Farewell 2014, hello shiny new year!

So here we are, that funny time of year where we say goodbye to one year and hello to another, amid feelings of nostalgia, happiness, hope and regret. I always find the New Year such a funny time of year. There always seems to be anticipation and expectation leading up to the evening. It seems to promise so much, yet often fails to deliver. 

This New Years, we spent three nights with some friends down on the gorgeous Bruny Island (just half an hours drive and a short ferry ride from Hobart). We spent the days exploring the island, going for walks, playing cards and board games and of course a lot of eating and drinking. 

On New Years eve day, we went for a few beach walks, spent a good few hours sampling locally made cheers and some Tasmanian beers at Bruny Island Cheese and then spent the afternoon playing cards, telling jokes and enjoying each others company. After a fun day, we were all a little tired that evening, with two crashing out before midnight and the rest of us pushing through to ring in the new year with some sparklers on the deck, before happily taking ourselves off to bed a short while later.

The trip away was fun and relaxing, but a far cry from the boozing days of my youth which were usually spent drinking and partying at a nearby music festival over the New Years period. While those days were fun, I definitely prefer the quieter, more relaxed getaway now that I am a little older. 

Initially I wasn’t going to write a post reflecting on the past year, hence the lateness of this. And also, I have was a little interrupted by our New Years getaway because – let’s face it – holidays should always take priority!

But it’s always good to remind yourself of what you’ve done, what you’ve overcome and all of your successes, so here we go.

I created this little space for myself at the end of 2013, so 2014 was largely a year of experimenting, exploring, and learning in terms of recipe development, food photography, and blogging. This has been immensely fun and turned into one of my favorite ways to spend my free time, and has also allowed me to meet a whole new world of people who either read my blog or follow me on Facebook or Instagram (or all three!) and leave lovely comments and send me emails which always brighten my day. I have also connected with a gorgeous group of other bloggers who help out with tips and comments which without I would be lost!

Some highlights

– Our big trip of the year – a week with family in Perth and friends in Indonesia

– Two trips to Sydney, one to attend an IIN conference, the other a relaxing weekend getaway with B

– Finishing my Holistic Health Coaching course through IIN

– And lastly some exciting news I only learnt of today – being named the top Tasmanian food blog of 2014!

I am very much looking forward to more learning and creating, and meeting more of you! And in the spirit of that, I have put together a little survey to gain a bit of feedback about the blog to help in shaping and improving it over the coming 12 months. If you would like to help me out and have a few minutes (it’s quick – I promise!) then please head over here to complete the survey.

And now I’ll leave you with a wrap-up of my ten most popular posts this year. And stay tuned for lots of new, delicious posts coming up in the next few weeks, including a ridiculously delicious (nearly) all-vegetable pizza and one of my favorite salads.

#10 Berry bliss bowls

#9 Rainbow salad

#8 Roast pumpkin, caramalised onion and walnut pizza

#7 Ultimate cacao brownie

#6 Chai-spiced almond milk

#5 Grain-free nori rolls with roast carrot hummus

#4 Chocolate zucchini pudding

#3 Zucchini pasta with two-tomato pesto 

#2 Overnight oat and chia breakfast pudding 

#1 Overnight chocolate chia oat pudding