When I moved to Merida, I was, of course, excited to travel in Mexico, be an expat in a new city, and explore Merida in-depth. But, I was also really excited to decorate a house, be able to go shopping at places I couldn’t in India, and cook food that I wasn’t able to get ingredients for in India. As much as I love to travel, I also have a whole other side of my life which is spent at home decorating, DIY’ing, baking, reading, trying out beauty products and a little bit of shopping. I sometimes wanted to share this on Hippie in Heels, but this is a travel blog and I really wanted to keep it that way.
The idea to start a new website came along in early June after I was settled into my new rental house in Merida. I wanted to have a whole new space where I could talk about how I decorated with all the items I’ve bought on my travels, the outfits I wear from fabric I bought on my travels and had tailored, and share about products I love or books that were amazing. It was a daunting idea, though. I mean, Hippie in Heels has been around for five years come October. Starting a new site can be scary and with a move to Mexico plus 3 big trips this month and next month, when would I have the time?
I was trying to fall asleep one night and just thought about how the website could look and article ideas I had and realized “I have to do this”. Not for “work” but just for fun. There is more to my life than travel, and I wanted to do a fun website that showed that. My Hippie in Heels Instagram is all travel shots and those “instagrammable things” but I wanted a place where I can show my normal, boring, life, and normal photos I take that don’t necessarily look cool but are my real life.
Introducing Omni Curated
Why is it called Omni Curated!? Well, the first thing I thought about was what is this site about and it’s a place where I put together all my favorite things from fashion and beauty to books and what I’m watching on Netflix – it’s a curated website. Then, Omni means “all things”. So it’s essentially “all things curated”. I thought it was too funny to have the website be called one of my dog’s names which also happens to be the brand of car I drove in India – the most beat-up van you could ever imagine (we had to drive with our heads out the windows because of the fumes, and the entire trunk fell off from rust).
As this is a lifestyle website, it will eventually be found by people who don’t know I drove an Omni van or had a dog called Omni, and I love that people who read Hippie in Heels and then go over to read Omni Curated kind of know the little secret that Omni is my dog – like, Omni is just wearing a beauty mask before bed and testing smoothie recipes to see which one we should write about this week. Ben feels like I’ve slighted Shanti and Kitkat which is true but what can I say, Omni has the cooler name!
It’s a “magazine” not just a blog about me
This website will have other contributors than just me. The idea is to show my life but also a mix of other voices in there that have great ideas to share. I’m all about bohemian design and fashion, love street food and junk food, and read thrillers – but I want a voice that loves polished fashion looks, eat at Michelin star places, and read romance novels. It’s more of a website than a blog in that sense and I hope to hire more writers.
If I stay at a hotel that is stunning, I might share about the hotel on Hippie in Heels but I tell you guys the practical things about the hotel. Sometimes I want to share about the design more and share 20 photos of how beautiful it is, but it seems like overkill. Omni Curated (OC) might have an article about the hotel in a design sense as inspiration for your own home and even show you where you can get similar items online.
Here are some articles already live on Omni Curated:
Interior Inspiration: Karawan Riad
10 of the Best Movies on Netflix Right Now
Hot, Steamy, and Everything in Between: 5 Books We’re Excited to Read This August
Best Boho Instagrams to Follow
As you can see, they don’t exactly fit the kind of thing I would share on Hippie in Heels! Right now, the site is totally new (and not completely done, I have some tweaks to do) but I’m excited to write new types of things over there. You can also check out the Instagram account. For now, I’m sharing curated shots from accounts I love to show the vibe of this new website but once we get going, it’ll be a mix of cool content from others and my own personal kind of “behind the scenes” shots.
You can follow on Instagram by clicking my account here.
I know this isn’t for everyone, as you guys read Hippie in Heels for travel inspiration, but if you’ve ever wondered what I do other than travel, I hope you’ll check on Omni Curated. I’ll be posting new articles three times a week from anything like what smoothies I drink in the morning to what beauty products I’m currently using, and of course, some travel content in there, too! You can go to Omni Curated and click around to see how it looks. You can like the OC facebook page so that you’ll see when new articles come out!
To celebrate the launch, I am giving away a set of goodies to one lucky winner!
There are little arrows on the image above, so scroll those to see all the goodies being given away. It’s a handful of my favorite things: a linen romper from Laneway, an Aussie brand, that I live in, a face mask from Knesko that is literally made from gold, a $100 dress from Lulu’s that is good for all body types, my favorite sunglasses which are the Laura’s from Sunday Somewhere and retail at $270, some essential packing cubes from Ebags, and a book that I loved which Reese Witherspoon is making into a movie, The Luckiest Girl. To enter, you need to go follow my Instagram account and comment on it – I’ll be sending all the goodies to the lucky winner in a week!
Wow – congrats on the new website! I will definitely check it out x
This is so exciting Rachel!! I’m glad you took the plunge. I can’t wait to follow the evolution of this new project :)
Thank you – it’s a little scary to start something totally new (not to mention a lot of work to manage two sites) but I’m going to take it slow and try not to stress about it :)
Love this idea! Already put the blog on my startpage. You’re really inspiring Rachel, great job!
I look forward to it!