Hello 2020: January Updates

It’s the last day of January and this is my first official post of the year. I missed you all on here and I am so sorry for neglecting this space for such a long time. I hope that you’ve been keeping up with me on Instagram, but in case you haven’t I wanted to share a couple of little updates with all of you.

The year started off a bit slow for me. I was sick for almost two weeks and it took awhile for me to start capturing some new content. I can be honest in saying that caused me to start the year off in a rut, but things have been starting to pick up for me and I know that moving forward there will be a lot more for me to share. There are so many goals that I have for 2020, but instead of listing all of them out I thought that I would instead share a few of the things that I have already done.

Facebook Group 

I’m constantly thinking of new ways to connect with everyone, so I decided to create a private Facebook group called Life Chats With Naty. I really wanted a space where we could have more in-depth conversations and share our stories. This group isn’t about me, it’s about us. I hope that it serves as a resource and a way for all of you to connect with one another and create new and meaningful friendships.

We have 117 members so far and I’m excited to continue building this community. I think that we are still getting the feel for it, but so far it’s been amazing learning a little bit about everyone. It’s such a great mix too with women in their 20s, 30s and 40s. It seems that half the group is married with kids and the other half is single. Some have done solo travel and some live in other countries. I love that we are all so different, but the common thread is this desire to connect with one another. What makes me so happy is seeing everyone interact with one another. I can’t wait to see the conversations that we will have. If you are interested in being a part of it, just request to join the group and I will accept you!

Naty’s Nook

I created a new account on Instagram called @natysnook that’s dedicated to my apartment. I wanted a space to share only home decor photos and tips for small spaces. I will still continue to share my apartment on @natymichele here and there, but this new account will strictly be for home decor only.

I got this idea the beginning of January when I was home sick for a little over week. I loved the idea of having a space where I didn’t have to post photos of myself and truthfully, I’ve been searching for other ways to get creative. I have no expectations for it. It’s just for fun! I plan to add in a little bit of new decor to my space this year as I have not updated any of it in awhile. I’m currently debating on what I want to put next to the sofa since PALMela died (three times) and I also want to redo the prints above my bed. I’ll be sharing a lot more photos on the new account once I clean my apartment, ha!

 

Recorded A Podcast 

I’ve only been on one podcast and that was about 2-3 years ago. My friend Grace invited me to record an episode with her for her podcast “On The Grow.” It’s all about my journey with grief, loss and how I navigated my way through life after my dad passed away. To be honest, I was a little nervous to have this conversation. I know that I have written about it here on the blog and have also talked about it on my IG Stories, but those have always been little pieces of my story. This allowed me to go more in-depth and touch on parts that I haven’t shared on my platforms yet.

It was definitely a heavy conversation to have, but I am so happy that I was able to share more of my story. There are so many moving parts to grief and after we finished I had a couple of moments of “I forgot to mention this!” or “I should have talked more about that!” I still hope that what I did share can be helpful for someone else who is currently struggling to navigate their way through loss. The episode should be airing in late February or early March so I’ll make sure to share a link once it’s live!

Planning A Meet Up 

I wanted to do this last year and never got around to it. Instead, I invited 8 of you to join me for a few SoulCycle classes, which I’m so happy I did. Loved meeting some of you in a more intimate and motivating setting! I definitely want to do a bigger meet up where I can invite more people. The hardest part about this has been finding the right location. Should I make it super casual for life chats and coffee or should I try to do it as more of an event?  Part of me is thinking that for the first meet up something more casual would be best and then moving forward I can always do something on a larger scale. Thoughts? My goal is to have it sometime late February or beginning of March. Fingers crossed that I can finally make this happen. I will definitely keep everyone posted!

A Few Other Things…

I definitely want to get back to writing more. That’s a big goal for me this year. I also need to show some love to my email newsletter again because it’s only been going out once a new post goes live on the blog. I am in desperate need of a makeover on this site. It has not been redesigned since 2016! Truth be told it’s expensive and that’s why I keep putting it off, but I really do hope to at least make a couple of new design tweaks to freshen it up soon. I have neglected this space so much ever since I moved to NYC. I definitely want to change that in 2020. 

I know it’s been awhile, but I appreciate you stopping by. I’m excited to see what this year has in store for all of us and I can’t wait to share more soon! Wishing all of you an incredible, healthy and happy 2020! ❤️