One Year Later…

         A year ago I would’ve never pictured my life 
the way it is now!!

October 24, 2013 post (click here to view)

            It’s so hard to believe that a year has passed so quickly.  I started this blogging journey with the help of my dear friend Hannah Parrish, owner of Gallery Boutique.  She was so instrumental in getting everything perfect and without her help and the design of Aubrey Kinch (who just had the most beautiful baby girl), this blog would not have become a reality.  A couple days before October 24, 2013 I had NO idea what a blog was but was soon introduced to McKenna Bleu, Rachel Parcell, and Kendi Skeen (Hannah’s FAVORITE blogger)!
Thank you both SOO much!! Xo

            When I started my blog. I was a senior in college, hating every minute of it.  You have no idea how many times I called my mom and told her I was either going to quit school or take a year off.  The last time I called to tell her that, she informed me that I would have to tell my dad that I wasn’t finishing college.  I guess that was the turning point as I knew deep in my heart that I had to finish for no one other than my parents.  So I sucked it up and continued on.  Surely I could survive 7 more months of school.  Besides, during that time there would be time off for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Spring break.  But that 7 months seemed like an eternity until……………….

            Fast forward to March 10, 2014.  My mom has always known my love for fashion and that I wanted to open a boutique but how would this ever happen, especially with me just graduating from college???  Mom called me after class to tell me the news that they had found a bread truck to turn into my boutique on wheels and would I want to set up a booth at Myrtle Beach Bike Week.  NO WAY WAS THIS REALLY HAPPENING!!!!!  I had no idea that mom and dad had been discussing my “dream”.  The mobile truck “Prissy” took longer than expected to be finished but since, she has been keeping the roads hot.  The Retail Therapist Online Boutique opened on May 1, 2014 and what an exciting adventure this has been!!!  My love of fashion has grown more than I ever thought possible and my day is truly made knowing I am helping so many of your either style or
dress yourselves daily.  Shopping for YOU is now my favorite thing, ever!

Blogging my daily outfits grew faster than I ever thought imaginable and I have made SO many

adorable, FASHIONABLE, friends who honestly make my Instagram feed absolutely HEAVEN.
I LOVE waking up and scrolling my news feed to so many uplifting, beautiful posts.  

This past year I was able to not only take tons of pictures wearing my favorite pieces, but I was invited to Kate Spade NYFW this past Spring and was able to attend Charleston Fashion Week.  Let me tell you, CHARLESTON knows how to do Fashion Week!  I cannot thank my mom, brother, Scott Lee, Scott Smallin, Marie Rodriguez, Hannah Parrish, Kara Cushman, Casaundra Chandler, Robbie Welsh, Lindsey Mills, Jessica Ferrell, and Alison Jordan enough for the numerous photos you have had to take of me through out this past year, over and over and over!

Here are some of my favorite looks:

To the boutiques who believed in my sense of style enough to send me pieces to style whether on here or on my Instagram, THANK YOU! Without each and every one of your boutiques, this blog would NOT be quite as fashionable and as a boutique owner, I am a STRONG supporter of boutiques owned by other individuals who once just had a dream.

            Looking back over this past year my life has totally been turned upside down and inside out but WOW what a journey it has been.  I don’t know exactly what my future holds but I’m not afraid to work hard for what I want or what town or city I will call home.  But I thank God for my wonderful life and will continue to enjoy this crazy journey.  Thank you for being apart of this ride from the rebrand of The Retail Therapist to Whitney Rife.  Today, I am taking a close look at the present I am constructing to make sure it looks like the future I am dreaming.
I promise to start blogging my daily outfits again soon!