Sequin Sweater + Twinkle Lights
Books,  Fashion,  Food,  Life,  Travel,  Writing

2021 Wrap Up

It’s hard to believe that it’s the last day of 2021. Or that we’re going into another year of uncertainty with Covid and pretty much everything in the world. 2021 was better in some ways than 2020. I was able to go out more and see more friends and family. I got vaccinated and boosted. But, it was also a tough year. I got Covid the day before my first vaccine shot. Literally, the day before I tested positive. I had surgery over the summer that ended up being a bit more complicated leading to a lengthier recovery than originally planned. I had a lot of time to reflect on things personally and professionally. I made a conscious decision about halfway through the year to let go of things that weren’t serving me. Life is too short and my time is too precious to waste on things and people who aren’t adding value to my life. It made for some lonelier times, but ultimately more fulfilling.

I made a minute long 2021 wrap up video for Instagram that I’ll post today of some highlights from the year. Here are the corresponding blog posts to what I shared!

  1. I loved wearing this green velvet gown for a winter shoot with Lauren.

2. We got a lot of snow last winter. I loved this photo of me in a corded hoodie in the snow.

Blue-Corded-Hoodie

3. For my Valentine’s Day post I restyled a grey and white heart sweater with a grey tulle skirt and my white Dr. Martens. I loved the look.

Heart-Sweater-Tulle-Skirt

4. I had an idea for a wintery shoot with twinkle lights. I loved how the photos turned out with Lauren with me wearing a gold sequin sweater and my twinkle lights.

Sequin Sweater + Twinkle Lights

5. I bought a really cute pink satin hair bow in the spring, but sadly it was broken when it arrived. It was sold out, but I was able to sort of fix it. Fix it enough to wear anyway.

Satin-Hair-Bow

6. I was inspired by a photo I saw Hello Miss Jordan post on Instagram with bubble gum and a phone. My version was with my french phone and my “Unavailable” sweatshirt.

French Phone + Bubblegum

7. I was given a number of free items from companies this year and a few of my favorites happened to be perfumes like the Ralph Lauren Romance Perfume.

Ralph-Lauren-Romance

8. Another one of the items I was gifted was this adorable pink beret. I wore it for a Queen’s Gambit themed post and also with my pastel pleated maxi skirt.

Pastel-Colorblock-Skirt-Pink-Beret

9. One of my favorite photos from this entire year is this photo of my hair blowing in the wind, my arms open wide. It’s like I’m surrendering to it all.

Blanket Shawl

10. On the same day as the photo above, I walked along the beach with a floral maxi. It was late March so the beach was empty, especially since it was a windy, cold day.

Shirred Waist Floral Maxi

11. This year I discovered author Sarah. J. Maas and fell in love with her books. I fell hard for her A Court of Thorns and Roses series and have since also read her completed series, Throne of Glass.

12. I had fun arranging fresh flowers this year to brighten up all the time I spent at home.

Spring-Bouquet

13. This year I took up roller skating. I haven’t had time to do it lately with the holidays, cold weather, and early sunsets, but I am happy I started! I hadn’t skated since like 4th grade, so it was really scary at first, but it’s been fun!

Moxi-Beach-Bunny-Watermelon-Roller-Skates

14. In June, my cousins came to visit which was really nice since we haven’t been able to visit with each other since before the pandemic. One of the days we went into the city and checked out the new Harry Potter store.

15. Aside from fantasy romance books, I got really into regency romance thanks to a few books I was sent and Bridgerton. They inspired my summer photoshoot with outfits like this high sheen babydoll dress.

High Sheen Babydoll Dress

16. The other look my regency romance love inspired is this peach maxi dress and flower crown.

Peach Maxi Dress + Flower Crown

17. I visited Duke Farms for the first time this summer and found some awesome photo spots like the old hay barn. It gives off princess vibes, but also sort of spooky vibes depending on the look and music I chose for my reels.

Pink-Green-Maxi

18. I had fun making reels this year on Instagram. One of my favorites was one I made at my best friend’s house with the help of my best friend and her 7 year old daughter.

19. I lacked some motivation with my writing this year, but I made bigger plans with it. Now, I just need to find the time and motivation to get to work with it. I did, however, win a fantasy short story contest.

Blue light-Glasses

20. I spent my birthday recovering from surgery this year, but took some fun birthday photos before my surgery.

Birthday-2021

21. One of my favorite dresses this year was this blue tiered maxi dress. So flowy and pretty!

Blue-Ruffle-Tiered-Maxi-Dress

22. I love loungewear this year, especially matching sets like this palm matching set.

Palm-Print-Sweat-Shorts-Set

23. I was able to get away for a few days during the summer to Vermont. I went to the top of Mt. Mansfield and the view was beautiful.

Mt-Mansfield

24. I’ve had the Peloton for over a year now and I’m still obsessed.

BW-Track-Leggings-Sports-Bra

25. I’ve been to Holland Ridge Farms before to see the tulips, but I’ve never gone to see the sunflowers. Truth be told, I actually don’t like sunflowers, but I went for the wildflowers.

Holland-Ridge-Farms-Fall-Flowers

26. Every fall my family and I go up to my aunt’s summer place in the Hudson Valley before she closes it up for the winter. We always stop at this scenic overlook, but I think this year I got my best photos of it yet.

Bear-Mountain-Overlook

27. For my birthday my best friend gifted me 3 months worth of Maniology, which is a nail stamping kit company. I had a lot of fun doing fall manicure looks.

Maniology-Witchwork

28. I wore my fantasy readers club sweatshirt to a day at Duke Farms in the fall and pretended I was in some fairy tale world.

Fantasy-Readers-Club-Sweatshirt

29. I got really into shackets this year and really loved this red plaid one.

Red-Plaid-Shacket

30. When I took photos of the red plaid shacket at Washington Rock, there was a rainbow! A nice treat after a rainy day.

Washington-Rock-Rainbow

31. I was really loving fall fashion this year and adored this cord pinafore dress.

Olive-Green-Cord-Pinafore

32. Like I said, I was really into fall fashion this year so it comes as no surprise that I wore this brown and green plaid blazer for Thanksgiving.

Brown-Green-Plaid-Blazer

33. To help motivate me to write, I took part in my first ever NaNoWriMo. I didn’t complete as many words as I wanted to, but I still participated!

NaNoWriMo-2021-Post-It-Note-Board

34. More fun with twinkle lights when I restyled my shimmer xo sweater with a new faux leather skort.

XO-Shimmer-Sweater-Faux-Leather-Skort

35. I spoke earlier about my love for Bridgerton, so I was excited to receive The Unofficial Bridgerton Cookbook. I made the biscuit recipe for Thanksgiving breakfast.

Bridgerton-Cookbook-Biscuits

36. I finally got to see the toy soldiers on the Main Street Bridge in Clinton.

Clinton-Main-Street-Bridge-Toy-Soldiers

37. My love for blazers lived on for Christmas Eve when I wore this Christmas plaid blazer.

Christmas-Plaid-Blazer

Those were just some of my highlights and favorites from 2021! It’s fun to look back on all the things that have happened this year.

Tomorrow I will write about some goals for 2022!

Have a happy and safe New Year’s Eve!

Welcome to my blog! I'm a teacher during the day and lifestyle blogger by night. I love pop culture, entertainment/TV/movies/music, food, beauty, travel & fashion! www.twitter.com/jamwong www.instagram.com/lifeaccordingtojamie

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