cheers 🥂 to the new year

Like many of you I was eager to enter into the new year. 2020 has been tough for us all - between COVID touching down in the US, quarantining in March, restaurants closing, concerts being cancelled and Mitch McConnell playing with our stimmy checks, we couldn’t catch a break. And to add to all of that, I experienced a heartbreak that I thought would break me sprinkled in there along the way. I just KNEW 2020 was going to end me and those around me. But in the midst of all that madness there was a promotion, a (hefty) pay increase, a end of year bonus, and a thirty pound weight loss (more on that later!) along with a host of other blessings that I honestly can’t overlook! If I’m honest, God had his hand on me the entire time! It’s so easy for us to zoom in on what’s not working at the moment but I want to push you to think about how God kept you when He really didn’t have to!

Enough about reminiscing on the past, we’re here to talk about the future. About the now, about what’s to come, right? Well let me be honest and transparent about what tried to take hold of my mind on December 31, 2020 - New Years Eve! I was sitting in my room at about 7:30 p.m. in my bed full of clothes (because just the week before my closet had just collapsed - more on that in another blog post...whew! I have so much to tell you! 😓)...I was ready to just sit in my bed and sulk in the fact that I was ending another year single, yet content and completely overwhelmed with the amount of stuff I accumulated over the months. Don’t get me wrong, I am absolutely loving the life I have but for some reason my thoughts became consumed with who wasn’t showing up versus who was.

Umm...let’s stop right here and KILL that thought! It’s dead! Right here! Right now!

I have some pretty cool people in my life starting with the people that live with me! The Villa - is what we call ourselves :) Me, Ashley, Paige and Sharalle! A crew that God himself curated! This would be year #2 that I would have no plans but Ashley suggested that we get cute and bring in the new year celebrating ourselves and all of our wins! I was so blah about the idea up until about 10 p.m. that evening. I didn’t want to put makeup on and I had no idea what to wear (after all my clothes were a complete mess all over my room). But I remembered one of my many quarantine purchases and thought it would be perfect for the occasion.

So in a quick 30 minutes, I got myself together. I used my Fast Face makeup kit from The Lip Bar (Detroit’s own and black owned of course!) and put my Holi-BAE set on from Fancy Homebody (black owned as well - you catching the vibes?) and made my way to the living room.

What was going to be a “sad” New Years Eve turned out to be a night full of love and inspiration. People surrounding me that speak life and love, that encourages me to be better daily. 

Sharalle, Lauren & Ashley

Yes, there are four of us but one was out working her dream job (She has an amazing story of how God showed up and showed out in her life too! He’s working mmmkayyy!) that didn’t stop us from Facetiming her in! 

How did you bring in the New Year?! And what are you most looking forward to? Let’s hear it!