It is a blogging thing to recap the year and look to the future ahead. I've always done these sort of posts, regardless of whether I feel like I'm hopping on a bandwagon. I do have some things that I'd like to mark, so it's why I'm typing this while I eat my dinner, hours before I go out for New Year's Eve.

As far as blogging goes for this year, it's been interesting. I found that I struggled with posting regularly and the reason being was that I wanted to push myself into a niche that I don't belong to. I'm not a fashion blogger. I'm a little bit of everything, so trying to push myself into a role where I followed trends and tried to do what everyone else was doing, made me really unhappy. I do want my blog to grow but on my own terms. So, let's hope at least that I struggle with this less next year. I won't state my aims for 2018 because I don't have any. I've made a conscious decision to play it by ear and just write about whatever takes my fancy at the time. 

For me, the person behind this blog - I've noticed things changing. I've started to care less about what others think. So I've decided to stop trying to make everyone else happy instead of myself and just do the best I can for myself and those around me. I know I won't be able to please everyone no matter how hard I try, so I want to stop trying to meet people's expectations and I know I'll be happier in the long run. I've made so many new friends this year, I also feel as though I've made a bigger effort to work on my friendships and I want to continue working extremely hard to ensure that I'm a better sister, daughter, and friend to those around me.



In terms of being creative, while my blog hasn't been updated as often as I would have liked, I can happily say that I had a very creative year, in relation to the events I took myself to. I went to the art gallery in Limerick city numerous times and I visited the Limerick School of Art and Design for the first time. It certainly won't be the last time that I'll go to these places. Musically it has been such an eye-opener. I've been to hip-hop events (and I never thought I would), disco events even, bass music events - which I love so much for their electric atmosphere and bangin' tunes. The Stormy Teacup became a place that I visited so many times over the year, particularly this semester, to see friends play and discover new musicians. It was also a place that I watched short films. My music taste has expanded more than ever and I hope that I continue to open my eyes to new genres and artists all the time. I have no doubt that 2018 will be a colourful year in terms of the places I go and the events I find myself at.




I mostly wanted to write this post to mark one particular event of 2017: the death of my grandmother. I don't want the post to end on an unhappy note, but I just wanted to write it down, as a release and to just let people know that she existed. It's a little bit silly I know. She died three weeks ago and I have to say that I haven't taken it very well. Perhaps it's because I'm older and am more aware of the finality of death, perhaps it's because my nanny Sheila was my last grandparent. Either way, I just wanted to remember her, for the badass woman she was and I promise her that I won't forget about her. I haven't taken off the necklace she gave me since she's died. I probably have thought about her at least once every day since she's died and I really hope that with time I'll feel better about the whole thing..

I have to link up with the post's title. Maybe you'll have noticed that I haven't set any major goals for the coming year. That was deliberate. Every year in the past I set myself goals, you know that whole 'New Year, New Me' malarkey and while I usually achieve most of my goals, I just want to stop having such high expectations for myself. So I'm just going to take life as it comes and go from there. It's just another year, my 23rd year in fact and I just want to enjoy myself. Soooooo, while I wish everyone the best of luck with their goals and expectations for 2018, I'm just going to focus on what makes me happy and see where life takes me. It'll be grand, I hope.




2018 is the year that I graduate from university and I have to say I'm not looking forward to it, but I can promise that I'll make this semester the most fun that I've had yet. Who knows what's around the corner? Thank you so much for your support this entire year, it definitely doesn't go unnoticed, every share means so much to the person behind this little blog. So thank you!