Whenever I think of the West Coast, I normally picture beaches, Hollywood and the Kardashians. California is of course, so much more than that. To see it for myself, I relinquished my East Coast loyalty for a week during my sabbatical, curious at what the Golden State had to offer.

Throughout all my travels I’ve realised that I’ve always had company. Whether it’s the friends I’ve traveled with, or the family I’ve visited abroad, I’ve done part of my travels alone, but not entirely. So during this sabbatical, I figured a solo trip to New Orleans would be perfect to experience what traveling alone was really about.

I’ve been sitting on this news for so long but I can finally speak on it – I’m taking a sabbatical from work!
It’s something I’ve been contemplating for a while and I’m excited to be taking the plunge and taking some much needed time out.

Just over a month back from NYC I was in need of another break. Somehow my feet can’t seem to stay planted on home soil for long nowadays.

I’ve been belligerent about representation lately, especially when it comes to beauty and cosmetics.

Nowadays when I shop for make up, I pay extra attention to marketing and the type of models used – something I never cared about. However as my make up collection has grown, so has my awareness of how the beauty industry isn’t doing enough to make certain groups, namely South Asians, feel included.

It almost felt too much to ask for; a brand with these groups and complexions in mind. That is until, Luscious Cosmetics got in touch.

“They want to see you do good but never better than them. Remember that.”

It’s not the most empowering of quotes but it came to mind when I thought about International Women’s Day. The world may be fighting for female equality, but it’s important to acknowledge the societal pitfalls that hinders real progress – and the fact that women may be at fault.

I know this is what you’ve been waiting for – me spilling all that relationship tea.

As a blogger, you are your own boss. You’re able to carve out the career you want by choosing the content you put up and the projects you want to associate yourself with.

There isn’t a manual when it comes to issues like outgrowing your current offering and how to best oversee a rebrand. But despite it all, this is exactly what I did in 2017 after going back and forth on whether this was the right thing to do.

Oh fitness, you and I have had an arduous relationship. However in 2017, as odd as it sounds, walking gave me both perspective and a perky bum.

I didn’t quite achieve the most important goal I had set myself for 2017, which was a bit of a downer. However I did begin to understand what I needed to do in order to potentially be a step closer in 2018.