Dust off your sh*tkickers- it's a New Year

NYE 2014!

It’s time for the ultimate New Year post my lovely readers. You may think these types of posts are utter BS, but I will try to spare you as much 'new year, new me' crap we're all bombarded with at this time of year. For a few years now I've stopped really making resolutions a priority, and used the transitional period as a chance to look back on the past year and see what I've learnt and how far I've come since the year before. 

This year I have graduated from University, worked at a fantastic company in Amsterdam over the summer, met some amazing new friends, seen some of my favourite bands live, gone travelling alone then with a bunch of people I’d never met before, got all my hair chopped off, had my work published in print and online, interned at some of my favourite newspapers and found a temp job at a small fashion publication with some lovely lovely people.

I don’t say this to humblebrag, but I feel I've achieved some good things this year, and gone through a lot in the process. As well as the ups, I’ve of course had a few downs (insomnia, dissertation purgatory, heartbreak, yada yada yada...) but I have tried to use these for good too. It’s been a challenging but exciting year, and I have come out the other side feeling pretty damn proud and ready for what's next! I feel I have much more of a sense of direction than I did six months ago, and know more about what I want out of life :) My year ended happily & with a super-duper bang, as I spent NYE partying with two fantastic human beans who I met when travelling: Lara & Amy- See photos above. I wore a Topshop playsuit, H&M shoes, River Island bag and vintage necklace, Kate Spade watch & AA scrunchie!

So anyway, here are some of my favourites things and lessons learned from the year:

My favourite….of 2014:

Film…Gone Girl (I saw it three times at the cinema, 'nuff said)

TV show…The Walking Dead (now I know how to survive a zombie apocalypse and what I want in my future hubz-Daryl, I'm lookin' at you)

Album…Alt J- This is all yours (Eargasm) 

Beauty product…Anastasia Brow Wiz OR Makeup forever HD foundation (annoyingly both not so easy to get your hands on in the UK!)

Band…Arcade Fire (Will my frankly bizarre crush on Win Butler ever subside?)

Fashion buy…My Zara leopard print boots (post here)

Book…Man Repeller: Chasing love, seeking overalls by Leandra Medine (no-brainer)

Experience of the year…Travelling in America (shoutout to the Trek crew!)

Place…Oregon/Chicago (or Amsterdam, but maybe I'm just biased)

Animal…Pug (Keeping my fingers crossed for '15)

Piece of writing...Marina Keegan- The Opposite of Loneliness (tragic but beautiful)

20 (ish) Things I have learnt in 2014:

The importance of travel- if you can do it, do it whilst you’re young, free and unattached (to jobs, people, you name it…)

Blogging is a fun, productive and unpredictable platform to develop your passions.

MIND OVER MATTER: Incredibly freeing realisation people. You have the power to change the way you feel about things if you are just brave enough to learn how.

Finding the right size cap at graduation is essential. Do you want your pea head flopping around in that oversized cap you thought you could fill out for the entire ceremony? No, you don't- take it from me future grads. 

If you can survive camping in grizzly bear-infested American national parks, you can survive absolutely anything.

Independence and solidarity make you a stronger person. Thank the person who said no to helping you out or walked away: it meant you had to stand on your own two feet & become a stronger, sassier human bean on this planet of ours. 

Sometimes you have to be willing to give up sleep to succeed.

A student loan will not stretch to buying you the entire ASOS site, as much as you will insist it can.

One from my good friend Kirstie: 'Don't cry over anyone who wouldn't cry over you'- in other words, he's not worth it. Don't settle & always trust your instincts. 

Work experience is invaluable, especially if you're in the fashion industry.

Having a dirty sense of humour makes life so much funnier. 

It's easy to make new friends; just say Hello! 

Nice boys aren't always nice. 

Working abroad teaches you things about the world and more importantly, about yourself.

There is such a thing as owning ‘too much makeup’. Yes, really.

Going bra-less on a night out can and will only result in an enormous amount of flashing. 

Writing a dissertation feels like the most soul-destroying activity known to man- but the struggle WILL end and if you put in the work you WILL reap the rewards ;)  

The first real, raw heartbreak is actually the most soul-destroying thing that can happen to a person- but this too shall pass, just be patient and dig deep to find your courage.

People at train stations are arseholes (since when was not stopping to help people with heavy bags a thing?!!!)

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Shit happens- it’s how you deal with it that counts. Don’t let it define or destroy you, let it strengthen you. Negative experiences are not always negative. As cheesy as it sounds, every seemingly bad and challenging experience has purpose. 

SO...Don’t give up. You have to be persistent as heck in this world.

Meeting as many people as you can, dressing exactly how you want to dress and doing things people think you are not capable of are some of life’s greatest pleasures.

And lastly, but (I think) most importantly: Be kind. You will always find people along the way that will take advantage of this or be shitty to you…but be kind anyway. 

What have you learnt this year?

ps. HNY!!