This is the third year I’ve rounded up the top highlights and blogs from the year. When I first stated writing some ideas down, I only came up with a few things, but then I realized A LOT of good came out of this year and despite the pandemic and spending the majority of the year in quarantine, a lot was accomplished and I want to honor it all. It just goes to show you what you can come up with if you focus on what you DID and COULD do and not on what you DIDN’T or COULDN’T do.
Television Appearances
At the beginning of March I was invited back to CBS8 in San Diego for my 7th time, as a parenting expert/guest to talk about age appropriate ways to explain Covid-19 to children. Little did any of us know or expect just how bad things would get in just one week after I was on the air. For perspective, Disneyland closed on March 12, exactly one week after my segment aired. The blog is still very relevant, even after all of these months later, so if you’d like to read more about what I talked about on the air, please visit this link here!
Disney Creators Celebration
Speaking of Disney, the absolute highlight of my year was being invited for the first time to attend the Disney Creators celebration at Walt Disney World in Orlando as well as spend the weekend on the Disney Cruise Line aboard the Disney Dream. Attending this honorable invitation only trip hosted by Disney was an absolute dream come true. It is such a privilege to work with Disney and this trip was life changing for me and my family. It’s crazy to think we were at the parks and on an international cruise just weeks before the world shut down. This trip is something I will remember and cherish forever and wish upon a star that I’ll have the opportunity to go again. Below are some photo highlights of the trip!
In addition to the trip, I posted a lot of Disney related blogs in 2020. To read my “Christmas in July with Disney Parks Blog” click here, to read “Top 5 Safety Tips on How To Not Lose Your Children at Disney Parks” click here. To read my “Top 10 Toddler Friendly Rides and Attractions at Walt Disney World that Aren’t At Disneyland” click here and to read “Disney Cruise Childcare: Top 5 Reasons to Use Them on Your Next Family Vacation“ click here, and finally, to read my “Top 5 Reasons to Stay at a Walt Disney World Resort” click here!
Nationwide Children’s Hospital Mental Health Pavilion Grand Opening
Just two days after returning home from spending more than a week at Walt Disney World and on the Disney Cruise Line, I hopped on another plane and flew across the country for the second time in a week to Ohio to attend the grand opening of Nationwide Children’s Hospital Big Lots Behavioral Health Pavilion. As a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Registered Play Therapist, it was such a privilege being invited on this trip and to see how this hospital is helping so many children in the field of mental health with their #OnOurSleeves movement. While I was there I was extremely honored to be invited to have dinner with the leaders of the hospital and have been able to continue working with them throughout the year on other projects for mental health awareness and advocacy. I arrived home from this trip on February 29th, less than 2 weeks before the world shut down. I am grateful for these opportunities and for coming home healthy and safe. Here are some highlights from the trip!
Alt Summit Speaker
A few days after returning home from Ohio and one week post the Disney Creators trip, I was so blessed to have been chosen to speak as a presenter alongside one of my best friends, Jenny from Princess Turned Mom, at Alt Summit in Palm Springs on March 3rd! Our topic was “How to Build & Support Your Mom Influencer Network AND Execute a Killer Influencer Event Like a Boss!” We chose this topic in part because we have created and organized multiple Disney inspired influencer events in Southern California! We certainly achieved a blogger bucket list goal to speak at one of the biggest and most prestigious content creator conferences in the nation! What I learned; never give up on your dreams, work hard, support your friends, and love what you do! Not only did we get to live out one of our dreams together, we had the opportunity to talk about topics we are very passionate about; friendships, building relationships, collaboration not competition, supporting others, how to execute a killer influencer event, and our love for Disney!
Galentine’s Girl’s Culinary Influencer Event
If you know me, you know I have created a big network and have been hosting and organizing influencer/blogger events for many years. On February 9th, I hosted a Galentine’s Girl’s Day culinary influencer event, sponsored by Visit Temecula. A group of us spent the day in Old Town Temecula and in Temecula Valley Wine Country drinking wine, eating delicious food, and having a much needed girl’s afternoon!
Roar and Snore Overnight Glamping
Another huge highlight from the beginning of the year was being invited by Universal Pictures to spend the night at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park “Roar and Snore” in honor of the movie release, Dolittle! Growing up in San Diego and being an annual member of the zoo for many years, I have always wanted to stay there, and was so ecstatic to finally have the opportunity to do so! And to have the opportunity to experience the Safari Park after dark and go glamping with my family and some of my closest blogger friends was even more exciting! It was a trip I will always cherish and never forget! To read more about my experience, click here!
As you can see, I did a lot of traveling, public speaking, and hosting events in the first two months of 2020. I was actually scheduled to travel to Washington D.C. in mid/late March with Responsibility.org as well as fly to Napa, CA in early May with some close girlfriends, and even attend a girls weekend at Pechanga in Temecula with some other local influencers to kick off summer but all trips were canceled. I was supposed to attend a local event for Disney Cruise Line in late March as well as attend the grand opening of the Lego Movie 2 area of LEGOLAND in Late March and have a hosted travel weekend in Carlsbad but everything was canceled. I was scheduled to attend and speak at two additional conferences, one being in March and the other May, but those were also canceled. 2020 was off to such an incredible start and then it all came to a screeching halt. I sometimes wonder where the year would have ended up if it kept going on this upward trajectory, but then I remember I can’t dwell on the what if’s. As you can see I was extremely busy and life was starting to get a little chaotic and stressful so having time at home with no plans actually was somewhat of a relief and a breath of fresh air. And luckily after things started opening up again, my family and I were able to travel safely again.
Yosemite National Park
In October, my family went on a hosted road trip to Yosemite National Park for just short of a week and had the best time seeing majestic nature, wildlife, and just spending time away from televisions and phones. We ate s’mores by the fire pit every night and I even was able to visit the resort’s spa and receive a complimentary massage! To read more about the first half of our stay visit this link! I will be posting the second half of the trip in January so stay tuned!
Lake Arrowhead
In December we were able to take our annual weekend trip to Lake Arrowhead and Santa’s Village! Every year we stay at the Lake Arrowhead Resort and Spa and this year we were hosted in one of their family suites! We had the best weekend away in the mountains and visiting Santa and can’t wait to go back next year for our 4th trip! Sadly, one week later we had another trip scheduled at a different resort in Southern California but had to cancel due to the second round of strict quarantine stay-at-home orders in the state. That made this trip much more meaningful and was our final travel experience of the year! Here are some highlights!
San Diego Staycation
In August, we spent the weekend at the Cassara Carlsbad. This newly renovated resort sits snuggled between LEGOLAND and the Pacific Ocean and we had the best weekend swimming, going to the beach, and exploring Carlsbad! You can read more about our weekend here!
runDisney 5k
For the first time this year, I also accomplished a big goal of mine – to participate in multiple runDisney 5k’s! My first race was at Disney’s Castaway Cay in the Bahamas during our cruise in February and the rest were all virtual events I did around my neighborhood starting in the summer and ending in the fall. To read more about it, click here!
Pandemic Party Hosting
I also hosted some pretty epic parties for my children with close friends from our quarantine “pod” bubble. Since my daughter’s Kindergarten year was abruptly cut short and they canceled the school’s annual graduation ceremony, I decided to host my own with some of her closest friends at our house! It was certainly a highlight of the year and I’m so happy she was able to celebrate. Later in the fall, we invited a few close friends over for an epic slumber party and then a month later invited Lightning McQueen over along with our bubble “pod” friends for an outdoor “Cars” party for my son. So thankful their birthdays fell during a time when it was safe and acceptable to do these parties. We were very cautious, mindful, and took extra measures to be as safe and healthy as possible in order to have the parties because of it were any earlier or later in the year, we probably wouldn’t have had them.
Best Blogs of 2020
I can’t believe I wrote 60 blogs this year! Below are some of my favorite blog posts I wrote this year:
Top 12 Multicultural Toys, Games, and Play Tools to Promote Diversity
Top 5 Resources For Parents to Talk To Their Children About Racism and Social Justice
The Psychology of Relationships, Intimacy, and SEX!!
Childhood Anxiety: Symptoms and Solutions
Top 5 Drowning Prevention Safety Tips
The Importance of Drowning Prevention and Survival Swim Classes
Change Your Language and Your Child’s Behavior in 4 Steps!
Benefits of a Secure Attachment: Top 5 Activities To Do With Your Children to a Build Positive Relationship
Top 50 Play Based Activities Children Can Do Independently
Top 15 Therapeutic Play Based Ways To Talk to Children About Emotions
Surviving the Pandemic and Making Responsible Choices About Your Mental Health
Parenting During a Pandemic: 5 Secrets to Help you Cope
Coping with Coronavirus: Top 10 Ways To Get Through Your Day
Adulting and Drinking Responsibly
Influencer Monetization: What Does It Take?
Downtown Disney
Based on the temporary closure of the Disneyland Resort earlier this year, I wasn’t sure when the next time I would step foot in a Disney Park again in 2020, but fortunately I was able to visit Buena Vista Street at the Downtown Disney District twice since the original closure and have made multiple trips to Downtown Disney since it reopened this summer. I’m crossing my fingers that Main Street will open in 2021!
Owning My Own Business
This is my 5th year owning my own business and even though I am not quite where I want to be with it yet, every year I continue to increase my audience and my income. One of my biggest accomplishments of the year was increasing my income by more than 50% than last year. I had a set financial goal in mind and I believe would have been met if it weren’t for the pandemic, but nonetheless I still exceeded my expectations with what I did make (on my own without an agent) to help my family with expenses. I was really fortunate to be able to work with some amazing brands this year and work on some really fun and special campaigns. I wrote a lot about parenting, therapy, education, travel, and lifestyle. I had multiple long-term contracts with various brands and I proudly partnered with Responsibility.org, Med-IQ, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Vooks, Dole, Real California Milk, Just Play Products, Toddleroo by North States, Go Daddy, Walmart, Care for All Children, Fed Ex Office, Disney Junior, World Vision, Country Crock, Rubio’s, Maty’s, South Beach Diet, George Foreman, and many more! I even co-hosted two virtual events with Osmo and So Cal Moms this year!
I wasn’t going to write this blog at first because I thought that there wasn’t much to talk about for the year. A few key memories stood out and since I was home most of the year in quarantine, I neglected to reflect on everything that I did accomplish this year! In reality, I could have done a lot more, but I still did a lot despite the pandemic! It just goes to show you to focus on what you DID do and not on what you DIDN’T do this year.
Here I come 2021! I’m ready for you!
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