Outfit Details: My dress: Pitusa c/o {wearing the petite} // Jacqueline’s dress: Pitusa c/o {wearing the petite} // sunglasses: Diff Eyewear c/o {use the code AMYPINK for 25% off any pair!} // gold cuff bracelet: Pieces of Me c/o {I’m wearing the “confidence” one} // flamingo cups: Emily McCarthy Shoppe c/o // straws: Etsy {unfortunately sold out, see similar ones below}

Hi everyone! It’s officially the last day of 2017— what?!! I hope you are enjoying the last bittersweet moments of holiday vacation and gearing up for a festive New Year’s Eve. The past few days I’ve been thinking about how I wanted to set up my 2017 blog post recap, and have honestly had a hard time thinking about how to format it and roundup all that 2017 brought for me (it was a jam packed year like no other). Finally, a “roundup” sounded like the best option–  so below I listed 17 things that were either highlights, big moments, interesting tidbits, or stuck out to me this past year. Walk through the past year with me below and let me know which parts you remember or followed along with!

2017 Roundup

1. Trip to Peter Island. We kicked off 2017 on a little island in the British Virgin Islands that was the ultimate tropical playground and relaxing oasis. Now one of my favorite places ever, it was such a sunshine and friend-filled unreal trip. See the whole trip here.
2. Being Theta’s recruitment chair. Best. Week. Ever. It was one of the hardest and best things I’ve ever done… with the greatest reward ever. I learned more through sorority recruitment than I did in any other life experience and the skills I took from it have been immensely helpful in my post-grad career (seriously). Take a look at the cutest girls I know here. 😉
3. Writing my senior thesis. I came up with a sassy cartoon girl who loved to shop the best sales and was blown away with the support she received. It was such a FUN thesis to create and write and there are so many people I have to thank for supporting that year-long project. Take a look at my senior thesis debut here.
4. Spring break in the Dominican Republic. Bath tubs, buffets, boat cruises, beaches. 200 of my Richmond friends and I went to Punta Cana for a spring break trip that we are still trying to lose lbs from (ha). If you have chance to do a similar trip, go for it. See the whole trip here.
5. Graduation! I graduated from the University of Richmond with a major in Integrated Marketing and Communications (I created it– in case you try looking it up and can’t find it!) and a minor in Leadership Studies. It was hands-down the best four years of my life and I did not want to leave. In order to make it a little bit easier, there were photos, a party, and lots of champagne… see my graduation series here.
6. Trip to Rome & the Amalfi Coast. Also to make sure I emotionally survived graduation (ha) we left for Italy 48 hours after I graduated. It was the trip of a lifetime (we still talk about it all the time), and I cannot thank my parents enough for treating us to such phenomenal places and experiences (as well as my sister for being the trip entertainment the whole time ?). See our trip itinerary overview here.
7. Moving to Philadelphia. I moved into my first “big girl” apartment! After 48 hours of straight h*ll of moving in everything I own, I can say that the apartment has become my favorite place to be after long days at work/commuting as well as on sleepy Sunday afternoons. It turned out to be so happy and cozy and I very much love apartment life 🙂 Take a look at my apartment bedroom here and our apartment living room here.
8. Most purchased item on I Believe in Pink: this! This came out of my one men’s-oriented blog post of the year and it was the most purchased item of the year, ha! Maybe I need to start posting more for the guys?! Also, find it on sale here.
9. Launch of the I Believe in Pink Boutique. I accomplished a longtime dream of opening my own pop-up e-commerce boutique! It was such a thrilling experience and I had the best time merchandising, photographing, writing, shipping, etc. for it the whole time it was open. There are so many different facets to running a boutique and I learned so much about what it takes. I closed it up when I started working full time but a re-opening *may* be in the works for 2018. Stay tuned. 😉 Read all about the boutique here.
10. Starting my post-grad career. After pursuing this role for years and completing the internship, I was so thrilled to officially start my career at Lilly. I’m six months into it and have gotten to have more responsibility and roles than I could have even imagined. My career journey so far has been a dream come true. Read more about my journey to Lilly here.
11. Getting a place in Vero Beach. We never thought we would end up in Florida but then my parents found themselves in Vero Beach for the weekend last spring and came out of it with a new place to live. ? I’ve been there a handful of times since then and cannot get over how perfect of a fit it is for us. I’m happy to say that we spent the second half of this Christmas in Vero and are celebrating the start of 2018 here as well!
12. Favorite book of the year: this one . I listened to in my car multiple times through and it honestly changed my perspective and life. I love the way it talks about energy, loving yourself, and going for the things you think are unimaginable. Definitely one of the first books you should pick up in the new year.
13. Being interviewed on Kate the Wasp‘s podcast. This was the first time I really opened up and shared a lot in a format other than a blog post. Recording it was way out of my comfort zone but ended up being beyond worth it. Listen to it here {it’s #14}.
14. Christmas in Philadelphia and New York City. I really truly loved getting to experience Christmas in two cities who go all out for it– Philly and NYC. Johnny and I took full advantage of the festive activities in both cities and did Christmas markets, a historical German Christmas house tour, the Radio City Christmas Spectacular show, and a helicopter ride over the city. Needless to say, December went by way too fast!
15. Most liked Instagram post of the year: this one… until I posted this Instagram last night and it became my most liked post, ha!
16. My favorite blog posts of the year: I try to make every post I create be relevant, helpful, and authentic. These four just happened to be my personal favorites to create and really reflect the breadth of topics I cover here on IBIP: Letter to the College Undergrad, Study Abroad Tips & Travel Diaries, Tips for an Arm Party Bracelet Stack, and Apartment Bedroom Inspiration.
17. Most read blog post of the year: this one. Looks like career posts are popular! I will keep this in mind in 2018.

Thank you all so much for following along on Instagram, liking my photos, clicking on my links, shopping through my blog, and overall supporting my side-hustle and my favorite little nook of the internet– I Believe in Pink. It means more to me than I could ever say and I am so incredibly thankful to you for being part of a very happy, uplifting, positive, and *pink* part of my world! Cheers to all that 2018 will bring… xxx

p.s. See what my “word” for 2017 was in this post… I think it’s safe to say that I lived it out fully!