The Year in Review | 2020

The Shiplap and Shells blog and Instagram account had quite a few accomplishments to be proud of this year for sure. I can’t wait to share my 2020 year in review, which includes some “dream come true” moments.

Seriously, I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited to start a new year, and I have a feeling that I’m not alone. But there were some really great things that happened as well.

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I am a homebody. So even though I had a hard time with not being able to entertain this year, I did love being home, and especially in my garden and greenhouse. I spent a lot of time in that garden this year, getting it ready for a July photo shoot.

Now that it’s 2021, I thought it would be fun to share Shiplap and Shell’s accomplishments from the past year.

How the Blogging Journey Started

It all started when I had surgery on my feet in October and December of 2019. My Instagram account was not even a year old, and I had been playing around with the idea of starting a blog. I love taking pictures of my home, especially of my garden. And I wanted a platform where I could share many, many more pictures than I ever could have shared on Instagram.

Because I was going to be recovering from two surgeries for at least a few months, I knew the timing was perfect for the opportunity to start a blog, which I knew would take months to set up.

I am NOT a technical kind of gal. I knew it would take me a long time!

And so it began.

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All the Shiplap and Shells Fun 2020 Year in Review

The Shiplap and Shells Blog was Created

I started my Shiplap and Shells blog, all about home and garden in the PNW, in February. I thought I would be sneaky, so I added a fall post and some Christmas posts to the blog. The thought at the time was that I wanted people to think that I had been a blogger for longer than I really had.

Our Beach Cottage Turned 100 Years-Old

Our house was built in 1920, and I have been so excited about it finally turning one-hundred years-old. We even had a big event planned to celebrate, with a small band on the deck, and “before” pics posted throughout the house so guests would be able to see the progress and improvements that had been made throughout the years.

I’m sure you have figured out by now that we never had that celebration, due to Covid-19.

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Cottages and Bungalows Magazine Feature

Our home was featured in the fall issue of Cottages and Bungalows Magazine. Yay! Can you believe it? I literally got the message on Instagram a couple of days after having my first foot surgery. I could barely stand at that point. But I was not about to turn them down!

With the help of my darling and amazing husband, and a couple of fabulous friends ( you know who you are Candice, Kerry and Lori) we made it work and my home and greenhouse were in our first magazine.

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Cottage Style Magazine Garden Photo Shoot

We had the honor of having professional photographer Jay Wilde come to our home for a Cottage Style Magazine photo shoot of our garden for next year’s spring issue. This was seriously a dream come true. I can’t wait to see the magazine when it comes out.

I remember the day perfectly. We had a “not so great” summer, so we were excited to see that the weather forecast had plenty of sunshine that day. What I wasn’t excited about is the fact that the temperatures were going to be in the 90’s that day. If you know nothing about the Seattle area, then let me tell you that’s a REALLY HOT day!

We were sweating, and I was so nervous that the flowers were going to start wilting since they had not had heat like that all summer. But it all worked out!

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Country Home Magazine Weekend Takeover on Instagram

I can’t believe how much fun this was!!! And it was a once in a lifetime opportunity! Country Home Magazine allowed me to take over their Instagram account for a full weekend in March. It was so amazing! I posted pics and did a ton of stories, including home tours. I gained over 6,000 Instagram followers and new friends that weekend.

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Seattle Refined Television Program

I will have to admit this one scared me a little bit. I have never been on TV before. The format changed on Seattle Refined dramatically because of Covid-19. The team usually comes to the house and walks around with the homeowner and interviews them. But we did things a bit differently. The interview was on Zoom and they just showed pictures of my home and garden.

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Sunset Magazine Online Best of the West Feature

Sunset Magazine featured my Instagram account in April as one of the best Instagram accounts for home decor and garden inspiration in PNW. I remember my mom buying Sunset magazine at the grocery store all the time, so it was so amazing to see a picture of my greenhouse on their website.

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Meeting Some of the Most Amazing Friends – 2020 Year in Review

I met an amazing group of bloggers this year who I consider dear friends. Some of you may know them as my friends from the Charming Homes and Gardens LInk Party.

• Ann of Dabbling and Decorating
• Kristin of White Arrows Home
• Stacy of Bricks ‘n Blooms
• Rachel of The Ponds Farmhouse

Home decor and garden bloggers are such an amazing and supportive group, and they have all helped me to grow my blog so much. My friend KariAnne of Thistlewood Farm taught me an tremendous amount of information about blogging in the short time I have known her. She has the most amazing Mastermind Class that I would recommend to everyone.

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I hope you have enjoyed my 2020 year in review. It’s been so wonderful getting to know many of you so much better! I love connecting with you on the blog and social media.

My hope is that you have found a few new ideas and some inspiration from my blog. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you coming by for a visit, pinning and dropping me comments. Wishing you a year of peace, love, kindness and hope.

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