There we go again. Another year passed by and you just keep asking where did the time go? It seriously feels like the months fly by faster every year and I literally cannot believe how much I actually did this year! Let alone, those last two months in LA felt like half of the year.
The Madonna Blogger Award, Dubai with Jessica Alba, Coachella with my girls, Blogger meetings in Dallas, my relationship in America, the Cannes Film Festivals, one week in Ibiza, the weekend in Verona, the Yacht Week in Italy, the Blogger trip to Israel, business meetings in Istanbul, starting my own collection in Paris… How come all those amazing things happened throughout one year?
Anyway, to start with, I have to say that I just don’t get the hype around New Year’s Eve. Why should one single day in a whole year be different from all the others? Most people are crazily looking forward to NYE and cannot wait to celebrate into the new year. But honestly, what’s so special about it? People associate a new year with fresh starts, new beginnings, changes and motivations. Me Personally? I don’t want my year to end! 😉
A new year, a fresh start, new adventures and all that – sounds tempting I know, but you won’t get far unless your realize, that it’s all about living in the now. It’s the right mindset that is important to really achieve all those new year resolutions in the end. It’s not about the “Oh yeah Monday sounds good. On Monday I will start to eat healthy. And I’m totally going jogging five times a week. But today is not Monday and I am going to eat that yummy piece of cake with extra whipped cream on top ha!” All I can tell you is; Stop that procrastinating guys! Myself, I am exactly like this – or better, I was. I really try to correct and shake off this bad habit because, again, it’s all about living in the now. If your not happy a with your life and with what you have right now, you won’t be happy tomorrow, on Monday or on the first of January.
Furthermore, I wanted to share this amazing and relevant quote with you, referring to my friend’s Instagram (@youngmancharles): „The desire to better yourself as a human should come from within, because you want it to happen“.
Normally, when a year comes to its end, you start reviewing all the memories you have gathered throughout the year and the things you have done. All the good and the not so worth mentioning moments. As for myself, I’m a having a really hard time right now, to remember all the things that happened in my life this year!
What I do remember, is the 31st of December 2014, as I am sitting in the living room at my parent’s house, and reflecting on all the highlights from the previous year. Setting my goals for the upcoming year – let’s see where that took me… (here I’m referring to my review 2014. Click if you’d like to read it).
For me personally, 2015 consisted of perplexity, spontaneity, a leap into the unknown and amazing traveling experiences. Never before in my life, have I spent more time literally living out of my suitcase, staying in Hotel rooms and at somebody else’s apartments, than this year. It’s been a long time since I have called a place home, but in the end I find myself feeling home at airports, heading to my next adventure.
Additionally, in this year, I have learnt a lot about myself. I have become closer to old, dear friends (Sarah!), deepened friendships (Julia, Lina, Olivia) and have taken lovely new girls straight into my heart (Tatjana, Xenia, etc.). Admittedly, I probably paid too less attention to other friends (Jess), of what I’m not especially proud of. But what makes me proud, is my incredible personal growth throughout this year and the way I always find and have something to believe in. And this time, it’s the faith in God…
January – February
2015 started with a New Year’s celebration at my hometown Hamburg with my family. Later, I attended the Fashionweek in Berlin via Maybelline, where I got to meet amazing You-tubers and people (i.e. Nhi, Shirin and Melina).
In between, I’ve been to Cologne with RTL and all the other Blogwalk girls. After that, I moved to Vienna for a month to work together with Julia on our OCJ cooking book/Kochbuch (what, to be honest, didn’t turn out too productive because we girls had too much to catch up to). At the same time in Vienna, I made my way up onto a stage to receive the “Best International Blogger” Award, hosted by the Madonna magazine. Then, shortly back to Germany for the “Berlinale” through L’Oreal and the movie release of “50 Shades of Grey” (I totally forgot about this event btw and just saw the pictures on Instagram :)).
Back in Vienna, Julia and I had our first real “Meet and Greet” ever, and it was an incredible experience to get to know some of you guys! 🙂 The following days, I’ve been to Budapest (Forgot about that too!) and then straight from Vienna back to Cologne (I can’t believe all that happened throughout one year!!!) From Cologne I headed south-east to Dubai with Braun to launch the new #breakfree campaign. There, I got to spend time in one of the most exquisite hotels I’ve ever been to (Waldorf Astoria), accompanied by Mary Merkel, her boyfriend Tobi, the whole L’Oreal Team and a couple of journalists. Furthermore, we got to meet Jessica Alba (such a beautiful woman inside and out), many other international Beauty Bloggers and we had time to explore Dubai (my third time there).
At the end of February, Julia and I had a professional photoshoot for our cooking book Clean Eating Starter in Hamburg, where I also got to spend some time with my family.
Some fact just popped into my mind; at the end of February I started Snapchatting – since then, Snapchat is one of my favorite apps; a community of 20.000 people follow me by now (luisaslions if you want to add me).
PS: Thinking back to February/March, I realised how insecure and kinda lost I was at this time of the year; nothing worked out right. Back then I decided to apply for the next Bachelorette season because I thought it’d be the right thing to do. Yes seriously! I thought maybe that’s the right way for me to finally find my true love (After all Anna and Marvin, from the last season, are still in love and happy as ever). Retrospectively, I’m glad that I got turned down for the position in April when I was on my way to Coachella. Besides, two weeks after that I met my (ex-) boyfriend. More about that later, but as you guys now: Everything happens for a reason 😉
March – April
In mid march, I went back to Munich to launch my official #myguess campain in corporation with Guess. After that I was finally off to my favorite city; Los Angeles. One week later, one of my dearest friends, Sarah, came to visit and together with Lina we had a crazy hilarious time! (I never cried more of laughing at this time than in my entire life. Every single day was fun with those ladies).
Lina and I hung out a lot with Asher Roth and Josh, enjoyed the wonderful, sunny weather at Pools or at the beach, went out partying (Jess and I went to one of the coolest after show parties at Rae Sremmurd’s place), and did a lot of sport. As Julia, her boyfriend and his sister came to visit us in LA, we went to my first NBA game ever and then it was already time for Coachella.
The first weekend of Coachella, Sarah, Lina and I drove to Palm Springs (what a beautiful place!) and joined spontaneously some parties. The second weekend, Sarah, unfortunately, had to leave so Lina, Julia and I drove back to PS to really go to the festival (we got spontaneously tickets through a friend). I have to say, Coachella was definitely one of the best weekends this year! My top Coachella highlights were: seeing The Weeknd, Drake, DJ Snake and Milky Chance live on stage.
Additionally, Pro7 (Taff) shot a documentation about Lina’s, Nathalie’s and my life here in LA and our jobs. Unfortunately they never broadcasted it :(. I would have really liked to show it to you guys! Whatever, maybe 2016 brings better luck for my TV ‘career’ 🙂
Around mid April, Julia and I, spent a couple days in Dallas, being part of the yearly reewardStyle Blogger conference. It was an amazing trip with wonderful Blogger friends and exciting events.
For the next two weeks, I was on my own in LA without Lina, Sarah or Julia and already met my “American Boy” on the first day of being alone. The following weeks I tried to spent as much time as possible with him and we were really happy. For some reason it didn’t work out though, and on my way to the Cannes Film Festivals, abruptly, it was over. After all, it was a blessing in disguise – we’re just not made for each other and I spent much more time in Europe as planned anyway…
May – June
After a really impressive time at the Film Festivals in Cannes (my very first time at the Cote d’Azur) I headed back to Hamburg to my family. At this time of the year, I personally suffered a lot from heartache for the sake of my breakup (yeeeeeeah not).
However, I spent a of lot of time in Hamburg, got to meet Bloggers like Caro Daur and Xenia Overdose and was so busy that I was barely home.
After a couple days I made my way back to Vienna to Julia and then to Munich to see Sara Bow. There, I was finally able, after some troubles, to pick up my College degree for “North American Studies” and communications.
From Munich I headed shortly back to my Hometown, Hamburg, and from there to Berlin for the “Bertelsmann” Party hosted by RTL.
At the end of June, I flew to Istanbul, Turkey, for five amazing days. I always wanted to go there and finally, my expectations where totally fulfilled! I was invited for the official Shopping Week in Istanbul from the tourist association.
When I was back in Hamburg, I finally got some days to enjoy the wonderful summer weather with my family.
July – August
Still in Hamburg, I shot for the TV Channel VOX, what they, again, never broadcasted and did a lot of work from my computer.
Mid July, Lina came back from LA and we headed together to Berlin for the Fashion Week. That was one of the most stressful, exhausting but also most fun weeks of the year and I’m glad that I got to spent this week with my “Sister” Lina.
After Berlin, I went spontaneously and alone to Ibiza to visit my dear friend Giorgio, to work on our Espandrilles-Collection. I also had some time to explore the beautiful island and to enjoy the sun. Ultimately, I had a really good time in Ibiza and fell in love with the Spanish island all over again. Thanks to Giorgio I had an amazing tour guide!
As you guys can figure; I haven’t been home for a longer period of time. Just always for a few days and whenever I needed to switch suitcases and do laundry.
Leaving Ibiza, I stopped quickly in Hamburg and headed from there to Verona, Italy, where I joined the Tezenis Fashion Show with plenty other international Bloggers including Tatjana. We girls had a really lovely time there 🙂
From Verona I made my way home just to change the suitcase and pack for my The Yacht Week in Sicilia with Sarah! There, we spent one week, visiting five different islands (i.e. Salina, Lipari, Vulcano) on board joined by a really entertaining crew with whom we also celebrated my 26th birthday 🙂 We met wonderful people throughout this trip and both, Sarah and I, have to say, that a week on a yacht is an incredible experience. Moreover, for the first time in a long while, it really felt like relaxing holidays! I stayed away from my phone, read a lot, ate good food, laughed till my belly hurt and overcame my fear to swim in the middle of the sea! We explored the beautiful islands, partied and really had the most wonderful summer ever!
As August arrived, my schedule got more stressful again. I attended an L’Oreal event in Lüneburg, Germany, shot a small youtube commercial for Maybelline in Düsseldorf, Germany, (because of that, I lost my chance for my yet biggest TV deal – a Marketing campaign with L’Oreal!)
In between, I caught up with Xenia in Hamburg to plan our upcoming trip to LA and then headed back to Berlin for a Meet and Greet at Alexa (so amazing meeting you guys!). From Berlin straight to Vienna to see Julia again and to enjoy the end of summer in Austria.
At the end of August I went to Israel – by far the most amazing and inspiring trip this year.
September – October
Israel… I should really write a post about you. So many fascinating people, stunning cities, beautiful impressions, culture, politics and conflicts… I could go on and on. Tatjana and around 20 other Bloggers, Youtubers, and journalists all attended the “Project Muza” and we got along so incredibly – like a little family 🙂
Seeing places like Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Dead Sea etc., was at the same time touching and so inspiring that Tatjana and I even got a little heart tattoo. To always remember this trip and especially this quote: „We’re all just people, that’s what it comes to (it shouldn’t matter what religion someone is)“.
Once I was back from Israel, I had several business meetings in Hamburg, Cologne and Berlin. From there I took off to Munich to visit my beloved “sister” Lina and Olivia and to party at the German Oktoberfest 🙂 We attended the Oktoberfest for five whole days and had a really good time. It was nice to see good, old friends again and also to meet great people like Sophie (IG: phiaka) 🙂
Accompanied by Lina, we headed back to Berlin for an event hosted by NYX (one of the best events this year with great supplies – got a huge Goodie Bag – wich I still use daily). We stayed in Berlin the following days to join the Nike Event, which happened to be on the same day as the Marathon in Berlin (thanks to great people and hosting, we had a blast).
Additionally, we attended several meetings in Berlin and had a shooting for our App “Femlite”, on which we’re still busy working among a great team.
Moreover, in Berlin I got to design my first jewelery line “Globetrotter” (click here for link: eigene Schmuckkollektion). Thanks to Stilnest it’s available online since the Oktoberfest.
Having spent the next few days in Hamburg, surrounded by family and good friends, I made my way back to Julia and Vienna to publish our Our Clean Journey cooking book “Clean Eating Starter”, which soon became a bestseller – thanks to you guys!
Continuing, I went back to Hamburg for one day to shoot with RTL for “Punkt 12”. The following day, I was on the plane on my way to Paris to finish up my first own Capsule Collection by rad.co (drawing the Designs again – Photoshoot).
Next, I flew back home for one day to pack for a weekend on a the “Norwegian Escape” cruise with the whole Blogwalk group. Back from the cruise, I had two days to do laundry and to pack for my upcoming two months in LA.
Literally, the moment Xenia and I arrived in LA, we took off to Las Vegas for Halloween – thanks to friends we could stay there for free. It was my first time in Vegas even though I always wanted to go there. Therefore, I can cross out three cities on my bucket goal list this year.
To finally come to an end, in Vegas I met my future hubby and we lived happily ever after. JK haha. But from what you can tell from my FMA (my Video), I fell in ‘love’ too fast and only at this particular moment, that by now I’m already over it haha 😉 Maybe you guys know that feeling when you fall in love with the illusion and idea of a man and not the actual person.
November – December
About the last two months I’m definitely going to write another post because there is so much more that I want to show and tell you guys. Briefly, all Xenia and I were actually doing – living the good life – food and partying 🙂 We met so many new people and spent only three days in those whole 7 weeks at home (For two of them we were sick and literally couldn’t move).
Besides Vegas, we went on a road trip to San Francisco, flew across the states to New York, took part in two Music Videos (Smile von Etienne Crecienne und Asher Roth, as well as Smoke Filled Room by Mako), partied with Justin Bieber, Wiz Khalifa, G-Eazy, hung out in the most stunning houses in LA, spent some time with Ty Dollar in the record studio (we basically were with him as he recorded his new song), were able to see the beauty of LA from above out of a helicopter (another thing I could cross out from my bucket goal list) and worked on corporations with really cool brands like Wildfox, Sixt, Sabo Skirt, Chadon and on.
One of my personal highlights, and I have to point out that it has nothing to do with money, was simply going to the church and listen to Judah Smith’s service. In my last blog post I already wrote detailed about my thoughts about church and faith in God. What I can tell you guys, I really do miss going to church on Wednesdays 🙂
Throughout our time in LA, Xenia and I, had a blast, worked a lot and visited fascinating places. By now I can certainly say, that I almost know my City of Angeles by heart and still cannot get enough of it! Therefore, I plan to move to LA in 2016 undoubtedly. At least for the next two to three years.
Anyway, I’ll still go back to Europe often, but I want to consider LA as my home for a permanent amount of time. Rent an apartment/little house with Lina and really focus on building our lives there. Moreover, even my Mom thinks that I’ll finally meet someone consistent, once I’m settled down somewhere. And myself, I really like that thought (at least sometimes) 🙂
Conclusion
As you can tell, my 2015 was really eventful. I got to travel more than ever in my life before, met so many amazing people and made lovely new friends. Even though some collaborations and jobs didn’t work out, I’m still extremely proud of all the things I achieved this year. All my collaborations with brands like Tezenis, Guess, Braun, L’Oreal, Stilnest, rad.co were beyond great and I want to express how grateful I am at this point in my post. Also, thanks to Adidas, NYX, Edited, Nike, Puma, Tigha, Farfetch, Dune etc. for contributing to make Style-Roulette’s 2015 so exciting. I’m looking forward to all the other corporations and projects in the upcoming year!
My last day of the year, I got to spend with you incredible guys. Almost 60 people came to Farina’s, Sopia’s and my “meet and greet” in Hamburg and it was such a great experience to meet so many of you throughout this year. In addition, through apps like Snapchat I feel even closer to you guys and really, really appreciate all the support and lovely words that I get from you! Actually YOU GUYS are what motivates and inspires me the most! All my little and older ‘Sisters’ and ‘Brothers’ out there <3
PS: Fun Fact. I really didn’t feel like going out on NYE but exactly such nights, when you just don’t feel like it, turn out to be the most fun. Plus, I’ve made a really nice acquaintance that proves, that there still are good men out here 🙂
Although, I wanted and probably forced myself to have a boyfriend in 2015 and constantly looked out for someone, I realise now, that it doesn’t need a force. I’m pretty relaxed for that matter and think, that maybe, I don’t even want one right now 😉 I just hope, that one day when the time is right, I’ll eventually find the one. Saying that, I’ll just wait for the right time and I’m confident that it will happen when you are ready and positive about it. Because you guys know; Everything happens for a reason…
Facts & Figures
PPS: my most listened to Artist on spotify 2015 was The Weekend (at the end of the year it was Justin Bieber and G-Eazy though). The most listened to Album was “Fan of a Fan” by Chris Brown, most listened to singles “Do It Again” by Pia Mia (shoutout to Julia) and “Can’t feel my Face”, “Or Nah”, “Ayo”, “Shine” and “The Hills”, “Ocean Drive” and “Smile”. I listened to the song “Earned It” by The Weeknd 24 times in one day and altogether, listened to Spotify for 303 hours. Music is essential for me so I created various playlists on Spotify (Luisa Helena Eckhard). On the 30th of December 2015, together with you guys we created via Snapchat a playlist called “Snapchat & L.A. Songs”, with more than 300 songs including Hip Hop, RnB and House. Feel free to follow me on Spotify and send me song ideas, that I can add. Thank you for all your ideas and tipps!
In conclusion, I’d like to talk about my New year’s resolutions again, which I actually rather consider as plans 😉 Cheers to staying as healthy and happy as always, that all my family and friends are doing good and cheers to all the upcoming amazing moments that will follow in 2016.
Financially, I want and hope to practice my dream job as a Blogger and to continue working for online projects. Furthermore, we can hopefully publish our App around March 2016.
As already mentioned below, I hope Lina and I, find a suitable and affordable new home in LA, where I might even get a dog (I’ve been thinking about that for a while now). Plus, I completely fell in love with our rented car, the BMW X3, which I could imagine having as my first own car (wishful thinking) 😉
Concerning my travel plans in the future, I’d like to cross out some of these cities/countries in 2016: Cuba, Mexico, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Mykonos, Santorini, Hawaii, Chicago, Lissabon and national parks all over America.
For myself, I want to get more organised in the future and to meet deadlines (i.e. every Sunday a video) to get in a steady routine.
I hope to say that after 2016, Style Roulette accomplished a lot of exciting things and projects and that the whole community expanded 🙂
Unfortunately nowadays in the world of Bloggers, it’s all about the amount of followers. Personally, I don’t want to follow this trend, although I love new followers, ideas, comments etc., but I think in the end it’s quality and not quantity and this is also what I’ll focus on. My Instagram for example, expanded slowly this year and I didn’t get crazy “Like” figures, instead I got lots of comments and that is what’s more important. It’s nice to see that you guys are interactive 🙂
Facebook and Snapchat literally exploded this year though! And concerning Youtube, I’d like to extend my activity and might even start with Vine…
Here are some figure facts:
Beginning of 2015:
Instagram: 98.000 Followers | Facebook: 21.000 Fans | Youtube: 28.000 Subscribers | Snapchat: 200 | Twitter: 5.000
End of 2015:
Instagram: 144.000 Followes | Facebook: 89.000 Fans | Youtube: 35.000 Subscribers |Snapchat: ca. 20.000 | Twitter: 8.000
My most popular blog post is about my Flower Power Nikes (also my most liked IG pic): Flower Power: Womens Nike City Colection, following up my Sunday Thoughts Post ‚Back to the Roots‘, third place my Flashback to 2014: a year full of changes and friendships, then a “Life Update – News that will change my Life Forever!” post and to close up finally an outfit post 😉 – Marina del Rey – California x Guess.
Concluding from those figures, I should focus more on personal topics and thoughts 😉 However, I couldn’t really make a living out of that, so a balanced mixture would be great. And what’s even more great, is that you guys like to read so much 🙂
The most popular clothes and accessories:
Adidas Originals Sneaker Los Angeles (in pink)
black leather leggins from Zalando
this black wool coat from Edited
a bordeaux red leather jacket from Edited
And for those, who still cannot get enough of me, go ahead and watch my FMA’s of the year 😉 My year 2015 in Videos (in German)
