Before diving head first in the new year, I wanted to recap some milestone, some life changing and some not so great moments. 2017 for me was in every possible way – one for the books! Our blessing from God, our sweet baby Zoe came into our lives in 2017.
Nothing can even come close to this happiness, but there are so many things that happened in 2017, that must be acknowledged.
- Zoe’s Birth Story is my favorite post ever and one that received the most love as well. I had some really sweet emails about how it moved you to tears ( happy ones ), made me so happy! Thank YOU.
- My Pregnancy Announcement and sharing about my journey continues to be the most read post on the blog. It is a post I wrote after contemplating ( for months! ) whether to share it or not, and after receiving all the supportive messages and stories from women around the world, I am glad that the post became a forum for us to connect, support each other virtually and share some really personal stories.
- We did a lot of travel projects in 2017. Since I was pregnant, we had decided not to fly a lot. There was one trip to India that we did. I was too scared of flying otherwise. Although my doctor said it was okay, I was just extremely cautious about anything and everything. There were a few travel projects that I had to say no to, because they involved flying – so instead we took the time and opportunities to explore many New England towns.
- My brother got engaged last year and had the most fun engagement party I’ve ever seen. We had a three-day celebration – if you know how Indian weddings are, think of this as a trailer to the actual wedding! We also had an Indian baby shower there – all in all, the trip was extremely special even if it we went down only for a week.
- Seeing my face on the billboards of two more malls this year has been such a gratifying experience.
- Zoe’s Nursery Reveal and my garden themed Baby Shower were my personal favorites to share with all of you. So much love and thought went into every little detail.
- My mom came down from India and I cannot imagine what we would have done, the first three months without her help. It is also the first time in 12 years ( since I moved to Boston ) that mom and I got to spend so much time together.
- I think this year brought Amit and me a lot closer to each other. Having a baby is a life changing experience, being pregnant, childbirth, becoming parents – going through all these moments together makes us appreciate and respect each other even more.
It was a really exciting year on the blog. When I started the blog, I think there were like 1 or 2 blogs that I knew about, had no idea of photography and had just one piece of makeup – a red lipstick that my mom forced me to get. I had started writing and creating as a fun side project, but in the past two years, Amit and I have had so much fun with it – creating content, traveling together and turning it into a business. I got to work with some really good brands this year, that I am so proud of. I get to connect with so many people, the fact that you guys take time to read my posts on social media or the blog – I cannot even begin to express how much that means to me.
There were also many lessons that I learnt this year. Some hard ones. I had a brand tell me that my background ( Indian ) did not go with their Instagram aesthetics, so while they wanted to work with me ( they approached me! ), they will not be sharing the work on their Instagram account. I also realized that not everyone values your work, some belittle it, some call it frivolous and some will criticize it. There are people behind keyboards and in person, who have no qualms about being mean. Naysayers will always be there. I am learning ( although it is not easy! ) to ignore the noise and keep moving. The worst thing that hit me was when people comment on my motherhood. I wont go in the details ( I might, maybe later! ) – but that really affected me. This year has taught me to take things with a grain of salt and have a tough skin and focus on what is important.
Overall, it was a phenomenal year. I get asked a lot of how I manage to work on the blog with a full-time job – although there’s a lot to it – but at the end of the day I always feel that if you love doing something, you will find the time for it. Now, if I thought that doing project shoots while being pregnant last snapped the energy out of me, wait till we figure out how we are going to do it with a baby now. huh! Please let me know what you’d like to see more of on these pages and I will make sure to cover those topics. Motherhood, blogging/business tips, fashion, decor, beauty etc. xo Neha
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