How to Keep Your Resolutions with FW Magazine.

You guys might not know it, but I've been super motivated since Intentional October to grow my writing. Sometimes I feel like I've had nine lives of trying different things - working in different industries, from public relations and Chick-fil-A, Inc. to acting and voiceover and now writing - I have been all over the map! But I feel proud that I've tried all the things in my heart - it's forced me to be vulnerable and ask people for help and receive critiques and experience rejection. It's not an easy feeling. It's not comfortable. But I am certain that this spark in me for more must be investigated until that little spark is fully lit.

I have a feeling I'm not alone in my pursuits. So many of you have reached out and shared that your heart is to try something different, pursue your passion, and see dreams come into fruition. I am honored to be right alongside you in that journey. May we all continue to explore this wonderful life and find passion and fulfillment in all the different, winding paths of our life's journey.

Which is why I want to share this small bit of progress in my own personal life. It always encourages me when I see people pursuing dreams and actually getting some traction with their efforts, so I want to be able to do the same. It might not sound like a big deal, but for the past few months I've been contributing lifestyle articles to my county's Women's Magazine, Fayette Woman. I've had the opportunity to write a handful of articles - from parenting to wellness to home decor. I've developed, researched and contributed my own content, along with conducting interviews and doing profiles on other companies and people of interest. It has been so much fun! I've been published before, but this is a new and NOW feeling, and I feel like I am starting over again and it's so good. It's exciting (and slightly terrifying) to see your words in print - it's a little bit like feeling naked on a stage, but also super freeing, like I'm pursuing my dreams and garnering opportunities that I only could have hoped for a few months ago, because SOMEONE is publishing me! Woohoo.

Just wanted to take this quick moment to share my latest article about How to Keep Your Resolutions, which is both in print and online this month. I would love it if you checked it out! Thanks for all the support, friends. And happiest of Fridays to you! XOX

Reader Survey - Your Chance to TALK.

Happy Friday to you! Today I want to give you an opportunity to take a reader survey. As I develop content for 2016, I am very interested in what you think about my little corner of the internet. I want to know more about who you are, why you read Oy! and what kind of content you would love to see here in the future.

Take the Oy! Reader Survey Here.

To be completely honest and transparent with you, this blog has just grown. When I first started blogging in 2012, I had no plan for it, other than to share with my friends and family what my post-college life was like in freezing cold Boston while we lived there. As we have moved cities and the years have grown us, this little personal journal has expanded its reach and allowed me some really surprising and exquisite opportunities.  I love partnering with rad brands and bringing them in front of you, I love hosting giveaways for you and I love the opportunity to grow myself as a writer. I love sharing the celebrations and challenges, I love encouraging you and I cherish the encouragement I've received from you. Blogging has been one of the most vulnerable exercises in discipline, creativity, consistency and responsibility. I never would have imagined that I would be a blogger - an oversharer on the Internet! But. It isn't really that to me - it's truly become something so much richer, more valuable and more fulfilling that I could have ever conjured. I've forged delightful relationships with people all around the world, discovered the powerful camaraderie of this community (that's you!) and had the privilege of delving into new pools of opportunity by partnering with brands and writing for other publications. I never would have thought blogging would take me on this path. But here I am! And I intend to keep doing this for as long as it makes sense and brings me immeasurable joy.

As this forum grows, I want to make sure you know how important you are to me. You, who have been part of this journey for the past 3 years or for the past 10 minutes. Your engagement speaks volumes to me. Remember, I'm the one on the other side of this screen, often pouring my heart out in essay form and meticulously editing photos. You are the one who has gotten to know me and my family pretty darn well. But I don't have the privilege of knowing you on that same level. I want to! I want to know what's going on in your head and your heart.

Which is why I created this survey. I want to hear from you - what do you love about this space and what do you want more of? What do you want less of? Yes, I want you to tell me! This is your time to weigh in (although you always have the opportunity to weigh in, that's what those comment boxes are for :) Just remember, I am a real person, and I have feelings, so be gentle with your suggestions and input. If you would take a few minutes to fill out this anonymous 10-question survey, I would really love it. If I could buy you a fancy whipped latte treat while you take it, I totally would. I can't really do that for all of you. But I can promise - I will read every response and forge my direction in a way that is honest. I trust that you understand this space must evolve to stay fresh and relevant. I want that and I want you to be part of that growth. If I haven't gushed over you enough, please hear my message: I want you. I love you. Take my survey as if it's a bouquet of internet flower seeds and trust that I will grow that mess of flowers for you.

Without further adieu, thanks for engaging and taking this Oy! Reader Survey. A virtual round of your favorite Starbucks beverage is on me :)

Happy New Year - and Thank YOU.

Friends, it's the dawn of a new year. A year that has never been before. We are living in an exciting time, in almost every single way! I am breathless over the promise and possibility that 2016 brings. I know there will be joy and pain and challenge and surprise, and I am finally ready to enjoy the journey, not just the accomplishment of achieving goals. The journey! The journey is gold! 2016, bring on the gold!

I want to take a moment to thank you, yes you, from the very bottom of my heart. Some of you have been reading this little blog for a while, and some of you are new friends to this forum.

Thank you so much for reading. You are priceless.

I am grateful that you value this space enough to share a few moments here every now and then. Your time is precious and I don't take it lightly that you share your open moments foraging through these trailing thoughts of mine. I have worked hard this year to develop more compelling content more often while still allowing myself to write authentically and just be me. The blog world is saturated, and I don't want to feel like a fool in ten years if I look back and realize I allowed someone else's vision dictate this personal space of mine. However, I am always looking to the horizon, seeking to challenge myself and hoping to lend encouragement to you.

You aren't the reason that I write. But you are the reason that I share. Thanks for all the positive feedback from the past year - I value and respond to each and every blog post comment, Instagram tag, and Facebook message because I like you. I want to continue to grow the content and direction of this blog, and I would love to know what you think. Which is why I am going to offer you a reader's survey later on this week. I want your input as I plan ahead for 2016 content here :) More on that later.

This week, I am going to share a little bit every day about one of my favorite times of the year - which is NOW. I love dreaming, goal-making, reflection and resolutions. These are some of my favorite things. Along with the reader survey, this week I will also be sharing some of my own resolutions, a few tools that help me shape my organization, and some encouragement from around the web on goal-making and resolutions.

Does 2016 excite you or terrify you? Are you knee-deep in your goals already? Have your resolutions already gotten stale in your mind? Haha, I'll tell you a little secret... I haven't enacted ANY of my goals yet. That what the ENTIRE month of January is for, friends! No need to rush the goal-compiling. I would just encourage you to not look to your friends or family for whatever their goals may be this year... take some time to just ponder YOU. And see where some of that reflection leads.

Let's check in tomorrow! Love to you!

Christmas & New Years Cards with Minted!

The golden foil. The curly, twirly wreath. The perfectly off-centered photo. The rustic background juxtaposed by the gilded font. The whimsical stamp and the flourished address. I LOVE CHRISTMAS CARDS.

I LOVE THEM SO MUCH.

I can't gush enough about how much I loved using Minted for our family Christmas cards. This is the second year I have used Minted, and I am still surprised at how quality the cards are and how excellent the Minted service continues to be. Seriously. I've used other services and this one is my absolute favorite, absolutely unparalleled both in quality and elegance.

Truth be told, last year we didn't order enough Christmas cards. So a few days after I mailed out our last card, I placed another order for cards through Minted - but this time for a tiny batch of New Years cards. There were just a few work people and long-distance friends that we really wanted to touch base with and I am disappointed that I didn't get their addresses in time for the first round of cards. However, I'm sharing all of this with you because even though it's too late to place Christmas card orders, Minted has some gorgeous New Year's card designs that have me swooning. You can check out the design I used last year for our Christmas/Baby announcement and, haha, for our last-minute New Years greeting. This year's Christmas card design is one that I LOVE, especially with that gold foil lettering. As I get older, I am becoming more comfortable with the fact that I like things to sparkle a bit. I used to think that made me too girly or something, but I don't think it does anymore. I'm owning it - I just like a bit of gold sheen!

Minted is offering 15% off all New Years cards before the clock strikes 2016 with the code WINTER15. Grab a few while you can!

Also, if you're hosting a New Year's Eve party, be sure to check out Minted's new Online Invitations - FREE for a limited time and optimized for a rich, cinematic experience on desktops, smartphones, and tablet devices. Kind of makes me wish I was hosting a little shin-dig now, but... too late! We are doing a romantic night away for New Years :) And I seriously can't wait.

What service did you use for your Christmas cards? Were you happy with how they turned out? Do you ever send New Years cards? I'm a mail geek, so I'm interested in hearing from you. Also, how cute are this year's Peanuts stamps?? LOVE.

Only a few days until 2016, friends! Live it up!

Merry Christmas, from us.

Merry Christmas, friends. I hope you are spending the day with your loves.

I am so lucky, because this is the FIRST YEAR that Stevie and I are waking up in our own bed and doing our very own family Christmas in our very own home. Call us clingy homebodies, but we've spent the past 8 years doing Christmas our parents' way - at their homes, on their terms. Splitting the holidays right down the middle and giving them to the Spencers and Hales, respectively. This year, it feels so intimate and special to do things our own way with our own little boy in our own little warm home. In the previous years, I didn't feel like I was missing out on something by not doing our own Christmas. In fact, we've had such a crazy roller-coaster ride since we've been married - traveling home for most holidays, living in different cities every year, rushing through airports with suitcases stuffed full of wrapped gifts (thanks for making me unwrap so many for you, TSA), that coming home to our parents' just felt like a bit of comfort once we finally arrived. We never minded doing things their way. But this year, everything is shifting and its a really great, really healthy, really exciting time for us.

Don't worry, we are still seeing our families a ton over the next few days. Hello, that's why we moved back to our hometown! Crazy incessant family get-togethers for the win.

I can't wait to see Everett's face when he realizes those boxes under the tree actually have gifts inside. I can't wait to sit with Stevie in the quiet and have morning tea (our new thing!) and watch our tree sparkle. I can't wait for the Christmas traditions that will form over our lifetime together. I just can't wait!

No matter where you are today or who you are spending this holiday with, I hope you carry a little bit of home with you. Merry Christmas to you, dear hearts. XOX.