The countdown to 2018 is on. For my last post of 2017 I wanted to take a second to stop and reflect on what happened this past year.





Happy Friday friends! 

Well, the time has come to do my annual year in review blog post! It's hard to believe that 2017 is coming to an end and so much as happened in this past year like me graduating college (!!), moving out of my first apartment and dipping my feet into the "real world." I have to admit, this year held a lot of uncertainties and I'm pretty sure I cried more than I ever had before, but, there were so many amazing memories and people that came with it.



2017 started off as a snowy one! My first week back to the Queen City we were prepping for snow and the next day we woke up to a white wintery wonderland! RJ and I (ok, mainly me) got so excited and wanted to brave the cold for some blog photos. Still some of the coolest shoots we've gotten yet!




In January I also started my semester-long Marketing Internship with a company that I would later work for after graduation part-time while I go through my "what in the world am I going to do now after I graduated" period. The people I worked with were so kind and fun and I got to learn more about what I was studying in the real world as well as made a TV appearance! 





This past year I also got to attend one of my high school friend's wedding! It's so surreal to see a friend I grew up with get married, but it was so fun celebrating him and his beautiful wife Jordan! Even though many of us have gone separate ways since high school, it was nice to know that things haven't really changed when we do end up meeting again. 





April was such a fun month! I mean for one, it's my birthday month and we all know how I feel about my birthday... but I also got to collaborate with one of my FAVORITE brands, BooHoo! It was probably one of my favorite collaborations I've done to date and I loved sharing their cute and affordable pieces with you all. 





This year was my T-Swift year! This past birthday might be one of my favorites. I got to celebrate with a delicious dinner with RJ at one of my favorite restaurants in Charlotte and I may or may not cried during the end of it because his family surprised me with a super sweet gift... and it was the first birthday I actually "went out." I was surrounded by such great friends and felt so loved!





April was such a great month filled with so many great memories of midnight Ben and Jerry runs, nailing my last class presentations and crafting together my graduation cap... and then May happened. 




I think it's no surprise that I wasn't exactly excited to graduate from college. I mean, leaving the college bubble and heading out into the real world was (and still is) terrifying, especially since I didn't have a plan of action on what I was going to do next. But, you can't exactly pause time and you just have to go with the flow. So, graduation day came, it rained, I cried and celebrated with my family. I wrote a letter to my university and it still may be one of my favorite blog posts I've written all year. 



This past year my little corner of the internet turned 3! It's crazy to think how time has flown by and I've already been posting on here for that long. It's been fun sharing my journey with you all and I can't wait to continue doing so in the upcoming year. Funny story about the blog posts in my 3-year blogiversary post is that we were on top of a parking deck on campus and campus police actually drove up to us and asked us what we were up to... ha!




I really made it a goal to try and explore more of Charlotte this past year. I got over my fear of driving in the city and begin to eat my way through it one delicious dessert at a time. RJ and I tried so many new restaurants this past year and there's still so many left to check off our bucket list. A few of my favorite places we tried this past year have been Ninety's Ice Cream, Vivace, and Sunflour Baking Co!





I think one of the toughest things that happened this past year was moving out of my first apartment. I had lived in the same place for 3 years and was minutes away from all of my friends. I had actually put off packing for the longest time because I was in denial of moving out. The actual apartment itself wasn't ideal, but I LOVED having my own place and having people over. Something I look forward to hopefully happening in 2018.





The night before I had to move out, RJ and I spent 6 hours packing up my entire apartment into both of our cars and didn't go to bed until 3am. It was definitely a sad night, but I do remember me, RJ and one of my roommates from freshman year going up to the rooftop and looking at the stars together one last time. It was such a special moment just spending the last few moments with them before going our separate ways. 





One of the coolest things I got to experience this past year was witnessing a solar eclipse!! My hometown was actually one of the places that were in the path of complete totality so it was so getting to go home and experience that. 





RJ and I also celebrated 5 years of being together!! It's crazy how fast time goes by but it's been so fun experiencing Charlotte and life with him. 





I have to admit the last few months of the year have been a little harder on me than I thought it would be. With adjusting to working two jobs, having all of my friends move away and dealing with trying to find out what my next steps in life were going to be was harder than I thought. RJ and I experienced being long distance for the first time and I was trying my best to stay busy to distract myself from everything. 

Even though mentally it has been a little harder to adjust to things, I did learn some new things about myself and begin to be more independent (which is funny because that was one of my goals for this past year!). I mean, we always say it's the uncomfortable situations that help make us grow. 




So with that, I hope to be pushed more out of my comfort zone in 2018. I'm ready for growth and new experiences. Thank you all for following along with me for another year and I am excited to see what 2018 holds. I hope you all have a wonderful day and I'll see you in the new year!!

xoxo,
Amy

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