Calydays

Whewwwww. What a dang year! 2020 was equally hard and wonderful – there were a lot of highs and a lot of lows! I started to really chase my dreams and lean into what makes me happy, getting rid of the rest! I faced a lot of challenges and hardships living through a pandemic and uncertainty! But man, I’m thankful for it all! Hindsight is 20/20 (literally lolllll) now as to why the year played out the way it did for me + my little fam, but it all works out when it’s put into His hands! But before we kiss 2020 goodbye for GOOD, I wanted to share a little review of what 2020 looked like for me and my page! Without further ado, here we go!

JANUARY

January is one of Garrett’s busiest months at work, so it’s usually just Wade and I! I spent a lot of time dreaming about the future and what I wanted to “be” when I “grew up”! This was us at the rodeo at the end of January when I was realizing God was calling me to grow on Instagram and really lean into the “influencer” world! I was terrified for the changes coming to my page but this was my first post that did super well and made me feel so much more confident! I’ll link it here!

FEBRUARY

In February, I went and bought the biggest mirror my WalMart carried because I knew I wanted to do this whole fashion blogger / influencer thing for good! The first thing I showed off was a pair of $1 pajamas from Old Navy that I found at Dirt Cheap and $10 sneakers from WalMart… neither of which I linked. Lolllll. I laugh now at how dang dark this picture is, but I was so proud of it and so excited about it, I couldn’t wait to post! The pajamas were a hit, though, and so many of you went searching for them at Dirt Cheap! And the majority of you came back and told me how much anxiety Dirt Cheap caused you! Same, sis, same! Linking this post here!

MARCH

As all of you are very familiar with, I’m sure, quarantine started in March! This meant most of Garrett’s jobs getting cancelled and we spent a lot of time at home being together! It was really nice to have a slower pace of life and get to enjoy being together as a family! It was equally as hard to be confined to our tiny home 24/7 together! Just keeping it real! But I am so thankful for that time and that month together! We got to do a lot of exploring and having fun together that we typically wouldn’t get to that time of year, so it was really such a blessing! Linking this post here!

APRIL

April was a really fun month! I started to really get confident on Instagram and doing stories! I started bringing y’all along in the day-to-day life of me and my family! I also really got into band tees and ordered like 15 this month hahaha. As you can see, I ordered some for Wade, too! This post is one of my best / favorite posts to date! It makes me sad looking back now because Wade seems so little here! I also did my first ever giveaway this month! I gave away $50 worth of stuff and due to quarantine, it took like a month to get it all in and ship it out! Yikesssss. This post is linked here!

MAY

I started my first ever garden – something I’ve wanted for years! My dad gave me these big horse troughs and my grandpa filled them with dirt for me! I planted tomatoes, bell peppers, jalepenos, watermelon, cantaloupe, zucchini and squash! It ended up being extremely successful, for the most part, and it was so much fun! The cantaloupe never turned into anything because Wade destroyed the plants with a rake, and the watermelons never got ripe enough! Everything else was amazing and a huge blessing for our family! It was so cool to be able to “provide” for our family, especially with the quarantine! I will definitely be doing a garden again next year! Linked here!

I actually have a second post for May!

We started doing “SeagravesFamilySunday” and it was so much fun! I really want to start this back up again! We rarely take family pictures so it was a fun way to get us all behind the camera once a week! Sometimes we were dressed up, other times we looked like bums, but I am really happy for the pictures we took! I’ll def be forcing my fam to do this again in 2021!

Okay I have one more for May…. but it’s a big one!

I hit 1,000 followers and I got accepted into LIKEtoKNOW.it influencer platform! This allowed me to link my outfits so that people could shop them using my links! Any of my pictures with the symbol in the lower right corner are linked to LTK and can be screenshotted to shop in the app! This was my first way to bring in income for my page and has been one of the most fun platforms to be a part of! I celebrated this one really hard! I’ll link my LIKEtoKNOW.it page here! And the Instagram post is linked here!

JUNE

June was a “dreamy” month! I got to partner long term to work with Bungalow 123! A local boutique that I have been shopping at for years now – before she ever had a brick and mortar store! When I started working towards growing my Instagram, working with Bungalow 123 was at the top of my dream board! Six months later, I was able to check that dream off the list! I still work with them and adore them to this day! Linking my first post for them here!

JULY

July was another fun month! I got to do a big giveaway with a Brand I was (still am, but Wade is potty trained now) obsessed with! Sposie Diaper Boosters sent me a huge supply after I “pitched” them and then allowed me to give away a three months supply of their Diaper Boosters to 2 people! It made me feel super official and I really loved doing it! This post felt really “me” and I love this picture, still!

AUGUST

In August we got to take our first ever family vacation! We went to Colorado and stayed in Lake Vallecito! I’m going to tell you, this trip was NOT what we expected lol. When we got to the cabin we rented, we quickly found out it was VERY secluded (45 minutes away from everything) and it was also infested with mice. We reallllly wanted to pack up and leave, but had already paid for it and driven 14 hours, and there was nowhere big enough to stay that fit our whole gang! So we sucked it up and stayed! I’m really glad we did because we ended up really having a good time and falling in love with the state! This was the day we rode rzr’s in the mountains and decided it was worth the whole thing! We plan to continue to go back to Colorado as much as we can and are hoping to take a trip again in 2021! This time we will stay somewhere different, but that’s a given! We hope to stay in Lake City when we go again! Linked here!

SEPTEMBER

September was the month big dreams were born! I got to attend Suzy School – a business school for women wanting to monetize their Instagrams – and learn from the queen herself! It was a large investment in myself and my future and I was really nervous to be leaving my family to go! It ended up being one of the most amazing things I’ve ever attended. I learned so much, and gained some of my best friends there! It helped me really step into the world as an influencer and gave me the true confidence I needed to chase my dreams and be myself! I’ll link the post with the queen here!

OCTOBER

October was the month of the SHACKET! I got this shacket at Target for $30 and it sold out HOURS later – both at my local Target and online!! So many of you snagged it and love it as much as I do! The rest of you regretted not snagging it and had me stalking the page every day and notifying you when it came back in stock! This was really fun for me and made me feel super special; I love when y’all trust my recommendations and I love looking at items for y’all! I wish I could link it, but it’s long out of stock! I will link the post, however!

Another October post because it’s too cute to not post!

We took a family outing to Team Family Farms in Aubrey, TX to visit the pumpkin patch! Wade had an absolute blast doing all the things and I made my little fam take this picture there hahaha. We set my phone up on a wagon and took like ten attempts to get a good one! I learned to let go of the embarrassment of getting a good picture in public! It took me a while, but when it’s what you do for a living, it’s necessary! I’m glad we got this one, though! I’ll link it here!

NOVEMBER

This has got to be one of my favorite posts from November! It was a super “controversial” post – with the word probably being used in the wrong context haha! I polled wether or not people thought I could make these combat boots look cute and 89% of people said ABSOLUTELY NOT! I ended up keeping them and styling them with this teddy coat (and a million ways since) and over 80% of the 89% of people changed their mind to say they LOVED the boots! I’ll link that post here! It made me smile so big (and still does) because so many of you went and got them and had so much fun styling them different ways! This was also the month I started landing big brand partnerships that would come to post in December! I really monetized my Instagram this month and made over $800 in brand partnerships, so it’s one I will remember for a long time!

DECEMBER

I decided to continue on with the “can I make this cute” theme in December with these sweatpants! This time, more people voted that I could make them cute from the start, but I was still able to change the minds of a lot of people on them, which makes me smile! I’ll link the post where I styled them a few ways here! I actually really love these and wear them all the time now! If you would’ve told me a year ago I’d be wearing something edgy like this, I would’ve told you that you were crazy. I’ve grown so much in my own confidence and now wear whatever the heck I want without question because it makes ME happy – and that’s something I talk about often on my page! I always want to encourage women to be THEM and wear what makes THEM happy, because nobody is going to do it for them!

Another December post!

After making over $1,500 in brand partnerships within three months, I decided to create a course to teach other women growing their platforms how to pitch and work with brands! I had 13 brand partnerships from October to December with less than 5 thousand followers! I made three times the average influencer my size makes – and felt like I had built up enough knowledge and credibility to teach other women how to do so! I’ll link the details here, if it’s something you want to check out / sign up for! I’m so proud of it and will take 20 clients on every month! I’ll link the post I made about it here!

One last post – and it’s a major highlight for the year!

I ended 2020 with getting a NEW CAR! I had originally pre-ordered the new Ford Bronco back in July – but due to covid, production was halted and the arrival dates of them kept getting pushed back! My Tahoe was almost to 100k miles and we wanted to get rid of it before that, which makes it depreciate a bit! We found this 2020 Ford Expedition at Bill Utter Ford and I fell in love! After a lot of back and forth, and a few changes they agreed to make for me (she gets new wheels and tires next week!) we signed papers on it! I’ll link the post about it here if you want to come tell me what YOU drive! It wouldn’t have been possible without the love and support from all of you who supported my Instagram page all year! And my hard working husband who always wants me to have the best of everything! I know how huge of a blessing it is for me to be able to get something like this – but also realize how dang hard we worked to make it possible! I’m grateful for sure and it was the best note to ended 2020 on!

All in all, 2020 was good to me and my family! While I’m glad it’s over and we are starting a new, fresh year, I’m thankful for all the things it brought me – especially my Instagram sisterhood! I have big goals for 2021 and can’t wait to see how this all folds out for me! I’m so thankful for YOU and for sharing this space with me! Thanks for following along and supporting me every step along the way! And if you’re new here, we’ll be besties in no time! Here’s to 2021!

XOXO,

Caly Seagraves