13 in 2013

"2013 was my character development year which means 2014 is strictly action and story progression"

So in just a few hours we will be ushering the new year here in New Zealand. I know I'm not alone in saying that the 31st of December is usually a time for reflecting on the year that's been. I think this is my favourite part of the holiday season - looking at the good, the bad, the ugly, and toasting to letting go of 2013. The best part is that you know 2014 is coming and with the new year comes a whole new adventure and life lessons to be experienced. So before I get all "new year, new me" on you guys, let me just end the year with the 13 great things that's happened in 2013 (in no particular order):

13. Nexus mag music features - Netsky interview, Netsky gig, and Six60 interview

The Netsky interview was my first "big artist" interview ever. I had a few days to prepare and when he called me from Belgium on a Friday morning, I really had no idea what to expect. The interview lasted for almost an hour and I had such a great time talking to him and asking him the most random questions I could think of (I asked him what makes him come alive based on his song "Come Alive". Pun intended). It wasn't until after a couple of hours later when I got a call from one of the staff organising the gig asking if I got through the interview that I found out I was only allowed 15 minutes. Oops.

The Six60 one was also a lot of fun. They were in New York and this time I had to ring them. It took a long time for me to get through and a lot of back and forth calling from Auckland to NY but we got there in the end and just hours later, I turned in my article. That might be the fastest record of getting work done for this procrastinator.

12. Fitness

I started getting into the whole #cleaneating #healthyliving and signed up for a gym, got a personal trainer, and lost a bit of weight. Then I stopped. Not a proud moment but it's incredible that my body is now craving for that exercise and getting sweaty. 2013 was a starting point.

11. Life lessons

This year I learned a few things the hard way. The downs were pretty down, and my heart was pretty broken. I learned that sometimes karma is all you've got to hold on to.

10. Friends

My best friend moved to a city 8 hours away and it was strange not having her with me all the time. I guess you could say I was out of my comfort zone for a bit. But it was the best thing that could ever happen to our friendship as we've grown a lot because of the distance.

Same goes to my beloved girlies - Angela, Danica, Lichelle, Suzanne, Eva, Tendy, Mel, Sarah, and Steph. We don't get to see each other as often but I know they're always there for me.

Then there's all the friends I've met and gotten to know this year. To name you all would be a whole blog entry but you know who you are. Thank you for keeping me sane this year.

9. Spark

Of course I have to put this here. Spark has taken over my life for months and I cannot thank Kat and the rest of the Wintec team for this opportunity. Spark has opened me up to a lot of great opportunities and it was great to have been involved every step of the way. Meeting people in the industry that I would never have had the chance to encounter like Nadia Saccardo of Smith Journal and Zara Mirkin. Spark has been a gateway to some pretty amazing ventures like. . .

8. Blacklisted

7.  Scarlet

It's funny how we never talked in class and it only took us 3 years to be this close. Now I see this crazy mofo several times a day even! So grateful for this friendship.

6. Tutors and Mentors

One of my tutors jokingly said I was an overachiever, one asked me to do a star course for a high school class, and the other one headhunted me for a job. Then there are mentors. My former tutor Flick was someone I met this year that has impacted my life. I don't think I would have gotten through that semester without her guidance!

5. Fashion Week

This and this. The people I was with made it 100x more amazing!

4. Job

Goal in 2012 was to leave retail in time for boxing day. On my mid semester break I was offered a casual job Comms job. I've been so lucky to have had a full time job waiting for me before I finished. 

3. Finishing Uni

I got through it - 3.5 years of my degree and a straight A last semester!

2. Marriage Equality

This. I still can't believe this happened. Seeing my words and face on the headline over on Stuff Nation for a letter I wrote to the MPs was bewildering. Then there's the comments and the people that have reached out to me on social media. This is probably one of the greatest things that I will ever do. My favourite comment from that was "It's because of people like you that people like me can finally have equal rights". I still get teary eyed. 

1. Family

It always comes back to this. Family is always on top.

Blacklisted

I was having one of those "woe is me" moments a few weeks ago. I was exhausted and adjusting to full time work life, I was feeling a bit lonely, and I was upset because I was me. I was hanging out with a friend and we walked in to my favourite magazine shop to cheer me up.

My jaw literally dropped when I saw Blacklisted on the shelf. I couldn't believe it was there - in all its physical glory - on sale along with the titles that I love.

I met this girl called Naomi in August right after my internship doing Spark. I noticed her in the sessions always looking keen to be there. Long story short, we started talking (thank you Facebook) and eventually hung out for real. We talked about ideas, culture, religion, and a mix of other topics the first time we hung out. She told me about an idea she had for a zine and then we started bouncing ideas off each other.

Fast forward to that day in the magazine shop when Blacklisted was staring at me in the eye. While I didn't really do anything for this issue except name it, I felt a sense of pride and joy. I felt so proud of Naomi. She had a vision and then she made it happen. How often have we had all these ideas that we've parked because of excuses? Not Naomi. This girl means business. I felt like it was also my baby despite not contributing anything for the first issue.

We met up this morning to discuss the next issue. We made great progress, had some tea and sweet treats, and did what we did best: throw ideas around. It was a very creative session, one that I felt like I needed to end the year in a great buzz.

I'm sitting on my bed right now and looking at the magazine for the hundreth time, enjoying every photograph and every sentence that's in it. Today I am glad that I am me and that I am someone who is capable of doing some great things. Excited to be taking on this managing editor role! Let's do this!

I like your Sunday personality better

(rock music starts playing)

I'm dreaming of Sundays spent exploring markets, sitting in cafes drinking tea, and jotting down my thoughts. Someday this will be my reality. 

Bing, Harris, & Co launches Womenswear aka that time I had a cider while shopping

On the list of things I enjoy, cider and shopping would be pretty up there. I never really thought about how much more enjoyable cide and shopping would be together until I walked into Bing, Harris, & Co yesterday.

Ok I admit it. Bing, Harris, & Co is one of those stores that I would go into often even though I had no purpose there at all. It was a mens store and clearly I am not shopping for any guys at this point in my life. But the clothes though. . . the clothes are exquisite. Walking in there always made me want to be a man just so I could wear all their beautiful clothes.

I am not averse to cross-dressing (by that I mean wearing mens stuff like oversized tees etc) and in fact Scarlet (absolute fave person ever) and I even bought matching bandanas from there the other day. The good news is that now I don't have to lust over pretty man clothes because their womenswear range is so on point!

The shopping experience was fab (there was a DJ in the store and I had cider. It was a party in there) and I fell in love with the Albion Track Pant (pictured above) straight away that I knew I couldn't leave the store without it. These are just some of the pieces that I really want too. The Birchfield Chambray Shirt is next on my wishlist and from my previous entry here, I think it would work well with the sweatpants.

Thanks to the staff at Bing, Harris, & Co. and their awesome manager Scott for being so lovely and helpful. I shall return.

Check out Bing, Harris, & Co online here.