I can’t believe 2016 has come to an end! What an amazing year it was! As I stopped to think about it, the year might have passed quickly, but so much happened in 365 days. Between a full kitchen and bathroom remodel, I fell more in love with my job and my clients, and stayed inspired by traveling a LOT! Here are the highlights of the year:

BUSINESS:

Thanks Megan Burke for this super cute photo above I took from your website 🙂

• I hired a wonderful designer (Megan Burke while working for Spark Letterpress) and Poly Mendes Photography got a whole new look! New logo, new website, and new blog! And with this revamp came my commitment to blogging at least 3 times a week. If you need any help with rebranding Megan was AMAZING! Check her out here!
• I photographed over 100 sessions, and 9 weddings! I intentionally took less weddings this year so I could focus on a couple personal projects, which I’ll share later.
• I was published on my very first international magazine: Irish Bride Magazine.
• I photographed a fashion blogger in PARIS! See my blog post here!

• Bought a new camera (Canon 5D Mark IV), a new lens (Canon 35mm), and a new laptop (Macbook Air).
• Attended a fantastic newborn workshop, Blissful Baby to improve my newborn posing skills

PERSONAL:

• I went on my yearly February cruise with 5 dear friends.
• I turned 30 (what???), and realized I’ve never been happier. I spent my birthday in Florida, went deep sea fishing, swam with wild manatees, and finished the trip with a day at Disney!
• I went on 7 big trips and visited 14 countries this year, for a total of 32 countries visited by the age of 30! Some of them are on the blog: Greece (Athens), Italy (Rome, Naples and Amalfi Coast), Iceland, France (Paris for the 3rd year in a row)

• Did I mention a full kitchen and bathroom remodel? The bathroom is 90% done, and I’ve been taking lots of pictures for a future blog post!
• Started teaching Yoga Barre at YogaFit in September, and have fallen in love with it! Come see me on Wednesdays (noon class) in Loring Park, and Thursday (7:15pm class) in NE.
• I successfully grew my first garden (thanks RJ for the help!), which produced over 100 tomatoes, 7 watermelons, green beans, carrots, basil, beets, peas…

2016 was amazing! I can’t wait to see what next year brings!