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2018. What a ride! I can honestly say that I didn’t expect half the life changes and adventures that took place last year. I went into 2018 on somewhat of a low – I had a contract job that was ending mid January, we had been married for six months but we’d already struggled a ton. We could barely pay our bills, our commutes were rough [our jobs weren’t great either], and we rarely spent time together – long hours and weekend work get in the way.
We’d just moved to Jersey City to get a bigger and cheaper apartment but with Joe working almost every weekend, I either spent forever getting into the city or stayed home alone. We went into 2018 feeling defeated. But everything took a turn. I spent a month unemployed then found a job at a company I love and never thought I’d work for. We started booking travel. Tons of travel. Joe was able to request off weekends months in advance and we started seeing each other more. We started to look into new options – we knew we couldn’t stay in the New York City with Joe’s line of work (there aren’t many companies in his field there). Joe ended up getting an offer in the Bay Area and it was too good of a move to pass up. As many of you know, it isn’t my first choice [I wasn’t very happy when I lived here before] but I’m trying to find the upside of living here [it’s certainly easier than living in a big city and it doesn’t get as cold!].
I can’t even imagine where we’ll be in a year.
TRAVEL
2018 was the year we made time for travel. We planned most of our trips months in advance [and made them short weekend trips] so we could afford the trips. We went to Minnesota, Disney World, Mexico, Austin, Chicago, Boston & Niagara Falls. We did a ton of local day trips – Asbury Park, Philadelphia, Long Island, & many apple orchards around the New York City area. It was a whirlwind and I loved every second of it. Our ultimate trip was obviously our cross country road trip to wrap up our big adventures for the year. If you missed it, I captured the whole trip (here, here, & here).
BLOGGING
Last year, I put more effort into blogging and YouTube. I’ve always loved it since I started but it finally started to feel like my own little business. By the end of the year, I was doing more research and working on some major changes to the blog [coming soon!]. I want to try different strategies and create more content that I love.
In 2018, I finally attended New York Fashion Week [twice!]. I started getting invited to more blogger events. I went to a conference with some of my favorite ladies and awkwardly took a selfie with Vanessa Hudgens. I attended events with Fell Stone Manor, StyleHaul, Kimpton Hotel, Angela Caglia Skincare, Kleinfeld, Hershey’s & Martha Stewart. I worked with Cars.com, Fabletics, Dermalogica, Sol de Janeiro, Laura Mercier, Becca Cosmetics, and several local New Jersey companies.
I want to push myself to put more effort into my blog and reach out to brands in 2019. I’ve spent too much time thinking I needed to wait for brands to approach me. There is so much more I plan to learn and explore when it comes to my business in 2019!
MOVING ACROSS THE COUNTRY
I never shared this but we had several options we were considering. We started thinking about moving outside of the New York City area at the end of 2017. Joe is in the earth science field and there aren’t a ton of job opportunities in New York. He worked for a New Jersey based company and had terrible commutes and hours for his three years there. He was constantly exhausted. When an opportunity in California popped up, we jumped. We knew Joe needed to take it but we didn’t know what I should do. We went back and forth between me extending my time in New York City [and staying with a friend]. It’s a long story! Ultimately we made a decision two weeks before the move and I left with Joe.
Our cross country road trip was one of our top bucket list items. When we originally moved to New York, we always wanted to do a cross country road trip when we moved back [we initially thought we’d only stay while I was in grad school but fell in love with the city]. While it was extremely difficult for me to leave, it is calmer and the pace of life is easier here. I also feel optimistic that we can move back one day. It may not be permanently but one of our big goals is to be bi-coastal in some way. New York will always be my favorite city. I cannot wait to go back soon!
2019, you have some major shoes to fill. Let’s do it!
