A Year in the Life - 2013!

Sunday 29 December 2013


This year was massive.

I flew out of seven airports in eight weeks and stayed everywhere from my lovely aunt and uncle's family home, to various different hostels to a gorgeous Port Douglas apartment. I held a koala (have I ever mentioned that?!), saw a crocodile in the wild, caught up with one of my best friends in the middle of a rainforest and visited the sets of two of my favourite TV shows in the world. I went to an Andy Warhol exhibit in Hong Kong, haggled at a Jade Market and watched the beautiful fireworks at Darling Harbour in Sydney. I ate foods I'd never eaten before, took a barista course and made some absolutely amazing friends for life.

I got home, got freaked out over my career, and went through interview after interview hearing ''your CV is really interesting, but unfortunately other applicants have a degree in marketing''. A handful of rejections later, I eventually got a part time job at a magazine, and I'm still there today.

I kept blogging and vlogging and grew to love it even more than before. I started going to blogger events more regularly and suddenly found myself with an amazing new group of friends who I now rarely go a day without speaking to. We get on so well that, as anyone who follows any of us on instagram and/or twitter will know, some of us went on a wee holiday to Aberfedly together at the end of November. They're pretty smashing girls.

During my career panic over the summer, my mum and dad casually mentioned the idea of me going back to uni. Having considered it before, but never imagined I'd be able to make it happen this year, I threw myself into applying for a post graduate in International Marketing, and it was literally the best decision I think I've ever made. Even now, when I'm sitting writing this blog post and avoiding finishing the essay which has been driving me crazy for days, I know going back to do this masters was exactly what I needed to do. I've met a few brilliant people on my course, and just finished working on the best, most interesting piece of course work I've ever done with three people I get on like a house on fire with.

Some things haven't changed at all. My family are still the most important thing in the world to me, and they have been just as, if not more, supportive as ever over the course of this rollercoaster of a year. I missed them a ridiculous amount when I was travelling, and realised that for me home is wherever my family is.

Emma is, and always will be, the best friend a girl could ask for. This year more than any before I've realised how incredibly protective of me she is, and I know that when push comes to shove she would do pretty much anything for me - and I feel exactly the same way about her. How lucky am I to have someone like that in my life. *soppy, emotional nonsense over for now*

So now, here I am, two days before the end of 2013, and feeling pretty amazed at everything that has happened. If you'd asked me this time last year what I thought I'd be doing today, I certainly wouldn't have seen myself here, half way through my masters.

It's crazy how time flies and how much can change in such a short space of time. You never know what's around the corner, so if your 2013 was rubbish, don't let it drag you down! My 2012 was a complete non-event (literally, I have no idea how I spent my time that year), and yet 2013 was the most hectic (and most important) year of my life to date.

So here's to an amazing 2014 - let it be your best year yet!

Thanks so much for reading and following my wee blog and channel over the course of the year. As I said in the last post, I can't believe how much Allsorts and Anecdotes has grown this year, and I couldn't be happier about it :)



2013 Review - Video!

Friday 27 December 2013

Hi guys!

So sorry for the lack of posts in December - things at uni were so hectic, and so I took advantage of the chance to have a wee break and just relax over the past week! Back to the grind now though, got two exams to study for and two essays to write - the joys of being back at uni haha! - so things might still be a bit quiet over here!

However, I edited this little 2013 Review over on my YouTube channel earlier this week, so thought I'd share it with you lot :)



2013 was a MASSIVE year for me, and I plan to do a New Year blog post version of this video, complete with some of my favourite photos.

I hope you all had an amazing Christmas and are looking forward to a brilliant 2014. Thanks so much for sticking with me over 2013 - I can't believe how much my wee blog has grown this year, and that there are almost 250 of you now!! I really want to keep growing Allsorts and Anecdotes over the next year... and the next, and next again. I can't tell you how glad I am that I started posting regularly!

Thanks for reading :)


Exciting Christmas Giveaway on Hello Frances!

Saturday 7 December 2013

Hi all - first things first, major apologies for the lack of blogging the past couple of weeks, things have been a bit hectic and I've barely had a chance to sit down never mind blog. This will be rectified over the Christmas break though! Now, on to the exciting stuff!

Through the wonders of YouTube I met the lovely Frances a few months ago and have been a huge fan of her blog and channel ever since! This year she's doing her own version of vlogmas - the 25 Days of Christmas :) when she filled me in on her plan to run a few giveaways over the month of December I thought it was a great idea and was keen to get involved! So I (alongside three other brilliant bloggers who I'll link below) am sponsoring a couple of the prizes over on her blog! The giveaways will be announced on the 6th, 13th, 20th and 24th, and the first launched yesterday. Frances lives in the US but the first three giveaways are open internationally!

So, I thought I'd pop the wee rafflecopter link on here if any of you lovely lot want to enter!

Hello to Frances and the other bloggers involved - Breanna, Arielle and Martha - hope you're all enjoying the lead up to Christmas!

a Rafflecopter giveaway



Good luck and thanks as always for reading! :)