Happy, happy Friday! I’ve missed doing this series the last few months but coming in strong for a special end of the year edition.
Today is my last day in the office, and my Christmas shopping and wrapping is DONE, so now I can just enjoy time with friends and family. In 2020, my goal is to spend more time on my blog and grow my presence as a nanoinfluencer (we are where it’s AT with our high engagement rates!) and also doing a monthly email newsletter finally. What would you like to see from me? Drop me a note in the comments. Thank you for reading and being a part of PRetty in Pittsburgh!
Here’s a look back at what I loved in 2019.
Personal Highlights
- Winning an award: This year, I was honored to receive the PRSA Pittsburgh Member of the Year award for dedication to and leadership within the PRSA Pittsburgh chapter and PR community. I’ve been a part of PRSA since about 2004 within the student chapter at Slippery Rock University, and it has been so great to keep the organization part of my career for so many years.
- Getting a promotion: I also got promoted to AVP this year at my company! That was an exciting moment.
- Adopting a puppy: My FAVORITE highlight in 2019 was getting a dog, hands down. We adopted Hugo in July and having him is the best. He’s so sweet and a little goofy. He’s been housebroken for a few months now and overall, really good. He’s not perfect yet, so looking forward to training him a bit more in 2020. Getting home from work (thankful for our daily dog walker!) and seeing that tail wag and his excitement is the best part of my day. I love our walks, too and can’t wait to start running with him this spring. Here he is in his Christmas sweater!
Favorite Meals
- Tacos at Condado
- Pasta at DiAnoia’s (and pizza next door at Pizzeria Davide)
- Gyros at my favorite Greek Festival
- And I know this is crazy, but I had a Friday morning/afternoon to myself in NYC and shopped at Zara and grabbed Shake Shack on the way to the airport in the back of an uber and it was just the best. It’s the little things.
Favorite Reads & Podcasts
- Educated was by far my favorite book of the year. It was SO good and I still think about it. Honorable mention: The Moment of Lift by Melinda Gates. I’ve really enjoyed following her on LinkedIn this year (she was also the top LinkedIn influencer of 2019).
- There are a million email newsletters, but some that I’ve really enjoyed this year include Morning Brew, which covers the latest business and finance news in just five minutes (in a fun tone to boot) and The Newsette which is all-things pop culture, women in business, fashion and more. I particularly love reading the morning and evening routines from badass ladies around the U.S. Also, The Daily Carnage is an email I ALWAYS open, from creators right here in Pittsburgh. It has all the good marketing tips. Finally, Fitt Weekly is my favorite weekly rundown of all things health and fitness in Pittsburgh.
- I jump all over the place listening to lots of different podcasts (there are just so many good ones!) but faves this year include the old standard How I Built This (Drybar and Soulcycle are still my favorite episodes) and the Office Ladies podcast is SO good for all The Office fans with Jenna’s fun facts and deep dives on some classic episodes.
- Finally, you know I love following a good influencer. Lately, though, I am more impressed at those influencers who actually have jobs, too. Now don’t get me wrong, running a blog, partnerships, social media, finance, admin, etc. is a lot of hard work, but I am truly impressed at the women who have day jobs or side jobs in addition to their blogs and social platforms. I was talking to my friend Courtney Brennan about this recently, who made the switch to become a full-time influencer in 2019. In addition to that, Courtney has clients she works with as a social media consultant, so she has a steady stream of clients she works on, in addition to her influencer status. To put it as Courtney said, this could all end tomorrow, so it’s SMART to have something to fall back on. Amen. In addition to Courtney, I love following Kilee at One Little Momma (blogger, mom of five and CEO of a fast-growing retail business, no big deal), Teri of A Foodie Stays Fit (took her know-how from corporate America to leave her job and work for herself, and crushing it at Beauty Counter sales), and finally, Meg of For the Long Hall, big-time marketing exec at LEGO and influencer. GO LADIES.
Favorite Workouts
- This year, I continued with my weekly Orange Theory workouts and I truly look forward to them every Thursday morning, when my alarm blares at 5:20 a.m (seriously, I love my morning workouts even at ungodly hours). I wrote more about OTF in this post. Sorry not sorry for sharing my splat points on IG stories every week.
- I was also introduced to two new workouts in 2019. First up, The Bar Method in Wexford, PA. This has been my favorite barre class hands down because the instructors get to know you personally and help adjust you during class. I LOVE getting adjusted because if you are not doing a move correctly, it’s not as effective. And the instructors are just SO nice and we’ve become friends. I can’t wait to take more in 2020.
- Also, I met Jordan Rose and he is AWESOME! Jordan is a personal trainer and just kills it on social media. I bought some personal training sessions with him and the workouts are HARD but fun since he’s great to just chat away with. I cannot wait for his new gym F45 to open in the Strip District in February. Blog post to come!
- Of course, I can’t forget my runs. In addition to my weekly runs, I also participated in a few great races this year. This year marked my fifth half marathon, too!
