My 2019

Click for this year's monthly recaps:

[January] [February] [March] [April] [May] [June] [July] [August] [September] [October] [November] [December]

Click for past year's wrap ups: [My 2018] [My 2017] [My 2016] [My 2015]

I tackled my blogging much differently than last year and the preceding years, but I want to at least be consistent with what has become my annual wrap up. I've really been enjoying looking back at my summaries from past years and definitely want to continue this if only just for me.

Favorite Purchases
My number of Liz Lisa purchases went way down this year, even compared to my low numbers in 2018 (approx 32 in 2019 versus 51 in 2018 including both new and secondhand but not accounting for what I sold) and nothing really made my top favorites as a huge standout! Crazy how times have changed.

- EATME garter off shoulder OP in khaki (purchased in June)
My first big EATME purchase! I had been keeping my eye on the webstore and just waiting and waiting for something I liked that seemed quintessential EATME but that I could feasibly wear in Hawaii weather and this was exactly it. I like that the design is subtle but still interesting and I really adore the dark green ("khaki" according to JP) color. I even wore this on Christmas lol. (And also purchased the pink version later on sale.)
- Olivia Burton Pretty Blossom watch (purchased in May)
I don't know why it took me so long to order an Olivia Burton watch, but I'm definitely a fan and really love the girly but elegant faces/designs. I was close to picking my recently purchased silver tone watch for this because it has sentimental meaning, but I wouldn't have gotten that one if it weren't for this pink and gold one and, I have to admit, I do love the color and theme of this one a LOT.
- Michael Kors manhattan medium purse in black (purchased in Sept)
The impetus for this purchase was having a purse that matched with the vibe of my newly acquired EATME items. My wardrobe has been cutesy/sweet leaning for so long that I don't have anything black with a little bit of an edge. After spending a few weeks searching different brands and websites, I knew this was the perfect purse but it took me just as long to commit to paying for it. I have absolutely 0 regrets and loved having it for my Chicago trip and many of my outfits since.
- Lulu Fleurir earrings (purchased in April)
It was 2 long months before these earrings finally made it to me (along with the iPhone case, necklace and bracelet), but it was worth the wait. I love the design and I think they match with so many of my existing wardrobe pieces. I was wearing mostly studs for a long time, so this got me back into wearing dangly earrings. Although some of the gold color does seem to be rubbing off already, I still opt to wear them often.
- DreamV cross strap pumps (red, black, white, beige, coral, lavender)
Easily one (or more like 7) of the best purchases I made all year. I used to wear my Liz Lisa 3d flower pumps all the time, especially the white pair. I was thrilled to find a more neutral (minus the flowers) dupe on DreamV at a reasonable price and with a slightly higher heel and scooped up a bunch of them over the first half of the year. I even got a second pair of the black before it sold out because I knew I would wear them a lot. They're my go-to shoe for work but can easily be worn for many different occasions. I'm still missing the sax color, so I'll see if they ever go on sale again!
- Laurie Fleming Asrai Garden Ring and Aika Ring (purchased by my husband in November)
I haven't had a chance to blog about this yet [blogged here!], but I would be remiss not to mention these as part of my favorite new items this year. I technically didn't purchase them, but I'm going to count them in this section anyway because they're new additions from 2019 that I'm completely obsessed with. I plan to have a full detail blog post about these rings early next year!


Favorite Outfits
These are my favorites from my Work OOTDs that got posted to my IG story this year + 1 from each of my major trips! (More on my thought process behind that in the Blogging & Social Media section below)

While some Liz Lisa and lighter colors still made the cut, I've always favored "different" outfits for this end of year wrap up as they stand out the most to me and tend to feel more special. Even though my Liz Lisa wardrobe has drastically dwindled in the last couple years, I'm rewearing a lot of my most loved pieces in more and more casual ways and while I enjoy that, they're really just regular clothes anyway. Overall, I'm quite happy with the selection I had to pick from this year and I hope nest year brings even more outfit diversity.


Blogging & Social Media
This might be a irrelevant section for a lot of people, but I really like to record where my head is at with regard to blogging every year since it's definitely shifted a lot. While I feel like my attitude towards privacy on social media in a general sense has been pretty consistent over the years, I've really had some ebb and flow with regard to how much I'm motivated to post in 2019. In January, I thought I would hit the ground running with a new POV and maintain that, but felt really guilty about it soon enough and stopped. Plus, as much as I know it doesn't matter, the Instagram algorithm and how I literally lose hundreds of followers every time I start to consistently post again is always discouraging.

To somewhat circumvent the guilt I was feeling towards involving others in my posting, I started doing Work OOTDs in my Instagram stories in late May. I enjoyed taking back ownership of the photo taking while it being relatively low effort but still producing a result slightly better than "mirror selfie"-level. I started a self-induced challenge of featuring every work-appropriate item in my wardrobe at least once before being able to rewear anything which was really motivating and encouraged me to reexamine my closet a lot. Once that was over though, I kinda got lazy with 1. the outfits themselves and 2. taking the photos when I got into work, especially when it was a meh outfit. That's where I'm at right now and I want to find a different method for next year where I'm producing decent daily outfit content but actually enjoy doing it instead of it feeling like a chore. Maybe I need to do a monthly theme or monthly challenge. If you have any ideas for me, let me know! My preference is not to wear the same item multiple times a month if I can help it, but I guess only a few of my coworkers would notice.

For my blog here, I'm happy that I maintained doing my monthly updates which were a bit more fun than the one really long aggregate post that I did in 2018. The frequency was easy to keep up with - my only issue was when I didn't really have anything I wanted to share during a month which is boring but not a big deal. Unless anyone has any specific feedback, I plan to continue to do something similar next year but also to make an effort to do some more individualized posts for special items (like the LuluFleurir order) aside from just my trips. I might consider breaking out my outfits and purchases into separate individual posts, but I'm not sure if I can keep up with that for the whole year. I do want to make some header and sidebar changes soon as well since those haven't been updated in a long time.


Travel
I somehow managed to qualify for Pualani Gold status on Hawaiian for 2020 this year without 3 roundtrip flights to Japan. I actually flew a lot interisland this year and they really added up!

I actually went to Kauai a bunch for work (January, July, October, November) including going solo for one of those. It was a little daunting but I ended up enjoying not having to worry about basing my schedule around anyone else and even tried a few new (to me) restaurants on my own. I feel pretty confident in the area I stayed in now which is a huge plus.
Husband and I went to the Big Island 5 times - New Years, May, Lychee x2, Longan. My mother-in-law is originally from Hilo, so we return several times throughout the year to visit her mom and the rest of the family. The most important aside from New Years is summer when we go to help harvest lychee and longan! It's hard work but always so rewarding.
I went to Chicago for the first time (aside from a layover) for work in September and my husband met up with me for a short vacation after. We stayed with family friends and had a great time exploring downtown and riding Divvy bikes. I would definitely go again if the occasion arose.
This year we only stayed in Tokyo when visiting Japan (Spring, Winter), but these were both different sorts of trips for me. The first one was with my MIL and her mom who I've never traveled with before but were the driving force of the trip. The goal was to enjoy sakura and Ashikaga Flower Park which were both amazing. The second just for fun but mostly to meet up with my bestie who was in the area for work! This was my first time traveling with her and introducing her to some of our favorites in Tokyo.
I know we are very blessed to have all of these opportunities to travel - both near and far. There's always something different to see and new to learn.


Life Events
Firsts
I turned 28 this year but still had plenty of firsts! Aside from some of the obvious ones on my trips or already mentioned - first time traveling to Chicago, first time time on an eBike, first time picking longan, first time buying EATME online etc, I also had some regular, run-of-the-mill life first time experiences that definitely had an effect.

During this past year, I tried Thai Food for the first time. I tried a pole dancing class for the first time. Had to travel completely solo for work for the first time. There was the first time I listened to an album all the way through in a long, long time. Ariana Grande's thank u, next album got me through some really long work days and I enjoy almost all of the songs on the album (enough to just listen to everything on shuffle). We tried out a few restaurant, Waioli Grill, for the first time and now totally love it.
I always want to keep trying new things and having new experiences. I look forward to my list of firsts being even longer in 2020!

More memorable moments
Most of my favorite and most memorable moments were already mentioned in one of the above or below sections, but I just wanted to also give a small shout out to these:

Sunflower fields at sunset - Not gonna lie, I wanted to go for the IG photo op, but this turned out some of the most amazing pictures of the year, even competing with the professional photo shoot we had in Tokyo. I love looking at all the photos from this day and they bring me so much joy.
Hiking - We did a variety of hikes this year - mostly with my bestie and her bf. I never spend as much time outdoors as I should, but again, I look back at these photos and can always recall what I good time we have when we make the effort to go out and explore the island.
The holiday season - This could be because it just passed, but omg this Christmas and New Years just felt like SO MUCH. In a good way. But also I just felt like we constantly had something to see or somewhere to go and family to arrange with. Now that it's officially over, I can say that I think it went off without a hitch for the most part and phew, we made it! I loved our tree and decorations this year, and I'm just really happy with how everything worked out.

My job
My job title is still the same and my coworkers are still the same but my actual duties got realigned a little bit this year in a really big way.

I will be/have been traveling a bit more for work now, but just to Kauai so it's not that much of a hardship. I really hadn't visited Kauai in years prior to this and now I'm going multiple times a year! I'm learning a lot more about it, even just from my brief stays. Even though I still can't imagine living there, I definitely understand why other people love that lifestyle. Aside from that, I feel comfortable but challenged in my position and have some new projects coming my way that I can't wait to tackle in the next few months.

My house
I refinanced this year. I really had no idea what that meant before I started the process, but my loan officer helped me a lot and my mortgage is a little bit lighter every month because of it. Seems worth it so far! Our major home project was the irrigation/piping leak a couple months ago which resulted in insane water bills before we caught it, but thanks to guidance and help from my dad, a DIY-able issue. We also had a little bit of an ant problem that I think I reasonably resolved with the right kind of bait/traps in the right areas, but other than that, home ownership is still pretty nice!

My friend Christa was our first overnight guest when she visited in May. We didn't get any new major furniture this year but will probably look at getting 2 new desks for the office maybe during the next 3-day weekend and I'm still looking to find some art that I want to put up throughout the bare walls!

My marital status

If you haven't read any of my Japan trip Winter 2019 posts yet, you may not have noticed that I started referring to my bf as "my husband". I got a couple of confused congratulatory DMs, but just to be clear, you didn't miss something. I didn't make an announcement. We got 1. engaged in August and then 2. married in November, and I didn't post about it. It wasn't a secret, but I just wasn't up to making a big hooplah at the time. However, I did want to refer to my husband as, well, my husband in the posts because...he's my husband and I love him. I did start a "my engagement and wedding planning" post that I may or may not share in the future, so that may be coming some time late next year if I'm up to it. I actually just picked/bought my dress and have a ton of ugly photos of me in the dresses I didn't pick so that might be fun to share later!

I hope 2019 was nice to you and that 2020 will have only the best in store. May you be surrounded with happiness, helping hands and hugs. If conflicts arise, may you overcome and at the end be stronger, wiser and still hopeful. Hauoli Makahiki Hou from Hawaii <3