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Shelbie Mac | Self Expression + Real Life

@withloveshelbie

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for women who’ve been through it & are ready to feel alive again 💌
self love • messy life • starting over
your EQ hype girl 🪩💋🧿

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Syracuse girls, your Thursday night plans just got a whole lot more interesting. 🕯️🪩💋

We’re talking intoxicating scents, curated playlists, delicious bites, and a room full of women who know how to make a night feel like an EXPERIENCE.

Radiant Aura Collective is teaming up with Allure Luxe Candles for an evening of creativity, connection, and a little indulgence.

Create your own candle, discover a scent that feels like you, and leave with a curated playlist to match its energy.

But babe, the real magic? The women you’ll meet along the way.

Because RAC is about more than having something to do. It’s about finding your people, showing up unapologetically yourself, and making memories that feel as good as they look.

THE DETAILS 🥂

📍 Allure Luxe Candles

🗓 Thursday, November 12 | 6–8 PM

🍸 Food, drinks & fabulous company

🎟️ $45 per person | Pay at the event

Spots are intentionally limited because we believe the best connections happen when there’s room for everyone to actually connect.

Come solo. Leave with new girlfriends, a signature scent, and a night worth remembering.

Registration is live through the Luma link in our bio. Come be part of the magic, babe. 🤎🪩 by @withloveshelbie

If only I could remember anything else as I have remembered this for the past 15 years… #disneyadult by @withloveshelbie

Consider me your very opinionated girlfriend with a running list of places worth getting dressed up for. 💋

I’m on a mission to uncover the very best of Syracuse & CNY. The hidden gems, the exceptional restaurants, the beautiful boutiques, and the local businesses with that little something extra that makes them impossible to forget.

And trust me, I have VERY high standards. ♡

📍 This little love affair? @fromscratch_caz in Cazenovia.

An intimate, farm to table chef-driven dining experience where the creativity, attention to detail, and genuine passion for hospitality are impossible to miss. It’s the kind of place that makes you want to linger a little longer, stay for an extra course, and immediately start planning your next visit. I’ve been three times now, and the magic hasn’t worn off. If anything, I’m even more obsessed.

Follow @withloveshelbie for your insider’s guide to the very best of CNY. Good taste, great finds, and absolutely no gatekeeping. 🪩 by @withloveshelbie

don’t let the weight of life make you miss the magic of living. ✨

there is still SO much good around you, even in the messy, heavy seasons.

don’t forget to look for it. 🌞🌿🤎 by @withloveshelbie

babe, how much of yourself are you willing to keep sacrificing just to avoid disappointing someone else?

because one of the hardest parts of learning to love yourself is realizing how much of your life you’ve spent worrying about how everyone else feels while completely ignoring how YOU feel.

and when you’ve spent years being a people pleaser, the thought of upsetting someone can feel fucking unbearable.

so you say yes when you mean no. you make yourself smaller. you convince yourself it’s easier to just keep the peace.

I’ve been that girl. and it’s exhausting.

but something I’ve had to learn the hard way is that someone being disappointed in you doesn’t automatically mean you’ve done something wrong.

and just because you’ve spent years putting everyone else first doesn’t mean you have to keep doing it.

you can say no without feeling guilty. you can make decisions other people don’t agree with. you can stop making yourself responsible for everyone else’s happiness.

because babe, you have to learn to be okay with disappointing other people if you ever want to stop disappointing yourself.

and the next time you find yourself about to say yes just to keep someone else happy, I want you to ask yourself: am I actually okay with this, or am I just afraid of how they’ll react if I’m not?

because that one question might change a whole fucking lot.

save this for the next time you need reminding that choosing yourself doesn’t make you selfish.

🫶🏼🪩🦋💋 by @withloveshelbie

You can make it on social media. Reps > Research. Manage your energy. LFG!! Level up!! 🤎🪩🦋💋 #jjyapchallenge by @withloveshelbie

Posted > Perfect 🤎

So happy to be back. Let’s be friends!! 🫶🏼

#jjyapchallenge by @withloveshelbie

there’s a loneliness that comes from being surrounded by people who have access to you but don’t actually make you feel seen, understood, or emotionally safe.

and once you’ve experienced that kind of loneliness, you start realizing that being alone was never the thing you were afraid of.

it was giving someone the most vulnerable parts of yourself only to feel like you had to make yourself smaller to keep them.

i still believe in deep connection. i still believe in loving people wholeheartedly.

i’m just no longer willing to confuse someone’s presence in my life with their capacity to love me well.

because being loved should never require abandoning yourself. 🤎 by @withloveshelbie

a little spooky, a little unhinged, but at least we’re self-aware. 🖤🔮

I’ve spent a lot of my life trying to make sense of things I never should’ve had to carry. Unlearning survival mode, breaking patterns I didn’t create, and learning how to give myself the love, patience, and understanding I so freely gave everyone else.

I’ve met my demons. Some I inherited, some I created just trying to survive. And instead of running from them, I’ve had to learn how to sit with the uncomfortable parts of myself, forgive the versions of me who didn’t know any better, and stop punishing myself for how I got through things.

I’m still healing. Still figuring it out. Still a little chaotic. But I’m finally learning that I don’t have to be completely healed to be worthy of peace, love, or happiness.

Turns out the real magic was never becoming someone new. It was finding my way back to myself.

Anyway, happy Halloween. 🎃✨

Stay weird, protect your peace, and never let anyone make you feel like your light is too much just because they’re more comfortable in the dark. 🖤 by @withloveshelbie

the most magnetic thing about a woman has absolutely nothing to do with how she looks.

it’s the way she lights up talking about the things she loves. the way she celebrates other women without feeling threatened. the way she takes up space without apologizing for it.

it’s her curiosity. her enthusiasm. her willingness to be a little weird, a little loud, and completely herself.

and babe, I spent way too many years believing I needed to become prettier, thinner, more successful, or more impressive to be worthy of being seen.

turns out, the magic was never in becoming more impressive. it was in becoming more myself.

so here’s your reminder: you don’t become magnetic by convincing everyone else to love you.

you become magnetic when you stop abandoning yourself to be loved.

and the right people? they’ll be drawn to the very things you once tried to hide. 🪩🤎

follow along if you’re learning to fall in love with being yourself, too. by @withloveshelbie

What if the life you keep telling yourself isn’t meant for you… is actually the life waiting for you to stop doubting yourself? 🪩

Five years ago, I was a woman who questioned her worth, doubted her voice, and was afraid to take up space.

Today, I’m living moments I once believed were meant for someone else.

And while I’m proud of what I’m creating, I’m even prouder of the woman I’ve had to become to get here.

I wish I could go back and show her what was possible all along.

And if there’s one thing I hope you take from my story, it’s this:

Don’t let the version of you who’s scared today decide what’s possible for the woman you’re becoming.

You owe yourself the chance to find out. 🫶🏼🦋💋 by @withloveshelbie

CNY girls, I have a feeling some of your favorite people are still strangers. ☕️💋

And I think it’s time we did something about that.

One of the biggest reasons I created Radiant Aura Collective was because I was craving something more from my social life. More depth. More spontaneity. More opportunities to meet women I could genuinely see myself doing life with.

And I know I’m not the only one.

So we’re taking RAC into your Friday mornings! 🪩

I’m SO excited to introduce our very first RAC Coffee Social, hosted at @PausaCoffee!

Whether you’re new to Syracuse, entering a new chapter, or simply ready to expand your circle, there’s a place for you here.

And yes, you can absolutely come alone. That’s kind of the whole point. 🤎

📅 Friday, November 6th | 9–11 AM
📍 Pausa Coffee, Syracuse

Registration is now open through Luma! Head to the link in my bio to save your spot.

Let’s make meeting new girlfriends something we actually look forward to. 🫶🏼 by @withloveshelbie