Coat: Similar // Dress: Similar // Shoes: Similar // Earrings: Similar // Bag: Similar

Happy New Year, Friends and Sleevenistas!  We’ve made to 2019!!  2018 wasn’t easy, as you guys may have noticed.  I struggled to stay motivated with blogging, while trying to maintain other aspects of my life – work, relationships, finances, etc.  I look back on my 2018 goals, and I am disappointed with how little I accomplished.  Check out some of the things I wanted to accomplish HERE and HERE.  I realize now that I had written down my goals, then forgot about most of them. I wasn’t reminding myself of where I wanted to be and why and using that to stay motivated throughout the year.  In 2019, I will do better.

I’ve got 12 new chapters and 365 new chances to accomplish my goals and live my best life.   One thing I want to make sure I do, instead of focusing on 2018’s failures, is to celebrate 2018’s wins!!  A lot of great things happened this year.  Let me list a few of them:

• I was able to partner with some great brands this year – Gwynnie Bee, Maggy London, Sleektrends, Nuciano Bags, Rooli Creations, Hiatus Spa, SoulCycle, Chico’s, and Neutrogena, to name a few.
• I won Houston’s It Girl of Instagram!  – That was awesome!  It felt so good to win an award that you all voted for!  There was a party at Neiman Marcus, and sometimes I replay that moment when they announced my name as the winner – I felt so loved! Lol.  In case you missed it, check it out in my Instagram Story Highlights.
• I was able to travel to New York for my second New York Fashion Week – Remember the Sleeves and the City minisodes? (Minisodes – One, Two, Three, Four, Five, and Six).  In 2019 or 2020, I would love to go to fashion week in another country!
• I had my tv debut and met someone who knows Oprah personally (maybe in 2019 I can meet her myself??)!  As you may recall, I had the opportunity to model for Chico’s and Oprah Magazine’s creative director, Adam Glassman, on Great Day Houston, a local morning tv show.  In case you missed it, check it out HERE (I show up at about 4:15).  Btw, I loved working with Chico’s! I will be partnering with them more in 2019. Stay tuned!
• I paid off all of my credit card debt!  That was a big win for me!  I never really thought much about my debt before discovering Dave Ramsey.  I got those credit cards when I was in college and carried a balance ever since (I’ve been out of college for 15 years)!! You may recall, I talked about reading the Total Money Makeover and working towards getting my finances together in 2018 in this post.  I didn’t get as far as I wanted on my debt free journey, but I didn’t incur any new debt and completely paid off my credit cards.  My financial goals for 2019 include paying off a small student loan and my car, then building a fully funded emergency fund.  Do you guys want to see more posts about finances and my debt free journey?
• I went on an amazing trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico with some friends and family for my friend’s 10-year anniversary vow renewal – I plan to do a recap post about that trip. Yes yes, I’ve been saying it, but I really want to start taking you guys along on my travels with me.  I do it on Instagram, but I want to talk more about my trips on the blog as well.  So, stay tuned for that content in 2019.  In fact, I have a staycation post coming up soon – I enjoyed a fab stay at Hotel Sorella in Houston that I want to share with you guys!

There were other wins, but these are just some that were on the top of my mind! Like I said in this post, a new year is always so exciting because it brings with it so many new possibilities.  In a future post, I will share more with you guys about what I want to do in 2019.  Maybe you can help keep me accountable!

But as a preview, one of the things that I really want to do is to be more consistent with getting out content to you guys.  I would also love to start distributing a newsletter, so you all will stay up to date on what’s going on in fashion and what’s going on with me.  I’m also planning to launch my personal styling business in 2019 as well.  So many things coming up!  What do you all want to see from me in 2019?  Are there any topics that I should cover? Let me know in the comments!

Have an amazing year, and, as always, thanks SO much for reading!!

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Photography: Francis Bassey Photography