If you’re ever feeling down on yourself, go out and do something you didn’t think you could. Between running my blog and working full time, I sometimes get lost in my own sauce—for lack of better words. Ask yourself how often you take a break from everyday life to stop and acknowledge your accomplishments? For me, I rarely ever do. In fact, I keep telling myself that I don’t do enough. I had to travel to Palm Springs for work, but I wanted to come early for a little vacation time. And if you’ve ever been to Palm Springs, you know how prime the area is for the perfect photo ops. So I searched for local photographers and planned out some stunning outfits. However, I found that most of the photographers wanted to charge me an outrageous amount for little flexibility.

So I figured, why not take my camera and tripod out to the middle of the desert and shoot my looks by myself? I was optimistic at first, but when I got out to my first location–the windmills on the side of a busy freeway—I realized how difficult taking my own photo and changing outfits would be.

The sun was beating down on me, it was 102 degrees, semis were honking at me as my dress blew up in the windy valley, and my tripod barely stayed upright. I set the self-timer, and I got out in front of my camera. I repeated this process for 20 minutes, and as I tried to view a preview of the images I took, I realized it was hard to see in the bright sun. I thought to myself, “I’m just going to keep shooting, and if they suck, then oh well.” I hopped back into my car, cranked up the AC, and started to go through the photos. I couldn’t believe what I captured. I instantly felt a sense of pride. And there it was, one of the rare moments I say, “Damn, Natalie. You are pretty great. Look at you go!”

It felt good to recognize myself and to accomplish something I thought was nearly impossible. What you see in this blog post is what I achieved.

Of course, these photos wouldn’t be as impactful if I wasn’t wearing a cute look! This Beige Wrap Dress from Pink Clove is such a fun and flirty look. I am obsessed with mini wrap dresses, and this summer, you will only find me wearing these styles.

Also, I have some exciting news for my Los Angeles and Southern California followers! I was recently named “The Most Inspiring Influencer of the Year” by The InfluenceHer Collective! I will be attending Her Conference June 1 in LA, and I am giving one lucky follower a ticket to the conference.
To enter to win: 
1. Comment on this Instagram post telling me why you’d love to come to the conference: CLICK HERE
2. Follow @herconference on Instagram