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New Year, New Me!

January 2, 2017 /

Happy new years everyone! I hope you all had a great time celebrating and welcoming 2017! What did you guys do? This year was actually my first time celebrating in California! Last year, I did not make any plans, instead I did my nails and fell asleep haha so it didn’t count. I definitely did not welcome 2016 with a celebration. Therefore, I made up for it this year by going out and participated in the festivities.

I started my year of with a gold glittery dress to celebrate. This photo-shoot is a little different from my usual I wanted to try to do a photo-shoot inside my apartment and we played with different lighting. Why not? It’s a new year so try something different and new! For every New Year, I either wear gold, red, or green! Why those colors? Gold to me is glamour, a sign of wealth, and magic! Plus who doesn’t like gold? In my country, red is a sign of good luck; so therefore, I tend to wear lots of red. Green to me means wealth as well, and when I think of it, money pops up in my head. I am not sure where I heard this from but I always start my new year off on a good foot and wear the right color in hopes my year will be filled with luck, wealth and magic! Anyone out there have a weird tradition like me?

So I treated myself to a day at the salon on New Years Eve and corrected my hair color with Erick. I was his last client for the year. How cool is that? These pictures don’t do the hair color justice so I will sure to share another pic soon on my IG so stay tuned! I felt like a brand new person after being pampered at the salon! I look forward to a brand new year with lots of good food, great company, and never-ending travels! Speaking of, I already got my first trip booked this year. In two weeks I will be traveling to my motherland (Vietnam). I am so stoked!

Another thing we all do with every New Year, we all set new goals. So I thought it would be interesting to search up the most popular New Year Resolutions just because I am curious to know what they are. Funny thing is that I am sure most of us made the same resolutions. But the question is how many will we actually do?

Most popular New Years resolutions of 2016:

  1. Get healthy
  2. Get organized
  3. Live life to the fullest
  4. Learn new hobbies
  5. Live a healthier lifestyle
  6. Lose weight
  7. Spend more time with family and friends
  8. Save more, spend less
  9. Travel
  10. Read more

So out of those 10 resolutions, how many were yours? I made some similar resolutions plus more that I know I accomplished in 2016 and some I haven’t quite mastered. But that’s okay at least I tried! Good news is I have a new year to accomplish more of my goals!

Looking back at 2016, I wouldn’t say it was the worst year of my life but it wasn’t the best year either. There were a few bumps along the way but that’s life. You cannot have the good without the bad. However, it is up to you to decide how you react to it such as whether you move on or you dwell in it.

Instead of looking at the negative things, I choose to look at the positive things that happened to me in 2016 such as celebrating my one full year living in California alone! I left many things behind to move by myself across the country to follow my dreams. It was a tough decision but I knew I had to do it for myself and while I am young. I was quite nervous about it all but I survived guys! I went from not knowing anyone to making lots of amazing new friendships throughout the year. I am forever grateful for those friendships. I also made lots of new blogger friends like you guys! So thank you for always supporting me and giving me hope that there are great people out there! You guys made my 2016-year a lot better!

I also made more of an effort to travel more and explore California. The weather is great here, which makes traveling so much easier. I’ve been able to travel up to San Francisco and down south to San Diego. Since California is so big, I am never bored! 2016 taught me to live life to the fullest and to enjoy each and every moment like it is my last.

With all the amazing and exciting things that happened this past year, there were a few bumps in my year such as having lumps in my breast, and I was trying to put myself back together from a breakup. I had such a hard time accepting the facts and wasn’t sure on how to move forward. In due time I learned to let go of my past, accepted the bad, and moved on with my life. My wounds eventually healed.

2016 was all about me, myself and I. I used my time and energy to focus on myself emotionally and physically. I started meal prepping; I cut out lots of fast food and bad eating habits. I drank lots and lots of water. I made sure I stay active such as going to the gym. All of these things made me feel so much better inside and on the outside. I learned to love myself both inside and out. I have to tell you, it took such a long time to be able to do that, but it is such an uplifting feeling to be able to love yourself no matter what.

Another action that helped me throughout the year was I let go of anything negative in my life; which allowed me to have room to surround myself with positive vibes and inspiring people instead. This made such a difference in my life! Something about being around people, who are motivated, inspired, and happy makes you feel the same way. They say happiness is contagious and I sure believe that. So spread your positive vibes!

Overall, I am so thankful to be alive and to know that I have so many wonderful people in my life who care for me no matter what. So cheers to another year of bumpy roads because no matter what challenges you face, just know you will always find a way to get through it! So here is my number one resolution for 2017: Be Fearless!

I believe being fearless will help you with everything in your life. I find that not being afraid, I am able to accomplish a lot more than if I was afraid. Fear is the biggest hold back that you can have. So I choose to not let fear get in the way of how I want to live my life.

To start this year of right, I hope the best for you all with a year full of happiness and success! Say good-bye to those that don’t bring you happiness, leave all of the negativities in 2016 and start of 2017 with a bang! Share with me below on how you ended 2016 and started your 2017!

Happy New Years again!

Love Linh

Shop My Look

My heels are BCBG Brand sold through DSW, however, they are out of that style. I am able to find similar styles on DSW 🙂

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31 Comments

  • Christine Kong

    January 6, 2017 at 2:34 am

    What a fun shoot! I love this gold dress and the red lippie really elevates this look for New Year’s Eve. So glad you enjoyed your first countdown in CA. The most common resolutions are so true! 6 of them are mine. lol. How exciting that you are going to Vietnam soon. It is definitely on my list to go there one day too. Love these photos and your energy and positivity. Happy New Year’s babe! xoxo, Christine

  • Marcy

    January 5, 2017 at 3:06 pm

    Absolutely stunning babe! You looks like a doll. LOVE the entire look.
    Happy New year and wish you the best this 2017! Looking forward to follow you. Love how honest and sincere your post are.

    Best
    Marcy

  • Atsuna Matsui

    January 5, 2017 at 4:13 am

    You look so glam and dolled up in this gold dress babe. This dress is soo stunning to wear for NYE. I was on a flight on New Years so I didn’t get to celebrate New Years this year.. but you look amazing!

  • Jenn Hanft

    January 5, 2017 at 3:54 am

    I love this idea of an indoor shoot! I actually couldn’t really tell initially. Love the gold dress and balloons!! My name NYR is to have something new for each month of the year. Among the many smaller others – lose weight is always in there huh? It’s so awesome that you’ve hopped the milestone of living alone! I always wanted to try that out… and of course visit Cali! Hopefully this year I can make traveling happen.

    XO Jenn
    https://jennsemble.com/

  • Bryanna

    January 3, 2017 at 3:14 pm

    That outfit is just so cute and I love how extravagant you got with the shoot! So fun! Hope you had an amazing NYE and are having a fantastic start to your year!

    xoxo Bryanna | Coming in Clutch

  • Yasmin

    January 3, 2017 at 6:23 am

    You totally set the bar high for being fearless, considering how much you went through last year and how you overcame it. Such a great inspiration you are! Love this gold sequined dress – the perfect NYE look! And I hope you have many more years of fabulous fearlessness in CA to come!

    xx Yasmin
    Bangles & Bungalows

  • Miki

    January 2, 2017 at 11:21 pm

    How fun that you converted your apartment into a studio. I thought you were at a party! You look so pretty in that sequin dress. Treating yourself once in awhile is always a great idea. 🙂 I hope you had a great NYE celebration! Wishing you a great 2017!

    Xo,
    Miki

  • Lauren

    January 2, 2017 at 11:15 pm

    This looks like such a fun and adorable photoshoot! I always love using balloons, and your dress is great! You picked out some great goals girl, happy 2017 🙂

  • Danielle

    January 2, 2017 at 10:58 pm

    What a fun shoot this must have been! You are looking absolutely gorg in your New Years dress, girl! I identified with so many of those resolutions on the list but most of all, to live life to the fullest. Looking forward to see what 2017 will bring!!

    xx, Danielle | Pineapple & Prosecco

  • Thomas Falkenstedt

    January 2, 2017 at 8:56 pm

    Oh dear Linh, reading your posts always make me happy as it doesn’t matter how many hardships you face, you always look at life from the bright side! I love that about you! I’m not much into making resolutions as I just make things happen instead, but one thing I will let go of thanks to you are all the negativities. Life is supposed to be good, not filled with energy draining things or individuals!
    xoxo
    Thomas

  • Thomas Falkenstedt

    January 2, 2017 at 8:55 pm

    Oh dear Linh, reading your posts always make me happy as it doesn’t matter how many hardships you face, you always look at life from the bright side! I love that about you! I’m not much into making resolutions as I just make things happen instead, but one thing I will let go of thanks to you are all the negativities. Life is supposed to be good, not filled with energy draining things or individuals!
    xoxo
    Thomas

    http://thomasfalkenstedt.com

  • Mariann yip

    January 2, 2017 at 3:01 pm

    I love your glittery dress and those pictures with balloons are absolutely adorable! I am also posting an article about my New Years resolutions and many of them are similar to yours! Hope 2017 treats you well 🙂

  • Josie

    January 2, 2017 at 1:45 pm

    Happy New Year darling! You had quite a fun celebration this year! Such a gorgeous dress you were wearing!
    I spent it home with my sister and family visiting us. She cooked us a delicious meal and we ate and talked about a few memories. It was so good! I was so sleepy before midnight but made sure to stay awake until 2017.

    I’m sure 2017 will be much better. I’ve had so many lows as well in 2016, but I’m looking on the bright side: they made me grow!

    Bisous, Josie

  • Stephanie

    January 2, 2017 at 1:39 pm

    Happy New Year, Linh! I’m so glad that 2016 brought you into my life, and I can’t wait to get to know you better in 2017! This was such a fun shoot with all the balloons and that stunning gold dress. I will definitely say that gold is glamorous! I so badly wanted an excuse to wear a fun party outfit on NYE, but B and I ended up staying in with Chinese takeout and homemade cocktails haha. It was still fun though. No resolutions for me. I’d rather give myself daily and weekly goals than goals for a whole year that I have to keep up with…that just leaves me exhausted! Best of luck in the new year 🙂

    Stephanie // SheSawStyle.com