2013 A Year to Remember

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The year 2013 will be a year that I'll remember for the rest of my life. There have been so many milestones that I've experienced this year. Looking back to last New Year's Eve, when exchanging texts with family and friends, one text message stood out to me more than any others. My best friend Debbrah, with all the passion and sincerity in her heart wrote me a loving text and said that 2013 was going to be the best year of my life. She was right. This year I've experienced leaving San Francisco, starting my dream job, moving to New York, getting engaged and celebrating my 30th birthday!

Wishing all of my readers a very joyful start to the new year. Thank you for all your support, loving comments and emails.

Photo Credit: Lydia Hudges

Valentinos, Leather Midi & Goal Setting Recommendation for 2014

Wishing you a beautiful Monday Morning. The last week I've been home with my family. It's so nice to come to my parent's house and relax. It's almost like nothing has changed when I lived here in high school. It's strange to think that I've been living on my own since I was 18 years old. Holy Moly!  Thank goodness wisdom comes with age.

Being home I've had a lot of time to think about my 2014 goals. My parents are so wonderful. They've always supported me and my ever-changing dreams. I'm convinced I could tell my parents I'm quitting my job and starting a banana stand and they'd support me 100%. 

Back to the goals...every year I put together a goal list, month-by-month. A few years ago, it would consist of "buy a new camera", "get a new position at work", "start a blog". Every year when I put together my goals and at the time it seemed silly and unrealistic that I'm going to do these things, but 9 times out of 10, they seem to come true. This year I've spent a lot of time putting together my personal, professional, fitness and financial goals on a monthly basis. 

*(A funny little side story. While digging through old papers, I found a list of qualities that I wanted in man. This was a list I made when I was 18 years old. A few months before I met my fiance in college. As I read through the list...I got what I wanted, except that he doesn't play a guitar.)

Over the years, I've read hundreds of articles on "goal setting", but the piece of advice every article recommends...write them down. Start there. Like I said earlier, I write monthly goals. I put it in a Word Doc and save it to my desktop. Throughout the year I'll open up the doc to see my progress and I'm typically always on track. Here's a good article, that gives you examples and recommendations when setting goals. Lululemon also put together a great article along with a worksheet to help set goals (not only physical). Don't make goal setting difficult. Start small and refine throughout the year. Things change and that's okay. And always remember this when setting goals. 

 Places to wear this outfit :: office outfit, meeting family, family holiday party, catching up with an old colleague

Sweater :: Zara (similar here)

Skirt :: Zara (similar here & short version here)

Necklace :: Banana Republic old (similar here)

Heels :: Valentino 

Purse :: Zara (similar here & here)

Watch :: Michael Kors (in love with this one)

Wore similar outfit here

Photos by Lydia Hudges

New York Engagement Photos :: Part II

Good morning! Today's I'm sharing the second set of engagement photos. Last Monday I posted the first set of photos taken at Grand Central Station. We were a little more dolled up for those photos. Today's photos in Central Park we wanted to be more casual. Picking out a dress for these photos was difficult. Originally I wanted a red dress for the Grand Central photos and a black dress for Central Park photos. While shopping, I came across this red-orange dress from Banana Republic and it went perfectly with the colorful Fall scenery. As for Matt's outfit, he's an expert putting together outfits (I take some credit for this), so he knew exactly what he wanted to wear next to my dress. I highly recommend having a dress rehearsal the night before engagement photos. Make sure the outfits compliment each other. I'd also snap a few photos together and figure out each others "good" side.

Originally we didn't want to take engagement photos. We thought about having a few different people take our photos, to save money and not go overboard with pictures "we'd never use". After researching on Pinterest and finding so many beautiful photos and Angelica as a photographer, I knew we had to take photos together! Like most people, we didn't want "cheesy" photos taken. Yep, we've all seen them. When I initially spoke to Angelica, I made sure I communicated my expectations. The profession she is, she assured me the photos would turn out beautiful and not cheesy. Angelica recommended that I create an inspirational Pinterest board. This was such a great idea for both us as the client and her as the photographer. This created great communication and she referenced several poses throughout our photo session. I'd recommend jumping on Pinterest and/or  Style Me Pretty Weddings to get a few ideas. 

Hope you enjoyed the photos! You're welcome to see the rest of the photos here.

HER

Dress :: Banana Republic on sale!

Necklace :: J. Crew (similar here)

Heels :: Zara 

Coat :: Zara old (love this one)

HIM

Shirt :: Ben Sherman

Wood Jacket :: Ben Sherman (similar here)

Pants :: 7 for all Mankind

Shoes :: J. Crew (similar here)

 

Photos by Angelica Criscuolo