2017: An Open Letter to Myself

I really don’t know where this year went, particularly fall. I feel like this year, it didn’t even really occur to me that Halloween was near until I was walking down the street seeing kids in costumes. I always like to decorate my house for fall and winter but this year fall slipped my mind. Just earlier today I read an email that Black Friday weekend is only two weekends away. When did it become the holiday season?

Maybe it’s the fact that Los Angeles has been a solid 80 degrees up until just recently, and I haven’t actually experienced any fall weather until my trip to NYC last week, when I shot these photos. I feel as though I’ll blink and it’ll be 2018. Yikes.

So here’s the thing. I spend a lot of time writing about fashion and posting outfit details (which I still will do in this post at the bottom, by the way), but today I decided that before 2017 is done and gone, I should probably reflect on it a bit. Maybe I should save this post for January 1, but to be honest I’ll probably forget to post it.

Let me first start by saying that this is not a post to brag about myself. This is a post to teach myself that it’s okay to practice gratitude and be okay with my accomplishments. So many times we forget to celebrate the little (and even big!) things in life. We are taught to be bashful about successes and even sometimes made to feel a little guilty about triumphs because we don’t want to make someone else feel bad. I’ve done a lot of the latter recently, but particularly this year. When did we become so scared of celebrating the positivity that happens in our lives? A lot of us, myself included, tend to pick out what isn’t right in our lives because we only look at it day by day. What we didn’t get, what we didn’t do.

So today, I’m writing an open letter to myself to remind myself that I am, in fact, a total bad ass. I encourage you to try to do the same before 2017 is over. Chances are you’ll find out that you’re one, too.

Dear Camille,

You might not think that you got a lot done this year, but you really did. In early 2017 you hit 10,000 followers on Instagram. You went to Palm Springs for the first time ever and had a blast. You saw Backstreet Boys in Las Vegas and screamed your lungs out like you were 14 again, and it felt great. You got invited to your first ever blogger brunch hosted by a brand. You got to be on the cover of a magazine!!!!! THE COVER OF A FREAKING MAGAZINE. You went to Cabo San Lucas and drank all the margaritas you could, and you’re still not sick of tacos.

@ByrdieBeauty regrammed one of your photos. @TargetStyle mentioned you in their InstaStories. Madewell and Rent the Runway both featured you in emails. You got to play in a pool of fake sprinkles. You shot your first YouTube video, and you weren’t afraid to post it. One day you walked 9 miles with your friend without a care in the world and it was amazing. You turned 30 and contrary to many people’s opinions, the world didn’t end. You got promoted at your full-time job. And they gave you new business cards.

You attended your first Fashion Week in NYC and you actually got into shows. You met bloggers in real life and made some new friends. Man Repeller featured you in their NYFW round up. You bought your first pair of Chanel shoes that will surely not be your last. You’ve been to New York City 9 times this year. Might I remind you that New York City is your favorite place ever? You’re really bad at drinking water during the day at work because you’re so busy, but on Monday you made it to a whole gallon. Go you!

You have a lot of days when you may not think you’re cutting it in life, but you are. So I’m just writing this letter to you, self, to remind you that 2017 wasn’t so bad. And while sometimes you may get caught up in negativity of everyday annoyances, don’t forget to remember the good stuff. Because there was a lot of it this year. I’m usually your biggest critic, but starting now I’m going to be your biggest advocate because YOU are awesome.

Love,

Camille

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