2017 Recap!

HELLO 2018!!!

I truly can’t believe another year has passed, why does it feel like they keep getting shorter and shorter?! Looking back, 2017 was filled with so many amazing memories and I wanted to do a recap of some of my favorites! Leave me a comment letting me know your #1 favorite memory from 2017!

#1 Starting 2017 on a CRUISE SHIP

The year started off with a bang (literally…gotta love fireworks). We were on one of our annual cruises when the clock striked 12! Such an exciting way to start the year!

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#2 Our First Road Trip

When I was a kid, my family would take 5 hour road trips to Montreal quite often but I had never done a road trip like this one! We drove from Texas all the way to LA in the span of 4 or 5 days (we stopped in New Mexico for a couple nights!). Such a fun experience and a great test on my relationship with Taylor haha!

I have a whole blog post on our trip if you want to check that out HERE!

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#3 I moved into a bigger apartment!

This was a really big and exciting move for me! I moved from my one bedroom apartment to a TWO BEDROOM, all on my own! That’s something I’m super proud of. I worked my butt off in 2016 to afford this beautiful apartment I get to live in, so I thought it was fitting to add it to my 2017 recap!

 

#4 Spoke on a panel with other influencers

If you know me even the slightest bit, you know how big of a deal this was for me! I have extreme anxiety when it comes to public speaking and I had many many anxiety attacks leading up to this panel. Seems kind of silly because I technically speak to thousands of people as my JOB, but actually standing there in front of people makes me want to throw up. But I did it, I put my fears behind me and I talked about things that were important to me to important people. I left that afternoon feeling SO proud of myself, one of the best feelings ever.

 

#5 Drank (too much) Wine on a SAFARI

Wow so much fun. We got to visit the Malibu Wine Safari and this is easily one of my favorite days out of the whole year! All our friends got together in Malibu and drank wine while feeding a bunch of different animals… how can you go wrong?! Needless to say, I think by the end of it we were all prettyyyyy drunk hahah!

Full blog post on this HERE!

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#6 Quick trip to BEYOND WONDERLAND

Our second year in a row, Jill and I went to Beyond Wonderland! I’d never consider myself a “raver” or anything like that, I barely even like dancing (unless I’ve had some alcohol). Although when the opportunity comes up to attend a really cool event like Beyond Wonderland, you bet your a$$ we’ll be there. Turned out to be such a fun night with my BFF!

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#7 Road trip to San Diego!

Yet another road trip! My boyfriend was on tour and had a show in San Diego so I thought it would be fun to go down with him for the weekend! It’s just a 2 hour drive so we head down to SD and did all of the fun trendy things to do!

Full post on this trip HERE!

 

#8 Starting this blog!

I actually started in this social media world on Tumblr! I used to love taking pictures and posting about them on there. Once I kind of grew out of it, I moved over to youtube which I’ll always be incredibly thankful for. In the last year I was looking for something to push me creatively and that’s when the idea of creating a blog came to me. Getting to write (something I’ve always loved) and share my photos in one space seemed like something I absolutely needed to try. I’ve loved every minute of this blogging journey and I cannot wait to see where this continues to go!!

 

#9 Went to Disneyworld for FREE!

This was so spontaneous and amazing. We were in Orlando Florida for Playlist Live and on a day where we had nothing to do, we were offered free tickets to Epcot! Jill and I had been together a couple years back, but getting to go again (and recreate a photo from 2015) was SO much fun. I did not wake up that morning thinking I’d be roaming around Epcot, I was beyonddd thrilled.

 

#10 My first time in Chicago!

I had always wanted to visit Chicago and I finally got to with my parents in May! We had such an amazing time there and I’d definitely want to go back in the summer months so it would be a little warmer!

Full blog post HERE!

Tara Michelle
 

#11 SPENDING 3 DAYS IN COSTA RICA WITH MY FRIENDS

One of my all time favorite trips ever. I got to go with some of my really close friends on a 3 day all inclusive trip to Costa Rica! From the daily drinks at the swim up bar, to getting a million bug bites, it was a trip I’ll never forget! So beyond blessed to get to do such amazing things with amazing people.

Two blog posts about our trip!! HERE and HERE!

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#12 Getting sent to Milwaukee for Summerfest

I had the amazing opportunity to be flown to Milwaukee and attend 2 days at Summerfest! I had never been to Milwaukee or Summerfest before so I was really looking forward to the new experiences. I had such a fun trip with my boyfriend, we ate SO much fried cheese and I couldn’t be happier. Getting to explore a new city is always so exciting and truly never gets old.

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Tara Michelle
 

#13 Meeting my parents in San Francisco!

Another trip with my incredible parents! They flew from Toronto to SF and I met them there since LA is just a quick flight away. We road tripped all the way down the coast from San Francisco back to LA, making many cool stops on the way! Now that I live so far from my family, I really appreciate every moment I get with them (especially when we get to go somewhere cool haha).

 

#14 Getting to be in a video for Buzzfeed

I have been an avid Buzzfeed watcher for years now and it was a HUGE honor being asked to be in a video for them. Little ol’ me, on Buzzfeed, racking up 2 million views in the first couple days. The experience of being on a Buzzfeed set and filming everyday for a week for this video was so cool. I felt like I was living out all my 16 year old dreams.

Click here to watch the video!!

 

#15 Celebrated 1 year with my boyfriend

365 days after agreeing to be his girlfriend, here we are! Still thriving! Celebrating one year together was so exciting, it felt like our relationship was solid. We became “official” on August 9th after spending the day at Disneyland, so we thought it was only fitting to spend our one year there as well! A few days later Taylor actually got us tickets to see Sam Hunt in concert, so we got to celebrate twice!

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#16 WENT TO EUROPE!

Very spontaneously, mom and I booked a European cruise. Sounds crazy right? I know. I did many blog posts on this trip so I won’t say too much, but this was most definitely one of the biggest 2017 highlights.

Dubrovnik | Montenegro | Greece | Split

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#17 I dyed my hair brown

As I’m sure you know, my hair is naturally brown. I’ve gone back and forth from brunette to blonde so many times over the years but stuck with blonde for the last year and a half (or so). I was finally tired of my straggly ends and the amount of upkeep needed to keep it looking good, so I dyed my hair back to my natural color! I’m SO happy with my decision and feel so much better about not damaging it constantly with bleach, maybe it’ll finally start to grow again (hopefully hahah).

 

#18 Got to attend a PRIVATE John Legend Show

Ugh, let’s just talk about John Legend. Truly, a LEGEND. It’s no shocker that he’s an amazing artist but WOW was he mind-blowing in person. I got an invite to attend a wine tasting for his new collection LVE where he did a Q&A (I was standing like 3 feet from him and basically couldn’t breathe because I was so excited). Post Q&A we were led up to the penthouse roof of the Roosevelt hotel in Hollywood where he performed around 4 songs for a Jimmy Kimmel taping. This afternoon took my breath away, I was so astonished that I was standing on this famous rooftop watching one of my favorite artists. I am so thankful for this life.

 

#18 Road trip to Lake Tahoe

The last road trip of the year was to Lake Tahoe, another place I hadn’t visited before! We were gone for 3 nights and it was a great little taste of “winter” before I went home to Toronto. Such a beautiful trip, so many great sights and we had so much fun together!

Full blog post HERE!

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#20 Got a PUPPY

The love of my life right here, little Bradey. She already has an instagram (@babybradey), I highly recommend you follow it if you like puppies (who doesn’t…?). I flew home to Toronto for the holidays and also to pick up my mom’s new puppy! She’s now a 10 week old cockapoo puppy and she’s getting bigger every single day (which makes me so sad). This is the biggest thing that happened in 2017 because she’ll be around for many many years to come, our family dog!! I had a dog growing up but she passed away when I was 14, so having a dog back in the house feels so so nice!


WOW, there it is, my whole year in a single blog post. Looking back at some of my favorite 2017 moments has been so much fun, been quite a few road trips eh?! I didn’t even realize how much traveling I had done over the last year until sitting down now and going over it all.

What an amazing year with amazing people and I know 2018 has so much more in store for all of us! I hope you enjoyed reading this post and look forward to all the new posts to come this next year! 🙂

xo Happy New Year ♥

 
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