to begin, HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! every year, i vow to do one thing that i have always wanted to do. whether it be big or small, deciding to experience something new annually is just as exciting as it is totally scary. past goals have included trying my hand at ski racing, spending more time with old friends, and other relatively easy obligations. heading into 2015, though, i set my sights on something greater than the mastery of a new skill. i challenged myself to find an identity. for far too long, when asked about my interests, a cowardly “i don’t know” escaped my lips. 2015 was going to be the year when i finally had an answer; one that only i could discover for myself. i knew that i loved to cook, eat, write, dress up, and travel, but wasn’t sure if these things could serve as my descriptors. if i was going to characterize myself with five verbs, i needed to be completely sure that i was passionate.
as you may be inferring by now, gabraacadabraa hatched as a result of my self discovery. i knew in early march that i would be travelling up and down the east coast on college tours, therefore dressing up and dining out very frequently in a short span of time.i seized my chance to see if i could marry all of my passions into something truly worthwhile.
fast forward, and here we are about to celebrate a year of gabraacadabraa. i truly cannot believe it. it is totally crazy to think that if i hadn’t had a venti starbucks after my tour of loyola university maryland, i probably wouldn’t have stayed up late enough to craft what, at the time, was a simple white background covered in my ramblings. i guess we’re still kind of in that stage…. but my background is blue now!
all in all, i am so incredibly thankful for everything that 2015 offered to me. i am a completely different person than i was 365 days ago, but i could not be happier with my transformation and what it allowed me to discover in so many areas. i gained such a strong appreciation for the people who have made blogging their careers and am inspired daily, where as a year ago i would have scoffed at such an unconventional career path.
in march 2015, i decided that i was going to try to reach 1,ooo site views by march 2016. three months before my deadline, i am ecstatic to report that we have not double or tripled my number, but multiplied it by eight. so, to all 8,100 of y’all, thank YOU for making 2015 the year that i finally found myself, my purpose, and most importantly, my answer. let’s kick some booty in 2016!!!!!
xx gabby