A YEAR IN REVIEW

A Year in Review - Festive Dried Oranges & Rosemary

I feel like it is all anyone has been saying the last couple of weeks, so I don’t want to be the 100th person you’ve heard it from, but honestly, …how is 2018 almost over?? And what a year it’s been! As much as everyone else is looking forward to 2019, I’m a little sad to wave goodbye to such a good year for me. I sat down and rounded up the best bits of my year – and there have been a few.

Top Five Highlights

– I celebrated our 10th year anniversary as a couple! Since, the beginning of 2018, I was counting down the days till May 18th to celebrate, spending ten years together with my other half in life. It is a milestone for our relationship, that has evolved and got stronger through the years, the ups and downs we experienced and everything in between. I am looking forward to celebrating the next ten years together!
– I traveled in June to Prague with my mother. I try to travel once a year with my mother abroad for some quality mother-daughter time. This was the second time we visited Prague and we loved spending every minute in one of the most beautiful European cities. We made new memories and looking forward to new destinations in 2019!
– I spent time with my best friend from college while she was visiting Athens. It was so great seeing her and catching up and celebrating her birthday. She lives in Crete and we don’t meet often in person due to distance but we talk a lot on the phone. One of my goals for 2019, is to visit her and have some good time as we used to in college.
– I vacationed to the island of Kithira – something I hope, we will be doing for many summers to come. It was the perfect place to relax and unwind, it definitely gave me the space I needed to find myself a little.
– Finished almost all my home updates! This is probably a boring highlight to some, but I finally got to finish all the updates I wanted to do since 2017. I still have a few things to do, but the big jobs are mostly done, which is a great feeling!

Work Achievements

– I am a full-time freelancer! It was one of my goals this year to expand my client base and work more hours. Currently, I am fully booked and I have been working the last couple months, more than 40hours per week. It was something that I wanted to achieve and I am so glad, I managed to achieve this goal of mine, it makes me feel so accomplished!
– Expanded the services I am offering. I took a leap of faith and started offering new services to my clients. It’s scary working on new fields, but it also so rewarding mastering new skills.
– Posted on the blog every month. I have been a busy, busy bee this year however I managed to remain active on this little corner on the internet! Here’s to more fun blog post in 2019…
– I found my way with beauty content. I love working on beauty blog posts, and I’m finally at a point where I feel proud of everything I post when it comes to beauty content. I definitely owe a lot to you for being so awesome with feedback and support.
– I finally created and posted “Wedding Week” in May! What’s more, they were my most read blog posts for 2018! The response was very positive and I am looking forward to creating more wedding posts next year.

2018 In Numbers

– 180; the number of blog posts I posted
– 14; the number of Instagram giveaways I did this year
– 28; the number of NEXT orders I made this year (not as bad as I thought!)
– 4175; the number of downloads of monthly desktops and printables on Shoegal Out In The World (A massive thank you to you, you really are all so awesome!)
– 25; the number of books I read this year this year

A Few Personal Goals

– I felt better in my skin. One of my 2018 goals was to take better care of myself, and I totally nailed it. I worked on my skin issues and was generally good to myself as much as possible – and what a difference it made!
– I purchased a few luxe items. I finally felt like I was in a place to buy myself a few treats this year, and just knowing that I’m able to do that is such an amazing feeling. Yay for being able to support yourself and buy cute bags!
– I lived in the moment. A lot of blogging means living life through a viewfinder, but I really felt myself living in the moment this year. I relaxed and stopped stressing about getting the perfect Instagram shot, and I felt a whole lot better for it!

In 2018 I Discovered

– My love of podcasts! Seriously, I’m completely obsessed with listening to podcasts while working!
– How good I feel when I hydrate properly. Not just for looking better either, I really do think it does wonders for my mental health too.
– I reignited my love of lemon-based desserts!
– My obsession with bags! You can officially call me a bag lady!

It’s been a good year, and a very fun one to look back on too. What were your top moments of 2018? I am wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year ??? [I will take a small break and see you all back on January 7th.]