Year in Review: 2013

2013 has been a wonderful year full of learning and growth. It has been a little over a year since I left my job designing men's socks. I spent much of the first part of the year freelancing for a range of clients only to find that I don't enjoy freelancing…or doing design work for clients in general. So I made the decision to dedicate all my time & energy to growing my own business…and I haven't looked back since.

This year I learned a lot about running a small business and accomplished way more than I ever expected. Earlier this month, my etsy shop reached 1000 sales and had the craziest holiday season ever! But this year has also been an internal growing period too, as I get used to this thing called "adulthood".

Here's a few life lessons from this year:

Know who your real friends are — I've hit that age where it seems like everyone around me is getting married or having kids. I'm in my late 20s when the party has long been over (30 is around the corner!) and everyone's living their own lives. The people I used to see all the time are suddenly unavailable (…all the time). I spent this year making new friends, reconnecting with old ones, and staying in touch with current ones. I feel like this is an important time in life to lock-in who your real friends are. They're the ones who always call you on your birthday, send you Christmas cards, or randomly text you to see how you're doing. They're never 'too busy' for you. But they're also the ones who will always be supportive of anything you do and be there for you when no one else is. These are the people you want with you all through adulthood.

Be flexible — You never know what life will throw at you, so just be open to anything and everything. Being flexible gives you room to adjust and adapt. Don't have plans set in stone because they'll just leave you disappointed when things don't go your way. Or you may come to realize that some of your plans may have been bad ideas in the first place.

Balance — Being a workaholic is too easy. Balance out work with some play. Offset your alone time with some time with good friends. If you ate a bunch of fatty junk food for lunch, maybe have a refreshing salad for dinner. When you've had a few really crazy days, it feels good to just take a day off for yourself. If you keep working yourself to the bone, you'll eventually burn out. Take the time to find your balance. It'll help reduce stress and you'll feel a lot better!

I have plenty of ideas of what I want to accomplish in 2014 and I'm excited for what's to come. I hope everyone had a great year as we say Goodbye to 2013. See you in 2014!