Well, it’s only taken me the whole month of January to write up my top memories from the past year. I love reflecting back and see how much I have changed and improved throughout the year. After digging through my computer and scrolling through Instagram I finally picked my favorites. Here are my top 12 memories from 2018:
1. Celebrating our 9 Year Anniversary.
Will and I celebrated our 9 Year Anniversary (wow!) We celebrated by having dinner at a restaurant called Zola in Palo Alto. The food was amazing and of course, we took forever to get through dinner because of Will taking all the food photos lol.
Follow Will’s Foodie Instagram Account @feastsofthebeast
2. My first media stay!
When my friend Justina asked if I wanted to join her for a girls weekend at the Sandman Hotel in Santa Rosa for a media stay I said YES! I have never visited up North of the bay, let alone stay at a hotel for social media purposes, so this was a treat! We took TONS of photos, got to eat/ drink and just spend some good quality girl time.
3. Femme Fair
I attended Femme Fair in San Francisco. This was one of the best events I went to all year. It was well organized, beautifully decorated and had amazing female speakers on the panels. I got to meet many other content creators that I connected with online but now connecting IRL. I did a whole blog post on my experience you can read it here.
4. San Jose Creatives
I discovered a local group of bloggers and creators called San Jose Creatives! The founder of the group Giulia reached out to me on Instagram and asked if I wanted to meet up in Palo Alto with other bloggers in the area and I said yes. It was a great opportunity to connect with people near my hometown that have a passion for content creating just like me! San Jose Creatives holds monthly events here in San Jose (Check out the Facebook Group here for more info)
5. Camping for the first time!
I have never been camping in my 28 years of life! Always wanted to pitch a tent and be one with nature and build a campfire! Kara and Justina asked if I wanted to join and I also brought Will and Will’s sister Jennifer. She has a lot of camping experience so I was excited for her to join our trip so we could bond more. We went in the middle of May and drove to Mammoth Lake Area. The main reason we came here was to check out the natural hot springs again, something I have never seen or experienced before. What we didn’t expect was that at night it got close to 20 degrees, needless to say, we all didn’t sleep well that night lol. But after all of that, the views and time spent with friends and family was worth it.
6. I GOT MY REAL ESTATE LICENSE!
To be honest, I really didn’t think I was going to pass, I am definitely an over thinker and did my best to answer the questions using my gut feeling. But after 150 questions and 1.5 hours later I was freaking out. I took a short bathroom break to recollect my thoughts and gave myself a pep talk. Went back in the testing room, change about 5 answers and turned my exam in. If you have never taken the exam, they give you the results right away so you know if you passed or failed. I was soo nervous I waited till I got in the elevator alone, then flipped the paper over and it said I passed! AHHHH I was ecstatic! I texted Will first, then my Dad and rest on my friends and family. The last 3 months of studying finally paid off!
7. Collaborations!
I started working on more collaborations! I am what you call a “microblogger” or “nano blogger” I have less the 10K on IG and Youtube but I have a creative point of view and people started to notice and decided to take a chance on me and let me partner with their brand so my audience and readers can discover new places and products. I’m very thankful for the opportunities and can’t wait to do more in 2019.
8. Latinx Collective
The last year I have been really trying to connect with my Latinx heritage. If you didn’t know I’m 50% Mexican and 50% Salvadorian. I grew up learning how to speak Spanish and know most of the traditions of my cultures. My friend Ruby stated a collaborative group called Latinx Collective here in the Bay Area, and that month our friend Alice and myself joined Ruby as Co-Founders to help come up with ideas for the group set up events for 2019. But one event we collaborated was with Xfinity Latino and we got to meet Becky G and we got to ask her questions, including what it means to be Latins AF. She is relatable and great to talk, she has become one of my favorite Latin artists.
9. Visiting Mono County!
I went to visit June Lake in Mono County! Being a California girl there is so much of California I still haven’t explored! So when Kara asked me if I wanted to go to see all the fall foliage I was down. We took a road trip through Yosemite (my first time!) and taking many pit stops for photo opts! I kayaked for the first time, toured a local brewery and the fall foliage was STUNNING!
10. Dia San Jose
For the past 3 years my friend Alex and our friends get together to celebrate Dia de Los Muertos at a Festival call Dia San Jose in Downtown San Jose. I come over early and paint all our faces and have drinks and brunch. Each year with more practice I discover new technics and I add more details. Dia San Jose is usually celebrated a week before Halloween. They have live music, food and lots of vendors selling latinx art and goods. If you want to check out my makeup tutorial on how to get this skull look click here.
11. Running around San Francisco with my Best Friend
Aviva came to visit for a few days! It was much needed since she lives on the east coast we don’t get to see each other as often as we would like. We spent a day running around SF. We started off in the Marina getting breakfast then walked down Union St to window browse. After that, we stumbled on an open house next to the Palace of Fine Arts and got an amazing view from that top of the building. Walked down to Crissy Field and saw the Golden Gate Bridge without @karlthefog blocking it lol. Ate lunch in the Mission, explored Valencia Street one of my favorites places in the city. Afterward, we met up with Kara and Justina at Mel’s Diner and took some IG photos and took this photo together! This day was one for the books. The whole day while running around we had great conversations and it made me truly appreciate our friendship.
12. Sold my first home!
Right after I got my license, my dad and I got our first listing as a team. I thought houses usually sell within a months timeframe, but I learned a lot about the process about prepping a home for sale. After 2 months being on the market, we got the house sold 2 weeks before Christmas! A holiday miracle! If you need a Realtor in the South Bay AreI’mim ready to help you find your home.
Well, that wraps up 2018! One month down and already I have travel plans and collaboration in the works!
Question for you: What do YOU want to see more from me? Travel Tips? Makeup Recommendations? Fashion Lookbooks? Travel Vlogs? Send me a message at hello@designbybrianna.com to let me know!
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