dread getting up in the morning because I didn’t like my job and I never let the feeling get too far from my mind. I have my bad days here and there, but still feel incredibly grateful to have connected with an audience that loves what I have to say and shares in my interests.
I rarely ever talk about the downsides to blogging because I find them so minimal compared to the upsides. Even though I did enjoy a majority of my career path prior to blogging, it had its challenges and obstacles that helped me gain a better perspective on handling things now with my own business. I worked with the public for almost 90% of my career so I feel comfortable handling criticism and accepting negativity as part of the job, but it also helped teach me to make my content useful. Customers that would shop at the cosmetic counters I used to manage were the happiest when they found a product that made them feel great, learned a new technique or gained a better understanding of how to take care of their skin. And that is still my main mission with this blog – to keep my content useful. That could mean finding a new book to read, a pair of jeans that finally fit perfectly, a serum that changes your skin, home decor inspiration, information on a wellness product I’ve been loving or just a regular ol’ savings via a sale notification. I like to chit chat and ramble but I love when my readers and viewers learn about something new or find something of interest from my content.
Thanks for following along on my journey this year and for some of you that have been with me for years, thank you for your unwavering support. Blogging has really changed since I first started, but what hasn’t changed is my love of connecting with readers and talking to other fashion and beauty lovers. That is why I started my blog and that will still always be one of my favorite parts of it. I love receiving comments, emails, DMs, tweets, smoke signals, carrier pigeons with memos – basically I’ll take it all! LOL Happy New Year to all of you – wishing you a prosperous, peaceful and joyful 2019!
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