A Few Favourites of 2014.

Ohai, December 31. 2014 already has only a half a day left and it's hello 2015.

This year has slipped away from me, it feels like. I swear the end of 2013 was only the other day.

Further to yesterday's reflective post, 2014 really has been a great year for so many reasons and I'd like to celebrate a few of my favourites from the year.

Favourite Posts:

Future // Sometimes, You Just Need to Laugh at Others' Stupidity // What Losing my Best Friend has Taught me About Time // The 41 Best Things About Being a Basic Bitch // First World Problems - Make-up Edition // Mistakes Made and Lessons Learnt before Turning 21 // Home is Where my Stuff is // These Are All of my Favourite (Summer) Things // Thankful

Favourite Blogs:

A Beautiful Mess // Not Your Standard // Beauty & Bliss // Maskcara // EmTalks // My Fash Avenue // Queen of Jetlags // Yours Truly, NY

Favourite Beauty Products:

The Original Beauty Blender (Yes, I FINALLY got one!) // L'Oreal Butterfly Wings Mascara // The Body Shop Bronzer // Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation // Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder // TRESemmé Heat Activated Treatment

Favourite Recipes:

Cake Batter Ice Cream Cupcakes // Creamy Tomato & Spinach Pasta // Gnocchi Mac n Cheese // Cookies n Cream Cookies // Mango & Cashew Green Smoothie // Creamy Squash Rigatoni

Favourite Reads:

The Fault in Our Stars // Silver Linings Playbook // #Girlboss

Favourite Moment:

Last year was the first new year's eve that I had a smile on my face the entire night, EVEN THOUGH my body was in the process of death. That (now healthy) smile has not left my face to this day and I have Jesse, my rock to thank for that.

My ultimate favourite moment, and best decision of my life of 2014 was the moment I finally decided to push aside the bullshit I'd been through and taking that blind leap in to the uncertain and said 'yes' to my now boyfriend. Throughout the year - every up and down, twist and unexpected turn, there is one thing I never question about my relationship - how much he truly loves every inch of my being and how much we truly love each other.

I've never been happier.

2014 in Review.

Today, I've been sitting here in my pyjamas with a cup of tea, reflecting on the past year and started making plans for 2015.

2014 was a hell of a year. There have been ups and downs, but I wanted to spend this year learning and growing as a person, and that I did. Going from such a negative start to the year to the happy place I'm in right now, I'm pleased with my growth in many different aspects.

Blogging

I'm so very pleased with the progress and growth of my blog.

Being able document my thoughts, feelings and adventures, and to be able to look back at all I've achieved, experienced and discovered, has helped me see how much I've grown not only as a person, but a writer, to.

Writing

I know my writing has improved immensely over the past year alone. Looking back at my first few posts is actually embarrassing but it goes to show how much you can learn if you just take the time.

I've met some amazing people.

Although I don't have thousands of followers, I get to interact with the people who read my blog and contact me, and I've gotten to know some truly amazing people that I am proud to call my friends through blogging.

Personal life

Looking back, it's almost unbelievable how different I am today, compared to the girl I was a year ago. 2014 was definitely the year of digging deep. I had a lot of questions that I needed to ask myself and a lot of somewhat unpleasant answers that needed to be heard but doing so has helped elevate me to the content place that my life is in now.

Jesse - my rock.

Enough said, really. I've written about the kid that many times.

I got over all that heartbreak shit and met my amazing now boyfriend.

I finally said yes, and a year on, I've never been happier. You can be in a relationship that makes you so happy, you forget the rest of the bullshit you went through. He's taught me more about myself and my strengths than I can ever thank him for.

I made the habit of setting and chasing goals.
Writing and sharing my goals on my blog really motivated me to get shit done and there's nothing better than that accomplished feeling when you reflect back and everything's been completed.

I re-discovered reading and writing.

I forgot how much I loved writing until I started blogging frequently, and I forgot how much I loved reading until I re-discovered my love for books by setting myself a reading goal which I've stuck with ever since. It's just so relaxing to dive in to a good book for an hour after a stressful day.

I discovered my true friends.
This one was a biggie for me this year. There are some people in my life who I considered to be good friends who, in retrospect, weren't. Cutting people out is hard but necessary and I'm so happy to have my true set of friends who've stuck by me and continue to be a part of my life today.

Lessons

I've learnt so much this year; 2014 is without a doubt the year I grew up.

There's no place like home.

Okay, so my home isn't the house that holds my shit, rather than the house that holds Jesse's family. I've spent so much energy trying to leave my 'home' and break free, and only now do I feel like I've found a place to call home.

Love yourself.

The most important relationship you have is the one you have with yourself; part of being human is being imperfect. If we can't love ourselves, then who is to say that anyone else is going to be able to love us?

Do it if you want to.

Never let somebody tell you what you should be doing with your life. Do what you want without overthinking or second guessing. The things I worked towards that I wanted to work towards instead of what I thought I should be doing are the things I'm most proud of.

2014 was a big year of growth for me, and I'm genuinely excited to see what 2015 has in store for me.

Friday Finds.

First off, I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas.

Here are my favourite finds from the past week:

 (Can you tell I got a decent laptop?)

BAM! Take that, shitty Microsoft.

\\  I'm loving this home office layout. A touch of gold is just so elegant  //

\\A Pineapple sorbet boat; the perfect treat for Summer  //

\\  I've been lusting over Paris recently, and this apartment view has me drooling  //

\\  How cute is this rose gold acacia ring?!  //

\\  This has got to be bad for you, but how delicious does deep fried mashed potato rings w/ buttermilk ranch dipping sauce sound?  //

\\  I almost bought this night shirt in Cotton On Body while we were scouring the sales yesterday - Too cute.  //

Christmas Break Plans

Guys, today is my very last day of work for 2014.
I can't even explain how good that makes me feel.
Even better, I've booked a whole THREE AND A HALF WEEKS off from work; KA-CHING!
As keen as I am the only thing that's on my mind right now, is bed.
You heard me, all this time off, all I want to do is sleep. I'm going to sleep for hours! Days, even! Not really, but there'll be no more 6am wake-ups for me. Goodbye, Mr. Alarm clock, my arch nemesis. Seriously, you have no idea how long I have waited for some time off so that I can sleep.

For that exact reason, I thought I'd compile a 'to-do' list as such to motivate myself to actually do something with this glorious time.
Not going to lie, about 90% of said plans can be done from the comfort of bed.
DON'T JUDGE ME.

OTHER than sleep, here are some things I'd like to do during my time away from the office:

Reading:

I just suddenly just stopped reading for about a year out of pure laziness, but over the past few months, I've read a total of about 12 books. Yes, TWELVE. I'm back on my reading game, yo.

I've had vampire porn I mean, the True Blood series sitting on my bookshelf for years now and after vowing not to purchase another book before I've finished what's already on my shelf, I'm finally up to the second book. I'd like to at least finish that one and be part way through the third.

I also would like to sit down and read a magazine or two. I find there's something relaxing about sitting down and having a dirty little read with a nice cup of tea, and I can't remember the last time I bought the current issue of Cosmo.

Shows:

I'm in the middle of soooo many TV series' right now it's actually ridiculous and I know I'm getting a few more for Christmas so I better get watching. #HardLife

I'm so far behind, ugh. I know, this ended like, 40 years ago, and I already know who Gossip Girl is, but I've been sitting smack bang in the middle of series 5 for about a year now.

I loved, love, loved this show for about two seasons, then for whatever reason, I lost interest. An old episode came on TV the other week and I remembered why I loved it.

This one I'm up to date with, in terms of what I've got sitting at home. I've just been waiting for series 4 to be released on DVD since they took my beloved show off free-to-air like the bastards they are. That day has come, my friends.

Movies:

I can't remember the last time I went to the movies.
Heading over to Video Ezy in my pyjamas and paying $1.50 for a rental is all too perfect for Jesse and I, but I think I'd like to head on out to the movies sometime during my break.

I love my scaries, but it's getting harder and harder to frighten me. 'The Conjuring' was the first movie since 'The Grudge' back when I was 14 to truly scare me. A prequel based around the creepiest mo'fucker of a doll I've ever seen sounds good to me.

I don't even need to say anything other than Horrible Bosses. The first one was so damn funny, I'm dying to see the second!

Cleaning:

Alright, I know I've been going on for months now about my bedroom storage re-vamp project, and in truth, I haven't even looked at Ikea's site, but I'm determined to get a shoe/make-up storage area like the ones I've been obsessing over during my time off.

On top of that I'd also like to re-arrange the layout of my room completely and go through all my clothes and donate anything I don't wear or that no longer fits.

Activities:

Sometimes I'm cute and sit around thinking of cute little dates Jesse and I could go on. Sometimes I'm cute and sit around thinking of cute little places I can eat food. Either way, I guess I'll end this list with things that actually involve putting on pants.

Adventure World
Jesse's never been to Adventure World and I'd like to take him. Besides, who doesn't love theme parks?!
.
Beach days

I'd like to take advantage of the gorgeous weather we've been having here and make a few trips to the beach with friends, hang out and work on my tan.

Bowling.
Jesse thinks he can beat me, and I'll deny the fact that I can't bowl to save my life until the cows come home, even when he's part-way through whooping my ass. Just letting him win, keep him happy and his male pride in tact. Y'know?

Drive-Ins.
I love the drive ins, and now that I've got my new car (eeee!) I think it's time I went.

Friday Finds.

Perth's had the most beautiful Summer weather this past week, and we all know how much I love the Summertime. Subsequently, my Friday Find's have somewhat of a Summery theme to them this week.

Here's what I've found and loved this week:

\\  How perfect for Summer is this starfish headband?!  //

\\  This blow pop martini cocktail recipe sounds sooo good!  //

\\  Eggnog french toast? How did I not think of this myself?!  //

\\  It's no secret that I love boho style and these boots from Free People are gorgeous! Especially styled with that chunky knit sweater!  //

\\  Speaking of sweaters, I love this Christmas sweater from Boohoo  //

\\  I've been pinning Summer hair inspiration like crazy. I love this simple girly sock bun and daisy 'do  //

Win a 2015 Kikki.K Planner.

I used to use planners religiously; come October each year, I'd scour the online world for the perfect one for the year ahead. This past year, however, I got sloppy and didn't bother to even look for a planner. It's safe to say that 2014 has been the most disorganized year of my life. For someone with mild OCD, that shit's basically blasphemy.

By the time I was pretty much rocking in the corner of a dark room, I was stuck in that awkward too late in the year to bother with a 2014 planner, too early in the year for the 2015 planners to even be released. I obsessed over planners online until I happened a pon a Kikki K store when I dragged Jesse on one of my shopping ventures last month and found myself the cutest lilac and gold 'Make the most of every day' spiral bound planner.

BAM!

Now, guys. If you're a lover of stationary and organisation, Kikki.K is your heaven. Not even kidding. They're have everything. Currently, Kikki.K is only located in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, but their online store ships worldwide.

Anyways, as you open the planner up this is what you see:

Images via the Kikki.K website

The planner features both monthly and weekly spreads and ends with pages of ruled notepaper lines makes it perfect to jot down any blog ideas I may think of during the day.

To say thank you and Merry Christmas to my beautiful readers, I'll be hosting my very first (squee!) giveaway. One lucky winner will receive this very planner.

This is an international giveaway and will be open until Christmas Eve.

All entries will be verified so don't even try be a sneaky lil' thang.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Friday Finds.

It spins me out how fast these damn weeks are going by.

I mean, I hate to alarm you, but there's less than two week 'til Christmas. Umwot.

I'm pretty sure it was my birthday just the other day, and now we're within an arm's length from Christmas?! Yeesh.

Anyways, these are my favourite little finds from the past (extremely quick) week:

\\  I actually spotted this Pineapple phone cover on my shopping venture the other week, then re-spotted it online. Shame I don't have an iPhone, or that badboy would be mine.  //

\\  What a good idea this pallet Christmas tree tutorial is!!  //

\\  I fucking hate cats, but I can't get enough of these cat stockings from Boohoo.  //

\\  I love A Beautiful Mess! Seriously, check them out; this adorable

 DIY dried citrus tree ornament tutorial is just an example of the great shit these girls can do.  //

\\  This cake batter ice cream cupcake recipe actually sounds amazing!  //

\\  aaaannnndddd I need this sweat top in my life.  //

Happy Friday, yo! Have a great weekend!

Friday Finds.

 Happy Friday! Here's what I've found this past week...

 

\\  ABM's birthday cake jell-o shots sound amazing!  //
\\  These beach nails! OMG! video tutorial here  //
\\  I basically died when I saw this this Beauty and the Beast clock.  //
\\  Champagne Candle  //
\\  The talented Kara's Party hair tutorial is so simple, yet gorgeous.  //
\\  This teacup candle DIY is so cute, and would make fun little gifts.  //

My Month on Instagram - November.

If you've been following Christie's Take on Life, you'll know by now that I'm a major lover of Instagram! It's the perfect outlet for posting inspiration and little snippets of life, and seeing what my favourite bloggers and friends are up to.

There are so many times my Instagram posts never make it to my blog, and that's a damn shame because I consider myself to be quite the photographer..
.. Not really, but it's a shame nonetheless.

Instalife the past month looked something like this:


I finally spent that Westfield gift card I mentioned last month.

Then it was off to the Melbourne Cup celebrations with work. Excuse the horrendous nails.

I'm not even mad at the shitty weather, the view was still gorgeous.




Despite my fear of birds, I felt it a wasted opportunity not to get a photo with it after spending 40 drunken minutes discussing what type of bird this penguin/pelican/albatross creature actually was.


 

 I'm a serial foodstagrammer, guys. Sorry not sorry.




Leapfrogs was the café of choice for my brother's seventeenth birthday dinner.



My very first BellaBox, Dusk Till Dawn (reviewed here) conveniently arrived just in time for the late night Christmas celebrations that are just around the corner.

I've mentioned this photo previously on the blog, so I won't waste your time with a description other than #Piercings.

Ditto. Minus the piercings.

I don't even care how many times I've posted about this shirt, it's too damn relevant to my life not to be in love with.

November Lookback & December Goals.

December, Where the fuck did you even come from?

Although writing and sharing my goals really motivated me, November has been eventful, and I've been thinking about what goals I can set myself for December because last months goals were sort of a fail..

Attempt 3 new recipes from Pinterest

I'm actually given up on this one. #LazyLyf

Get a new car

KA-CHING! I actually received my new baby yesterday, just in time.
I'm too excited about this thing. But still.. daymnnnnn.

Update my shoe & makeup storage situation

I really, really tried to get to this one, or at least get to Ikea.

Be mindful of others

I'm actually a bitch nowadays. Oops.

Hit up a bar I've never been to before

I was actually pretty keen for this one, to.

Make the effort to see a friend I haven't seen in a while

All my friend's birthdays seem to fall in November, so I got around to seeing a few people I'd been somewhat neglecting lately.

Make life plans for 2015

I want a clear picture of where I want to be career-wise by this time next year.

I also want to truly discover my voice on this blog, and where I want to take it.

Make fun plans for New Year's Eve that include both my boyfriend and my best friend.

The organisation Nazi in me would prefer to have a solid idea before December 20.

Get all my Christmas shopping done BEFORE December 10

AKA: Buy presents for Jesse's family. This really should have been done, or even started ages ago..

Leave the frustrations from work at work

Too often do I bring all my stress from work home to Jesse with me, and it's starting to affect our relationship..

Curb the unnecessary spending

I basically spent everything I have on said new car, which means tight living for a while. Time to rebuild that savings account, goodbye, glorious junk food!