home – Catherine Wanders

This year has been quite a whirlwind of changes. From living in Germany and traveling throughout Europe, to settling in Maine and starting a new home base. Thanks to my blog and instagram I am able to express my life by storytelling through pictures, videos and writing and sharing with you all. Not only has my personal life changed, but also my Blog and Social Media Management. I’m doing exactly what I love to do, help others achieve their goals, and also my personal blog of expressing my style, the places I like to go, the people I love to see like family and friends, how I decorate my home, what my dogs like to do, and so on.

There are a few different GOALS I’ve achieved in 2017, my future goals I’ll list at the end =)

FASHION BLOGGER GOALS from 2017:

My most recent collaboration with IFCHIC.com

MCQ – ALEXANDER MCQUEEN TOP

One of my goals for last year was to have brand partnerships that reached into the luxury market. Don’t get me wrong, I love fast fashion and the ability to keep up with trends as they come, but I also love the brand message that certain designer names hold like Alexander McQueen, a designer that will forever be one of my favorites. It seems surreal that just a year ago I would dream to get such partnerships, and now it is becoming a reality that I absolutely want to continue to do.

BUYING A HOME:

Something tells me that this New Year of 2018 has many more dreams to be fulfilled, and this year was just the beginning of making it all happen. love being a homeowner with my husband, two dogs and my step daughter. I created a home tour video! YouTube home tour was not my finest creation, but check it out here, it’s been a while since I’ve made videos and I’ll definitely continue onto 2018.

MAKING NEW AND STRONG FRIENDSHIPS:

wearing RED – VALENTINO TOP

Another designer that will always be one of my favorites is VALENTINO – a brand that evokes luxury and dreams of success and class.

The end of 2017 helped introduce me to new friendships, something I’ve always held on to was the necessity of having friendships, I believe they help you connect, grow your horizons, and influence your actions for the better. I can’t wait for what 2018 has to offer!

MY BUSINESS:

Being a Social Media Manager, this year has really taught me so much on how to maintain business relationships, but there can also be a sense of friendship when you are consistently talking with people about their goals, daily life tasks, dreams and achievements.

GOALS for 2018:

Embrace the journey, but land each opportunity and do more outreach
Find a great way to relax: yoga, meditation, create new habits? Not sure what this will be yet
Improve the communication with my husband – although we already work on this daily and I love him dearly
Create more content for my Blog/Youtube/TRAVEL blogger content – i’ve never fully embraced the benefits of being a travel blogger – so watch my travels in 2018 =)!
Expand my business to further than just myself – finding ways to leverage my resources and maybe bring on my first employee or intern.
Become more professional with my business – finalizing my website
just OWN IT – must know my self worth – boost that inner self confidence

After living in Europe for a couple years (a few months in the states traveling in between), I’ve come to realize where my happy place is, and that is the USA. I knew in my heart that traveling was going to help me learn more about the world and about myself. I had to go out there and experience as much as I could so that I could get that feeling off of my chest, the desperation to seek and see. I still have it. Spending time in NYC last week really brought memories back of the 5 years I had lived there. It revived that excitement for wandering. All the wandering aside, I’ve never explained on social media WHY my husband and I decided to move to Maine. Below I will delve more into it.

Here is a photo-shoot I did with photographer Seth Gaffar and wearing all Anatomie clothes (besides the dress). I love their active-chic wear, so comfortable you can climb rocks and do adventurous things in. For 15% off you can use code “CW15” on http://www.anatomie.com

One reason I love being back in the States, is that I finally have FRIENDS again. My husband comes from a small city in Germany, and he grew up in a Village outside of it, can you imagine a city girl like me going to a little village? Yes a bit shocking! I love learning about different cultures, and I love that his village was just a couple hours driving to France, less than an hour to Switzerland, and Austria close by as well. It all is connected, like the States, but all the countries are extremely diverse and have histories dating back many centuries. However, making friends in a small village is almost impossible. So you stick with your family, your husband, dogs, his parents, etc. It’s all a close knit group with no extra outsiders. I’m just not used to that. I THRIVE in places that I can meet like-minded people. I read a girl’s Instagram caption the other day that said “We learn something from everyone we encounter” I really believe this to be true. Social energy drives me.

So, why did we pick Maine? My husband, Sascha used to play professional hockey in Germany, and he also played in Maine! He had so many wonderful things to say about Maine, and me, coming from Boston, MA originally, it’s just an hour and a half north so it seems similar. But people are not similar, people are much friendlier here in Maine. Also, we got an amazing deal on our house that we completely adore. We also have SPACE, 3,500 square feet to be exact. When you and your husband both run your companies solely online and are home most of the time, trust me, you need space.

It has been amazing back in the states because I have been networking and reaching out to photographers, models, bloggers, and more that are interested in meeting up, collaborating and working together to raise each other up. I just created a Facebook Private Group last night called Northeast Influencers Please request to join if you are interested.

Maine is a beautiful state. With crashing shorelines, amazing restaurants, wonderful people, it makes it a place very difficult to not thoroughly enjoy. It was one of the best moves of our lives! Just because my husband and I picked a place in Maine, it does not mean this is the end-all, be-all of our places! We also are looking into Florida for a winter home, and potentially a place in NYC if we find the right space. We can always rent out places we are not using at the time. Life is a journey, it is still the beginning and we can choose whatever paths we want, but we need to work hard for it.

Category: home

A Year in Reflection to Welcome 2018

What it’s like being back in the USA