Happy New Year from Handbags and Cupcakes!

My sister and I, generally being excited

Well golly gosh. Another year gone by in the blink of an eye. I do sound like an old fart, don't I? To be fair I did hit the ripe old age of 21 in 2013, which is a bit of a milestone according to society.

Becoming an actual, proper, legally-allowed-to-buy-alcohol-in-America grown-up was not the only momentous moment of the year though, oh no!

My proudest achievement of the year? Well it's got to be winning Highly Commended Best Lifestyle blog at the Cosmo Blog Awards!

As you probably know, my mind was blown when I found out I'd made the shortlist, so to come second to The (extremely successful and famous) Londoner out of over 43,000 entries was - and still is - quite frankly, astounding. And it was all (well, 50%) down to the votes of YOU lovely people. I was overwhelmed and am still so so grateful for your support.

(Speaking of, there's still time to vote for me in the National UK Blog Awards, and it would make me SO happy if you spared a few seconds - literally - to do so...)

I find the end of a year a bit, well, meh. New Year's Eve is more often than not somewhat anticlimactic (although I'm sure tonight won't be!), and if I want to make a change in my life I'll do it right away - resolutions, schmesolutions. Are you making resolutions?

Tonight, however, I shall be going to a jolly good old friend's house for a girly dinner party, and I'm very much looking forward to it. Naturally, I have made a cake - extremely chocolatey orangey chocolate orange cake, should you be wondering, oh curious one - and if it tastes as delicious as I hope it will, I shall of course share the recipe with you all. IN 2014!

Wasn't it 1998, like, yesterday?! It weirds me out that the German kids I teach we're born in the 2000s. THE TWO THOUSANDS?! I'm getting old. But that's by the by,

Handbags and Cupcakes has sure developed over the course of the past year - not intentionally, but I suppose it's only natural and good for a blog to evolve. Since the start of 2013, my blog views have oct-tupled - no, I don't think that's a word either, but I basically get eight times as many views as I did this time last year, and I'm so excited at the prospect of taking Handbags and Cupcakes to new heights in 2014. I'd love it if you stuck with me for the ride!

And WHO BLIMMIN' KNOWS what's going to happen in the next twelve months?! I imagine more travelly posts shall continue as I continue my year abroad - people, I cannot WAIT to start sharing all my experiences from the exciting new job I'll be starting in Brussels in March! Watch this space...

There are a couple other exciting potential prospects coming my way too, but I'm going to have to keep schtum at the mo. You know I'll reveal all in good time, though.

But here's the most exciting thing about a new year - no-one knows what's going to happen! Think back to this time last year. What did you foresee and what took you by a massive surprise? I certainly had no idea where I'd be spending my year abroad.

There's so much unknown potential ahead, AND IT'S SO EXCITING! The future is ours for the taking, my friends. Let's make 2014 our year.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to every single person who has ever read my blog, even just once. I wish you all a happy, successful, healthy fun 2014, and go let your hair down tonight, yeah?