Happy New Year, everyone! I’m a little late on this post, but I hope you don’t mind! I absolutely love looking back on the year to remember all that’s happened and then determine what I want to focus on the next year. From Christmas to the New Year, my mom was in town so days were very full (which is also why I wasn’t able to get this post out earlier). But I was so committed to reflecting on 2018 and thinking about 2019 that for several nights I stayed up late after everyone went to bed to set goals for 2019 with my Cultivate What Matters PowerSheets!
Today I want to recap 2018, both from my personal life and here with PMT. Later this week I’ll share what I’m looking forward to in 2019!
(This is my third year setting goals with PowerSheets, and I’ve loved how they point me in the right direction. I never hit all my goals for each year, but thanks to their motto about “progress over perfection,” I can stand back at the end of each year glad that more progress was made than if I hadn’t even set those goals in the first place. I shared about them more on Instastories and saved it in my Instastory Highlights. You can also check out PowerSheets and Cultivate What Matters HERE.)
Top 5 Life Moments
This year was full of significant events, both good and bad. There were many things to celebrate, a few hardships to deal with, and lots of adjustments to make. Some major things to celebrate were:
- Welcoming Ella into the world! We love her and she fills our house with so many giggles.
- Officially left my old job of 13 years! Another huge life transition.
- Taking a trip with Benson to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary
- Getting stronger and healthier
- Landscaping our jungly monster of a backyard. Long. Time. Coming!
There were some significant events this year, like growing to a family of four or me officially leaving my job. They definitely both called for life adjustments, but they’ve been great and make me excited for 2019!
(I shared about these in PMT Emails over the year, so subscribe to those if you like random life updates!)
As far as here on PMT, it’s been fun to remember all that happened this year. It’s kind of amazing how much can happen in one year!
Top 5 Blog Posts
We’ll start with the 5 posts that got the most views in 2018. You all love capsule wardrobes don’t you? ?
1. Fall Capsule Wardrobe
2. FASTer Way to Fat Loss Intro post + Before and After Photos
3. How to wear Bootcut Jeans + 12 Outfits with Bootcut Jeans
4. Colorful Spring Capsule Wardrobe
5. Outfits with a Pink Blush Cardigan
Top 10 PMT Products
These are the most purchased products by YOU! They’re some of my PMT staples, so if you’re new around here, this is a great list to get you started.
SIZING: I’m 5’6″ and usually S/M or size 6 in clothes and 8.5 to 9 in shoes. Sizing info listed with each item below!
1. Knit Maxi Dress – COMFY And feels like pajamas. I have this in 3 colors/prints. I wear size S. Yes, the straps are thin, and yes you need a strapless bra. I finally found THIS strapless bra and don’t have to pull it up anymore!
2. Dear Mushka Pendant Necklace – Goes with EVERYTHING and completely pulls together drab boring looks. It’s actually a locket, so you can put a meaningful picture inside! I feel the chain is kind of thin and fragile, so I swapped it out with a chain from an old necklace I had. There are extra chains on Amazon or Michael’s.
3. BP Cardigan – You know I love my oversized cardigans! Perfect for that relaxed vibe. I wear these in size XS as they run huge.
4. Dreamers Sweater sweater shaver– SOOOO soft. I have 5 sweaters by this brand and they’re all so ridiculously soft. They fuzz, so make sure you have a to keep them looking new.
5. Wit & Wisdom Jeans – SOFT and STRETCHY. Some of them have elastic in the waistband (in addition to a zipper and fly) so they are EXTRA comfy–make sure you get the “Ab-Solution” line if you want the elastic in the waistband. I sized down in the pair linked–wearing size 4. Size 6 fit but had so much extra material.
6. Roll-Tab White Tunic – Most remixed item. See the ways I’ve worn it HERE. The white one is currently sold out, but I’m hopeful it’ll come back in stock as it’s been around for years. I wear size M even though it’s enormous in the torso (just do a partial tuck like in the pic on the left above!) Shoulders fit me better in M, and the top drapes so well that it’s easy to do the front tuck with. And NO, I do not dry clean it despite its care instructions. I either wash it in the “hand wash cycle” with my machine or sometimes accidentally run it in the regular cycle with everything and air dry. Many people say they machine wash and dry and it’s been fine, but do so at your own discretion.
7. Fringe-Bib Necklace – Most worn statement necklace. Always in and out of stock, but it WILL get restocked if it’s ever out, so keep checking.
8. Cognac Tote Bag – PMT staple for years!
9. Peep-Toe Block Heeled Booties – Just got these in July during the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale, but apparently you guys love them! I wear size 8.5.
10. Loafers – Only got these this fall but they’re sooooo comfy which is probably why they’re a hit with you! Come in tons of different colors.
I’m both surprised and not at all surprised that things I’ve talked about for YEARS continue to be the most purchased items. First, I show them a lot, so there’s more opportunities for you guys to know about them as well as see how useful they can be in your wardrobe. But secondly, I think you guys are smart about wanting to build a wardrobe full of things that are versatile and go with a lot of stuff. Besides numbers 9 and 10, I can confidently say these are items will be in heavy rotation in your closet for a while!
SHOP THE TOP 10 ITEMS
Top Moments & News
Launched Starter Kit Wardrobe Guides
Ahhhh I can’t believe this only happened this year! I launched the first Starter Kit Wardrobe Guide this spring shortly after giving birth to Ella. After doing enough PMT Challenges and watching some of you get overwhelmed trying to build wardrobes from scratch, Starter Kit Wardrobe Guides made so much sense. I LOVE hearing how helpful they’ve been for you! (Also, if you don’t know about my Wardrobe From Scratch Series from years ago, check it out!)
PMT Emails
I started PMT Emails in February after my RSS and Bloglovin’ feeds broke with a site redesign. For now they’re mostly used to announce a new blog post, but I do like being able to add extra tidbits in there, like life updates, Instagram outfits, and product highlights. I’d love to do more with them in the future, though!
PMT Meetup & Favorite Things Party
I’ve referred many times to the private Facebook group for all the women who participate in live PMT Challenges, and this year a few of them organized a girl’s weekend getaway to meet up this past June! (Thanks for spearheading it Natali!) They held it in San Diego knowing that I would newly have a baby, not wanting to pressure me to come, but also wanting to make it easy for me to possibly come. Thanks to a quick recovery with Ella, not only was I able to attend, I also hosted one of the events in my newly landscaped backyard! A few women flew across the country to attend, while others came from nearby. We had a Favorite Things Party one night, went shopping the next day, and went to dinner. So grateful for everyone who participates in PMT Challenges, for the ladies who organized the meet up, and for those who came all the way out to meet up!
Grew the PMT Team!
We expanded the PMT team by hiring an Executive Assistant, Heather. Meet Heather (on the left)! She joined Katie and me in November and takes care of a lot of administrative details like running customer support for PMT Challenges, setting up some systems for us to run more smoothly, and helping maintain my inbox. I still try to respond to most personal emails I get from you guys, but Heather helps with incoming requests from brands or processing all those receipts I get emailed from ordering clothes and stuff. ?
Katie continues to be PMT’s photographer but has shifted from administrative things to Content & Product Manager. Among other things she does, Katie is super familiar with the products and content I share here, manages our Pinterest account (which is an amazing resource btw. Not your average Pinterest account, so take a look!), and will soon be the main person handling Instagram and Facebook. There were times I went days without posting on Instagram or Facebook, but with Katie managing both of those channels we’ve been able to let you know about helpful blog posts, great products, and sales more often. She’s also been creating some visual content with photography and graphics, and it’ll be exciting to develop further in 2019!
Get to know Katie and Heather a little more on our new Meet the Team page!
It’s only been a couple of months, but I’m so excited to have another teammate! With a growing business, I felt I needed an additional teammate to free me up to focus on writing blog posts and creating more Starter Kit Wardrobes and style guides. And I wanted more time to be with my family, honestly. At the end of the day, I just really want to create resources that help women feel good about themselves (ie write posts and create style guides), but there is so much behind the scenes work that goes into running this thing. With our newly expanded team, I’m looking forward to creating more!
Thank You!
I want to say a huuuuuge THANK YOU for being part of the PMT community! Without you, this blog, the content here, and the resources we create wouldn’t be possible. I know this is “my” blog, but I don’t see it as existing just for me. Its purpose is to help others, and the posts I write and resources I create are to help others. Every time you come here to read a post, share posts on Pinterest, tell your friends about PMT, make purchases through affiliate links here, join a PMT Challenge, or purchase a style guide or Starter Kit Wardrobe Guide, you afford me the ability to focus on creating more resources to help others. Win-win for everyone! I also want to thank you for your kind words, encouraging emails and comments, and for any of you who’s ever written telling me how this blog has impacted your life. It fuels my motivation and vision! Thank you again for being part of this community!
