Instagram – One Year Later

I joined Instagram last year in September, so it's been a year for me in the social network that has become my favorite social media of all. Now that it's my one year anniversary on Instagram, for today's story I decided to do an overview of my Insta life, a year later. The main reason why I love Instagram so much is that it's a great source of inspiration -- many times I find myself browsing different gorgeous profiles, as well as specific hashtags that are of a particular interest to me. My favorite moment of the day to browse Instagram in search for inspiration is before bed -- I grab my phone as I am getting ready to go to sleep, I open my IG application, and I immerse into those gorgeous and amazing photos shared on Instagram.

Please don't hesitate to follow me on my Instagram page! 😊

In today's story I thought to share some of the most appreciated photos on my Instagram account during my first Insta year, but also a few of my personal favorites; and of course, the story behind each of these photos. I hope you will enjoy them. 😊

November 2016

This is the most appreciated photo on my Instagram account since its inception last September up until now, a year later. I was at work on the day when I took this photo, I went to a little shopping at Winners nearby my office during my lunch hour, and I bought these two items at Winners that day -- a box of macarons to tantalize my sweet tooth and a coffee table book to tantalize my fashion spirit. Oh I so enjoyed the macarons in the office at work that afternoon. 😊. As to the book, I actually read it now, it's currently on my night stand. I didn't make time to read it right away last November when I bought it, because I was absorbed in other books at that time, so it's only now that I got to read this book. It's called Paris by Ladurée and it's a chic city guide of all great and chic places in Paris (of course... 😊) -- shops, stores, cafes, restaurants, hot fashion spots, flea markets, museums, galleries, and many more. I went to Paris in October 2008, it's been one of my favorite vacations ever, and reading this book evoked many beautiful memories.

April 2017

This is a collection of mini-perfumes that I currently use, and these mini-perfumes are part of a perfume sampler that my husband got me as a Christmas gift last year. The purpose of such a perfume sampler is to try out a number of perfumes, 7 in this case, and then decide which of them you would like to have in the standard size (50 ml). The sampler also has a voucher, and you can purchase your chosen perfume at the same beauty counter where the perfume sampler was purchased, using that voucher, without additional cost. The mini-perfumes in my current perfume sampler are:

Signorina by Salvatore Ferragamo
Chloé by Chloé
Angel Muse by Thierry Mugler
La Nuit Trésor by Lancome
L'Eau d'Issey Pure by Issey Miyake
Eros pour Femme by Versace
Si by Giorgio Armani

I took some time to test all of these mini-perfumes -- a few months. 😊 At the time when I posted this photo on Instagram this past April, I wasn't decided which perfume I will end up choosing; but my final choice was for L'Eau d'Issey Pure by Issey Miyake later on in August.

January 2017

This is my cat Niles. He's adorable, unbelievably sweet and I absolutely love him! He's been a part of my family for almost two years now (since November 2015), after my previous cat Noire died of old age in the summer of 2015. Niles's breed is DSH -- Domestic Short Haired; while my previous cat Noire, also a black cat, was a Norwegian Forrester, with long hair.

October 2016

This is a L'Occitane shower gel with agrumes that I bought last year in October and I which I absolutely enjoyed, every single drop of it. It was quite pricey, and at higher price point than your regular bath products, but I figured we all deserve a special pampering every now and again, so I didn't regret the dollars paid for this shower gel. September is not only my Instagram anniversary, but also my job anniversary -- I started my current job last September, and this September is my one year anniversary with the company where I work now. I started my new job at the end of last September, and shortly after that I started exploring the shopping areas nearby my office where I could go during my lunch hour at work. Sherway Gardens Mall of Toronto is located near my office, and this is where I spent quite a few lunch hours over the past 12 months. One of my first shopping trips last October was the L'Occitane store at that mall, and this is when I bought this shower gel. It's an amazing product, I totally enjoyed using it, and I totally recommend it. :)

April 2017

This is a photo that I took on a Saturday morning this April -- I love quiet and relaxing weekends spent at home, and coffee and writing (be it online or offline writing) are my favorite way to start my Saturday mornings.

October 2016

I bought this book last October -- it was a great read. :) I went to Indigo bookstore at Sherway Garden Mall near my office one lunch hour last October, I browsed the fashion section, and I chose this book. I took the photo in my office at my desk later that afternoon, once I came back from my little shopping trip that day.

September 2016

These are the beauty products that I got in my Topbox monthly beauty box last September -- while I have already used up and emptied some of them, I am still using some others.

June 2017

You know you're a writer when you keep buying notebooks, even though you already have a dozen of them at home, but you can't help but buy more, just in case. I am a writer both online and offline. I bought these two notebooks at Indigo bookstore this June -- there were great sales at Indigo that day and I got them for excellent prices. I have already written one of them, the white one, while the other one, with the palm tree cover, is still blank.

October 2016

I took this picture last October -- it was a Friday afternoon, I was in my office, and I was excited for the upcoming weekend.

October 2016

Another picture that I took last October -- my book Bits of Fashion and two fashion magazines. Fashion is my world. 😊

The 10 pictured that I featured above are the most appreciated pictures by my Instagram followers, but I would like to also share a few of my personal favorites, each of them from different stages of my Instagram account this past year, and here they are:

May 2017

My red roses that my husband gifted me for the Mother's Day this past May.

December 2016

My favorite shoes -- Manolo Blahnik Something Blue satin pumps. I took this photo last December, shortly before New Year's Eve, as we were right in the midst of the holiday season. I meant to wear these shoes at the upcoming New Year's Eve party, which is exactly what I did. And then I wore them again a few days later, when my husband and I went out to have a dinner date at a restaurant one Saturday night early January.

September 2016

This is by far my favorite pool photo. 😊 I took this photo last year in September, during my last weekend trip that summer season. My family and I, along with a group of friends, spent the last warm weekend of the year at a cottage, and the weather was warm enough to allow me to spend a few hours in the outdoor pool and swim.

September 2016

Early days of my Instagram account -- I took this breakfast photo on a Saturday morning, as I was enjoying the last summer long weekend for Labour Day before school started.

September 2016

This photo is one of my first photos posted on my Instagram account. I created my IG account early September last year, on a Friday night right before the Labour Day long weekend, before I left town on an RV trip. During that long weekend for the Labour Day holiday I was busy taking and uploading photos, and starting up my Instagram profile, and this Fanta photo was one of the photos that I took during that first weekend when I had just created my Instagram account, and then shared it with the public. I prefer the European Fanta to the American one, I actually can sense the difference in taste. European Fanta is all about oranges, American Fanta is all about sugar. Then, when I came home Sunday night after that RV weekend, I published a story on my blog about my newly created Instagram profile to share it with my readers.

Photo credit: Victoria West