It's time to head uptown because Harlem has a food festival you are not going to want to miss! I'm talking to you about the 3rd annual Harlem EatUp! festival! I'll let you in on a little secret too.. I got an early look because we actually designed the website at Bold & Pop and NYC, you're in for a treat. 

Founded by one of NYC's fav chefs, Marcus Samuelsson and Herb Karlitz, President of Karlitz & Company, the festival focuses on highlighting some of Harlem's best. I'm talking some seriously delicious bites, drinks, art and music! You'll recognize some familiar faces this year too! The likes of Carla Hall, Geoffrey Zakarian, Donatella Arpaia, Roger Mooking and much much more will all be there!

The really awesome part about the festival is there's a little something for everyone too. The Dine in Harlem dinner series, where acclaimed chefs partner up with some of Harlem's favorite restaurants for a dinner party experience.

If you're ready to get your feast on, then the Ultimate Grand Tasting is just what you're looking for. Can you say all-you-can-eat?! This 21+ event offers bites from Harlem restaurants, paired with fine wines, beer and cocktails. Then there's also the Harlem Stroll Marketplace and Main Stage which are free events where you can pay-as-you-go. There's also a Kid's Zone, live culinary demos and performances -- remember that there's something for everyone part?!

You definitely don't want to miss this year's line-up! For more info on the events be sure to check out their website! 

Photo Credit: Harlem EatUp!

If there's one place I spend most of my time these days, it's my home office! Well, if we're being totally honest here it's really just my desk, but you get my drift! My desk has been getting a lot of action these days because it's where I get down to biz for Bold & Pop and my blog. So today I wanted to highlight some of my home office must-haves!

Cute Decor & Office Supplies

First things first, if you're going to be working from home or just spending a lot of late nights at your desk it has to be cute right?! The answer is YES if I'm highlighting it on my blog! 😉 No matter if you have a legit home office or just a little corner like me, having fun decor that showcases your personality can make such a difference! You want your space to feel inspiring so make sure to fill it with some of your favorites.

For me, I like to have my space filled with lots of color, things that inspire me and a dash of glitter. Same goes for your office supplies. I'm such a sucker for an adorable notebook or notepads, pens and you know I have to have a cute planner! Plus because I'm always looking for a good deal I find more of my finds at Target, Marshalls or TJ's! Cute and budget-friendly is always a win in my book. Don't forget about a cute desktop wallpaper too! 

Vision Board

You may have caught my post earlier this year on creating my first vision board and here it is! Since I have a small space, this puppy is always staring me right in the face, which has worked out well. Entrepreneurship is such a rollercoaster ride so I really LOVE having this right in front of me. It helps remind me what I'm working for on the tough days and gets me excited when I realize I just crushed a goal. If you've never put together a vision board for your biz or blog I totally recommend trying it out! Mindset is so key to accomplishing your goals and my vision board has really helped me.

Fresh Flowers

Another one of my favorite things for my desk are fresh flowers! I absolutely love having fresh flowers in the apartment #AdultingSoHard. They always lift my mood and make my work space smell amazing. Plus they totally come in handy for styled branding shoots or for social media props. I got extra spoiled with my arrangement this week from the flower delivery company Ode à la Rose too. How gorg are these?!

Water Bottle & Flavored Water

Something I've been working on lately is drinking more water. I get so in the zone with my work that I realized some days I was going almost all day without drinking any water. I know... I know.. that's bad. So something I've been working on is filling up my water bottle each night along with fruits or herbs -- loving cucumber and mint right now and then keeping it at my desk each day. I realized if I have water in front of me I'll drink it like a fish so it's officially one of my must-haves now. Staying hydrated is so important so it's officially one of my must-haves.

Storage Options

And last but not least... to have a functional home office you need to have places to store your things. Besides some business essentials, most of my storage space is dedicated to props for styled photos. And while I dream of one day having a full props closet, for now I'm just thankful to have my own closet in the apartment 😂 So not exactly in the cards right now. Until then, I've invested in some cute storage boxes and felt cubes where I can keep things accessible but also keep things tidy.

My must-haves are all about creating an inspiring space where I enjoy spending time at and that functions well. Do you have any other home office must-haves?  Be sure to share in the comments with your favs!

If the first 10 days are any indication of how the year will go... I'M ALL IN BABYYY! Can I have a humble brag moment for a second?! Because, guys, my first week and a half of the year has been that good. 

Here are some of the highlights so far:

• Bold & Pop biz explosionnnn! We already kicked off some brand spanking new projects that I'm SO excited to work on and our email boxes have been flooded with schduling other new projects. Gosh, I love the new year and getting to help other biz bosses make their dreams a reality!

• Had an awesome coffee intro meeting with a fellow creative entrepreneur in the city who I just know is going to become a great new friend. One of my clients, who I also adore, made the intro and I am just so dang thankful to have such a supportive group of women in my life!

• Got to meet one of my biggest biz role models, Melyssa Griffin! #CareerFanGirl moment. I've looked up to her so much and learned so much from her blog while building my business and it was so dang cool to meet her. She organized a local NYC bloggers + entrepreneurs meet-up while she was visiting the city and it was SO awesome! Normally going to an event like that would kind of scare the crap out of me but, I put on my big girl pants and met an awesome group of like-minded goal chasers! We had so much fun getting to know each other that we're even going to start regular meet-ups. Woop, woop!

and then just some extra awesome bonuses

• The Seahawks won their first playoff game!

• We had our first surprise snow storm of the year

• I picked up some super cute new office supplies -- yes there are donuts and pineapple designs involved

• anddd the Second Avenue subway opened (YES really!) and I rode it... and it's more awesome than I thought it would be.

If there's one thing I can say.. it is that the positive vibes are a-flowing! I'm such believer in the power of a positive attitude and plan on lighting them off like fireworks this year! 💥 Is every day going to be full of glitter, ice cream, and ponies?! Of course not -- although it would be cool if it was! The point is, the way we approach things can have such a profound effect on the path our days and then ultimately months and years turn out. Put positive vibes out there and get positive vibes in return! Having a positive attitude isn't about always find the good in the bad either, because let's be real here... sometimes life will deal us some really crappy cards and things will just downright fall apart. Instead, it's about never forgetting all that you are thankful for even in the darkest times and using that as strength to continue on your journey. You know the one thing that the good and bad times have in common..? Neither last forever so this year let's all work on spreading a little more positive vibes -- because the world could really use a lot more of that right now.

So what is my advice on keeping the good vibes rolling? Here are 4 things I'm working on this year.

Setting Intention Goals

This year I went to town on my yearly goals -- both for biz and personal -- and keeping them at front of mind is key for me this year. So what does living with intention really mean? Well, something I did this year was pick a word to help define what I want this year to mean. Followed by picking a different work for each month. Each word focuses on a different part of my life or goals that I want to shine a spotlight on for the 28-31 days each month. This is also about focusing on the things that matter most in life. I'm definitely a goal-hustler, but life is more than just accomplishing goals. Living with intention is all about putting your full heart and soul into each thing you do and really giving it your all instead spreading yourself too thin and then disappointing yourself when you can't do everything. 

Creating a Vision Board

Adding on to living with intention, this is the first year I created a vision board. While I've had some digital versions before and I usually write down my yearly goals, I've never done a full-on vision board until this year. My vision board is all about capturing those positive vibes -- those feel-good emotions you're flooded with when you nail one of your goals. I wanted to create a board that gave me that kick of inspiration every time I looked at it. Why do so many people fail to keep up with their new year's resolutions and goals? 1.) Because it's not a part of our habits already and making changes are fricking hard and 2.) Because piggy-backing off of not being a part of our habits, it's easy to push them aside and forget about them. It's become the norm to give up on them so we don't give ourselves a hard time. Well, it's a little harder to forget when they're staring you right in the face each and every day which is why I love my vision board. It's a constant reminder of how far I've come, where I'm going and tangible goals I want to cross off. If you want to join in on the vision board party I also wrote a blog post on this if you are looking for some tips on why they can be powerful and how to create one.

Prioritizing the Positive

This year I'm really focused on trimming negativity from my life. Sometimes you just have to take a look at the forces in your life and evaluate what is good and what isn't for your well-being. Sometimes that is relationships you have, your career path, where you live.. the list goes on and on. If something doesn't feel good anymore and is bringing you down more than bringing you up, then it might be time to close that chapter -- even when it's hard. You know how they say when one door closes, another opens?! Well same goes for this. 

Letting Go of Guilt for Saying No

This one is a tough one for me.. (as I'm sure a lot of you!) While "no" can be looked at as a negative word sometimes, I'm flipping that on its head. While I still plan on saying YES to a lot of amazing things, I'm working on not feeling guilty about the things I say no to. The truth is there are only so many hours in the day and one thing I am guilty of is trying to do everything. I'm learning that it's okay to say no without any other reason than you're not feeling it. We all need some rest and the reality is we can't be everywhere all of the time. I would rather commit to one after work event a week and be fully present and excited about that engagement, than be burnt out each day because I committed to 4 events that week. I want to feel good about all of the things I say yes to and that means finding my limits and being honest about the things I can give my full attention. Now this does not mean to bail last minute on your friend's happy hour because you're tired. Guys, that's crappy and one of my biggest pet peeves. The key to living with intention is honoring your word from the beginning. Either commit or don't, but make that decision and stick to it.

I hope you've found some of these tips helpful! I know I've already said it a million times but I'm so excited for so much that 2017 is going to bring and I hope you are too!