taking a moment for 2022.
wow. and just like that we come down to the last week of 2022. coupled with #birthdaymonth, it’s a time when i go inward and reflect on the past year. what have i done with my life, what kind of accomplishments did i achieve? what i have i experienced? what have i learned? more ramblings after the jump.
currently on my playlist: 2 step by Ed Sheeran
the most beautiful floral arrangement c/o the talented @margotblair (one of my fave floral designers! #supportlocal)
2022 as unreal. almost like a dream. like any other year, it was filled with highs and lows. but as i sit here and re-cap, i can only remember the highs — signs of a great year. 2022 was good to me and i’m grateful for all the experiences and memories that made it this brain of mine:
t r a v e l — as a very under-traveled person, in ONE YEAR i marked off two destinations on my (short) bucket list. as a family, we traveled to Europe (summer 2022) and Hawaii (Fall 2022). i’ve been wanting to travel. period. somewhere since i never go anywhere. this year i was able to make it happen, not once but twice. and with the people i love most. it was also my parents first time in Europe as well, and they told me it’s something they finally got to see after 65+ years. i feel humbled and extremely grateful to live a life that allows me to do such things. i’ll never forget Europe and how much i unexpectedly loved the city of Paris.
@j c r e w — in my manifestations i clearly write the collaborations/sponsorships i want. i wrote @jcrew down so many times. sooo many times. in April, it came true. i remember seeing the email and pinching myself, making sure to check to see if it’s not a scammer (never know these days with cybersecurity scams), and literally jumped up and down screaming. YUP. but hey, these are the moments i live for. i’ll never forget it. i opened the year with @jcrew and ended it with my second event in December. the media world has opened so many doors for me. thank you for following along & supporting me. without you, i wouldn’t be able to do these awesome things!
s t y l i n g — this was the year i stopped talking about opening another dimension of jannadoan.com into a personal styling business and started to put things down on paper, so one step closer to making this really happen. no, i haven’t officially launched it yet, but it’s coming soon!
p h o t o g r a p h y — i struggled to find a photographer for much of 2021 and 2022. scraping by with friends and mirror photos (i know, yikes). at some points, i thought it was time to finally quit this gig. thankfully, through IG friends (@joycetongphoto) i was introduced to @janeyunphoto. she’s been such a sunshine to work with and it feels so good to finally get out there again, creating the type of content i live for, with another creative. i’m so excited to see what 2023 holds in this area.
f a m i l y — 2022 was spent with family. during the pandemic we turned away from our friends and spent more time with family. we hung out twice a week pre-pandemic but now we see each other almost everyday now. probably one of the best things that came out of the pandemic. because, well… life is short. gotta spend it with the people that matter the most.
[new] c o l l a b o r a t i o n s — i don’t think writing is really one of my strengths. however, i do think it’s a lost form of blogging since most people tend to post photos on IG vs writing actual blog posts these days. but in 2022, i did something a little different and wrote a couple of food-related posts on @thesavvylife.co! i love food so this was an interesting outlet. btw, writing about food is so different than writing about fashion! i also closed the year with my first liqueur sponsorship with @disaronno_official! i learned so much about how complicated these types of posts can be due to the age restrictions! it was a great learning experience and product photography is one of my favorite things to do (probably because it doesn’t require me being in the photo haha)!
thank you, 2022. for a beautiful chapter of life.
xx,
JD