New Year's Eve!!

Welcome back! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!! I know this post was delayed and that was for a couple of reasons. First, I wanted to take some time this past week to just relax and be with family and enjoy that time. And I did and it was awesome. Second, I wanted to share this BOMB.COM photoshoot I put together with some other vendors that is also LIVE today on the Rocky Mountain Bride Blog!!! EEEEeeeeeeek! I am sooooo pumped that this made it on their blog for New Year's Eve! Head over and check it out for another overload of these gorg photos :) Also don't forget to check out the team who brought this whole endeavor together, they are fabulous and I couldn't have done this without them.

I LOVED putting this photoshoot together. Let me share a little bit about that. It all started with the dress that our model, Michelle is wearing. I was casually doing some online shopping one day and I stumbled across this dress. I immediately fell in love with the Christmas green color and the scoop neck style, and I knew I had to build a shoot around it. And what better palette to use than the traditional reds and greens of the holidays?!

Our models, Shane and Michelle, had gotten married this year and were happy to be a part of this for us. Their real love and connecting made these photos come alive. I really wanted Michelle's hair and makeup to be extravagant; I wanted it to feel fancy and give off that holiday party vibe. She completely rocked the look!

From the jewelry to the calligraphy, each vendor gave us their best work and I could not be prouder of this result. Some of the vendors I asked to participate I had not yet met, and it was great for us to build new connections and relationships around this project. See for yourself and let me know what you think of this team. Each one played a significant role in building this style and if you ask me its pretty on point ;)

The rest of this post isn't going to be like my other posts. I wanted to make it a little more personal and do a little reflecting as it is almost the New Year rather than focus on a single product or anything like that. So lets dive in.

Are you sick of looking at these two yet? Yea me neither.

As I look back on 2017 I am filled with thankfulness. One of the things I mentioned above has been my opportunity to connect and build new relationships with vendors and small businesses in Bozeman and the surrounding area. No business can stand alone without the support and help of others, and I am so thankful for the connections I have built and the opportunity I have had to work with others in this wedding community. Their work, their support, and their creativity inspires me and makes me stronger.

Another thing that brings a smile to my face as I look back on this year are my brides. I am thankful for each and every one of them. If you are one of my brides reading this, THANK YOU, for the chance to help make your big day special. Thank you for allowing me to get to know you for a small window of time on the most important day of your life. Thank you for allowing me to participate in the joy, the laughter, the tears, the anticipation, and the love. Even though I only knew you for what feels like a moment, I remember each and every one of you and I am so thankful for you :)

And the same goes for my other clients, maybe I did your hair and makeup for your engagement photos, or for maternity photos, or just for a night out on the town :) Thank you for sharing a little of your story with me and including me in that experience. I loved being a part of it with you.

2017 has been an amazing year. Writing this makes it hard to sum it all up, so I won't. But I am so happy with what 2017 brought and I am looking forward to the journeys 2018 is going to bring. I'm so thankful to live in a place that supports such a big wedding industry so I can do the work that I love. And I can't wait to continue that work in this coming year.

What are my resolutions, you ask? I don't really make hardcore resolutions like a lot of people. If you do, kudos to you, but that just stresses me out :) However, I DO know that I have some goals for my business for this year. Here's a couple ...

I want to keep educating myself. There are so many ways to learn in the beauty industry, but I think the disconnect for me is applying that new information to my everyday clients. Changing habits is hard, everyone knows it. So in this New Year I want to continue to change my work for the better, to be able to continue and grow and apply what I learn in this industry to my clients.

I have been SO inspired this year to keep learning. With such quick and easy access to social media and the Internet, I can't make an excuse to not keep learning. I have been inspired this year by others in my industry to keep educating myself, and to try new techniques and products, and I love doing it! Sometimes I make the excuse to not learn because I don't feel creative, but creativity is everywhere around me! I pull inspiration from so many places and ideas that I can't make that excuse either :) I'm excited to share with you this year some beauty gurus who inspire me and encourage me to keep making my work better and to keep learning. Learning takes work, and it takes dedication to keep growing and to try new things and to be consistent, and I want to step up this year and dedicate myself to being a better hair and makeup artist :)

I am also SO inspired and thankful for my followers. I know to some, my current following doesn't seem like much, but you all are amazing to me. In these last couple months that I have been doing my stories on IG, I have ben so thankful and overjoyed to receive your comments, questions, suggestions, and encouragement!! Your questions and suggestions push me to find answers and new ways to do things. I love it! Please don't stop, and if you feel like sharing and tagging others, please do. Your energy inspires me to continue to do what I do, and it helps me to know that even if I only help one person or answer a question that helped one person do their makeup better or find a product that they like, that is enough for me :)

So thats the blog this week! Thanks for reading this far, you're the MVP, and I appreciate it. I hope you have a great New Year's Eve whatever you're doing, and my next post will be up Thursday so check back for that!!