Hello!

Today I feel like doing something a little more reflective. As 2017 comes to a close, I want to write a little recap of everything that has happened to me this year. I know I’m a little early with this, but I’m planning to take a few days off from blogging after Blogmas ends, and I wanted to make sure that this got up before the start of 2018.

Before I get into this, I just want to quickly say that this “year in review” is only going to cover blogging and other things I personally experienced. It is not meant to be a review of 2017 in terms of anything else.

So, here are simply some thoughts I have on how this year went for me. Hopefully I’ll be able to look back on this at some point in the future and see how much things have changed.

Blogging

As some of you may know, 2017 was the first full calendar year that I blogged. I started Currently, Lately in August of 2016. And although I had a lot of fun creating content in those few months, I don’t think I really figured anything out until this 2017. (Of course, I’ve yet to figure a lot of things out, but that’s beside the point…)

Anyway, 2017 was definitely a big year for me in terms of blogging. I learned so much this year about writing posts, taking flatlays, and promoting myself on social media (who would’ve thought Instagram was more than just a place to share pictures of your morning coffee?) I feel a lot better about the content I’m putting up now than I did a year ago. And I’ve discovered how important it is to put quality above quantity. Looking back at the first few posts I put up on this blog, I can’t help but wonder ‘what on Earth was I thinking?’ I don’t feel that way anymore, which is a relief. But I guess I’ll have to wait and see what I think a year from now.

Photography

Photography was a big thing I worked on this year, and I’m really happy with how mine has changed. I know I’ve done this a couple of times before, but I love drawing comparisons from my flatlays from a year ago to my flatlays now.

While I definitely still have loads of improvement to do, I find it mind-boggling how big of a difference one year has made. Learning about style, lighting, and composition has been so impactful on my photography. Plus, it has also made me realize how much I enjoy taking photos!

My Favorite Post I Wrote This Year

Oddly enough, my favorite post of 2017 is a simple haul that I wrote back in July. There’s really nothing unique about the post. It’s pretty much your standard, run-of-the-mill haul. But for some reason, I remember having such a fun time writing it. And it’s the feeling rather than the actual content that makes that particular post memorable for me.

But if I were choosing a favorite post based on actual content, I would say it would be this one about letting go of things you can’t control. I feel like that topic has been an overarching theme of 2017 for me personally, and it’s one I’d like to carry with me into the new year.

Most Popular Posts of 2017

The Pros and Cons of Beauty Subscription Boxes

5 Ways to Bring Readers to Your Blog

Why I’ve Quit My Instagram Theme 

Tarte Pearly Girl Teeth Whitening Pen

7 Reasons I Love Running 

5 Things Beauty Blogging Has Taught Me About Makeup

These are some of my most popular posts for 2017. The one that really takes me by surprise is the Tarte Pearly Girl review. I did a lot of beauty reviews and first impressions posts in 2017, and I’m not sure why this one in particular was viewed more than the others.

My Dog

If you follow me on social media, you’ve probably already seen tons of pictures of my dog. But if you don’t, let me introduce you to Ellie. She is the sweetest thing, and I absolutely adore her. I could fill an entire post with photos of her (if you’d want to see that)! She has certainly made 2017 memorable.

Coffee

Admittedly, 2017 is the year I got hooked on coffee. I’m not quite sure how it happened, but at some point my one-cup-every-now-and-then philosophy turned into a one-cup-in-order-to-get-out-of-bed philosophy. I’m not too upset about it though (and it really does make for cute flatlays).

Those are really the things I wanted to touch upon. I hope your 2017 has been going well, and that your 2018 will be even better!

How was your 2017? Good? Bad? Somewhere in between? 

(sorry…didn’t mean for that to rhyme.)

Sincerely,

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