It’s a new decade! And I’m so excited to see all that 2020 holds for my life & business. This past year was full of so much for me in so many ways. I worked with some amazing brands, traveled with my family, took tons of photos, & grew so much in knowing myself & exactly what I need. But before I switch gears & focus on what I want to experience this next year, I want to take a quick look back at this past year & reflect on all that it brought.
Hello, 2019 called & they want to remind you that you got to work with Aerie. Like, freakin’ Aerie! This was definitely for me one of the biggest highlights of the entire year. They sent me a package of items that included swimsuits, tees, a dress, & more, & it was honestly so cool! I love their brand because they offer inclusive sizing & their XL & XXL actually fit a curvy girl’s body right. I own tons of their items & love the campaigns they run & it was amazing to get asked to be a part of one. They even ended up reposting a photo of me in a bikini on their Instagram page & it was a fangirl moment for sure! I won’t forget that opportunity & am super grateful for it.
This past year a lot more amazing things happened in my business. I took photos of tons of beauty products from some really cool brands like Clinque, Nivea, & Bliss. I got to share recipes with my partnership with Vitacost & took all the photos of food! It was a fun avenue to explore & even got me a repost from Oreo in the process. I worked with two local malls doing takeovers & sharing about outfits/styling which is one of my favorite things I get to do as a blogger. And I got sent some cool products like ReebokxGigi shoes, MVMT watch & sunnies, TOMS shoes, & glasses from Discount Glasses that I wear everyday! I got sent a major blogger “made it” item too when American Tourist sent me luggage at the end of this year. So cool & I can’t wait to use it. I am still truly blown away with every email I get for a new collab from a brand or business & it’s so surreal that this gets to be my job.
Another part of my business that I am honestly not the best at sharing is being a product photographer, content contributor, & social media coordinator. I love taking photos for local businesses & I continued doing that for Pantry Products this year! Check out their website & Instagram, those photos are all mine! I also write blogs for our local travel site, visit Reno-Tahoe. This year I wrote 8 blogs for them & took content photos for them as well. I’m already working on more for 2020, but this one is my favorite I wrote for them last year. I don’t share much about Reno on here because I get to share my love for it over there which is a dream come true! Another dream? For six months out of this past year I also got to run social media for a local mall which was seriously a really cool experience that I learned a lot from & I can’t wait to explore this avenue even more so this upcoming year.
In life this year so much happened too. My family & I went to Disneyland & it was so much fun getting to watch my niece visit the happiest place on earth. She still talks about it & how she rode the Dumbo ride with her dad & the teacups with me. My favorite part of the trip was when I bought my mom & myself a churro & she looked up at me & said hey auntie, aren’t ya gonna share? My heart. She is just the cutest & I of course shared with her & have the picture above to prove it. That trip was so memorable & lead right into one of the hardest things for me this past year. Moving out of my childhood home. Yep, seriously traumatic for me. I loved that home & the memories made there along with it’s location & everything it surrounded. It was such a huge change for me that it took up pretty much all of my energy towards the end of the year. It made me feel all kind of emotions & I really struggled there for a bit.
Speaking of emotions… Yeah, I still have those. And I learned quite a bit more about them & myself this past year. I really feel more confident in what they do to me, how to overcome them, & how to not let them control my life even on the days that they really want too. I was doing so well for so long, & then I wasn’t. I was sharing so much encouragement & truth, & then I wasn’t. Being real, honest, & vulnerable is still something I so badly want to do & I am aimed towards doing that more often moving forward. I know what it’s like to literally not be able to move because of something you’re feeling or going through. And if by sharing my struggle I’m able to help another person figure it out like I have then that’s the sort of influence I want to share.
I did a lot of photoshoots in the last twelve months too. I say this all the time, but they truly are my favorite thing to do. I would do one every single day if that were possible! It’s really fun to style outfits together for myself, meet up with a local photographer, & shoot all different kinds of images that I get to share throughout the year. I’m usually such a stickler on only sharing high quality photos which can be very limiting & I’m proud of myself for loosening up a bit towards the end of the year by shooting some content on my iPhone too. Don’t worry, my photoshoot photos aren’t going anywhere, but I’m excited to get to share more by being relaxed enough to want to share everyday photos again since that’s how this all started anyway!
This past year has come & gone so quickly, just like every year seems to honestly. It’s so cool that I have this space that doubles as my job & a life journal. I am truly in awe that this is what my life is all about! Every year brings something new & it’s rewarding to look back & remember all that I accomplished on my own through blogging, photography, & being the owner of ABBEY KAY. It’s a dream I never knew I truly had & it’s something I hope never goes away.
So what’s next for 2020? Well, I have my goals & ideas that I want to seek out. And then of course there will be all the things that will come my way that I never expected to happen. But I’m excited for what I do have planned. Let’s take a look!
- trend of the month- starting a monthly series where I share/style a trend with links to buy full looks
- beauty/skincare investment – i want to try out a new beauty product each month which will come with a beauty review
- product launch – not spilling the beans too much on this one, but it’s happening & I can’t wait to share more
- video – i’m the worst & still haven’t added this to my content, but I am wanting to do that this year
- being more vulnerable/in the moment – i want to share more life, more struggles, more coffee, more food, more emotions, & more realness which includes adding more encoragement & body positive posts this year
- less critical – in work, in life, in content, i want to chill out & not worry so much, know that i am good enough & that what i do is too
- quit missing out – i want to stop allowing my emotions to take over so much that i end up missing out on things
- try two new local places every month – i used to do this all the time & this year i want to do this again
- crush the money goal – i am a business after all, so i hope to increase my income so that doing what i love can keep happening
I can’t promise you that this year will be amazing or great or the best one yet. Because reality is there will be obstacles & struggles & hard times. But I can promise you that I will keep creating, keep moving forward, keep bettering myself, my life, & my business so that I am living true to myself & what I want. That’s all we can truly seek out in life. Things & opportunities come & go. Time dwindles away. And I want to make sure that I am present in the now, moving forward at my own pace, & focusing on my own wins every time they come around.
Hey 2020, I hope you bring me some good, a little bit of bad so that I can grow & learn, & a whole lot of adventure & opportunity so that I’ll have something new to write about next year!
Always know that your dream really can be your reality you just have to start living it out!
– abbey kay
*brought to you by a girl who truly is unsure of what the new year will hold for her
Be encouraged. Be inspired. Be seen. 
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