2015 outfit round-up

Happy 2016! In lieu of a Friday Favorites post, I'm taking a look back at the last 12 months in outfits. It was definitely hard to choose just 12 (I had to leave out some of my favorites, like my Halloween posts), but I thought this was a good representation of how my style has evolved since the start of my blog. Click the links underneath to be taken to each chosen post. Did you have a favorite post from this year (maybe one I didn't pick)?

January   ||   February   ||   March

April   ||   May   ||   June

July   ||   August   ||   September

October   ||   November   ||   December

I was lucky enough to have some great opportunities basically fall into my lap this year. I filmed my first commercial, was featured in a Buzzfeed article, collaborated with some amazing companies, visited friends, went to California, did a lot of fruit-picking, performed a lot, started seeing someone, saw some great movies, and tried to challenge myself to try new things (even when they're a little bit scary). I'm going to carry that last bit into 2016 – as Amy Poehler said, "great people do things before they're ready," and that's the only way I'll continue to grow. In terms of my blog, I want to continue to improve my photography and have more of a variety in my posts... what would you like to see more of here in 2016?

Have a great start to your year & weekend!

Resolutions & Wrap-Ups

Happy New Year!  I normally feature a blogger Q&A interview post on the first of the month, but since today marks the beginning of a brand new year, I wanted to share some of my 2015 resolutions with you.  I've found that it really helps me to write down my goals by hand and then display them; I know some people have enough will-power to keep them in mind all the time, but I need a good visual component.  And speaking of visuals... I know I recently did a seasonal round-up of outfits from this past autumn, but I wanted to include a small sampling of my favorite outfits from the last 365 days -- just to remind myself that although this was a tough year, it was filled with a lot of great ensembles!

I came up with a goal chart earlier in the year, at a time when I was feeling very lost and in limbo.  I found it helpful to divide my goals into different categories, so I decided to continue with that for my resolutions list.  For instance, my health goals include sticking to my Weight Watchers tracking, implementing more exercise into my day, a specific weight loss goal, and to focus my attention on my skincare routine.  My financial goals are to limit and keep better track of my spending, and my career resolutions include finishing my professional website, finding a new (or second) day job, and putting definitive plans in motion to move.  My blogging resolutions are to continue to expand my readership, improve my photography and establish sponsorship with brands.  I also wanted to make sure to include some other resolutions that are focused on my well-being, like getting a car of my own, seeing friends more often, getting a massage, reading more, and making an effort to keep a clean and organized personal space for myself.

There are times when coming up with resolutions makes me focus too much on what I didn't achieve during the previous year.  Because I don't want to discount all of the good things that happened in 2014, I made a little list of what I achieved from my other goal chart.  These accomplishments included getting my driver's license, being cast in some new and exciting projects, surpassing my blog readership goals, and taking some much-needed time to focus on myself.

But my last (and favorite) resolution is to keep dressing in ways that make me happy!  It was hard to pick just one outfit per month from 2014, but here are my favorite 12 outfits from the past year -- all of which brought me a lot of joy:

January  //  February  //  March  //  April  //  May  //  June

July  //  August  //  September  //  October  //  November  //  December 

Thank you all for spending 2014 with me (and sticking with me through these past 12 months)! Although it's been a bit of a tough year, it's been a very valuable one, too.  I'm eager to see what the next 12 months will bring.

So tell me: if you make resolutions, what are some of your goals for 2015?

Have a great start to your year!

xox Sammi

Air of December: an autumnal wrap-up

I absolutely cannot believe that it's December 1st today.  I know winter doesn't technically start 'til much later in the month, but I essentially consider Dec. 1 to be the start of the season.  It's weird, because summer doesn't feel like it was that long ago to me, and I guess the fall was kind of a blur.  I want to start documenting my outfits in a wrap-up post; I thought about doing it monthly, but I kind of like the idea of a seasonal one better.  It's something a tiny bit different, at least!  So here is a sampling of my favorite outfits from each month of the fall (feel free to tell me which one you liked best!):

September

(From upper left: Easy as pie // Meow mix
Heartbreak Hotel // Forever Autumn)

October

(From upper left: Red October // Pale Blue Dot // BOOO-OOOOOK!
snuggle bunny // Milkshakes and Amaretto Sours // Pumpkin spice
Sweets for the sweet // Hey, cupcake! // High school hellcat)

November

(From upper left: A whiter shade of pale // One lump or two? // Roses Blue
A certain shade of green // Suzy Snowflake // Violet mints
She's a full-on Monet // Switchboard operator // Fairisle)

As emotionally-difficult as this whole season has been for me, I feel like I've also kind of found my stride in certain ways.  I'm still struggling and consistency is kind of a foreign concept at this point, but I am a strong person -- or at least, I'm trying to be.  This blog (not to mention all of the lovely friends I've made and comments you all leave me) has brought me a lot of joy, and that's always important -- but it's meant so much to me during these last few months.  My goal is to continue moving forward; learning not to dwell and to simply live in the present is difficult, but all I can do is trust that it will eventually be alright.  In the meantime, I will continue to do what makes me happy (I obviously have other, specific goals too, but they all fall under that umbrella). So thank you all for being a part of that! 

Happy December and have a great Sunday!

xox Sammi