one last look at 2013
2013 was a year full of excitement, travel, change, and new beginnings. I love blogging simply for the fact that I have a record of almost everything that happened in a given year. The other night, I was looking back at my posts from last year really trying to think about what to improve upon and what I have learned since this time last year. The answer was - a lot. Haha. But, more specifically, I feel like where I was last year with the blog, with Maiedae, with my personal life, was so different than where I am now. And that makes me so excited!! Because this time next year, who knows where I'll be! Savannah and I are always making big dreams for Maiedae and each year I'm thoroughly surprised and impressed looking back at how much we were able to accomplish. So, here are some highlights from this past year of blogging.
Savannah and I traveled a lot in 2013 and one of the first trips we took was to California to visit our friend Anica and attend Blogshop Video. We had so much fun! We got to go to Disneyland, tour the WB Studios, and create some fun memories :)
At the beginning of last year, my great-grandmother passed away and I shared some old family photos.
In February, I shared some fun facts about me.
I shared a little bit about my thoughts about cultivating a positive spirit.
Savannah and I took a Maiedae Retreat to discuss our plans for going full-time with Maiedae. We had so much fun exploring Savannah, Georgia, and planning out our big dreams and goals for the year.
I wrote this post about Making Your Dreams a Reality right before going full-time with Maiedae.
We hosted our 1st Annual Maiedae Mixer in Rome, Georgia, in May of 2013 and couldn't have been more happy with how it turned out!! We are excited about the 2014 Maiedae Mixer in September and are planning our hearts away :)
I shared some easy tips for taking quality photos.
Drew and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary and I shared some extra photos from that special day.
Savannah and I attended Alt Summit in New York and had a blast learning and meeting new friends.
We also went to Austin, Texas for the Texas Style Council which was one of our favorite conferences of the year!
I started my Let's Make Habits 8-week series and you all joined in to encourage one another on your goals!
Drew and I announced that we are pregnant with our first baby due May 2nd! Definitely one of my favorite moments of my life and definitely my favorite of 2013.
I started working as a designer in Moorea Seal's retail store with my own line of exclusive calligraphy art pieces.
Drew and I bought our first house!!! :)
We found out we are having a little boy and announced that we are naming him Rowan Carey Highsmith!!
One of my favorite DIY makeovers - our kitchen hutch!
I ended the year sharing with you all my plans for Rowan's nursery - I can't wait to finish it and show you the final result!
One area I feel like I especially challenged myself in was in my personal style. This time last year, I was really struggling with loving myself well. I was struggling with insecurity with my body and feeling trapped in my personal style. So, I took Elizabeth's e-course Style Yourself and challenged myself to post weekly outfit posts... even if I didn't feel like I could do it... even if I felt like I didn't like my body that week or the outfit I picked out. I love seeing how much this challenged me to love and take care of myself better and also how much I ended up enjoying it!!! Now, I couldn't imagine not doing them! Here are some of my favorite outfits from 2013.
1 \\ My casual New Year's Eve outfit was comfortable and sparkly!
2 \\ I loved pairing this fun combination for a Christmas-y holiday look :)
3 \\ This outfit was fun because it combined two things I usually don't do - a little bit of leopard print and a bold lipstick.
4 \\ I loved wearing this red leather jacket!!
5 \\ This was one of the first maternity tops I bought. I love how comfy this outfit is and the bold red color.
6 \\ My little baby mini bump showing for the first time in this wintery mix and some of my favorite tribal print leggings.
7 \\ I loved working with Minnetonka to style these over-the-knee fringe boots!
8 \\ Our trip to New York was full of wonderful photo opportunities and I loved wearing bright bold colors on that trip, including this bright green top and navy skirt.
9 \\ Probably one of my new favorite colors to wear, this bright blue dress was so much fun and worked perfectly with my tribal earrings.
10 \\ What I wore to our first annual Maiedae Mixer!
11 \\ I loved re-using my flower crown from the Mixer for a fun outfit post in Marietta square :)
12 \\ On our Maiedae retreat last spring, we walked around and took some outfit photos under the mossy trees.
Savannah and I traveled a lot in 2013 and one of the first trips we took was to California to visit our friend Anica and attend Blogshop Video. We had so much fun! We got to go to Disneyland, tour the WB Studios, and create some fun memories :)
At the beginning of last year, my great-grandmother passed away and I shared some old family photos.
In February, I shared some fun facts about me.
I shared a little bit about my thoughts about cultivating a positive spirit.
Savannah and I took a Maiedae Retreat to discuss our plans for going full-time with Maiedae. We had so much fun exploring Savannah, Georgia, and planning out our big dreams and goals for the year.
I wrote this post about Making Your Dreams a Reality right before going full-time with Maiedae.
We hosted our 1st Annual Maiedae Mixer in Rome, Georgia, in May of 2013 and couldn't have been more happy with how it turned out!! We are excited about the 2014 Maiedae Mixer in September and are planning our hearts away :)
I shared some easy tips for taking quality photos.
Drew and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary and I shared some extra photos from that special day.
Savannah and I attended Alt Summit in New York and had a blast learning and meeting new friends.
We also went to Austin, Texas for the Texas Style Council which was one of our favorite conferences of the year!
I started my Let's Make Habits 8-week series and you all joined in to encourage one another on your goals!
Drew and I announced that we are pregnant with our first baby due May 2nd! Definitely one of my favorite moments of my life and definitely my favorite of 2013.
I started working as a designer in Moorea Seal's retail store with my own line of exclusive calligraphy art pieces.
Drew and I bought our first house!!! :)
We found out we are having a little boy and announced that we are naming him Rowan Carey Highsmith!!
One of my favorite DIY makeovers - our kitchen hutch!
I ended the year sharing with you all my plans for Rowan's nursery - I can't wait to finish it and show you the final result!
One area I feel like I especially challenged myself in was in my personal style. This time last year, I was really struggling with loving myself well. I was struggling with insecurity with my body and feeling trapped in my personal style. So, I took Elizabeth's e-course Style Yourself and challenged myself to post weekly outfit posts... even if I didn't feel like I could do it... even if I felt like I didn't like my body that week or the outfit I picked out. I love seeing how much this challenged me to love and take care of myself better and also how much I ended up enjoying it!!! Now, I couldn't imagine not doing them! Here are some of my favorite outfits from 2013.
1 \\ My casual New Year's Eve outfit was comfortable and sparkly!
2 \\ I loved pairing this fun combination for a Christmas-y holiday look :)
3 \\ This outfit was fun because it combined two things I usually don't do - a little bit of leopard print and a bold lipstick.
4 \\ I loved wearing this red leather jacket!!
5 \\ This was one of the first maternity tops I bought. I love how comfy this outfit is and the bold red color.
6 \\ My little baby mini bump showing for the first time in this wintery mix and some of my favorite tribal print leggings.
7 \\ I loved working with Minnetonka to style these over-the-knee fringe boots!
8 \\ Our trip to New York was full of wonderful photo opportunities and I loved wearing bright bold colors on that trip, including this bright green top and navy skirt.
9 \\ Probably one of my new favorite colors to wear, this bright blue dress was so much fun and worked perfectly with my tribal earrings.
10 \\ What I wore to our first annual Maiedae Mixer!
11 \\ I loved re-using my flower crown from the Mixer for a fun outfit post in Marietta square :)
12 \\ On our Maiedae retreat last spring, we walked around and took some outfit photos under the mossy trees.