HAPPY BELATED NEW YEAR

Many people think it’s an over hyped festivity, but I’m a big fan of celebrating New Years Eve. Call me geeky, but I find it worthwhile to reflect and reminisce upon the year gone by, to evaluate current circumstances and to set goals accordingly for the year ahead.

Unlike previous NYE celebrations, this year my boyfriend and I decided to skip the token wild night out for a candlelit picnic together. To our shock and horror, we accidentally fell asleep at 6pm and snoozed through the transition of 2011 to 2012.

We woke up at 4am, scratching our heads in disbelief at our failed efforts to celebrate. The plan was to share a dreamy night together, yes, but not one that involved snoring. My twenty year old self would be disgusted.

However, our intentions (and food/drinks) were there, so on the first night of 2012 we switched on the fairy lights, lit candles and incense, blasted some tunes, prepped various snacks, poured the wine and invited a couple of pals over to celebrate then instead.

Sometime over the weekend I dug out my abandoned 2011 “goal list” and was surprised to see I’d achieved the majority of them without consciously realising or being too hard on myself. 2011 highlights included:

• Celebrating my one year anniversary with my boyfriend/best friend.
• Resigning from an average job and replacing it with two great ones.
• Completing my fourth year of university and gaining so many new skills as a result.
• Visiting Sydney twice to intern at Madison and Cleo.
• Scoring a place in the top three of the national Cosmo U Ambassador competition.
• Partaking in a career mentorship with the QLD News Editor/Producer for ABC Online.
• Expanding my portfolio of published work.
• Playing TV journalist for QUT News, which was a huge learning curb, professionally and personally.
• Falling in love with radio journalism while completing a praxis with Radio 4EB.
• Quitting the cancer sticks! I’d been intending to kick the habit for a long time, so the day after my 22nd birthday I went cold turkey and haven’t looked back since.
• Going to Byron Bay for the first time, where I was a bridesmaid for the first time. Both = amazing.
• Attending lots of wonderful parties, from black tie events, to fancy dress soirées, through to good old fashioned house parties.
• Meeting lots of fantastic folk, including new friends, colleagues and fellow bloggers.
• Exceeding my 2011 $avings goal.
• Generally enjoying life as much as possible while balancing it with work and study.

I dub 2011 the year of growing up, in which my penchant for fast-paced, frivolous fun (read: partying) was often outweighed by an appreciation of the finer things in life. I’ve definitely learnt to value simple pleasures, as well as allowed myself to enjoy living in the present rather than rushing to live out my idealised future.

My mantra for 2012 is “happiness is a journey, not a destination,” and I can’t wait to see what the year brings. This year my “goal list" not only includes the goals I'd like to achieve, but also general activities and interests I’d like to try and pursue. So many exciting happenings are in the works and I look forward to sharing them with you!

What did 2011 teach you? Have you conjured up a list of goals for 2012?

P.S. You can read about one of my previous New Years Eve shockers in a piece I had published in new online magazine Run, Rabbit (page 30).