'Tis the season for bloggers to recap 2018! I love sharing these posts every year. For one, it's interesting and fun to look at my stats and see what posts were the most engaging and clearly the favorite month to month.
Sometimes, as a content creator, we get so amped for a post and think "oh this is gonna be a hit..." only for it to do just OK. Then other times, we're feeling meh about a post or photos and it gets more comments and views than any other post that year. Content creation is funny, folks!
I was also told last year by a reader that these recaps are the best for new readers - they get to see the highlights of the blog from the entire year and bring them up to speed if they've only been following for the later part of the year. I never considered that but love that these posts are beneficial for some! In the past, I've shared my personal favorites but last year I opted to share the ones that performed best each month and that was equally as fun! So I decided to keep it going for this year's post. So without further ado, let's review 2018 (and oh what a year it was!).
January
Teacher's Pet
I had a LOT of fun with this post so it makes me really happy that it was the favorite of January. This skirt gives me such school girl vibes, it was a no-brainer that I needed to pose with a stack of books outside of a nearby school.
It also reminds me that I haven't written any fictional blog posts in awhile. I tried that out a bit last winter - writing quick/short narratives from the POV of a fictional character to go with my outfit/photos as opposed to just rambles about the outfit and a detail or two of my life. It was a lot of fun! Hmm, perhaps I need to bring some back...
February
Heartbreaker
Ooooo I loved this post and I am so glad to see that you all did as well! Sometimes I get to REALLY plan out a shoot in advance and love the outcome. I try to plan all my Valentine's posts in advance so that I have time to get creative. I try to post at least 1 decadent recipe and 1 outfit in honor of Valentine's Day and hopefully can do the same this year.
I scored this Emily & Fin dress fairly close to Valentine's Day and it became my date night dress for the occasion. I found a sugar cookie at the store that matched it and BOOM, this shoot happened outside some local shops. Is it a very simply detail? Yes. But did I have a lot of fun taking photos with said cookie? Heck yes. Especially breaking it and taking the more devious shots. Ha!
March
Cherry on Top: Our Engagement Photos at Joey's Diner
Not surprising in the slightest, my engagement photos DOMINATED my blog in March (and most of the Spring, TBH). I am still obsessed with my engagement photos, done by my friend Karina. We've always loved her work and it was great to have her do our engagement photos since she was strictly a guest at our wedding.
April
Signs of Spring: Birdy Brooch
I had a great collaboration in April with Birdy Brooch and clearly my little peanuts enjoyed the adorable bird brooch I received as much as I did! All of Birdy Brooch's birds are just gorgeous with the loveliest color pairings and patterns. I loved styling the perfect yellow and blue outfit to match my brooch.
This post makes me laugh too - it was shot and shared in April as part of my celebration of the start of Spring but in the middle of the shoot, a totally random and quick snow squall hit! It was such a strange occurrence (though since this is New England, it's not TOTALLY strange) and so random as I could see that it was still sunny and cloud-free just down the road a bit.
May
Make Way for Ducklings
My ducklings skirt from LindyBop was definitely one of my favorite things I got this year. With it's green pockets and adorable ducklings waltzing across the border of the skirt, it is hands down one of the cutest things to come from LindyBop. Does it drive me crazy that I shot the outfit without realizing one of the buttons was undone? 100% but whatever. What can ya do?
And though the post just brings me back to starting the job from hell (thank GOD I found myself a more sane company to be a part of), it is still one heck of a cute outfit and I think I need to wear this skirt sometime soon because it's been too long!
June
On a Roll
June brought us fun novelty prints - something my readers enjoy as the top post featured the adorable sushi themed blouse from Heart of Haute. It's one of my favorite blouses and I have to restrain myself from wearing it too often.
Friday is casual day at the office and I take advantage of it and wear jeans on Fridays (GASP! I know, can you believe it?) and I rock this blouse and a cardigan with said jeans all the time. But when a blouse fits so PERFECTLY and doesn't give you any grief (gaping buttons, for example), how can you NOT wear it every damn day?
July:
Color Your World
One thing I know will be consistent on this blog - everyone's love for COLOR! Well, July's top post couldn't be more colorful if we tried! Emma gave me the cutest Chic Wish skirt for my birthday and it was SO fun styling it for the blog.
The skirt is covered in a rainbow of colored pencils - the style opportunities for this bad boy are nearly endless. ENDLESS, I TELL YOU! I am thinking of a minimum of 5 variations as I recap the post here! I love me an outfit with endless variations...
August
Bridal Shower Bliss
Again, not a surprise. 2018 was the year of the wedding after all! August meant Bridal Shower and as you'd guess, my blog post sharing all the incredible details that Emma and Red put together took the top spot that month. Not to mention my bridal shower look featuring one heck of a dress from Tatyana.
I still think of my shower and sigh. It was incredibly overwhelming to see how much love Cody and I have around us. You know your family and friends love you, obviously, but it's a whole different level when a wedding is involved. We are still floored by the people we have around us. We're loved, for sure!
September
Strawberry Jammin'
This is one of the posts that surprised me! While I adored the outfit (Jen gave me the Joanie Clothing skirt for my birthday!), I snapped these photos in my driveway so fast at the end of the day before the sun started setting and I thought for sure it'd be a dud due to my lack of creativity and rush.
Perhaps it was my well executed theme of strawberry items (us retro gals love a good theme) or it might have been my kick-ass hair (I had just had my wedding hair trial so it was teased and had some height) or maybe the simplicity of the shoot was a good thing and not bad! I may never know. Either way, you all enjoyed it and that's all that matters!
October
Vegan Pumpkin Donuts
I was SO excited to see a recipe post make the cut this year! These donuts were SO good and Cody's office ate them up so fast when he brought them in. They couldn't believe they were vegan (a reaction I always get when I bake and cook vegan).
I have been SLACKING big time in sharing recipes. I shared much less recipes this year than previous years. It was partly due to having less free time to experiment and bake (planning a wedding will do that to ya...) and also just due to the fact that style posts perform so much better than my recipe posts. I will never NOT share recipes solely because they don't perform well (I am not doing this blog thang for going viral, after all) but I do find myself sharing more style posts overall - perhaps 2019 is the time to bring back the recipes!
November
Chotronette
To be fair, November only had 2 posts shared. Hmm, gee, I wonder what teeny tiny thing happened in November that would cause me to take a 2 week break? Hmm...I GOT MARRIED!
Anyway, yeah there were only two posts but my rehearsal dinner outfit, an incredibly beautiful dress by Chotronette, took the crown by a landslide. I don't know when I'll pull this gorgeous dress on again (it's just too fancy for everyday wear, ya know?) but it was the perfect dress to rehearse in and have our special rehearsal dinner with our family and bridal party. It was such a great night too!
December
Yes to the Dress: My Customized Dress from Ve'Lace Bridal
Another not surprising favorite post was December's post focusing on my beauty of a wedding dress from Ve'Lace Bridal. What started out as a strapless modern ball gown with a full train became a vintage cupcake tea length dream with a short sleeve illusion neckline to boot.
I am so lucky to have found a bridal shop that offers customization at such reasonable prices. It was such a fun process and I tell everyone I know who gets engaged to go there. Ve'Lace is the BEST!
Happy 2019, my little peanuts! I look forward to another colorful year with you all!
