Top Wedding Posts from 2015

One of my most popular posts from 2015 was on making boxes for my bridesmaids! I really wanted to ask them in a personalized way and to give them little gifts to thank them for being in my life. I really wish I could have given them in person, because I definitely had mini alcohols for each of my girls that (it turns out) can't be sent through the mail!

I posted a series about finding my wedding dress, which was insanely popular. I quickly realized that my readers really, really liked hearing about wedding stuff. I don't blame you, because I like it too. :) They were super fun to write. My first post was on my initial thoughts when dress shopping and my experiences dress shopping in Boston.

My second post in the wedding dress series was about actually finding "the dress." It was totally unexpected, but so exciting! I still pine for it, and I'm not exaggerating. I wish I had it now so that I could wear it around the house. :) 

My last (and third) post in the series was 6 tips for dress shopping. I read a lot of tips beforehand, but these were the ones I really took to heart and used myself. Bringing snacks was a must, because it is physically and emotionally exhausting! I was also really shocked by how much other people's opinions were hard to ignore. At the last place we looked in Boston, my mom and grandma loved this lace dress on me (not the one shown above), but I felt literally nothing. It was so hard to explain why this dress - which was technically perfect and looked amazing on me - just wasn't the one. I felt like I was letting people down! In reality, I wasn't. They wanted the best for me, which wasn't that dress.

In April, I posted about 8 wedding things I'd been loving! Since my wedding Pinterest board is private, it was fun to show off some of the things I'd been thinking about. It ended up being really popular, which again, after realizing how popular all my wedding posts were, wasn't totally unexpected. It's funny to see how my tastes or ideas have changed since then!

It's honestly really hard to write about J and I's wedding - I'm never sure how much to share. It's not just because of privacy, but because if I share everything that we're planning, then I think the wedding itself won't be as exciting for our guests! I like having surprises planned, and I want people to be totally awed! If everyone knows what we've planned, then no surprises. Boo!

At the same time, I really love writing about it. It's fun. We're finally at the point where we've got the big stuff taken care of and I'm constantly being asked about our plans, so it feels silly not to write about it. Plus, writing about finding a wedding dress was basically the most fun I had writing this year! 

It's so funny, because I was so stressed out about being a bride at first. Now, it feels like the most natural thing in the world, because over the past year, I've really let go about what I think I'm supposed to do/think/feel, and just let J and I figure stuff out! There are no wrong answers, and that's been super freeing for me. :)

Top Law School Posts from 2015

This was by far my most popular post of 2015 - as of today, it has over 1200 views thanks to Pinterest! It turns out Evidence is hard, and I can't tell you how happy I am that people thought these flow charts were as useful as I found them!

 I wrote about law school and insecurity in March, and it's one of the posts I've gotten the best feedback on. It's really easy to feel like you don't belong or that everyone's smarter than you in law school, so it was really nice to write about (and remind myself) that we're all here for a reason, and that we can and will get through this!

I wrote about my 2L year of law school, which was infinitely better than my 1L year. Big surprise there, right? ;) I actually had fun, got the best grades I'd ever gotten, and took classes that were simulations instead of just using case books.

One of my favorite things I wrote this year was about things not to do in law school. I go to school with a lot of chill classmates, but that's not the norm. To be frank, the majority of people in law school are insufferable, but you can keep from being insufferable by not doing a bunch of judgmental, annoying things. Something to note. ;)

When I started "Girl Named Fiddy" and let go of "Nonsensical Me," one of the things I really wanted to write about was my journey to applying to law schools and writing about my experiences in law school. I really wished I could have read about before coming, and there's not much out there unless it's a horror story or a story about a law student from Harvard. 

I wanted other people to google "law school" and read stories about real life in law school. I wanted them to know my honest thoughts about my experiences, which is one of the reasons I was so proud to write my "recap" of my 1L year. It was not a positive experience. I really, really struggled, and I wanted anyone else struggling to know they weren't alone and we could get through this.

It's weird to think I'll have to stop writing about law school in five months, but I won't pretend I'll miss it. All I want to do is graduate and start working! I want to help people, not be stuck in a lecture... But I can make it for five more months. :)

Happy 2016!

2016 Goals

Happy second day of 2016, everybody! I know it's a tough time of year for a lot of people, and not just because of the holidays - this is also the time of year when half the population decides they want to lose 50 lbs and the other half of the population grumbles and mocks them for it.

Personally, I love goals for a new year. I love a chance and a time for self-improvement, and since I have yet to reach a state where I no longer need to improve myself, self-improvement it is!

I have a lot of big goals for 2016 (that really require no explanation):

• Graduate from law school
• Marry J
• Move to Denver
• Get a job in Denver at a great firm
• Pass the Colorado bar exam

I also have some smaller goals for 2016:

• Read 12+ books this year and continue my 12x12 challenge
• Give away 200 things
• Run 8 miles at one time

I have a few more "smaller" goals that I've decided on, but mostly they're goals for how I treat others and to be (in general) more conscious about the kinds of foods I put in my body. They're not concrete goals, so I decided not to list them here. It doesn't make them any less real to me!

One thing J and I are trying out this month is going vegetarian! We were talking about doing it all year, but both of us thought it'd be smart to try it out for the first month and then recap. I didn't think it'd be that difficult since I mostly eat pescatarian, but I already almost messed up! I was bringing up some cold pizza for lunch and I had already eaten half a pizza (mushroom, thankfully) before I realized that the two beautiful pieces of pepperoni pizza on my plate were not, in fact, vegetarian. Weird how that happens, huh?

In some ways, I have a lot fewer goals than I did last year, but to my credit, a lot of my goals this year are BIG. Most of the work is already done for them, thankfully. For example, while I don't take graduating law school for granted by any means, I appreciate the fact that I have one semester to go and basically just have to fill out the right forms and pass all my classes. Marrying J should also be a pretty easy one to meet. ;) Moving to Denver is at least mostly dependant on me getting a job in Denver. Still crossing my fingers on that one!

2016's going to be a big year for me, folks. This is finally the year of happening, not waiting, and I'm so anxious and excited to see what happens!