Now that all the boxes are out, the fun part begins! We’ve been visioning and decorating to make this space our own. What’s more fun?

So while this birthday does look different--no big dinner at a fabulous restaurant with my closest group of girlfriends, no big party at my apartment, bringing all my friends from all parts of my life together, it doesn’t mean I’m any less loved. It just means we’ll have to ring in 28 with an even bigger bang!!

I don’t know if in the blogger book of rules I’m supposed to maintain my cool, but I’m going to have to break the rules for a hot second because 1) I couldn’t be happier to partner with one of my ALL TIME favorite brands and 2) for a cause that I hold dear to my heart.

1) The brand? Banana Republic

2) The cause? LGBTQ rights [even though I just really want to say love.]

Keep scrolling to see the magic we cooked up and to hear a little more from these fearless ladies and I about everything from why they love Fall to what go them creating content to begin with.

I could go on and on about my endless list of interests, so I’ll end here. And while I don’t know what any of these careers would look like, what I do know is that I have loads of interests and I hope to pursue them in some shape or form.

At these events not only did I get to hear from incredible speakers but more over I got to meet my internet friends IRL. Yes, internet friends-in this case, a group of bad-ass women who I’ve been following on Instagram since I moved to the Bay.

Books and bad habits aside, I’m taking this time to slow down and rest up. I plan to spend the day with great friends [as all of my family is back East.] I hope wherever you are that you spend the day with great company.

This was my second trip to Chicago in 2 years so I’m playing with the idea of making this is a yearly tradition- who wants to go with me next?

When my friends at SF Goodwill reached out to me, I was a little pressed for time. Turns out, Goodwill has an e-commerce store [did you know? I certainly didn’t. I swear it’s their best kept secret.] I found some fabulous pieces [c’mon how regal is that skirt], and I mixed and matched them with some of the pieces already in my wardrobe.

I smiled to myself at the thought of embracing the new, caught sight of a beautiful shooting star, and then closed my eyes and let the warmth of the fire and the sounds of the ocean waves crashing on the beach surround me.

I’m so delighted that I crossed paths with Emily and Nikki. I hope our paths cross again someday- perhaps Nikki and I can go catch a live show of Emily’s sometime. I’d love that. I really would.

No matter what, I’ll always feel grateful for where I am-how could I not be? But to be clear-I’m still very much figuring it all out.

It felt familiar. It felt like on that rainy afternoon, in Jane, in San Francisco, we carved out a safe [warm] space.

I only hope to take what I’ve learned this year to make 2017 that much bigger, better, and, of course, filled with even more sparkle.

you simply cannot be what you cannot see

It’s surely starting to feel like we’ve carved out our own family in our little pod in YouTube HQ, and you know what, it’s feeling good.

So, I’ll continue to write my dreams and work towards them. And who knows, maybe someday, I’ll be writing another post, still in SF, long past the end of this rotation.

Ah, the first of the month.

I have yet to get the “Important stakeholder meeting today?” question, but I’ll take a guess and say that’s because I’m only one month in not because I don’t dress the part!

I’m excited to see where this new path leads me, and, of course, the places I will go.