It’s that time of the year again where I reminisce on what the year before was like. And by reminisce, I mean check the Archives and see what the heck it was that I’ve done because I’ve forgotten a lot of it! Brain farts and bad memory. Ish. 😛

2013 has been quite the tremendous year for me in terms of blogging and my personal life. In late 2012, I prayed for a good 2013, that I may better myself in terms of my work, my health and my life. I received a whole lot more. It truly has been a blessed year.

Grab a cuppa, sit back and relax (or y’know, read this in the loo because … why not? :P) because this is going to be a long one.

January

• Went to Malaysia to visit the family and celebrated Chinese New Year with them.
• Discovered the hype of CC creams, tried a couple of the very popular ones and decided that CC creams are not as fancy as they’re hyped up to be.
• Became a member of a small group of beauty bloggers who vowed to fight against skin pastiness called the Blush Fiends. We really should come up with a secret code word. Or a secret blush high five. Yes I’m lame like that and I LIKE IT.

February

• Celebrated my grandma’s 93rd birthday (sadly, her health deteriorated soon after that but she’s such a trooper. The lady fights back hard).
• Ate too much during Chinese New Year. As you do.
• Had a photoshoot at Awana Genting Hotel for my current headshot (as shown in my About Me page), which is shot by Beetrice’s then-fiance Kevin. Love the pictures!
• Discovered a lost dog, relieved that it found its humans again. Decided that after years of deliberation, we’ll get a dog of our own this year.
• Started one of my favourite series on the blog, “What Would You Do“.

March

• Biggest month of my blogging year when I became one of the official bloggers for L’Oreal Paris at the L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival (now known as the Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival). It was one of the best experiences of my blogging life. It was my first taste of what fashion week was like.
• Don’t think I’ve ever worked that hard any other time. That week, I was soldiering on and I absolutely loved it.
• Had the opportunity to interview Megan Gale and Barbara Palvin. Rubbed shoulders with the fashion elite *ahem*. 😛
• Meeting Rae Morris and her remembering my name after the week was over. I die.
• So glad my coverage of the event was well received despite it being my first time and being the only beauty blogger in the team of L’Oreal’s official bloggers.

April

• Experienced the best spa I’ve ever been to. It’s such a pity I haven’t returned since (it’s pretty expensive). Will make it a point to pamper myself with a spa package there for my birthday this year.
• Discovered a really good drugstore foundation that is sitting on the Holy Grail pedestal along with my Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum.
• Discovered a top coat nail polish that I actually prefer to the very popular Seche Vite.
• Discovered what became my absolute favourite facial sheet masks. April sure was a month of amazing beauty product discoveries.
• Beautyholics Anonymous was featured in an international fashion magazine, ELLE China. Second time in print!
• I braved the crowds at Salon Melbourne. Still prefer the IMATS but I did snag a few goodies, which was good.

May

• Created my very first non-ebook item for you to download. Every blogger needs social media icons, right?
• After delving in blog design and technical support for many years, I decided to expand my services to the blog where bloggers can hire me for blog technical support, installation of WordPress, migration of webhosts, etc. Glad to report that it’s doing pretty all right. If you’d like to give your blog a new frock, give me a call, eh? 😉
• Did the Procrastinating Beauty Blog Tag which one of my favourite beauty YouTuber, Beauty Broadcast, used and it gave me a sizable spike in my traffic! Hey, I’ll take it. 😛
• Celebrated the 6th anniversary of Beautyholics Anonymous. Gee, has it really been 6 years already?

June

• Celebrated my 33rd birthday. It was a good one. 🙂
• Did my first movie/celebrity inspired makeup look.
• Walked down memory lane on how my love for makeup began. Other girls had paper dolls, I had paper makeup.
• Showed you what my day as a beauty blogger is like.

July

• Hosted my very first beauty event with L’Oreal. I was nervous as hell leading up to it and even on the day itself but I was so relieved and happy that it was a success!
• Learned a valuable lesson on how running too many giveaways is not effective for my blog.
• Loved blush so much, I even wrote a mini series called the Rudiments of Rouge where I waxed lyrical about all things rouge.
• Cheered Tim on in his first half marathon at the Run Melbourne.

August

• Pleasantly surprised (actually no, more like shocked) that my skin age went from 30 to 23.
• Did my first blog survey on what you really want from Beautyholics Anonymous. You readers have spoken!
• Discovered a cleansing brush I love more than the Clarisonic that cost 10% of the price.
• Had breakfast with Rebecca Gibney.
• Stumbled upon an in-shower body lotion. The person who invented this is a genius.

September

• The ultimate travel month!
• Travelled to Malaysia for cousin Beetrice’s wedding, went back to my alma mater Dundee University in Scotland after being away for 10 years, visited Paris and Rome for the first time (can finally cross the first thing off my bucket list), experienced a Scottish wedding in a freakin’ castle, tried the Segwey for the first time and loved it, and so much more. Truly one of the best holidays I’ve ever had.
• Dont know when I’ll be able to travel that much again given that we spent a fortune on the holiday but a girl can hope. 😛

October

• Finally tried out LUSH body products for the first time and you know what? They’re actually pretty damn good! Previously, I wouldn’t even touch the store with a ten foot pole because of the strong scent that reeks from the stores. Now, I’m doing the dash in, dash out.
• Was featured in Australia’s Health and Fitness magazine which caused Tim to laugh his ass off because a HEALTH magazine included me. Said it once, will say it again. Jerk. 😛
• Shared a bad brow story with you and learned a lesson to never assume that well-known brands will guarantee you good results.

November

• Finally tried out a popular luxury foundation that was so highly raved by beauty editors, bloggers, YouTubers and women everywhere. I thought it was just okay.
• Paris B was in town! Hanging out with her was a lot of fun. She’d better come back again soon!
• Tim did the Melbourne City to Sea 14km fun run. I got lost searching for him in the massive crowd and ended up doing the last 3km with the runners.
• Went for a laporoscopic procedure to get my abdomen and pelvic area examined. Unfortunately, the results were not favourable. Apparently I wasn’t as healthy as I thought I was.
• Bought way too many face wipes for one blog post.

December

• Finally found out how to use cleansing balms properly and realised that I don’t hate them after all. In fact, I’m in love!
• Three days of awesome feasts on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day with close friends.
• Tim and I were given the best Christmas present ever. We welcomed Janey to our home with open arms.

What an amazing year it has been. Even though it got a bit low towards the end of 2013, the arrival of Janey made up the difference tenfold. It has also been a great blogging year and I’m truly grateful for all the wonderful opportunities I was given.

Thank you, dear readers. It’s not just lip service when I say that I could never have done all this without you and your unwavering support. I would never have found the drive that kept encouraging me to do better and to push the boundaries of blogging. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you.

How was your 2013 like? What was the best thing that happened to you in 2013?