New Year, New Goals + Some 2016 CONFESSIONS

Happy 2017 everyone!

Can you believe that a new year is already here?? I feel like I blinked and 2016 was over. Anyone else???

I also feel like the older you get, the faster time goes…not sure how I feel about that.

I just want to take a second to just be totally transparent with all of you on how I’m treating this new year. Because for the first time I wasn’t even inspired enough to write down my resolutions, and that’s NEVER happened. So I’m dissecting myself online, because I want you to know it all!

Over the past few months I’ve gotten a couple emails from you guys (which I LOVE emails so KEEP SENDING ‘EM) asking if I’m still planning on posting this year! And I want to reassure you that this blog is my LIFE. Literally it’s all I think about. I’m obsessed with blogging, styling, writing, and most of all MEETING everyone who reads what I post! (Thank you, PS!)

Here’s the deal.

2016 was a year of intense change for me. I let go of an old life, only to receive a life that was more than I could have ever dreamed up.

It was fuller. It was happier. It was more adventurous. It was more spontaneous. It was full of love. It was full of newness. It was full of trial-and-error. It was full of growth and change.

When I started 2016, I was on fire for what (I thought) was to come, and had such high expectations of myself when it came to blogging..

What I realized was that I unknowingly set extremely unrealistic expectations for the year that I was about to experience.

You know how you go into a situation and you think that you know exactly what’s going to come out of it? And you think that you’re 100% in-control and that you know best???

That’s kind of how I treated 2016 – like I just knew what was going to happen. Because it was MY life and I was in control and that was that.

And then all of a sudden… I was like LOL WAIT THAT’S NOT HOW THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO GO DOWN…

Now, that’s not to say that this was a bad thing.

I’m not saying that I had a bad year at all – 2016 has actually been one of the best years of my entire life thus far. And I think that’s because I finally just went with the flow, and I trusted that my life was in God’s hands, and He knew what was best.

In 2016 I grew as a person, I changed jobs, I moved into my own apartment for the first time, I took care of myself, I experienced ( and still am experiencing ) a love I never thought existed, I experimented with new workouts more than I ever had before, I made new friendships, I spontaneously booked trips, and I just lived my life to the fullest.

And unfortunately, blogging took a back seat.

I wasn’t proud of this, and honestly it haunted me more often than not.

I didn’t forget about it, I just didn’t prioritize my time properly because I was enjoying my real life so much more than my online life.

In years past, I think I hid behind my blog and let it take up every single free second that I had. It helped me cope with a life I thought I was missing out on. It helped me validate a degree that I spent so much time and money on. It helped me feel like I was doing what I loved everyday. And I was…to a certain degree.

But then I moved to LA and my life did a 180. And I realized that here I was living every single day exactly how I had dreamed of living it.

So, instead of pouring myself into my online presence, I was pouring myself into being present.

As much as I am THANKFUL for every single second I spent away from the blog, it still felt heavy on my heart to not post for weeks on end. It wasn’t a good feeling to stress about getting the perfect Instagram picture to put up next. It was hard to continuously compare myself to others who kept growing while I just stayed at the same number for months. It honestly sucked and I was so hard on myself for it.

But at the end of the day, it still wasn’t enough to motivate me to stop spontaneously going on midnight bike rides. Or seeing a movie so late that I fell asleep in it. Or waking up every morning to go to workout classes with my girlfriends instead of waking up to blog. Or going on weekend adventures, and even mid-week adventures.

Spending nights in to blog just didn’t compare to the experiences I had last year.

So, instead of making it a priority, I let it just simply be a convenient accessory – if I had time, and if I had content, I’d put it up. If I didn’t, then I didn’t. End of story.

And since we’re being honest here…

I am still fighting with myself internally to think of content that will keep you guys engaged. I didn’t even have the motivation to post a blogiversary post or a New Year’s resolutions post. How sad is that????

In 2017, instead of holding myself up to expectations that I may not be able to accommodate, it is my goal to be authentic, transparent, and as consistent as possible. And I hope you’re okay with that!

This year, I want to know what YOU want to see.

SO. If you’re reading this, and you care to comment or email me….PLEASE DO. It would help me so much if you give me some ideas on what you wish I offered you on a weekly basis.

This year, it is my goal to add more value to this online space that I get to call my own. Because I appreciate you guys SO MUCH, and literally want to blog for you every.single.day.

Just give me a second to get back into the swing of things, because I promise that’s my #1 priority.

And don’t forget to let me know what you want to see this year!

SO FAR these are things I plan to blog about this month:

+ Studio Apartment Reveal (Brennan is literally helping me with last minute things this week so I can shoot it and get it up by mid-January, so hang in there!)

+More lifestyle moments – what I’m eating, where I’m working out, what I’m wearing to workouts, etc.

+Morning & Evening routines

+Podcasts that I can’t get enough of each month

+Showing you guys what I’m buying online

ANY OTHER IDEAS GUYS????! Anything..literally anything, would be much appreciated.

Last confession, I shot these images liiiiiike probably 6 months ago?? And I LOVE this outfit SO MUCH. I just never got around to posting it. So I’m SORRY if the exact items aren’t available. I slacked off on that. My b. But here are some other items you can shop to recreate the look!

Top, c/o Fifteen Twenty | Pants, c/o Fabrizio Gianni Clothing | Shoes, c/o M. Gemi | Bag, c/o Anna Xi | Sunglasses, Amazon | Hat, Lack of Color