Pause: Rewind: Reflect.

In the light of recent distracting events such as Christmas, social events and a health scare in which I thought I might actually be having a proper bona fide heart attack, my breaking my habit of posting every week for a couple of weeks this month may be at least a bit excusable.

(I'm still not sure what my heart's doing, but having had a chest X-ray today and a blood test booked in a couple of days makes me feel more satisfied having done something pro-active about it. To be honest, for a 26-year-old young woman who loves exercise and good food to have a heart attack is just plain unfair, let alone very unlikely.)

Well, I think I've done myself proud this year in terms of taking life by the cojones. I've tried new things and made some amazing new friends in the process, as well as re-connecting with old friends and staying solid with current friends.

Mad/ funny highlights:

I joined a London Geek Girl group
I went to London Comicon dressed as Egewne Al'vere from the Wheel of Time book series
I gave speed dating a whirl
I had my first crash
I sang Japanese karaoke on stage in Trafalgar Square during London Japan Matsuri

Fun highlights:

I visited my friend in Berlin
I went on an afternoon tea cruise on the Thames with another friend
I went to the BBC Proms for the first time with yet another a friend
In fact almost every weekend this year has been spent with awesome people

Achievement highlights:

I sighed myself up for evening Mandarin classes for a year
I took a short travel journalism course
My baking has been further improved (check out this year's gingerbread house, incidentally!)


Of course, I still have a great deal to look forward to next year, too:

Things to look forward to in 2014 so far

A Northern Lights trip to Reykjavik, Iceland with a friend (literally next week! I need to get better by then)
A trip to KK, Malaysia to see my family
Visiting friends in Brighton and Ipswich for the first time
Making my first wedding cake for a colleague

So it looks like 2014 is going to be just as, if not even more, busy than 2013. Where on earth has this year gone? It seems like it's been a mad race- but it was certainly an amazing year, full of adventure. Here's to another adventure-filled year.  I wonder what mad situations I'll find myself in?

Happy New Year! xxx