I’ve been a terrible blogger lately and so much has happened since you last heard from me. I turned another year older, became an auntie, and Instagram launched the video story feature (mic drop, Snapchat). OK, so that last one is a bit tongue in cheek, but still.

So, where do I start? Let’s start light and talk about this whole Instagram thing. Here are my thoughts on it. I run a marketing and PR company, and we spend a lot of time honing our clients social media strategy (content creation, photography, social strategy and even day-to-day management), so these social media changes have an impact on all of that stuff. So many of my clients were curious about Snapchat, and I was careful to be overly hasty to get them on the bandwagon. There’s a fine line between being an early adopter, and wasting time on an app that wasn’t a sure bet. I always spend a lot of time growing their Instagram following, and growing a following on a brand new social app takes time and resources, which have no guarantee of pay off. For this reason, I’m really glad that Instagram has introduced the story option, because it allows the user to deepen their connection with their audience, and breaks the barriers of the ‘perfect life’ syndrome and burnout we all deal with. Because my following is much larger on Instagram than Snapchat, in terms of eyes on my vids, Instagram wins hands down. That said, I don’t like that I can’t opt out of everyone’s stories. There are only certain people I follow on Snapchat, and for good reason. I also dislike that anyone, no matter if they follow you or not, can see your Instagram story. It feels unsafe, and like an invasion of privacy, since there is a certain intimacy with video that you don’t get with static images. For me, I’ll do both, and keep my Instagram stories a little more polished (to fit the Instagram community I’ve created), and Snapchat will be reserved for my more unfiltered stuff. I think this is also a good time to say that sometimes less is more, and it’s not necessary to document your every move. I’ll just leave that there.

OK, so onto the good stuff… I became an aunt! My sister had her baby girl, named Ariana Hazel (Hazel was our Grandma’s name), and I will spare most of her personal deets, but I was able to fly in and arrived 4 hours after she was born. I had planned to hop on a plane the moment she went into labour, and we almost pulled it off (she called me at 8pm on a Sunday, and I booked the first flight out, at 7am Monday), but as we all know, babies wait for no one! I wanted to be there and stay for a bit to help out… we’re talking cooking, cleaning, organizing and watching the baby while the new parents get some real sleep. Since my sis had a c-section, I am so so so happy I was able to be there for her because as it turned out, she really needed me. I definitely a) saw what a challenge the whole newborn thing is b) learned so so much for when it’s our turn c) realized how ready I am to do this thing! It also forced me to be present and in the moment, since having my face in my phone wasn’t an option because I was seriously running around almost every moment, and I also didn’t want it to stress her out; I wanted to be fully present, and to keep her environment as calm as possible. Just going through all of that got my head straight, helping me to feel centered and honestly, like life is so much bigger than all the little petty worries swirling my head on any given day.

And, then, it was my birthday. My 35th. And… I finally understand the whole ‘let’s pretend it’s not’ thing. My poor husband always feels such pressure to deliver and make it special (remember, he’s known me since I was 22 and back then, my youth had me feeling it was a huge cause for celebration). He did not disappoint at all. He planned a rooftop brunch at my friend Tessa’s place (you guys probably know her as Sweet Bake Shop), including a fully set table, flowers, watermelon cocktails, wine, and of course a (Sweet Bake Shop) cake. I emphasize the wine, though, because we polished off about six bottles between the four of us throughout the day, and had a great time until about 11pm. At that point, I was sunburned, tired, and we didn’t even have dinner. Such a fun memory!

I always say that the people that aren’t happy about getting older maybe feel like they aren’t where they want be, they haven’t accomplished what they think is ‘enough’. But now I feel differently. The people who aren’t happy about getting older simply want this wonderful life to last forever. I think my 30’s are the prime of my life, and I’ve never been happier. Here’s to a fantastic year, full of enough downs to make the ups feel grand.