5 Years of Blogging!

I can't believe I'm hitting my 5 year anniversary of blogging. This blog has been though hundreds of posts, thousands of words, and a handful of relationships. I've made amazing friends on here that I'm so grateful for.

To be honest, I thought I would have stopped blogging years ago, so to see me hit this milestone, is something I'm very proud of.

I went through the archive of every single post I've every written (and there are over 450 of them), and while some posts are super cringe, it's also super nice to see how far I've come. In this post, I thought I would share all the posts I'm most proud of. When you see the list, you'll definitely see a theme.

I actually forgot I had written half of these posts, but after going through them all, it makes me more proud to see how my writing style has changed, how much I've grown in every single way, it just puts me in my feels a bit.

Grab a cup of coffee or tea, and I hope you give a lot of these posts a read, they're some of the stuff I'm proudest of. I put them in order from oldest to newest stuff! I assumed those of you reading now, have already read most of my new work.

Posts I'm proudest of:

2017

• #ILiveitIBlogit Campaign

I think this was the first time I opened up to my readers about anything personal! A lot of the posts before this was very 2016 lifestyle content. It took me almost 10 months of writing cliche lifestyle content, before writing this one. I remember feeling so nervous to post it. While it wasn't post that's the best written, it's still something I'm super proud of, I allowed myself to be vulnerable.

• I Need to Get Something Off My Chest

I remember the cathartic feeling I felt after writing my first personal post, and wanting to feel that again. It's extremely therapeutic to write, especially in such an uncensored way. In a lot of ways, my blog was my journal. I definitely edited this post dozens of times before posting it, but I remember being so happy with it afterwards.

• Heartbreak

Not only was I going through my second romantic heartbreak, I was simultaneously going through some serious friend breakups. I remember really struggling trying to organize my thoughts. At the time, I didn't even know how I was feeling, and so this was a really tough post to write.

2018

• I Used to Think I Was Ugly

After the downward spiral of my life, it took months to write anything personal. About 6 months after the Heartbreak post, I wrote this piece. While I don't remember writing this one, so I can't tell you my mindset, I do remember feeling proud of this.

Some of my friends who read my blog, told me how proud of me they were. Not only that, but they thought the writing was very good! I was always pretty self-conscious with my writing, especially since I had a super talented writer for a sister. It felt nice to have people compliment my writing.

• Overthinking is a Disease

Now, I could be wrong, but I think this is the first time I talk about my anxiety? I don't remember writing this post either. While there are some things in this post I can still relate to, I'm proud to share that there are lots of things about this post I don't relate to anymore. In terms of my friendships, I don't overthink them at all anymore. I found my tribe of people, and I have faith that they genuinely like me for me.

• I Thought I was Unworthy of Being Loved

Now this one was a hard one to read. This is one of those posts that, to this day, is one of the most read posts on my blog. Which means, I actually read this post frequently enough. It's sad to think that after 3 years I still feel this way about my romantic relationships. I've been working on my positive self-talk (which my therapist is a huge fan of), and it helps at times, so I would say I've improved.

Again, in terms of friendships, I have accepted the love I've been so fortunate to receive from them. I don't feel unworthy of their friendship anymore.

• The Pressure to Find...Someone

This is something that still irks me. After sitting down with my close family, they don't do this anymore. I still get it with distant relatives though! It never fails to ruin my good mood.

• Maybe I'm Not Shy?

Looking through all these posts, I never realized that I had written so many personal posts in 2018 that I was proud of! I remember the moment when this post idea came to mind. I was in NYC with an ex, and was tipsy after having brunch, and this thought hit me like a ton of bricks.

2019

• Would You Avoid Hardships If You Could

It's interesting how my thought process has changed, I guess that shows growth, but this post is something I 100% still stand by.

• I Am My Own Worst Critic

Now, this is another post I forgot I wrote. This is another post I can say that I don't really relate to as much. While I am hard on myself when it comes to my mental traits, I have come to terms with the way I look. I'm just a lot kinder to myself overall, but I would say more-so for my physical attributes.

• It's Important to Love Ourselves

Finally, we're getting to the self-love chapter in my life! After years of self-loathing and reflection, I start working on rewiring my brain. I've come a long way since this post, but again I'm amazed at my vulnerability.

• We are so Hard on Ourselves

You can hear the shift in tone in these more recent posts. I'm a lot more forgiving & positive. It's kind of cool to be able to see the growth so clearly. If I didn't have my blog, I wouldn't have ever noticed how much I've grown! I just keep rereading these posts as I write this one, and feel so proud of myself.

• At 25, Am I an Adult Yet?

It's funny reading this post, and still feeling the same way now, at 27. I'm closer to 30 than I am to 20, and I still don't feel like I have my life all together.

• I Have to See Things Through

Why am I still like this? I have been able to put books down that aren't very good, but in my life, I have a lot of trouble letting go. For whatever reason, I still feel like I have to see things through. I'm definitely not as bad when it comes to relationships. It's mainly because I'm learning to finally speak up, and share how I'm feeling, instead of sucking it up. Another reason to feel proud of myself (I guess this is just a hype myself up post, aha)

2020

• This Façade I Wear is Too Strong Sometimes.

Finally we've reached 2020! There were a lot more posts that I really like, than I realized. This was post was still almost 2 years from now. Even though it's 2 years old, it's something I relate to quite a to still.

• Dear You,

Now, this was a series I was super proud of writing. I only ended up writing two of these, but I can continue writing them whenever I want. The thought behind these came to me one day, but it honestly took me months to sit down and write it. They were so emotionally draining to write. In the same breath, it was super therapeutic.

• What does Being a Good Person Entail?

2020 was definitely the year of finding my writing groove. I feel like I write very similarly, which is nice. Some of my earlier pieces didn't really align with my writing style now. This is still a post that resonates with me, and I still feel was a very good concept!

• Trying on Shorts From Last Summer

While I had talked about my insecurities, both physical and emotional. I had never gone into my weight gain/weight loss journey. Anyone who's ever gone through drastic body changes, knows how …odd it makes you feel.

You look in the mirror and still see the bigger version of you. You fret over every imperfection.

• Enjoying the Reminder to Slow Down

During the midst Covid, I didn't really have any motivation. I was following the same routine day in and day out. There was no inspiration. I think this may have been a moment when my writer's block hit the hardest, and yet, I was able to write this one piece I ended up really liking!

• Dear You, 002

Again, this series in general, is something I'm proud of. I'm planning on continuing it eventually, I'm just waiting for inspiration to strike!

2021

• You never realize...

Finally, we have reached 2021! There weren't a lot of posts that I really loved. It mainly had to do with Covid still going on for the first half of the year. For this second half of the year, I already have written three posts that I've really liked. Even though September was a shit show of a month, I got some great inspiration to write! These posts were super fresh on my mind (it's only been two months since I've written this).

• Dating Anxiety

With me starting to date seriously again, it's definitely brought a lot of anxious emotions with it. There are pros and cons to dating, but I'm happy to finally have the chance to dive back into finding my person.

• it's hard to trust, and yet trusting someone is key

We have finally reached the end. This last post I've written, was actually a very difficult post to write. It's something that I was currently going through, and so it hit very close to my heart. A lot of the time when I write, I like to distance myself from a situation, before attempting to write about it. For this post, that wasn't the case.

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It's kind of crazy, that these handful of posts show the perfect evolution of my blog and my writing. Going back through them has been an amazing experience! It's super cool to see how far my blog has come. I was writing a lot of beauty, travel, and book content in the beginning, and somewhere along the way, shifted naturally. I'm super proud to have been around for 5 years of blogging. If you read this far into this post, I really appreciate you!

Thanks for tagging along for the ride, and we'll chat in the next one xx