I’m not going to lie, 2012 has been tough. T-U-F-F, tough.

On New Year’s Eve 2011, I was ringing midnight in on the balcony of a flat I loved, in a city I adored, in the arms of a man who I was fully convinced I was going to spend the rest of my life with.  There may have been a bottle of champagne.  I spent New Year’s Eve 2012 sitting on my little sister’s bed, checking up on my reading on her laptop (because my computer died in November).  In my pajamas.  I am also single, in case you couldn’t tell.

The weird thing is this:  I am much happier now than I was back then.  2012 was the year that I learned how to push through the bad stuff.  I started the year sad and complacent with a boyfriend and a nice home, then lost everything very suddenly and ended up not really minding that much.  Life is a funny old thing (although I am starting to get sick of the character-building aspects of rejection and setbacks).  2012 is the year I officially got over myself.

In 2012, I also learned the following:

• The best seats to book on a train to Dublin, and what you can do to stop a stag party with cans of cheap cider from sitting next to you (the answer is to fart, and do it LOUDLY).
• That one of the most terrifying things a date can do is bring you back to his flat and say “By the way, my flatmate is addicted to crack, PCP and heroin”.
• There is such a thing as a pair of comfy heels. Unfortunately, they are also not very high heels.
• Acne coverage is a skill that must be learned, and learned well.  It is not something you are born with.  Unlike acne, the probability of which you are definitely born with.
• There is something to be learned from everybody, even total douchebags with Peter Pan complexes and bad taste in shoes.
• I can get through almost anything with my will, a bit of good luck and a working internet connection.  But I probably don’t have enough cardio fitness to get through the impending zombie apocalypse.
• To never listen to my mother when it comes to the following; clothes, finances, food, the most efficient way to heat a room, how many times I should take the dog for a walk, what I can and cannot write about, why I can’t borrow her Burberry and Jil Sander coats.
• To always listen to my mother when it comes to pretty much everything else.

Last year, I wrote a post with my 2012 resolutions and somehow, I managed to do all but ‘floss’ (too much info, I know…).  I’ve included it again this year.  ’Buy Art’ is another repeat offender – buying art is always worthwhile.

Quite do-able, I think.