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Fabulous living

2022 Year in Review

Here we are at the end of another year. At the beginning of this year, my motto or phrase of the year was “Building the Best Version of Me”. I really wanted to lean into my routines and rhythms that I established at the beginning of the year and stick to them and I was happy I did that.

It’s been said before that the older you get, the faster the years go by and that is certainly the truth.

This year has been busy with growing in my job, time with family both at home and away, building friends, enjoying hobbies.  

I’m using today’s entry as a both a recap of the past year and a favorite things of 2022 post.

So, let’s begin with a recap:

The beginning winter months of 2022 brought me out in snow and soaking up with outdoors with ice skating, winter walks and trying cross country skiing, something I haven’t tried in years.

Starting the year off with time outside, like skiing.
Time spent ice skating.
And cross country skiing…
Seeing the Immersive Van Gogh exhibit.
I also took in some local theater.

It also brought day trips to Pittsburgh for a trip to museums and time with family. As the weather got warmer, it meant more time outdoors with walks, picnics and trips to the local zoo and different parks.Ā 

Time in Pittsburgh in the spring
I love taking in all the architecture.
First zoo trip of the year.
Celebrating Easter traditions.

Both of my brothers graduated in the Spring, one from college and one from high school, so it was fun to celebrate their milestones as a family. I also celebrated my 24thĀ year around the sun.Ā 

First signs of spring.
Cheers to 24!

I tried to spend as much time outdoors as possible in the summer months, from walks, to reading outdoors, picnics, and countless meals outside, our winters are long, so I tred to take advantage of the summer as much as I can.

I went to the National Comedy Center this year.
Summer picnics outdoors.
Drive-in dates.

I met up with friends through the summer months for dinners, or coffee or walks. I also did some traveling with day trips with family and my boyfriend and then some meet ups with friends too. My family and I got away for a few days with and went to the ocean which was such a fun escape.

Beach days in the summer
One of the many places I went for hikes for in the summer.
It felt so good to relax for a few days at the beach!
More zoo trips!
Fair fun!
I spent so much time reading outdoors.
I enjoyed sunrises and sunsets.

The summer was also filled with baseball games, strawberry picking, zoos, bonfires, beach days, and grilling. I tried to head outside as much as I could when the seasons changed from summer to fall.

Day trips to Pittsburgh
Lots of burgers on the grill.
Beautiful night for baseball
Strawberry picking summer fun!
Bonfire nights.
In my happy place!
I went to my first MLB game this summer.
And ice cream nights!
I fell in love with avocado toast this summer too.
I enjoyed farmer’s markets this summer too.

But as the winds changed, I had to layer up for fall walks, leaf peeping and apple picking. I tried to do as much baking as possible when I was cooped up indoors.

Fall drives.
Lots of fall baking
Enjoying Beautiful Fall Walks
Apple picking fun!
First time seeing this majestic waterfall.
Making Halloween treats too.

The last chunk of the year was filled with all things holidays. From Halloween movies to family at Thanksgiving and all the Christmas and holiday cheer. The last few months are always my favorite time of the year.

Family movie night for Halloween.
More fall baking.
Hello holiday cheer!
All the Christmas spirit, from movies to decor, to hot cocoa.
Holiday fun!

That was a bit of a recap, now here’s some of my favorite things from the past 12 months:

Favorite Show: This is Us: the Final Season

Favorite Binge Watch: Downton Abbey (both the series and the movies)

Favorite New Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid (new to me!!)

Favorite New Movie: Elvis

Favorite Artist or Song: Taylor Swift’s Midnights

Favorite Adventure: First MLB Game in Cleveland to see the Guardians

This is a snapshot of this past year, it can be easy to forgot or not recall all the little moments that make up the past 365 days. This year has been so fulfilling and fun. I don’t know what the new year will bring, but I’m ready to embrace the change, take opportunities (even the scary ones), and make every moment count.

Thank you 2022…let’s ring in the new year!

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Fabulous living

What I’m Thankful For

Hello everyone! Happy Wednesday! If you are able to enjoy some time off around the Thanksgiving holiday. I hope the next few days are filled with delicious food, time with family or loved ones, making core memories and a time to rejuvenate.

After Thanksgiving, I know Christmas will be on the minds of many, if it isnā€™t already. Before Thanksgiving, I always like to take some extra time to reflect on my blessings and what Iā€™m thankful for.

I have so many things to be grateful for this year. I am so lucky to have a loving and supportive family with me. I love that I am able to work in my hometown and Iā€™m able to see my family every day. Thereā€™s no greater joy than coming home and enjoying a home cooked meal and talking about our dayā€™s. This year we have traveled to new places and visited old ones. One of the best things about this year was our time together from family dinners, to day trips and just conversations and laughs together. Thereā€™s nothing more special than time spent with family. I’m also grateful to my furbabies too!

A snapshot from our time spent at the beach this summer.
My favorite puppies!

Iā€™m grateful for my boyfriend brings out the best in me every day. He who pushes me to work my hardest and supports me in everything I do. From my job to my blog, heā€™s an incredible supporter. We have created so many wonderful memories from walks to adventures, trying new recipes and long drives. Our time together is one of the things I treasure most of all.

One of the many places we have got walking.

Iā€™m so lucky to have wonderful friends in my life. From friends from preschool, to high school friends and one from college. Iā€™m grateful that I have stayed in touch and continued to create memories with. From meeting halfway for dinners, to monthly facetime dates, walks and coffee hangs. As an adult, life can get busy so I try to make a point to put friendships first by checking in on friends when they have busy weeks, or making a suggestion for a favorite book or movie. I always love when I have friends who check in on me and support me and lift me up when I need an extra hand.

I’m grateful for a job that I love. I enjoy learning new things every day and being challenged and growing every day. I love being able to work and live in my hometown and make an impact every day.

A glimpse into some of the places my job takes me.

After illness being a topic of conversation for the past few years, I am so grateful for my good health, my familyā€™s health and my friendā€™s health. Waking up every day and being healthy is something I donā€™t take for granted. Life can get busy and our priorities can shift but reminding ourselves whatā€™s important is something we need to remind ourselves more.

Savoring the little moments in life, like fall drives.

Iā€™m thankful for all the challenging moments in life, for the long or stressful moments because it makes me stronger and makes me a better person. I know I wouldnā€™t be where I am today if it werenā€™t for the growing pains or the rollercoaster moments. All those little things got me to where I am today.

I am grateful for all the things that bring me joy! From curling up with a good book, to baking food for ones that I love, and enjoying heartfelt conversations with family and friends. Iā€™m grateful for how I feel when I finish a hard workout or a long walk. Iā€™m grateful for the satisfaction I feel when I prepare a meal or dessert for my family. Iā€™m grateful for the experience of getting lost in a book or a movie. Iā€™m grateful for resting after a productive day. Iā€™m thankful for seeing the sunrise every morning and watching it set. 

Finding hobbies like cooking and baking bring me so much joy!

Life is so precious and itā€™s made up so many little moments. At the end of the day, thatā€™s what Iā€™m most grateful for, all the moments, big and small. 

Feeling extra grateful this year!

Over the next few days, I hope you take the time to reflect on what you are most grateful for.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Fabulous living

2022 New Year’s Resolutions

Happy New Year friends! I hope you had a wonderful New Yearā€™s!

As much as I love the holidays, thereā€™s just something special about the fresh start of the new year.Ā 

During the week between Christmas and New Year I always like to set-up my Simplified planner for the new year and reflect on the passing year and set up my resolutions for the new year. I always like to see how far Iā€™ve come and look ahead to what I want to accomplish in the new year.Ā Here’s a recap from last year’s resolutions.

Each year I come up a word or phrase to live byā€¦.my phrase for 2022 isā€¦.Be the Best Version of Myselfā€¦I truly found my rhythm last year and I want to continue to cultivate my routines and lifestyles and grow in this new year.

Out with the old and in with the new…getting my new planner set up.

From mottos to goalsā€¦I always like to set a few realistic goals for myself each year and this year is no different.


I decided to break up my goals into different categories this year. The four categories that I want to work on are: Physical, Spiritual, Professional and Lifestyle.

Physical– I love getting my daily workouts in and fitness and health are a big priority for me. This year, I want to work more on healthy eating. I have a major sweet tooth, but I want to incorporate more veggies in my daily meals and be more mindful about what Iā€™m putting in my body. My goal for my physical health is to put more greens on my plate.Ā 

Spiritual– I always try to make my faith a priority and I want to continue to do that in the new year. Besides going to church every week I want to carve more time every morning for prayer and time with Jesus. My spiritual goal is spend more intentional time with God every day.

Professional– I want to continue to work on my craft and skills at work. This year I want to get more creative with my storytelling and writing. My goal this year is to really up my game with how I shoot video and tell stories every day at work.

Lifestyle– As far as my goals for my lifestyle goes for this upcoming year, I want to use more sustainable and recycled products in my daily life. From using recycled bags while shopping, to using plastic containers for my lunches. I want to waste less and do small acts every day to my part to help conserve materials.

I decided to work on four areas of my life this year in addition to continue to flourish in my routines and daily life. 

I canā€™t wait to see what this year holds and all the adventures that it entails as well as see how I grow personally and professionally.

Thatā€™s a look at my 2022 New Yearā€™s Resolutions.

What are some of your goals for the year ahead?

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Currently

Currently #24

Hey guys! Happy December…the countdown is on until Christmas! I hope you are gearing up for the holiday season!

Quick check in time…How are you doing? Got everything wrapped? Checking off all those holiday traditions? Feeling overwhelmed with everything you still have to do? Weā€™ve all been thereā€¦while it may seem like this season will never end, it will. In the meantime, enjoy every moment and soak up all the moments, the big ones (like decorating the tree) or the little ones like looking at Christmas lights.

Onto todayā€™s post, can you believe that we are up to two years of Currently?!  This has been such a fun monthly post, not only does it keep you updated on my life but it also puts in perspective everything Iā€™ve done in 30 days or soā€¦without further ado, hereā€™s this monthā€™s Currently.

What Iā€™m up to: ALL the Christmas fun and cheer. From skating, to watching Christmas movies, listening to Christmas music at every opportunity, baking cookies and shopping and wrapping this month has been about enjoying all the Christmas fun!

There’s Christmas cheer all over the house.
We got our tree earlier in the month and it was perfect tree cutting weather.

What Iā€™m wearing: Besides work clothes, Iā€™ve been getting in the Christmas spirit by wearing Christmas sweaters, some cute graphic shirts and of course, Christmas socks!!! I canā€™t get enough of Christmas socks!

What Iā€™m reading:  I finished reading ā€œAll the Light We Cannot Seeā€, it was definitely a heavier read but it was so well done. This month I have been reading all the Christmas books. I read “A Shoe Addictā€™s Christmas”, which was super cute. I then read “Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe”, this was the perfect mix of Christmas and a beautiful tribute to Jane Austen. Iā€™m currently reading “The Mistletoe Secret” by Richard Paul Evans, I read his series, ā€œThe Walkā€ during the pandemic and loved it, so Iā€™m very excited to read this one too. 

What Iā€™m Watching:Ā Besides watching classic Christmas movies and some Hallmark ones too.Ā Ā I have also been watching Selling Sunset on Netflix and like many other women out there, Iā€™ve been watching ā€œAnd Just Like Thatā€ā€¦the first two episodes were so beautiful and so poignant, but broke my heart. I canā€™t wait to see what else this season has in store. If you have watched them, what are your thoughts on the shows?

What Iā€™m Loving:Ā Christmas spirit all day, every day! I love this time of year, thereā€™s nothing better than having a candle lit, while wrapping presents and watching Christmas presents. Plus, making treats hasnā€™t been bad either. I made some Christmas bark this year and it was so good. Itā€™s super easy to make and itsā€™s easy to save and store. Hereā€™s the recipe I used, thank you Mix and Match Mama!

Look at all this delicious Christmas bark!

What Inspires Me:Ā The holiday season puts me in the best mood. I decorated my room at the end of last month and whenever I put on my tree and light a candle, Iā€™m automatically put in the Christmas spirit. I also canā€™t wait to spend time with family and continue our holiday traditions.Ā I went skating this month and had the best time.

Skating in the city
Buffalo was beautiful.

What I accomplished: Iā€™ve been doing a great job at being intentional and present during the holiday season. From the gift buying to the family time and holiday traditions. I wish this season was longer. Even enjoying a hot coco and cookie while driving back from ice skating made me so happy. 

Besides homemade cookies, I can’t resist some Pillsbury cookies too!
Even the shopping malls are all decorated

Goals Accomplished from Last Month I got all my Christmas shopping done by my deadline and I got almost all my gifts sent out or wrapped. It was a huge accomplishment! I love all the gift giving but it can be a lot to get everything organized. I donā€™t know how parents do it, they are the real super heroes during the holiday season!

My presents for others all wrapped up under my tree.

Goals for the New Month:Ā Ā Kick off 2022 with my New Yearā€™s Resolutions. I also canā€™t wait to break out my new Simplified planner and start getting ready for the next. As much as I hate to see the holidays come to an end, thereā€™s nothing quite like a fresh start.

Thatā€™s a look into my life this past month, lots of holiday fun and traditions. How are you spending the last few weeks of this year?