Happy New Year loves!!! I had an extroidinary December traveling with my hubs. I was so excited to go on our trip together for almost 2 weeks!!! I almost never get that amount of time with him consecutively. I am still in the throws of getting all my articles together to post so keep your eyes peeled for them in January. Once back home in Tampa I had 5 days to get in the Christmas mood. It all came together nicely as you all may have seen here in my Christmas City Life VLOG.
For the rest of the year I just wanted to give no F's about anything and have mimosas everyday. Now, this could back fire on me consuming the dreaded carbs, but I was like ah, whatever. I am always pretty strict about what I eat so being that it was vacation month I just decided to eat everything I wanted.
Now, I had a lot of time to think about how to recap a decade of work on this very blog and my two YouTube channels. I decided this was the best way.
2011
My very first blog post was on my anniversary.
My About Me post here may have the highest view count since after all people want to know more about who they are following.
My first time to Virginia and Tennessee in the Fall was interesting. I still own this sweater dress, but I love this post here more - The Secret Tunnel. I was relatively new to blogging and at this point I was just posting things; I wasn't even aware that people were reading them until what would be February of 2012 when I discovered analytics.
2012
This one post here is what started me in the direction of YouTube (blogging did not start immediately , it was about six months after). I started my YouTube after basically discovering YouTube. I was looking for info on Wen hair products. I came across a YouTuber named Sidrastar (I don't know if she still makes videos) and I was like man, I want to make videos too!!! And it was literally that simple.
Graduating and finding out about Celiacs
Introducing myself to my new YouTube subscribers and discussing my big chop and weight-loss here.
This year was pivotal for me just because of the above mentioned life changing events. But some other interesting stuff happened. I went to Washington D.C. and that trip was so amazing. I used my graduation money to buy a new DSLR camera and I was feeling so fancy.
Some memorable posts from D.C. Hot Child in the City here.
I lost 72 pounds after struggling with my weight and acid reflux and all these other problems. All along I just needed to eliminate gluten, but did not know it. I was really optimistic and joined hair groups and fitness groups. I big chopped (cut off all of my relaxed hair and was rocking a TWA Teeny weeny afro). I quickly learned not only were my "friends" jealous of my weight-loss, but saying I was anorexic. The people at my Church were also saying things like this even though everyone saw me walking everyday and eating clean. I was so angry and devastated . I still am angry and I don't know if I ever wont be you know because people in a Church should not be shaming you for eating healthy and working out. No one ever came to visit me when I was sick. It was all a lie that the Church should be there for you in a time of need. Meanwhile, they were pointing the finger at me claiming I was faking being sick. To this day a point of contention within my family because to them no one did anything wrong to me. This was pivotal in the ways we would evolve later. I stopped talking to anyone that was talking trash about me behind my back. I was only 112 pounds and while it is a completely normal weight for my height, I did not deserve that additional stress. I basically dropped from 125 to 112 in a matter of months of reaching my target goal. You can find that whole story here Beauty & Strength Apparent.
My husband and I made the most popular YouTube video of the decade for me...The Husband Tag here, it has almost 1 million views.
ETA: Well, it's been brought to my attention that YouTube messed with a lot of peoples view counts on their videos and now this video that I am 100% sure had over 800k views now is showing 48k which is a bummer. I just looked at this video on my channel within the last 6 months and the view count was on it's way to 900k. I am not sure why YouTube is retroactively removing views, but for measure I embedded it here on my blog and that post has 31k unique views here. So, yea there is no way it's 48k on YouTube where it had way more exposure. My husband and I were really proud that we had a video go viral just off of people liking us as a couple. I hope they change my view count back soon. In July my YouTube partnership with Stylehaul ended because they went out of business and I am sure this has to do with that whole headache.
I did a lot of popular "Look For Less" posts where I would find similar looks that celebrities wore and re-create a cheaper affordable version here.
Because we had no money our stay-cations and micro-vacations were at the beach. Somethings never change because we love beach trips!
Beach day and swimwear post here.
2013
Looking back on this year everything was heavily centered around hair, fashion, makeup, cooking and doing things on a budget. Like I said, there was no blogger scene at this time. We had a new house in a new Sub Division. People would literally sit in their garages and watch my husband take photos of me. A lot of my posts were about Just Fab because I had just started shopping their BOGO sales. We were in college and so so broke. We were lucky to go on a vacation once a year. I think this was the year I may have also gotten a new car, the car we still drive to this day. I lost my job a month after buying this car too. We looked to cruising as an affordable way to see the world together. Some memorable posts are here cruise VLOG.
As a content creator I have met people say they struggle to come up with creative content. YouTube definitely taught me to do that, but being broke will have you getting creative which is what most of this year's posts were about. I was 1 year post graduating and still wasn't finding the job of my dreams and it was so depressing. I made a significant amount of money selling Mary Kay and that was fun while it lasted. I realized that I kind of was being taken advantage of by the team "leader" and she was making all the money while I was racking up bills every time Mary Kay decided to change formulas. No one wanted to attend parties and no one wanted to buy anything because they did not have money either. I more or less felt like I was getting manipulated and I was. I realized no one has to pay for my content, so why not just give that up and put more energy into being a content creator. I am so happy I came to this realization.
My most popular post was the Thanksgiving OOTD here.
Favorite natural hair tutorial: the Janelle Monae pompador here.
My ver first office tour (I have done 4 now as my taste changed)
2014
I moved to South Tampa. Leaving the subburbs in the country was the best thing we ever did. I hated it out there so much. As a new-ish blogger I knew if I ever wanted to break through in Tampa, it wasn't going to happen living almost at the edge of the county. At this point in Tampa there was no food scene, no blogging scene, no events no nothing. People did not even really know what a blogger was much less a street style blogger.
The second best thing about this year was only months after moving I had the chance to go to Manhattan for two weeks. That trip changed me so much. My husband had finally graduated and had a new job and his job had events that I could go to and network! This was my first rooftop experience and this was before rooftop bars and lounges were even a thing in Tampa. I was like of this is so fetch. I was truly getting my life here and my visit to the Met here. Y'all Instagram had just come out for Android now too. Visiting New York was surreal because I was getting whatever I wanted all day everyday and I got so spoiled. I told my husband I can never stay in a regular hotel again after this. Thus the birth of the Luxury travel Blogger/Vlogger was born.
I reached my peak in this year on YouTube. My channel really didn't grow much after that, but I maintained my 34,000 subscribers. I had set in my mind that if I could get 30,000 subscribers I would have reached my personal goal.
2015
Have you ever had adult women older than you bully you out of jealousy? Till this year I hadn't, but the hate can be so real. I realized as people became more familiar with the term "blogger" the more it distanced me from them; I wasn't treated the same at all. People did not know what to really think about it. As my oldest friend told me, "I was intimidated by the fact that you were a blogger. I thought you were all that and now too good to hang out with me". Well, I never knew taking photos in front of your garage door for free with a flip camera (yep, I started out really simple with a 60.00$ Flip camera) made you "all that", but I think it had a lot more to do with taking the chance at putting myself out there when others were too afraid to.
And just to add, we are still friends to this day.
As I keep turning out content in hopes of getting noticed I am commissioned by Just Fab to be a Brand Ambassador around the end of 2014. They noticed me on social media and called me up. Well, not short after that I won a contest and was invited to do a photoshoot in California for Just Fab. I also went to I guess my first real event for Influencers which was the opening of the Just Fab headquarters in California. I had never been to California and I swear that trip was the hottest mess ever. But my husband and his job had connections and on my only free day out there I had thee most fun.
My favorite photos from this trip were the ones out in the Hills on the side of the mountains here. I think at that point my husband and I knew we were on a different path that what my parents wanted for us and we were in it together. California VLOGS are here also.
Key note: When in California I actually got a Deva cut before my photoshoot. I loved the way it turned out. That was the only haircut I have ever had. I just trim my own hair.
2016
I started practicing yoga and meditation.
The best thing about this year was this was the start of Road Tripping Aircations. My husband and I had 0 desire to road trip after having done it a lot for Church Lectures. We were completely turned off from it, most likely because none of them were ever any fun. When I started looking into my ancestors and my heritage it took me to St. Augustine and Jacksonville. The trip was eye opening and enlightening. It started a fire within that made me want to get my masters in Africana Studies. This trip was the start of many more road trips. And unfortunately, this really wasn't supported by my family. I was met with comments like "Why do you want to do this?" Why would you go to a slave plantation" yadda yadda yadda. We come from generations of lost information so how could you not want to know?
I never shared my DNA test results because frankly I did not think it was anyone's business. The post "Who Do You Think You Are" was the start of my journey to finding out just that. Since this date my DNA test results have changed 2 more times so I am left feeling like a lot of whishfullness is put into taking a home DNA test, but the results can't be 100% accurate if the sample size being tested is too small.
My second YouTube channel FashiontoliveTV is still up. During 2015 and 2017 I was very active making cooking tutorials and vacation vlogging. Some things happened that steered me away from continuing... a lot of friends and family were using my VLOGS as a means to stalk me, talk trash, and lurk. And my mom started acting like my VLOG was for her to show off! The second thing is that Snapchat came out and in my opinion it rendered vacation vlogging on YouTube defunct. I did not enjoy editing more videos, finding more royalty free music, when I could just use Snapchat.
One of my favorite recipes is for my gluten free frittatas here. I quickly realized anything I was posting on my FashiontoliveTV YouTube could just be posted here in picture form and that made everything easier.
My most popular FashiontoliveTV post: 30 Days of Squats here. It has almost 500k views.
2017:
After 4 years of being an ambassador for Fabletics that partnership "sunsetted" as they put it. I really don't have anything positive to say about that at this point. It did not end for me on a positive note, however it gave me a chance to start wearing other brands of workout gear and experience something new and fun.
2018:
The best thing about this year was being on one of the first cruise ships to visit Cuba. My most popular post was of this year was actually one where I just totally had a meltdown- after Cuba. I have a lot of family issues and they just spill out some times, but you guys loved that post surprisingly.
My favorite post from my Cuba Aircation. I just loved the architecture
Meltdown post: July City Life Moody July here.
After seeing this I decided to keep doing Op-Eds and almost all of my Op-Eds are highly read.
After 8 years of being a Brand Ambassador for Just Fab they "sunsetted" that program, also not on positive terms. I am trying to keep it cute, but it makes you feel a certain kind of way when you give 8 years of your time to a company as they start up and they just split ties abruptly with no explanation ...
I am going to have to say 2018 was the hardest year for me, because I had to come to some hard realizations about relationships that I have that inevitably will never succeed. I am at a point where I am flourishing and instead of being nurtured and encouraged I am being stifled and put down.
2019:
This was my year of fun and reflection. At this point I am a lot older than when I first started this journey as a blogger and I have a lot more insight. Things that would have gone straight over my head in social settings years ago don't anymore. I have been embarking on this whole journey of getting more exposure in my city- the city I always repped from the start and now the Influencer scene is completely oversaturated. The same thing is happening a lot with blogging too.
My most popular post of 2019 was coincidentally my New Year's Eve post here at Tampa Armature Works with 930 unique views.
I had a lot of ambassadorships over the last decade- over 10. I was really happy to have ended this year as a Brand Ambassador for Pepin Distributions/Anheuser Busch and my most major collaboration of the decade with Eyeglassworld in July.
The pinnacle of this year was my husband surprising me with tickets to Hamilton for my birthday. Our end of the year vacation trip would be #2 because we had so much fun traveling together.
2020
The best has yet to come!!! I started out the last decade in a very very different place. I was working more than 40 hours a week and in college. I encouraged my husband to get his passport along with mine right at the end of the last decade and finished out this one renewing just in time for our trip. We have a lot of goals we want to accomplish together. Some personal goals for my blog would be landing this brand ambassadorship that I have been chasing in my head for a while. I like to get the year started on a good strong foot and finish strong if I can. We are off to a good start.
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| Earrings C/O Ettika |
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| Earrings C/O Ettika |
I picked up these great jewelry trays during the Black Friday sale at Ettika.
DATE NIGHTS
These are some extra photos from Enchant Christmas in St.Pete
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| Mole Y Abuela |
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| Girls day- Bistro BT |
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| BT Bistro- lunch with hubs |
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| The Library Located in John's Hopkins Hospital  |
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| CW Gin Joint |
GLUTEN FREE MEALS COOKED BY MYSELF- RECIPES AVAILABLE BY REQUEST IF NOT POSTED.
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My Harvest Spaghetti (Key notes: ground turkey and zucchini) Cook 1 package (should be 1 lb) organic ground turkey up in a cast iron or whatever pan you have. Oil the pan and break it up as it cooks and browns. Add EVOO add 1 cup of chicken broth towards the end when the meat is almost done and cook until no longer pink on low. Season with salt, pepper, and Complete seasoning. |
Chop up:
1 large zucchini squash
1green bell pepper
1/2 red bell pepper
3/4 white or yellow onion
4 cloves of garlic
Add all these ingredients to the turkey in the pan and 1 can of diced tomatoes and 1 jar of marinara sauce.
Cook on 6 (medium heat) for 1 hour stirring every 20 to 25 minutes.
I like to serve this with gluten free Barilla corn spaghetti
(I do not usually add sugar or tomato paste to my spaghetti because I like it tart.
Seasonings:
Season with salt and pepper to taste
garlic powder
Complete seasoning (again in the sauce)
parsley
CHICKEN STIR FRY
- 1 teaspoon canola oil
- canola oil spray
- 1 1/2 pound chicken breasts butterflied into think filets
- 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/4 cup brown sugar unpacked
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon corn starch mixed with 1 tablespoon water
- sesame seeds for garnish optional
INSTRUCTIONS
Note: click on times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer while cooking.
- Add the canola oil to a large nonstick skillet on medium high heat.
- Spray all the chicken pieces quickly with a canola oil spray.
- Add the chicken and cook for 4-5 minutes on each side before removing the chicken from the skillet.
- Add the rest of the ingredients to the skillet and whisk well, cooking until thickened.
- Add the chicken back to the skillet and coat the chicken before serving and slicing into thin pieces.
- Garnish with sesame seeds, optional.
Serve up some hors d'oeuvres
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