2018 Recap, Yá’át’ééh (Hello) 2019

Can you believe another year has gone by? 2018 felt like it went by in a flash, and I cannot believe it is now 2019!! 2018 was such an exciting year for The Fancy Navajo. From making an appearance on Target’s Instagram Stories, creating my first ever Fancy Navajo t-shirt, styling a dress for Acoma Pueblo designer, ACONAV to be shown at Walt Disney World, and to having my groceries delivered by a fancy NBA Phoenix Sun’s Basketball player. It was a year filled with so many new opportunities that I never imagined would have been possible for this Fancy Navajo gal.

Of course, none of this would have been possible without all of your continued support! Seriously, the Fancy Navajo community is the BEST, and I’m so humbled with all of your sweet comments, direct messages, emails, and likes! Ahéhee’(Thank You)! As I do at the commencement of each year, I will be reflecting upon this past year’s goals and recapping a few of my favorite moments from 2018. I will also be sharing my goals for 2019. If you want to read my post from last year then head here.

2018 was a year full of learning, growth, and exploration for The Fancy Navajo. It was the first year I did The Fancy Navajo full time. There were moments of pure happiness and I let my creativity shine through. However, there were also moments when I wondered if what I was creating and sharing was making an impact. I often wondered if I had what it takes to be a fancy full-time blogger. This was bound to happen, as The Fancy Navajo is a HUGE part of my life now. Some of the biggest lessons I learned this year was to be more confident in who I am, what I do, and most importantly who I share my time with. This meant I had to shift an realign some of my goals for The Fancy Navajo, which I will share more about below with my 2019 goals.

So, 2018 goals. Did we meet them? Yes and nooo….

Okay let’s start with the goals that I did meet. At the beginning of last year, I made it goal to collaborate with more Native owned and local AZ based business. AND I did! From sharing my local flea market finds, to learning about new Native businesses. This is probably my most favorite part of what I do. The Fancy Navajo is a place to share all of my favorite things! From food, fashion, and all things Native.

One of my favorite blog posts this year, was a guest post with Ashley of Happy Healthy Navajo about 5 Wallet Friendly Tips for Grocery Shopping. At the end of 2018, I even became a brand ambassador for Sapling & Flint, which is an indigenous owned clothing and jewelry company based out of Canada on the Mohawk nation. So, you will be seeing a lot more about Sapling & Flint this coming year.

Every year, it’s a goal to expand my community. So, this past year I focused on collaborating with local Arizona based companies. From restaurants to local shops, my appreciation and love for Arizona grew tremendously. Ghost Ranch and Modern Market are now two of my FAVORITE places to eat here in Arizona. I was also able to share a few of my favorite dishes and how I made them with Fry’s Food Stores. My favorite stories I shared were about making tortillas on an open fire, my favorite fair foods, and sharing my holiday traditions. I loved sharing my passion for cooking and eating with all of you. It’s always exciting to connect with more local creatives and businesses. If you have any collaborations in mind you will like to see, let me know in the comments below. Let’s make those happen this year.

Another goal this past year was to host an event. At the beginning of December, I hosted my first ever meetup event in December. It was so much fun and I LOOOOOOVEEEED meeting you. It was so nice to sit down and see who is on the other side of the screen. We decorated ginger bread cookies and had some yummy snacks! I am looking forward to hosting more events this year and getting to know The Fancy Navajo community in person! I love hearing your stories and learning about who you are and where you come from.

Okay now to the goals I was less than stellar at….

One major goal for any blogger or writer is to remain consistent and organized. I was not as consistent as I wanted to be on TheFancyNavajo.com. It was a goal to publish one blog post a week, and that was easier said than done. I kept it up for a month or two, but slowly there was a decline, as my schedule started to fill up. I actually posted less to my blog this year than last year. But you know, I am okay with it. There were other areas of social media I explored, such as Instagram Stories and Instagram Live. Sometimes it was easier and more efficient to make a quick video. Which is one area I wanted to improve on from last year. So, I like to think it was an even trade off.

The other goal I set in 2018 was to sew more! This goal has been one that has sat on the back burner for about two years now. If you did not know, prior to blogging I ventured into sewing and I loved it!! However, it seems to be a hobby that I have a hard time getting back into.

Instead, this past year I took on two new hobbies, gardening and Navajo Weaving. Gardening was a hobby that I didn’t think I would enjoy and I quickly turned into a crazy plant lady. You can read all about it here. Navajo weaving had been something I had put off for years. When the opportunity to learn came around, I could not pass it up. It helped me reconnect to my Navajo culture and I even had the opportunity to teach others how to weave. With two new hobbies in 2018, there was no room for any new ones, like sewing. I didn’t even touch my sewing machine this year. I hope to turn on my sewing machine in 2019.

Now onto 2019 goals!

Consistent and Organized Blogging – Since I did not meet this goal last year. I am going make this a goal again, of one new blog post a week. After 2018, I have a better sense of managing my time and there are going to be a few changes on The Fancy Navajo to meet the above goal, which flows directly into my next goal.
Focusing more on food and home cooking– I have always had a passion for food and cooking. I really want to inspire all of you to start cooking in the kitchen. This change also suits my lifestyle at the moment. As some of you may have noticed this past year, I posted less about fashion and more about food. Although fashion will always be a big part of my life, it is a lot harder to share because I work from home. But I don’t know maybe we could do a series of working from home fashion. Haha!! But don’t worry though, my colorful and whimsy sense of fashion will still make an appearance every now and then.
More Video, such as Instagram Stories, and maybe even Youtube! – I have always been on the fence about starting a You Tube Channel. But this past year I fell in love with sharing videos, especially Instagram Stories. Not only is it a quick and simple way to share information, I feel like there is a greater connection to all of you. So, you can count on more videos and a possible a YouTube channel later in the year.
Host more events – After having my first event, I really want to do another one! It would love to host a food workshop and more Fancy Navajo meet ups. I love hosting and bringing people together in a fancy environment. This year I would like to host meet ups not only here in Arizona, but in other states. There are a lot of Fancy Navajo’s friends in New Mexico, Utah, and California. So, look out for these meet ups!
Collaborating with more businesses and creatives – This will always be a goal, but this time I want to connect more with other creatives/influencers. A few times this past year, I wanted to get to know more of you. I know it’s a little nerve wrecking to come out and be like, ME! But I am so proud of the people who did. I really enjoyed having a guest post this past year and I would love to have more guest posts on TheFancyNavajo.com. I am always open to collaborating with other creatives and businesses. If you are interested in collaborating or doing a guest post, send me an email TheFancyNavajo@gmail.com.

A few highlights from last year.

Not only did we grow in size. The Fancy Navajo brand grew as well!

Growth: We ended 2017 with 4.5k Instagram friends and now we are over 7.5k friends! For Facebook in 2017 we ended with 1.5k friends and now we are over 3.7k friends! That’s over 11.2k in the Fancy Navajo community!!!

Blog: We had over 28.3k views on TheFancyNavajo.com!

Top 5 Blog Posts of 2018