New Year

Welcome 2024!

HELLO 2024!!

I’m always so happy to welcome a new year and new start! I’m also thrilled out of my mind that this year starts with a MONDAY!I deeply love Mondays.

Every December, I like to reevaluate The Fast Fashionista. Which has been my little corner of the internet for almost ten years. Blogging has changed, content creation has changed, and I have changed. All (for the most part, minus some silly algorithm things) have been good changes. I’m in an extremely content place in my life and after my usual blogging hiatus (where I amerce myself in my kiddo’s birthdays, the holidays, and this year some travel) I’m back again and ready to welcome a New Year. Not a new me that’s for sure. Same me, even though I am always aiming to be better no matter what time of the year it may be.

Anywho. This space isn’t going to look too different in the coming year. I’m still keeping my three categories of Fashion, Food, and cocktails…fast. I’m not the blogger who is going to tell you a three year long story before I give you a recipe. No need for that. Who has the time for that anyways? Not I. This, and my Fall Fashion post are the longest posts. But that’s why I like to keep it. Short and sweet so you can check out something new but also get on with your life. I’m also not the blogger who will monetize. I’ve frequently gotten that question and it’s a simple answer. I don’t want to. This space is for me to share my passions and creativity not to make money from you reading that.

Last year, I started my “What I Pulled” segment. I didn’t get a chance to do as much with it as I wanted so I’m pulling it into 2024 and I’ll continue sharing with you outfits I pulled for whatever it is I’m doing. I’m also adding the science of fashion in with that. Think “dopamine dressing”. The fashion forward part of The Fast Fashionista has always been the most popular. It’s changed over the years from a year of color palettes and the Dior Dictionary year, two of my favorites. But, fashion is such a major part of my life and I love sharing looks and how and why I put them together. I feel style is a constant evolution and I love that so many of you have been on that ride with me throughout the years.

I absolutely have a passion for food! Mostly healthy with some cheat days sprinkled in. I’m pescatarian and dairy free 90% of the time and leave that 10% for special occasions or if I simply must create a certain dish. But I live for seafood so there will for sure be a lot of that.

I really like to focus on a few different things. One being making something that looks complicated and showing you that you can make it too and to not be afraid to try different things. Another being healthy foods made interesting and delicious. Being vegan sometimes can get a bad wrap but I absolutely love being creative in the kitchen, making cooking fun and elevated…usually with a glass of vino in my hand.

Speaking of having a drink in my hand… “My Martini Moment” is a segment that I’ve had around since the beginning. It’s taken on many different shapes and concepts but is now fast, pretty, and delicious cocktail recipes to share or keep for yourself. Since my early employment days of being a bartender (quick random story: I had to fight to be a bartender at a restaurant when I was a brand new 18. After holding a couple different positions there I wanted to bartend. I asked my boss who was, pardon my french, an asshole. He rolled his eyes and said no. After I asked again, thinking I’d never do it, he said he’d give me a daytime bar shift and if I made 50 dollars he would let me be a bartender. Well for my first daytime bar shift I made 150 dollars and I was put on as a bartender. Don’t ever tell me I can’t do something. Ha.) I fell in love with shaking up a good drink and sharing that experience. Experimenting with new cocktails is something (when I have the time) I love doing.

Well that about wraps up my blog breakdown for 2024. I can’t remember where I heard it but I think going into a new year and picking a word for it is really cool. So here’s mine: Elevate. I’m elevating everything baby. Fashion, food, drinks, and every damn part of my life. Down to the tiny details I’m bringing it all up and romanticizing it all.

With all of that said in my longest post of the year, I love that you’re here and that you let me share this part of my life with you. I’m forever grateful I’m able to step outside motherhood and dive into a different part of me that makes me feel alive. It’s a good balance.

I hope this new year brings you nothing but happiness, great outfits, delicious food, and really good cocktails.

Let’s Do This, 2023!

Happy 2023 my dear Friends!

I don’t know about you but I for one am pretty thrilled (as I always am) to welcome a new year. We always hit the ground running in January as we start our seemingly never ending “busy season” with the photo biz. But, I still try to, as I fondly call it “get my creative out” and still blog while working some crazy hours in this fabulous first month.

I do this post every year as kind of an outline of what my hopes are for The Fast Fashionista in the coming year. I thought long and hard about it and then it came to me. Stop overthinking it (my specialty). My fashion and lifestyle part of Fast Fash is simply going to be fast and easy ways to add just a little glam, sparkle, and …fizz to your everyday life. No matter what that looks like. Simple ways to elevate life.

The Perfectly Plated part of my blog is something I enjoy deeply. Few things I love more than drinking wine in my kitchen and cooking. Sharing that with you is always such a bonus. I love fancy food made easy and would love to continue to do that with my French loving flair drizzled in.

Oh, cocktails…

Such an early love of mine. I started bartending at age 18 I immediately fell in love with mixing drinks. “My Martini Moment” has taken on many different shapes in the close to nine years I’ve had this blog. I love creating and making cocktails, even more, sharing them. This is a skill I’m always trying to get better at.

As always, thank you for being here, wether you’re new to this site, a loyal follower, or tune in every now and again. Thank you, thank you, and thank you! I often get asked why I don’t monetize this blog. The simple answer? I don’t want to. All I want is to share my creative vibes with you. That’s enough for me.

My wish for you is that this new year brings you endless happiness, nothing but delicious food, and dazzling drinks with only the very best company.

Cheers to you and yours!

A New Year & Fresh Start

Happy First Tuesday of 2022!

Can you even believe it?

Call it cliché but I always love a fresh start. A new season, a new month, and I (usually) love Mondays. I always look forward to a new year. Now after 2020 and 2021 I feel we enter a new year a little more gingerly.

When the new year starts, I always do a breakdown of what The Fast Fashionista will bring you throughout the year. I like to have a plan and concept before just running a muck. So here it is:

Fashion and Lifestyle

Many moons ago on this blog I would do posts on outfits and their color palettes. This is going to be a big focus on putting outfits together fast and easy with a palette. Hopefully, more home décor content as well.

Perfectly Plated

I have such a passion for cooking and I love sharing that with you. Here, I’m going to learn more about actual plating, give you fast weeknight meals, and of course My usual fancy made easy recipes.

My Martini Moment

Fun and fancy cocktail recipes as always. This has turned into one of my favorite parts of this blog. Not only am I making these recipes easy but I want to build them from liquors that aren’t obscure or hard to find. I started this part of my blog about six or seven years ago when on a Friday, after a stressful work week, I would sit at my bistro set in my dining room and have a dirty martini. I would laugh to myself and think “This is a lovely Martini Moment”.

I’m sentimental about certain things and now this bistro set lives refinished in my bedroom and I thought it was only appropriate to shoot this photo here. I think everyone should know how to whip up a classic Dirty Martini.

what you do:

Grab your favorite martini glass and I throw in my olives first (Feta or Gorgonzola stuffed). Then add in Vermouth. In a shaker with ice add in vodka and brine. Shake, shake, shake! Swirl the Vermouth up into the glass and then add in the shaker goods. If you like it more “dirty” add in more brine.

fun fact: it’s bad luck to garnish your martini with an even number of olives. Do one or three. Five if you’re like, hungry.

Thank you for stopping by!

I’m so excited to share some new fun things with you!