2018 in a Nutshell

Wow, I can’t believe I’m sitting down to write my end of the year recap. This year was a doozie. It was slow moving yet it flew by too quickly. It was a year of new experiences, places and opportunities but also one of loss, sadness, tragedy and things not turning out the way I’d hoped/planned. This year has humbled me, made me vulnerable, tested my emotional strength, made me more independent and through it all it’s slowly made me stronger and more optimistic than ever.

Simply said, all in all, 2018 was a lot.

JANUARY

January started off promising, I was offered a new job and for those of you who have followed me for a while you know that I was mostly blogging, styling and shooting-very freelance stuff. I was all about my freedom and this job was a set schedule, back to requesting days off, etc. so taking the job was something I truly went back and forth with in my head for a while before accepting. Once I was in, I was all in though. I went to Dallas for a quick visit to the Dallas Museum of Art to see the Yayoi Kusama Pumpkin installation and to catch a Dallas Maverick vs Houston Rockets game. #goRockets I don’t remember much else about January other than that, starting my new job, getting on a regular workout routine and beginning my planning for my very first trip to Europe. More on that later (& part of it here).

FEBRUARY

February was a really fun month for me. It was the 3 year anniversary of my blog. I started my food account on Instagram, which meant visiting more restaurants “for research”, plus I was still able to juggle styling and shooting fun content with my favorite photographer, Carlos, work my new hours at my job, workout more consistently (for once) and I even landed a couple of my first food collaborations. Heart shaped pizza anyone? The only negative was the cold temperature, but that’s to be expected in Winter I suppose.

MARCH

March was also a great month. The biggest highlight and my proudest moment (thus far) as a big sister was getting to watch my brother perform at SXSW for the very first time. It was so cool! I was snapping a million photos like a little fan girl of him and his new friends, lol, I sound like a grandma. Whatever, I don’t care, I was proud. SXSW was eh compared to most years for me otherwise. The headliners were eh, the showcases were eh and the weather too was eh. Oh, Oh ,Oh…I saw a K-pop showcase and legit fell in love with this band. I listened to the same song from them on YouTube for the next couple weeks but for some reason I can’t seem to remember for the life of me what the hell the name of the band was right now! I’ll update you when I do!

APRIL

April, the big birthday month and this time I don’t just mean ‘the big birthday month’ no! It was the BIG birthday month, 30 y’all! I’m 30 now, which means I’m supposed to be an adult but well, here I am, maturity at the same level of an 8th grade boy and yet I am in fact a 30 year old, ahem, lady. I don’t know how wise I am really, I mean people always come to me for advice and with their troubles but those same people (and then some) are also constantly telling me “Grow up Sylvia” or “That’s inappropriate Sylvia”, but I shared some of the lessons I had learned up until that point in this post.

I actually kept it pretty low-key for my actual birthday, celebrating with a Saturday night out with friends and then brunch the following morning coupled with a little Sunday Fundaying. The real celebration was to come, in May, in Mexico.

The true highlight of April was Austin Fashion Week, I was able to attend 2 nights of shows and I went with 3 of my closest friends. There is nothing like the excitement of fashion shows; the pounding music, flashing cameras, bubbly booziness of having a couple glasses of champagne and sharing memories with great friends. We had so much fun. Head to my AFW Instagram highlight to check out more videos and photos from the night.

MAY

In May I left the US for the very first time in my life. Yeah, don’t judge me. I’m a late bloomer. A group of 7 of us went to Tulum, Mexico for my late 30th birthday celebrations and it was completely magical. The cenotes, the ruins, the beach, the street tacos, the people, the coconuts, I could go on and on. Gah, I love Mexico. I love Tulum. Seeing the ruins and cenotes, hell just going to Mexico (along with so many other countries) was on my bucket list. Check out this post (my most read post EVER) to find out everything you need to know about Tulum!

JUNE

In June I got Botox for the first time as well as Belotero, a thin filler, that I had injected into my tear trough area to fill in a deep line that had been bothering me for some time. I also had my lips done and you guys, they looked sooo good. I was completely obsessed and I feel like they’ve gone back down to normal size now and I really want to go bigger again so stay tuned, there may be more under the knife adventures in 2019. Read more about this experience here.

JULY

Fourth of July kicked the month off with a bang, I spent the day on the lake with my best friends celebrating freedom and embarking on my first of two Instagram takeovers with JustFab. I became a brand partner with JustFab last October so this was a huge honor to be asked in such a short amount of time and with such a small following on Instagram. Speaking of huge honor, my very best friend asked me to be her Maid of Honor and I couldn’t be more thrilled to help her plan every detail of her upcoming wedding. Later in July I was able to tick another bucket list item off by heading to Miami for Miami Swim Week and attending shows. I’ve been dreaming about attending Swim Week For-Ev-Er. Plus any reason to go to Miami, um, you guys know I’m taking. While I was in Miami I did my second Instagram takeover with JustFab and got to share my favorite things about Miami, bts at events and runway exclusives.

AUGUST

I don’t remember August. I was probably just busy planning out my itinerary for my first solo experience the upcoming month.

SEPTEMBER

September was something out of a movie. I visited 3 countries, 5 cities in 11 days. There were bags lost, long standing plans ruined, things canceled last minute and on top of all of the roller coaster of emotions already happening just from the trip, my dog was severely injured on my third night in Paris requiring an emergency life saving surgery. It was all too much. I almost flew home on the fourth day of my trip, meaning I would have missed seeing Nice, Munich and Zurich. I’m so glad that everything worked out the way it did and I was convinced to stay and finish my trip. I learned so much about myself, what I’m capable of, what I want, what I don’t and I also learned a lot about the people around me. Plus I embarked on my first solo trip in my life. It was so intimidating but exhilarating too. Everyone should travel alone at least once in their life. Be alone with your thoughts, do exactly what you want to do in the moment, feel vulnerable, feel alive.

OCTOBER

In October it was back to work. I got home from my trip and immediately was promoted then left the very next week for a weeklong conference in Dallas. I’m now the official Brand Manager for Saxon MD, a Facial & Reconstructive Plastic Surgery Practice. AKA, I’m kind of a big deal. lol. When I got back Duchess, my dog, had to undergo a second surgery in the hopes to correct her injured leg. This was the start of eight weeks of her in a cast. It was absolutely heartbreaking to see my baby in pain, unable to go for runs, to lay on the couch (she was unable to jump), wearing a surgical cone. Ah, my heart. October began the decline of my year, eh, I guess it started truly while I was still in Europe. The cold weather set in again and with everything happening with Duchess I was in the biggest funk ever. I stopped working out, telling myself that I just felt guilty running without her but really I was getting depressed.

NOVEMBER

November was just more of October, Duchy was still in her cast. My work was mounting leaving me less and less time to focus on my fun blog stuff and I just felt drained all of the time. Then towards the end of November it became apparent that Duchess wouldn’t be in a good enough spot to be watched during Art Basel, meaning I needed to cancel my trip to Miami in early December. I was heartbroken. I was getting more and more sad. I say ‘was’ as I write this but really I still am, this has been one of those “question everything you’re doing with your life” funks that is really hard to shake.

DECEMBER

I could not get into the holiday spirit whatsoever this year. The depression is SO REAL. I found myself hating everything, losing my creativity, completely isolating myself by declining every invitation even though being home made me more unhappy than anything, sleeping sooo many hours. I’ve slept for so long that I woke up feeling sore. It’s been a real lose-lose situation this month. I know I have so many things to be grateful for this year, so many new experiences, accomplishments and even blog growth (somehow) but I’m ending the year in a funk, one of the worst ones I’ve ever fallen into, one I can’t seem to shake. I’m forcing myself to go out tonight, New Years Eve, for the first time in 3 years in the hopes that it will set the course for a happier, livelier next year but who knows?

I need a change, a big one. I’ve wanted to leave Austin for a long time, I grew up here after all, and I think 2019 may be the year that it finally happens.

How did 2018 treat you?
Xx Sylvia